PANCAKES

These are really simple to make. You can eat them with lemon and sugar as a dessert, or with maple syrup or jam for breakfast. My children have tried many times to flip the pancakes over and they are only now getting the hang of it.
You need:
-1 glass of plain flour
- 1 glass of milk
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
-  a tablespoon of sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- butter
You also need a non-stick pan (preferably very small)

Mix well all the ingredients except the butter (either by hand or with a hand held mixer). Heat the pan (medium to high heat) with a bit of butter on top  (the size of a hazelnut more or less). When the butter is melted pour enough of the pancake mixture to coat the pan. After 2-3- minutes (when you see bubbles appearing over the surface of the pancake) turn the pancake around with the help of a spatula or by flipping it over your head if you dare it. Wait for another minute and serve immediately.
The children can -and like to- do all this pretty much on their own provided you supervise it closely as they can burn themselves when turning the pancake around.

BEEF STEW

     This is comfort food at its best.

You need:

1 kg diced beef
1 (medium size) onion

1/2 green pepper

1/2 red pepper

2 carrots

200 gr peas (frozen is fine)

1 bay leaf

a little bit of parsley

salt and pepper

1 glass of white wine

1 glass of water

oil

Cover the base of the pan with oil. Salt and pepper the diced beef, add it to the pan and let it fry until it is golden. Take it out and put it aside. Cut the onion (in approx 1 cm slices) and the peppers and carrots (in chunks - see picture) and fry them for 5 minutes in the same oil where you have fried the beef. Add the beef back to the pan and throw in the bay leaf. With a pester and mortar mince the garlic and  parsley until it becomes a fine paste. Add the glass of wine to the mortar and add this garlic infused wine to the pan. Let it all boil to get rid of the alcohol for 3-4 minutes and add the glass of water. As soon as it is boiling again reduce the heat, cover the pan and let it all boil for 40 minutes approximately (if you see that it becomes too dry add a bit more water) Finally add the peas and let it boil for another 10 minutes until they are tender. Serve with plain rice or with crusty bread.

The kids love this dish. They helped with it all but they still need some encouragement to touch the row meat...

CANDIED CITRUS FRUIT

We tried to make candied fruit this weekend. My kids thought it was 'yucky' on its own so we ended up coating them with chocolate ('better but not great' according to them). We ended up with far too much chocolate coating so we prepared some truffles with the chocolate. I had the bad idea of coating the truffles with dessicated coconut and they thought the coconut was 'yucky' as well. So I have been left with lots of dangerously temping treats...
For the candied fruit we sliced an orange, a lemon and a mandarin. We boiled them in water for 15 minutes, drained them and boiled them again for another 15 minutes. We then boiled them in sirup ( 200gr sugar and 200 ml water) and let them simmer for 45 minutes. We drained them again, put them on a rack and let them dry overnight.

For the chocolate coated candied melt 100 gr chocolate with 100 ml double cream (either over a very low heat or on the microwave). Dip the candied fruit into the chocolate and leave them over a rack (preferably in the fridge) until the chocolate hardens.

For the coconut truffles melt chocolate and cream as above and wait until the mixture gets cold. With two spoons make little kernels of chocolate. Put some dessicated coconut on a plate and drop  the kernels on top of the coconut turning them so that they get evenly coated.

CHEESE BISCUITS

My children call these 'magic biscuits' because one minute they are there and the next minute they have all disappeared. I had to battle with them to leave three biscuits for the pictures. As you can see in the pictures we went from three to two in just a couple of clicks.
You need:
50 gr soft butter
150 gr grated cheese (manchego or cheddar)
a couple of table spoons grated parmesan cheese
100 gr plain flour
half a teaspoon of thyme
Preheat the over to 200 degrees.
Mix the butter and the cheese. Add the flour and thyme. Roll the mixture so that you make a sausage shape. Wrap this with cling film and keep it for 30 minutes to one hour in the fridge. When it is cold cut it in 1 cm slices and place the slices on a baking sheet pressing them down slightly. They take 10-15 minutes to get golden and ready. They are addictive, both warm and cold.
The kids did most of the work, except for putting the biscuits in the oven and taking them out.

LENTILS SOUP - 'LENTEJAS'

This is a very typical Spanish dish. Most families in Spain eat 'lentejas' once a week during the winter. It is rather heavy (a bowl would be more than enough for lunch) but also very healthy - and cheap too.
You need:
-250 gr of lentils (you may be able to find 'lentejas pardinas' in the supermarket; otherwise Puy lentils are fine too). Ideally you should soak them in water for a few hours.
-1 leak (sliced thinly)
- half a red pepper and half a green pepper (no need to cut them)
- 2 carrots cut in small cubes
- 100 gr green beans (sliced thinly)
- 4 cloves of garlic (sliced thinly)
- salt
- 2 table spoons of olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- half a teaspoon of sweet paprika
- a little bit of parsley (cut thinly)
- water - around 750 ml
Heat the pan with the olive oil (medium to high heat). When the oil is hot add all the ingredients and fry them for 4-5 minutes. Add the water (enough to just cover all the ingredients). Let it all boil and then reduce the heat. Let it simmer for 30-40 minutes until the lentils are tender. If you do this in a express pan ( I use this a lot) it will be ready in just 10 minutes.
Once it is ready take out the peppers and a few lentils (half a cup) and  blend  them (with a hand held mixer or in a blender). Put the blended peppers back in the pan, and mix them well with the rest of the lentils. That is all there is to it.
Best manner to eat the lentils is to serve them very hot with a tablespoon of good red wine vinegar.
Kids like it with a few small cubes of chorizo sprinkled over the lentils (you will need to  fry the chorizo first for a couple of minutes or to cook it in the microwave for just 20-30 seconds)
The children helped to mix all the ingredients and to throw them into the pan. They liked the hand held blender but it is very dangerous so you should hold the blender with them if you allow them to use it.

PARTRIDGE 'ESTOFADA'

This is a recipe from my grandmother. She was an amazing cook. She cooked with love - in fact you knew how much she loved you just by looking at what she had cooked for you. She never used any written recipes, nor did she write them herself, yet her wisdom in the kitchen has passed from her to my mum and from my mum to me - as I hope it will go from me to my children and then to their children.
This is not a recipe where children can help a lot, but I think they learn just by watching you and smelling and tasting as you go. My mother cooked this dish with me and while we were cooking we told the kids stories about my grandma - it was a  magical time for them.
You need:
-2 partridges
- 2 onions (medium size)
- half red pepper
- half green pepper
- 4 cloves of garlic
- a carrot
- a little bit of parsley (cut thinly)
- 1 bay leave
- olive oil (just enough to cover the base of the pan plus a bit more)
- vinegar (1.5 tablespoons)
- salt
- 1 glass of water
Put most of the oil on a frying pan. Add the salt to the partridges and fry them (seal them) until they are golden. Taken the partridges out and put them aside. In the same pan add the rest of the oil and throw in the onions, carrots and garlic cut in small cubes as well as the parsley and the bay leaf. Let it all fry over  medium heat  until it is all golden.  Put the partridges back in the pan with the golden vegetables, add the vinegar and the glass of water, put the lid over the pan and let it simmer for 45 minutes. Take the lid off and there it is: the most delicious poultry you could possibly imagine.

APPLE CAKE

My 6 years old son loves this cake. We recently made it for a family celebration and he named it 'the best cake ever'. He praised it so much that I felt compelled to make it again (not good parenting skills, I know). It is full of apples so at least you are getting the fruit in (or so I say to myself...)  You need:
225g of soft butter
500 g apples cut in little cubes
225 g sugar
225 self raising flour
30 g ground almonds
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 eggs
one lemon
Topping: 3 tablespoons of caster sugar and 3 tablespoons of icing sugar

Preheat the over at 180 degrees.
Mix the apples with the juice of half a lemon so that they do not get brown.
Cream the butter and sugar (by hand or with electric whisker). Add the lemon zest. Then add the eggs, one at a time, alternating with three spoonfuls of flour (mixed with the baking soda) until all the flour is in. Finally add the ground almonds. Stir the apples in.
Put the mixture into a greased and lined cake tin (25-35 cms approx). Sprinkle two table spoons of caster sugar on top and bake for 1 hour  (check after 50 minutes to be on the safe side). As with all moist cakes, you need to wait for 10-15 minutes to take the cake out of the tin. Once it is on the serving plate (and while it is still warm) sprinkle the additional tablespoon of caster sugar. When it is even colder sprinkle the icing sugar on top (through a sift).
This cake it lovely when it is served warm. My children like it on its own though it  is also very nice with cream or ice-cream.
The children did most of the work except cutting the apples and dealing with the oven. I had to stop them from touching the tin while the cake was cooling off as their patience was running shorter and shorter...