IBERIAN SCRAMBLED EGGS

Scrambled eggs are only eaten for breakfast in Spain when they are plain. When other ingredients are added to the eggs (the below is a particularly good combination) they become a lunch or dinner dish. The only explanation for these eating times is cultural: for example, if you see somebody eating paella for dinner you can be sure they are not Spanish - paella is just not a dinner dish.

I have been asked by many people over the last three days to be more precise with all the quantities. The below is for a lunch/dinner for one, though sure it depends on how hungry you are!

You need:
- 2 eggs
- 3 tinned 'piquillo peppers' (they sell them in most supermarkets now) - cut them into stripes and keep also two teaspoons of the tin juice.
- 2 slices of Serrano, Iberico or Parma ham (the ham will be slightly fried, so no need to get an expensive one)
- a teaspoon of chopped parsley
- one teaspoon of olive oil
-  pinch of salt (not too much as the ham is salty anyway)
and a non stick frying pan.

Heat the pan (medium heat). Add the piquillo peppers with a tablespoon of their tin liquid. When the liquid has evaporated (1-2 minutes) take them off the pan. Heat the olive oil in the pan, tear the ham slices into strips and add them to the pan with half of the chopped parsley. Wait for one minute. Then add the peppers back to the pan. Beat the eggs, add the salt and add them to the pan. Stir with a wooden spoon. After a couple of minutes they are done. Just sprinkle the rest of the parsley on top and eat immediately.

My middle son makes really good scrambled eggs now and he manages to do the 'stir, lift and fold' movement which is the key to avoiding scrambled eggs looking miserable. These are definitely 'happy" eggs:

INSPIRING GIRLS

Dear female reader (and in particular dear MNer)

You are more than welcome to browse all these 214 these recipes, but before you do so, p-l-e-a-s-e  click in the link to the Inspiring Girls Campaign and register: www.inspiring-girls.com

It takes only 5 minutes and all you are committing to do is to go to a state school near where you live or work and talk to the girls (normally 13-14 years old) about your life for one hour every year.

Every single woman is welcome: working, non-working, full-time, part-time, old, young, at the beginning of their careers, at the very top of them…  You just have to talk about yourself and answer any questions the girls may have.  I know some of you will be wondering (as I did when I started this) whether the girls will really find your life interesting, but of course they will! No matter who you are, no matter what you have done in life, there is always a girl out there who can benefit from your experience.

It is just an hour per year... less than my daily commute…sure everybody can do it!

We launched the campaign in October 2013. We have spent 18 months going around the country getting together women from all walks of life and girls. We have reached more than 250,000 state school girls and now have 10 countries interested in mirroring the campaign. Below you can find some links with more info and pictures on the campaign.

Last week we reached our goal of getting 15,000 women registered (to be accurate we are now 15,009 women) Do join us and help us to make this even bigger. It is not only a very good cause, it is also a lot of fun!

Looking forwards to seeing you in the campaign.

Miriam  

TINY TORTILLAS WITH SHRIMPS

This is our international version of the 'tortillitas de camarones', a wonderful tapa from the South of Spain. Children like making them as it is a bit like making pancakes (the olive oil is very hot though, so be careful if they approach the frying pan)

You need:
100 g brown shrimps
90 g plain flour
60 g chickpea flour (you can buy this in supermarkets nowadays and also in Middle East shops)
300 ml water
two spring onions (sliced very thinly)
two teaspoons of chopped parsley
salt
Half a glass of olive oil (or a whole glass if you are using a bigger frying pan) to fry the 'tortillas'

Mix the flours, water, salt, spring onions and parsley. Stir well. Then add the shrimps. Heat olive oil in a frying plan until it is very hot. Pour a couple of tablespoons of the mixture into the oil. Wait until the 'tortillita' gets golden (a couple of minutes), turn them so that they get golden on the other side (1-1.5 minutes). Take them out and put them over kitchen paper to get rid of any excess oil. Eat them immediately. The are crunchy outside and soft inside - very delicious.

MILK BUNS

Children love these, either on their own or with butter, jam, cream cheese, ham, cheese...
It takes a bit to prepare them but to be fair  most of the time is just waiting while you are doing other things (homework?) so it is not a lot of effort.

You need:
- 500 g  plain flour
- two eggs
- 250 m milk
- 9 gr fast action yeast
- 100 gr sugr
- 90 g butter (room temperature)
- a pinch of salt
- one more egg

Warm 100 ml of milk. Mix the yeast, 50 g of flour and the100 ml of milk and let it rest for half an hour until  it gets frothy.

Then mix this with all the other ingredients. The easiest way to do this is in a food processor with the kneading hook for around 8-10 minutes. Then put it all into a glass bowl (greased with a tiny bit of sunflour oil) and let it rest for 2 hours until it has doubled in side.

Punch the dough to get rid of the air. Then divide the dough into 10 parts. Shape each one like a ball, or  give them an oval shape. You can also flatten them (oval shape), cut one extreme of the oval shape into three stripes and roll them on themselves (see bun on the right down corner in the picture). Put them on a tray lined with baking paper. Cover the buns with cling film and wait for another 35 minutes until they rise again.

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. Cut the buns (if you like that shape) and 'paint them' with beaten egg. Put them into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

YOGURT DESSERT

This is not a proper recipe, but rather a nice combination of flavours. I suppose it works for breakfast too, but we have it for dessert at dinners with friends when you cannot be bothered to prepare anything else. It looks really pretty and the flavours combination is great so everybody likes it.

You need:
- yogurt
- pomegranate
- a few leaves of mint
- walnuts, pecan nuts of hazelnuts
- honey

Put the pomegranate, and nuts on top of the yogurt. Pour the honey on top and decorate with the mint leaves.

Even my 6 years old can make this…

EASTER CHICKPEA AND SPINACH SOUP

This is a traditional Spanish soup for Easter. It is often made with salted cod, but since we did not have any we did the vegetarian version of it which is still very good. It is very filling though.

You need:
- 200 gr dried chickpeas
- two onions (one whole and another one sliced thinly)
- a bay leaf
- a carrot
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 200 g spinach
- one garlic (minced)
- 1 onion (sliced thinly)
- half a teaspoon of powdered cumin
- a teaspoon of smoked paprika ('pimenton' -  they sell this in most supermarkets now)
- 2 hard boiled eggs
- salt
 
The night before you are going to prepare this soak the chickpeas in cold water (cover them completely) and leave them overnight. The following morning get rid of the water.

Put the chickpeas into a pan, add boiling water (not too much, just to cover them), salt, a peeled carrot (do not dice it), the onion (whole) and the bay leaf. Boil for an hour and a half to 1.45 hours.

While the chickpeas are simmering heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add the onion and mince garlic and let it fry over low heat for 10-ish minutes until they are soft. Then add the cumin, pimento and finally the spinach leaves. Wait for a couple of minutes until the spinach leaves wilt. When the chickpeas are ready add all this to them. Then dice the whites of the two hard boiled eggs and add them to the pan.

This tastes better the day after you have cooked it.

ASPARAGUS WITH POACHED EGG

We tried this on Sunday for lunch. Only because one of my sons wanted to learn to poach eggs. It is rather easy. Neither him nor my youngest son were keen on the asparagus though, but they enjoyed the egg with bread sticks (though they still prefer fried eggs - rightly so). We could not find British asparagus yet but the season is apparently coming early this year - they are said to be the best asparagus in the world, so if you have the chance to buy them, do so.

You need;
- a few asparagus per person (4-5)
- an egg per person
- salt
- lots of boiling water
- a few drops of vinegar

Get two pans (over medium heat) and add boiling water to each of them. Put the asparagus in one of them with a pinch of salt. Let them simmer for 3-4 minutes. When they are ready put them over kitchen paper to get rid of any water.

In the other pan add the vinegar drops. Crack the egg in a bowl, then with a spoon create a whirlpool effect in the pan and add the egg (carefully). Let it simmer for 4.30 minutes and take it out with a slotted spoon. Put if briefly also over the kitchen paper to get rid of any water.

Put the asparagus on the egg. We just added a bit of salt on the egg. You can also grill the asparagus and add parmesan and a bit of balsamic vinegar on top.