Barbecue Sauce

                                                                               Receta en Español

I present today a basic recipe to accompany meat,rice, chips...
This sauce enhances meats' taste.
It comes from Karlos Arguiñano.

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves of garlic.
• 1 onion.
• 850 grams pear tomato.
• 1 tablespoon honey.
• 1 tablespoon corn starch.
• 2 tablespoon vinegar.
• olive oil.
• Salt.
• hot chili pepper if you want it spicy.
• oregano.

Method:

1. Chop garlic and onion. Sautée until golden.
2. Add chopped and pealed tomatos,scorn starch, honey,vinegar,chilly,oregano and salt.
3. Mix well, put it on medium heat for 20-25 minutes until tomato is soft.
4. Pass the mix through a blender.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Nuts Kadaif

                                                                               Receta en Español

This recipe shows the great influence from  arabic cuisine in the Albanian gastronomy, this dessert is also cooked in Algeria,Armenia, Turkey....

Ingredients:

• 500 g Kataifi.
• 500 g unsalted butter.
• 800 grams sugar.
• 1 liter water.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla sugar.
• half a cup of cold water.
• a dash of lemon juice.
• 350 grams chopped nuts.

Method:

1. Spread Kataifi on a dish , it is necessary to let it dry, then turn it to dry on the other side, it takes 2 hours drying each side.
2. Spread Kataifi on a baking dish, pour melted butter over the Kataifi. 

3- Preheat oven at 200 ºC. Cook for 25 minutes until it gets golden. Then let it cool.

4- It can be done with a single layer or two layers. If you want two layers use half of Kataifi for  each layer, then do the same explained in point 2 for each layer (you should sprinkle chopped nuts over de first layer), bring it to oven as in point 3.

For Syrup:

5. Take a pan, combine sugar, water, vanilla and a dash of lemon, bring it to a boil. Stir until sugar is well dissolved. It should take 30 minutes. Then turn off the heat and pour the cold water.
6. Once Kataifi is cold, pour Syrup over it. Sprinkle chopped nuts and let it cool at least 1 hour to let the syrup dry. The more you wait the more delicious it will be. Then cut in pieces and serve.

You have it!:

Where to buy Kataifi in Madrid

You can buy Kataifi near Madrid mosque, at Antonio Calvo street , I bought it at 'El Hogar'.

My comments to the recipe:

Kataifi was very long and I decided to do two layers, butter provides a marvellous taste, syrup moisturizes the inner layer so it has a different texture to the outer layer and the taste is intense.
The next day the taste is better because it has absorbed the syrup.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

• 

  Albania

Tava Elbasani (Lamb with yogurt)

                                                                               Receta en Español

Elbasani is a city placed in the center of Albania, this recipe comes from that city.

Ingredients: 4 Serves

• 900 g de lamb in pieces.
• 2 cups of water to boil the lamb.
• 2  tablespoons butter.
• 2  tablespoons flour.
• 3     eggs.
• 500 grams greek yogurt.
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper.
• Salt.
• oil.

Method:

1. Salt lamb to taste.
2. Pour a little oil in a great pot. Over medium heat cook lamb both sides, the pot should not be crowded ,cook a few pieces at the same time.
3. Then fill the pot with water and add all the roasted lamb pieces and cook over medium heat for 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile melt butter in a pan over medium heat, add flour and stir to mix well. Once the mixture begins to turn brown , put aside and let cool.

1. Preheat oven at 175 ºC.
2. Beat eggs in a bowl , add yogurt, pepper and butter sauce, salt to taste.
3. Place lamb in a baking dish. Pour the yogurt mixture over the lamb. Cook in oven for 45 minutes and serve immidiately.

This is the result:


Tava Elbasani

My comments to the Recipe:

This is a nice way to eat lamb, it is a new flavour that makes lamb softer.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Albania

Greek style Salad

                                                                               Receta en Español

The influence of Greece is enormous in Albania. Here we have an example of this, a salad very similar to the most popular salad in Greece.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 sliced tomatos.
• 1 sliced cucumber.
• 1 small onion in small pieces.
• 1 sliced green pepper.
• Olive oil.
• Feta cheese chunks.
• A few olives.
• Salt.

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, season with salt and oil.

My comments to the recipe:

It is extremely easy and the taste is very good thanks to feta cheese.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Albania

Albania

 By Armejsa Kullolli (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 By Bosonic dressing (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Recipes from Albania that I cooked:

  Greek Style Salad









  Tava Elbasani (Lamb with yogurt)








  Nuts Kadaif

Albania on Internet:

http://guzhinashqiptare.skyrock.com/4.html

 

Albania

Butter Cookies from afghanistan (Kulche birinjee)

                                                                               Receta en Español

As in almost every middle east country , cookies with nuts are very typical in Afghanistan.

Ingredients:

• 175 grams butter soften at room temperature.
• 175 grams sugar.
• 2  eggs.
• 500 grams white rice flour.
• ½ teaspoon ground  cardamom.
• 30 grams sliced pistachios.
• 20 grams whole pistachios without shell.

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 350 ºC.
2. whisk butter and sugar until the mixture is creamy.
3. Add egg whites and mix well.
4. Add flour step by step. Add flour until the mixture is not sticky.
5. Add cardamon and sliced pistachios.
6. Mix well.
7. Take an oven proof tray and line it with parchment paper. Take a little dough with a spoon and put it on the tray , use your hand to mold it like a cookie. Do the same with the rest of the dough.
8. With the help of a fork make marks on the dough, draw a grid on the dough. If the fork sticks to the dough dip it in cold water from time to time. 
9. Put a pistachio in the middle of the cookie.
10. Place the cookies over parchment paper , leave a distance of 3.5 cm between them.

               11. Cook in oven for 12-14 minutes.

               12. Let cool before eating.

My comments to the Recipe:

If you add enough flour to prevent dough being sticky , cookies will not crumble. These cookies are delicious due to the taste of butter mixed with pistachios.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Afghanistan

Kabuli Pulao (Afghanistan)

                                                                               Receta en Español

Pulao is one of the most typical dishes in Afghanistan; it is rice with grapes.

Kabuli Pulao is a version of Pulao adding lamb meat. This is the recipe I will present today.

Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice.
450 g lamb.
2 cups meat broth.
1/2 sliced onion.
25 g blonde raisins.
1 carrot cut in strips.
2 teaspoon cumin.
1 ½ teaspoon cardamom.
1 teaspoon cinamon.
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper.
1 teaspoon butter.
Salt.

Method:

1- Fry carrots and grapes with butter. Put aside.

 
2- Take a big pan and sautée  onion until golden.
3- Add rice and broth, bring to a boil. Then cover and let cook on low heat during 20 minutes until rice is tender.
4- Take another pan, pour a litle oil and add spices. Cook some minutes until spices give of aroma, then add the meat and fry until done.
5- Place the meat in an oven proof dish, cover with rice, carrots and grapes. Cook in oven for 20 minutes at 250 º C.

Thie is the end:

My comments:

It is an easy recipe and very tasty due to the mixture of grapes and spices.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Afghanistan