CHEESE AND PUMPKIN SEED BISCUITS

… and these are some cheese biscuits that you can eat with the broccoli mayo (see our recipe) or any other dip, though my children and their friends eat them (devour them to be precise) on their own.

You need:
- 135 gr plain flour
- 120 gr grated cheddar
- 80 ml sunflower oil
- 30 ml milk
- a pinch of salt
- a pinch of paprika
- a handful of sunflower seeds

Mix all the ingredients but the sunflower seeds. Make a roll with the dough and put it in the fridge (covered by cling film or foil) for one hour. Then preheat the oven at 200 degrees. Cut slices of the roll, put them on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Press a few sunflower seeds on top of each biscuit and bake for 8 minutes (or until golden).  It is very difficult to stop eating these.

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BROCCOLI MAYO

You can make mayonnaise with any food rich in lecithin: from eggs to milk, brussels sprouts of broccoli. My children like this as a dip, or on the side of grilled chicken and salad, as a sauce. It also goes well with boiled eggs and white fish.  You need:

-500 gr broccoli

- 200 ml sunflower oil (or a very mild olive oil)

- salt

- two or three tablespoons of lemon

Boil the broccoli for 15 minutes until it is really soft. Put the boiled broccoli in a tall beaker and add the oil on top.  Blend it all with a hand held blender - start with the blender at the bottom of the beaker without moving it for a 40 seconds or so and then bring the blender very slowly up while keeping a steady hand. Then add the lemon and salt and blend for a couple of seconds again. You can also do this with a normal blender by blending the broccoli first and then adding the oil little by little.

CRAB LINGUINI

Simple-simple, but my children love it. You need:
- 250 - 350 gr crab meat
- a packet of linguini
- two tablespoons of olive oil
- three cloves of garlic, chopped thinly
- a glass of white wine
 - half a lemon (juice and zest)
- a handful of parsley (flat)
- salt

Boil the linguini in plenty of salty water according to the packet instructions. Separately heat the olive oil in a pan, fry the garlic (over low heat) for 3 minutes, add the lemon zest and half of the parsley (chopped thinly) and after 20 seconds add the wine and salt and let it reduce for 10 minutes. When the linguini are boiled, add the crab to the wine sauce, let it simmer for a minute , pour the linguini on top, mix well and serve. You can add a bit more lemon juice and olive oil on top if you wish. Sprinkle the remaining parsley on top. That is all.

CHICKPEAS WITH EGGS

In the past, during Lent time many Spanish families used to each chickpeas on Fridays. Now we still eat it sometimes more out of tradition than religion. The best known recipes are with spinach and or salt cod (you can find the recipe here http://www.mumandsons.com/2015/04/easter-chickpea-and-spinach-soup.html) but my grandma used to make chickpeas with egg (basically because she had often had a surplus of eggs in her farm).

You need:
- one and a half onions (chopped very thinly)
- a tomato ( grated)
- a clove of garlic ( minced)
-olive oil - three tablespoons
-200 gr chickpeas
- 2 more cloves of garlic
- handful of parsley
- 15 almonds (blanched)
- a teaspoon of sweet paprika
- a bay leaf
- salt
- water (this should be cold water - if you boil the water first the chickpeas will 'get scared', as they say in Spain, and as a result they will contract and be hard, no matter how long you boil them)
- 3 eggs

The night before you are going to make this put the chickpeas in cold water and let them soak overnight.  I have prepare this recipe with chickpeas from one of my aunts, Loli. They are a real delicacy - so tender than you do not even need to soak them. But difficult to get chickpeas of this quality in the supermarket.

Put the olive oil in a pan, bring it to medium heat, add the onions, tomato and garlic, lower the heat, add the paprika and bay leaf and let it all fry for 10 minutes until it gets mellow. Then add the chickpeas, cover with cold water (there should be three centimetres of water over the chickpeas more or less) and let it all simmer for 1.30 to 1.40 hours.

Meanwhile boil the eggs. Take them off the shells and cut them in little bits (the easiest way to do this is with teh back of a fork).

Toast the almonds by putting them on a pan over medium heat for a minute or so.

Out the almonds, parsley and clove of garlic in a mortar and crush it all with the pestle (you can put a bit of salt  so that it is easier to mash it all)

When the chickpeas are ready add the minced eggs and also the almond, parsley and garlic mixture to the chickpeas pan. Correct the salt if needed (chickpeas often require more salt than you think). Stir it all well, let it rest (off the fire) for five to ten minutes and serve.

INSPIRING GIRLS AND REDRAW THE BALANCE

I am rushing this week - plus ca change!- and will not have time to post any new recipes until the weekend, as usual. But wanted to show you today this great video that Mullenlowe has done with Inspiring Girls for International Women's Day as part of the RedrawtheBalance campaign. Animation is about the first TV that kids watch and it shapes their views. Time for animation companies to think a bit more carefully about redrawing the balance - and also to get more female animators there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAn84wNIqn0&feature=youtu.be

I also leave you some pictures of the launch of the Inspiring Girls in Brussels with a wonderful group of girls and volunteers, and also the President of the Parliament Antonio Tajani and the EU Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly, all hosted by MEP Beatriz Becerra, one of the most committed champions of Inspiring Girls. In addition to Inspiring Women in the UK run by the Education and Employers Task Force, Inspiring Girls is now in 3 more countries -  and Italy coming next at the end of April!

SAN FRANCICO

This is cocktail that we sometimes drank in Spain before we were allowed to drink alcohol. It feels a bit vintage, but it is still very nice. My younger children and their friends love it because though it is just a mixture of juices it looks as party time to them. You need ( for two or three people):

- the juice of an orange
- the juice of half a lemon
- a glass of pineapple juice (if you are in Spain, France or Italy use half a glass of pineapple and half a glass of peach juice, but for some weird reason peach juice is sometimes difficult to find in the UK)
- a quarter of a glass of grenadine
- a teaspoon of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of sugar for decorating the glasses
- ice (optional)
- a slice of orange and a paper umbrella for decoration

Mix the decorating sugar with a couple of teaspoons of grenadine on a flat plate. Dip the rim of the  glasses on it and rotate a little so that the rims get coated with the red sugar (you can replace the grenadine with any food colorant if you prefer other colours for the decoration)

Separately mix all the juices and the sugar. Pour the juice mixture on the glasses. Add the ice if using it. Then add the grenadine and mix a little but not thoroughly so that the colours do not mix completely and you get a bit of a 'degrade' effect. Decorate with the orange (just cut an indentation and put it on the side of the grass) and the umbrella.

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AGUA DE VALENCIA (VALENCIA'S WATER)

This is for you, not for your children. It is called Agua de Valencia and it is a very typical cocktail from the beautiful city of Valencia, made with the gorgeous oranges that they produce there ( if you have the chance try the oranges 'Lola' - outstanding!) and cava (i.e. a sort of champagne from Cataluna).

I was in Valencia a week ago to participate in an event to promote female conductors organised by Berkelee at the initiative of 'the one and only' Placido Domingo and the great British conductor Alice Farham. It was wonderful to see such an iconic man launching an initiative to promote and unlock female talent.  In the middle of the current backlash on women rights, here is a source optimism: the amount of men who are now speaking up for women and girls. You can see pictures of the event at our instagram miriamgonzalezdurantez

Agua de Valencia is what you drink on a Saturday night when you go out in Valencia. You have to be pretty careful as it is an alcoholic bomb. Last time I drank this at a party, a foreign friend was flabbergasted that she felt drunk when, according to herself, all she had drunk was orange juice!

You need:
- one part of fresh orange juice ( you can do this with normal orange juice if it is for a big party of course)
- one part of cava
- a quarter of a part of vodka
- a quarter of a part of gin
- a spoonful of sugar per bottle of cava

Just stir it all, add a couple of ice cubes and serve.