fish and chips? { codfish burger with cilantro and red saffron }

Are you up for something different this time?

As you may have read on my 'about' page, I have always been fonder of cooking than of baking. But ever since I've started this project, baking has been earning its way into my heart, up to the point that in less than two years living in Germany I have felt the need to buy over half a dozen different cake pans, two pie pans, two dozens muffin tins, a candy thermometer, a couple of baking trays and deep dishes and my (several) pantries have seen countless amounts of flour, sugar and parchment paper. I always keep eggs, butter and milk on the fridge, different sorts of flour and sugar in the kitchen cabinets and I don't feel good knowing that I'm running out of baking powder or yeast. Oh yeah, I've become a baker. Some of you even know me as "the baker" already!

Yet here I am, trying to bring back the foregone notion that I go the extra mile when it comes to cooking - I do... more than ever!

(no fuss, no muss) delicious and moist gluten-free brownies. { moist buckwheat brownies with cherries and white chocolate chunks }

I think I may be falling for buckwheat flour!

can you believe these are some of the healthiest brownies I've ever made?

gluten-free, much lower in sugar than usual and with less butter,

yet still surprisingly delicious!?

I came up with this recipe from scratch, and I'm quite proud of it!

they are a delicious combo of moist and chewy, packed with flavour

 and really easy and quick to make, hence perfect for any chocolate cake cravings.

to stir things up a bit, I loaded my batter with cherries and white chocolate chunks.

what's all the fuss about ramen? { portuguese style ramen }

 

I have always had a hard time picking favourites. As a kid, I used to feel like I was the only one who couldn't name a single favourite dish. You know, steak and fries were not really on the top of my list. I'ld go for seafood rice, grilled fish, tagliatelli with a bold tomato sauce, loads of salad, lasagna, maybe roasted meat... but no, fries were never on my top, and it felt unfair to me to select a couple favourites when that totally depended on my mood - and I could be attracted to such utterly different things!

As I grew up, I came to the conclusion that I just had very eclectic tastes. You know, you can catch me listening to Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash in a minute, then it can easily shift to Pink Floyd or Guns and Roses, crossing Dire Straits in the way, Ed Sheeran, The Strokes, Lykke Li, Junip, Arctic Monkeys, Lana del Rey, Tina Turner, The Black Keys, Chet Faker, Daft Punk, Imagine Dragons or even some Chopin, and my latest love, Hozier. I don't like them all the same - it's just that at times one just fits me better than the others. I have musical cravings.

I realized that being able to tell your favourites is actually important - at least to a certain degree. You know, I don't like Alt-J the same way I like, for instance, The Black Keys, neither do I like Lana as much as I like Lykke. I realized that picking favourites was about knowing yourself better. For instance, for as good as the music can be, I am the most moved by witty lyrics - they take a good sounding music to a whole other level.

In the end, favourites were not that hard to pick. I kind of just had to admit what I already knew.

Food wise - and currently, - my favourite foreign cuisines are likely the italian and... sushi! I love sushi, and we have a lot of great quality restaurants in Portugal, with delicious fresh fish.

I say sushi because there is a lot more to the japanese cuisine - that I was yet to try.

And here begins the story of this recipe...

cookies at an exhibition. { peppery sugar cookies with spicy caramel }

upgrade your sugar cookie.

try this recipe.

♥

and have a nice sunny sunday.

i love triangles. aren't they gorgeous with this abstract caramel glaze?

i've heard they taste like christmas :)

and beware:

let's say they tend to disappear quite quickly while no one is watching.

and no, it's not me eating them all...

one brownie with a twist. { malibú fudgy brownies }

I know you haven't seen them all...

But I've seen them raising in the oven...
and I have this feeling I've been baking way too many chocolate cakes.

These brownies were made by request.

I was actually not even going to do them, because I kept postponing it and ended up being too busy with other stuff that day... but I was feeling bad for the whole afternoon, until I finally gave in and decided to go chop some chocolate.

I took the liberty of improvising a bit lot (the request was quite specific for this brownie batter), but I guess I was able to still meet the wishes of my friend ;) They travelled to a barbecue early this week and no one has seen them ever since!

Brownies Malibú Fudge

- 200g de chocolate 70% de cacau

- 120g de manteiga

- 120 ml de café frio

- 3 ovos M

- 120g de açúcar

- 50g de farinha

- uma pitada de pimenta, piri-piri e gengibre em pó

- 200g de doce de laranja com raspas

- 2 colheres de sopa de coco ralado

- 1 colher de sopa de gin

1) Derreter o chocolate com a manteiga em banho maria; deixar arrefecer,

2) Bater os ovos com o açúcar até obter uma mistura cremosa e esbranquiçada,

3) Envolver suavemente a farinha peneirada,

4) Incorporar o chocolate derretido e o café,

5) À parte, misturar bem o doce, o coco e o gin,

6) Verter a massa numa forma rectangular forrada com papel vegetal, distribuir pequenas colheradas de doce por cima e levar ao forno a 160ºC durante cerca de 15 minutos,

7) Deixar arrefecer e cortar em pequenos quadrados.

Malibú Fudgy Brownies

- 200g 70% cocoa chocolate

- 120g butter

- 120 ml cold coffee

- 3 medium eggs

- 120g sugar

- 50g flour

- pepper, chili and ginger powder

- 200g orange marmalade

- 2 shredded coconut

- 1 tbsp gin

1) Melt chocolate with butter in a pan placed over another pan with simmering water; let cool,

2) Cream eggs and sugar,

3) Carefully mix in flour,

4) Mix in melted chocolate and coffee,

5) In a bowl, mix well the marmalade, coconut and gin,

6) Pour the batter over a rectangular cake pan, lined with parchment paper; spread the jam over and bake at 160ºC for about 15 minutes,

7) Let cool and cut into small squares.

tomato stands for summer. { tomato and black olive sauce chicken }

Bringing you a very simple yet delicious meal.

Frango com Tomate e Azeitonas

- 400g de peitos de frango

- 3 dentes de alho, picados

- sal

- pimenta moída na hora

- ervas a gosto

- azeite

- 1 cebola, cortada em gomos

- 4 tomates frescos, cortados em gomos

- 6 tomates secos de frasco, em pedaços

- uma mão cheia de azeitonas

- garam masala

- tempero de pasta arrabiatta

- sal e pimenta

- polpa de tomate

1) Refogar o frango com o alho, sal, ervas e pimenta em azeite; reservar,

2) Refogar a cebola com o tomate seco e os temperos até ficar transparente; juntar o tomate fresco e deixar cozinhar,

3) Juntar um pouco de polpa de tomate e rectificar os temperos.

Tomato and Olive Chicken

- 400g chicken breasts

- 3 garlic cloves, chopped

- salt

- freshly ground pepper

- chopped herbs

- olive oil

- 1 onion, sliced

- 4 fresh tomatoes, sliced

- 6 jar dried tomatoes, chopped

- a handful of olives

- garam masala

- pasta arrabiatta seasoning

- salt e pepper

- tomato paste

1) Sautée chicken in olive oil with garlic, salt, herbs and pepper; set aside,

2) Sautée onion with dried tomato and seasonings until tender, add fresh tomato and let cook,

3) Add a bit of tomato paste and check the seasoning.

Some more finger food. { spinach chili gressini }

Thank you so much for all the comments and all the support!
As many of you already know I am in Munich with a friend for ERASMUS :) We haven't yet managed to get a home of our own (but I feel like we are closer!), hence I haven't had much time for the blog. And I have also been having intensive german classes, so I have little free time and lots of things to do and to visit!

Gressinos de Espinafre e Malagueta
Ingredientes:

- 180g de espinafres frescos

- 225g de farinha

- 1 colher de café de massa de alho

- ½ colher de chá de bicarbonato de sódio

- coentros moídos

- cominhos

- piri-piri moído

- açafrão da índia

- pimenta moída

- 1 colher de chá de sal

Preparação:

1) Pré-aquecer o forno a 180ªC,

2) Escaldar os espinafres num tacho com água a ferver durante meio minuto, escoar bem para retirar o excesso de água,

3) Picar os restantes ingredientes num robô de cozinha até obter migalhas, reservar,

4) Picar os espinafres e amassar com os restantes ingredientes

5) Transferir para uma superfície polvilhada com farinha e estender com um rolo da massa até ter cerca de meio cm de altura,

6) Cortar a massa em tiras com 1 cm de largura,

7) Torcer as tiras e espalhar num tabuleiro forrado com papel vegetal,

8) Cozinhar no forno durante cerca de 20 minutos.

Spinach and Chilli Gressini
Ingredients:

- 180g fresh spinach

- 225g flour

- 1/2 tsp garlic paste

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- powdered coriander

- saffron

- freshly crushed black pepper

- 1 tsp salt

Preparation:

1) Heat oven at 180ºC,

2) Soak the spinach in boiling water for half minute, drain well,

3) Blend all the other ingredients in a blender, put aside,

4) Chop the spinach and hand mix with the other ingredients, in a bowl, until obtaining an homogeneous batter,

5) Spread over a flour-dusted surface until obtaining an half centimeter thick rectangle,

6) Cut the batter in 1 cm stripes,

7) Twist the stripes and spread in a baking tray, lined with parchment paper,

8) Bake for around 20 minutes.