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.

PARTRIDGES ESCABECHADAS

This is a really great way to cook partridges. I was recently served this at a dinner and decided to try gain this recipe with the help of my mother.

You need:
- 3 partridges
- 2 carrots - cut in big chunks
- 2 onions - cut in half moons
- 4 bay leaves
- 5 garlic cloves
- 80 ml olive oil
- 150 ml white wine
- 50 ml water
- 2 springs of thyme
- 10 black peppercorns

Put half of the olive oil in a frying pan. Salt the partridges and fry them in the olive oil for a few minutes on all sides (they should not get golden).

Take the partridges out. Add the rest of the oil and fry the onions for 5-6- minutes over medium heat until soft. Then add the garlic, carrot, thyme and peppercorns. Add the water and wine. Put back the partridges in the pan. Cover with a lid and let them bubble oven low heat for 35 minutes. Put the partridges, vegetables and sauce in a glass jar and let it rest for one or two days before eating them.

Before you serve the partridges just heat them a little (not too much) . In the summer you can also eat them cold with a salad.

PHILO APPLE PIE

This is one of the easiest recipes of this blog and also one of the most delicious ones. All you need is:
- philo pastry: 10 sheets
- 6 apples (the trick of this pie is to use cooking apples, so that they become really soft and creamy and you end up with a kind of apple compote encased in crispy buttery philo)
- 125 gr butter
- 4 tablespoons of brown sugar

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees.
Peel the apples and cut them into cubes. Heat 80g of butter in a pan, add the apples and the sugar and cook it all over medium heat for 8 minutes.
Melt the rest of the butter. Paint all the philo sheets with it and layer them over a round tin (the philo will be bigger than the tin which is fine, just keep overlapping the buttered philo sheets one over the other) Pour the apples over the philo. Cover the top of the apples with the excess philo tucking it all well so that you get a pie case. Paint it with some melted butter (see the picture) and just bake it for 20 minutes or until golden.

CHISTORRA

Chistorra is a great Spanish product. Similar to chorizo but thinner (because it was normally made with the tripes of lambs) It comes from the North of Spain and it is difficult to find it in the UK, but Brindisa is now selling it (as well as 'presa iberica' which is truly delicious iberico pork meat). All you need to do is to heat a pan (with no oil), cut the chistorra in 2 cms chuncks and fry it for 2-3 minutes until it is crispy on all sides. Just eat it with bread (crusty is best). Serve it as a snack or as an appetiser with drinks or on the side of fried eggs. It is always a success.