INSPIRING GIRLS

And this is the webpage of the global Inspiring Girls campaign (click here for the webpage) that we are launching this Autumn.  Isn't the logo super-cute? There are now four countries ready to go - cannot wait to see the campaign properly launched...

Thank so much to all of you who are contributing, including those who are helping me finance this transition period from the national to the international campaign by buying the Made in Spain book.

And if you have good ideas on this or would like to be involved send us an email at  hello@inspiring-girls.com.  Every woman - and man - is welcome!

STUFFED PEPPERS

This is a great Spanish Dish.

You need:
- 2 jars of piquillo peppers
- 400 g beef mince meat
- 2 onions (diced thinly)
- 2 heaped tablespoons of plain flour
- 500 ml milk
- 30 gr of butter
- 8 tablespoons of tomato sauce ( or good passata)
- 80 ml of white wine
- half a glass of water
- a teaspoon of chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- salt

Put the olive oil in a pan and fry the onion for 8-10 minutes (low heat) until it is soft. Then add the mince meat and salt,  increase the heat and let it all fry for another 11-15 minutes stirring from time to time until the meat is brown.

Separately, heat the butter in a pan. Add the flour and let it fry for 3 minutes while stirring it. Then add the milk. Put the heat on medium, and keep stirring until you see that there are bubbles. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes until it gets thick and smooth. If you are not confident preparing the béchamel sauce, blend the mixture with a hand held blender as soon as you add the milk to the butter and flour - it always comes out perfect this way.

Add a bit of salt to the béchamel, mix it with the meat and let it cool down a little.

Take the piquillo peppers out of the jar discarding the water. Stuff the peppers with the meat and béchamel mixture. Put them on a shallow pan. Then pour the tomato sauce on top. Heat it until you get bubbles on the tomato sauce. Add the wine and water and let it all simmer for 10 minutes. Before serving it sprinkle the parsley on top.

BREAST CHEESE

Three times – three- has the Mail group put words in my mouth that I have not said and in just three days. All in relation to people from the Tory party – surprise! Luckily my words are in writing in my Made in Spain book. So here is the thing: you are going to have to buy it (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Made-Spain-Recipes-stories-country/dp/147363900X) to see how wrong they are…though I suspect you already know…  Oh, come on, it is a really fun book and for a great cause!

Perhaps if the Mail stopped obsessing about women’s thighs and breasts and focused a tiny bit more on our brains, they might actually manage to listen and report accurately what we say.

This is a Breast Cheese (‘queso de tetilla’) from the beautiful region of Galicia in Spain. One of the few breasts worth obsessing with (Paul, take note!) Creamy, tender, soft… a pure delight. Eat it with membrillo or just a bunch of grapes.

VALENCIANAS

This recipe is at the request of Emily, who got in touch to ask for this recipe for her nan after watching me talking about the Made in Spain book at Lorraine"s.

Valencianas are elongated cakes. The whole point of that shape is that you normally dunk them in hot milk for breakfast. It is actually very difficult to buy the long paper cases in the UK so we did them  mini-loaf paper cases instead.

There are lots of recipes in the internet, all very different. We had to phone a friend of mine from Valencia to find the closest one to the real thing ( which is normally shop bought in Valencia from any of the fantastic bakeries there). This one comes from http://recetastradicionalesdecocina.blogspot.com.es/2014/07/receta-de-las-magdalenas-valencianas.html. We have only adjusted the quantities a tiny bit.

For nine Valencianas you need:
- 2 eggs
- 200 gr sugar
-200 gr plain flour
- 85 ml sunflower oil
- 170 ml milk
- a teaspoon of baking powder
- grated rind of a lemon
- caster sugar


Preheat the oven at 180 degrees.
Mix the sugar and eggs ( we did this by hand) until they become pale. Add the oil, lemon rind and milk and keep mixing. Then add the flour and baking powder.  Pour the mixture into the cases (use double paper cases so that they do not expand too much) sprinkle a bit of sugar on top of each valenciana and bake for 25 minutes (check after 20 minutes - they should be golden but pale)

The children loved them and they really make your kitchen feel wholesome.

MENEMEM

At one of the dinners to promote the Made in Spain book a journalist told me about the Turkish dish menemem. I have tried it twice since then. Huge success. It basically starts with what we call in Spain 'a sofrito' (onions, green peppers and tomatoes) and then eggs are added on top - what's not to like? 

Given the developments in Turkey it seemed fitting to tell the children about Turkish food this weekend. Cooking is also a good way to overcome the frustration of seeing the two countries closest to my heart navel-gazing while the international order disintegrates around us.  Mind you, we then went all dancing to a concert of the Gipsy Kings - that is an even better way to forget about everything! 

We got the Menemem recipe from the website www.seriouseats.com and adapted it a bit.

You need:

- 2 onions diced ( we used red ones)

- 1.5 green peppers diced

- 5 tomatos in big chunks

- 3 tablespoons of olive oil

- a pinch of salt

- black pepper

- half a teaspoon of oregano

- a pinch of paprika 

- one egg per person

Fry the onion and peppers in the olive oil until they are soft ( 15-17 minutes) Then add the tomatoes and continue cooking for another 15 minutes. Add salt, oregano and paprika. Then break the eggs on top (you can also beat the eggs before you add them so that you get 'red scramble eggs' but it is easier to share this dish if you leave the eggs whole) Wait until the eggs set (barely) and serve.

This is enough for four.

LITTLE BACON OF HEAVEN

This dessert is called Tocinillo de Cielo, which literally means 'Little Bacon of Heaven' and it is heavenly indeed. It is one of the desserts invented by the Clarisa nuns with the many eggs they receive from brides,  as in Spain it is usual for brides to bring eggs - dozens of eggs-  to nuns on a wedding day so that they pray for good weather.

You need:
-for the caramel: 8 gr of sugar and a teaspoon of water
- for the 'little bacon':  250 gr sugar, 125 ml water, 6 egg yokes and an egg (keep the shells).

It is a very filling dessert, so this makes a little 'tocinillo' as you can see in the picture. The proportions of the ingredients are very straight forward so you can make a bigger tocinillo easily by doubling the amounts.

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees.
Mix the 125 ml of water with the 250 gr of sugar and let it boil until it reaches 105 degrees (around 15 minutes). Then let it cool down for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile prepare the caramel by putting the 70 g of sugar and the water in a pan under medium heat until it becomes golden without stirring it (swirling is fine). Pour the caramel on the mould where you are going to bake the tocinillio ( any cake mould or pyrex plate) and coat the bottom of the mould with it.
Beat very lightly the egg yokes and the egg and keep stirring while you pour slowly the sugar and water mixture into it. Pour the mixture into the caramelised mould. Then put the mould into a bigger (deep) oven tray. Put the egg shells on the bigger tray and fill it with boiling water until it comes to about three quarters of the hight of the tocinillo mould. Let it bake for half an hour and then let it cool down (in the fridge) overnight.

To de-mould the tocinillo just run the point of a knife through the sides of the mould. In a corner push the tocinillo up a little bit with the knife from underneath so that you get a little bit of air under the tocinillo. It should then come out easily.

MADE IN SPAIN

… and finally we have the Made in Spain book in our hands. The publishers, Hodder, have done a fantastic job with it - very exciting! Cannot wait for you to read it.

You can pre-order it in Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Made-Spain-Recipes-stories-country/dp/147363900X  And if you like it when you read it please post a review in Amazon's website!