meet dodek

As I mentioned previously my parents came here, not only for Easter but also to help me with makeovers in the kitchen, so that is why I haven't posted for such a long time.

Chris was helping a lot with all the plates that we wanted to prepare. We had only one day, so we baked for example this crust pie - mazurek, typical polish Easter sweet with poppy seed and homemade orange jam that was waiting in a jar. Oranges in Spain are so delicious that not adding them would be a sin ;) I try to prepare as much as it is possible beforehand to enjoy the time with the family.

My parents came to Spain before Easter and we made a round trip reaching cities like Toledo, Cuenca and Baeza. We not only visited monuments, but also participated in processions and of course we were tasting regional dishes. In Toledo, in the San Antonio de Padua convent we bought toledanas - cookies that look like dumplings, but have a different taste. They are baked, sweet, crispy biscuits with stuffing. If you want to try it I enclose a  recipe in Spanish.

On the way back in Baeza we bought cazuelas, a typical dish to eat during the Semana Santa (holly week). It's made from chickpeas, beans, eggplant, pumpkin, tomatoes with sweet spices like cinnamon and has an interesting taste and I liked a lot :) I enclose a  recipe in Spanish.

Would you like to try any of them? Recipes are only in spanish, but in the future I'd like to try them at home and if you want I will translate them.

I like fresh local products. Beef in Spain is of high quality, so it's enough to add the seasonal vegetables and olives to make the dish really tasty.

Beef stew on a red wine with eggplants, zucchinis and olives to emphasise the taste. Do you like stew? Because I like it a lot :)

At the end a more picturesque than advertising photo, with a bokeh effect. Which one do you like the most?

I think I like using my imagination and not seeing too many details, maybe it is because of the astigmatism ;)

Do you know that a coconut has eyes? It has a face. To open it without tools like a drill or a saw you need to get to know it better :)

I'll give you some hints. To open a coconut you will have to look at it more carefully and you will see two similar dots - these are eyes and  the other one  is a bit odd shaped - mouth. Take a knife, open it's mouth and get the water. Now it's gonna bit a bit harder. If you split the eyes and follow it straight up the back, you will see a hard ridge line. Stop right in the centre and start hitting. In my case I had to use a lot of power ;) Maybe I didn't get in with my coconut ;) When I improve my technique I'll let you know.

Salmon sprinkled with orange juice instead of lemon one garnished with parsley.