MariRecipes

Moroccan Cous cous with Vegetables and Grilled Chicken Breast

MariRecipes — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:06:07 +0000

The cous cous is originated in Maghreb and nowadays it’s very apreciated in the international cookery, easy and fast to prepare and it’s great with vegetables, meat or fish. My father is an expert in preparing it and as he always says you can use almost whatever vegetables you have in the kitchen, according to your personal taste (you can use red and/or yellow pepper, yellow courgettes, eggplants, onions…you decide!). For this recipe I use the pre cooked cous cous (from semola di grano duro). Serves 4 to 6 persons.

. 1 cup of pre cooked cous cous

. 1 cup of boiling water with 1 teaspoon of salt

. extra virgin olive oil

. 2 greeen courgettes grated in the large grater

. 1 carrot grated

. 1 clove of garlic minced

. mint leaves

. 1 chicken breast marinated with 1 glass of white wine, salt, pepper, thyme and origano.

In a glass bowl pour the pre cooked cous cous and add 1/3 of the boiling water at a time. Mix well and “husk” with a fork until all the water has been absorbed. Let it stand for 7 minutes and in the meanwhile heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a non stick pan and add the garlic until golden. Add the carrot, cook for 5 minutes. Add the courgettes, salt, cook for another 5 minutes and take it off the heat. Add the vegetables to the prepared cous cous and mix well. Allow to set for a while and add the mint “crumbled” with your hands.

At this moment heat a pan (add a little quantity of butter if you want with some sage leaves) and grill the chicken breast until golden. At this point take it from the pan, cut into slices and return them to the pan. Add the wine of the marinata if you want, and allow it to evaporate completely. When it’s done add the slices of chicken to the cous cous that you have divided into the plates, to serve. It’s tasty, light and very nutritive at the same time. You can enjoy it in the summer or in winter…

Spaghettini with Shrimps, Courgettes and Tomatoes

MariRecipes — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:46:01 +0000

I love spaghetti and when they are accompanied with sea-food even more! this is a perfect combination…and very tasty also! for fours:

. 400 g of spaghettini (kind of thin spaghetti very used with sea-food)

. 300 g of shrimps

. 2 medium green cougettes grated with the large grater

. 4 tomatoes peeled off without seeds and diced

. 1 clove of garlic chopped

. a small quantity of peperoncino pepper chopped

. chopped parsley

. extra virgin olive oil

. salt

First of all bring to boil water in a large pan to cook the spaghettini. In a non stick wok heat 2 tbsp of olive oil and golden the garlic. Add the peperoncino if you are decided to get a hotty flavour. Add the grated courgettes, mix well and cook for 2 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes and salt and cook for another 2 minutes. At this point add the shrimps and cook in medium to high heat for 5 minutes (don’t overcook, as you will loose all the texture and flavour of the shrimps). Take the wok from the heat and add a little quantity of extra virgin olive oil and the chopped parsley. At this point you must have the spaghettini cooked “al dente” (generally 5 to 6 minutes of cooking). Add the spaghettini to the prepared sauce and mix very well. Divide into 4 plates and add more parsley if you like…delicious!

Gnocchi with courgettes, cherry tomatoes and tuna fish

MariRecipes — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 12:36:07 +0000

This is an easy and fast making summer dish, low cost, to eat at the sea…for 4:

. 320 g of dried gnocchi (Barilla has packages of 500g)

. 4 fresh green cougettes grated (with the large grater)

. 20 cherry tomatoes cut in halves

. 2 small cans of tuna fish without the oil (at about 140g)

. 2 cloves of garlic chopped

. olive oil

. fresh parsley and basil

In a large pan boil the water to cook the pasta. Meanwhile in a wok pan heat 1 tbsp of olive oil, allow the garlic to cook until golden and add the grated courgettes. Cook for 2 minutes, add the cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper and allow to cook for other 5 minutes. (the courgettes must remain a little crunchy). Turn off the heat add the chopped parsley and basil, the tuna fish into small pieces and a small quantity of extra virgin olive oil. When the pasta is cooked according to the package directions (at about 11 minutes) add it to the sauce and mix well. Divide into four plates and serve!

Frayed Codfish with Cherry Tomatoes and Black Olives

MariRecipes — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:46:23 +0000

This is a plate you can serve as an hors d’ouvre or as a unique plate with boiled nouvelle potatoes, seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, salt, ground pepper and chopped parsley…

. 1 portion of dissalated and frayed codfish

. 2 cloves of garlic chopped

. extra virgin olive oil

. ground pepper

. 200 g of cherry tomatoes

. 3 tbsp of stoned black olives

. spanish “colorau” if you have it (it’s a kind of paprika)

As always you must dissalate the codfish for 72 hours. Afterwards fray it with your hands. Add the chopped garlic, the entire cherry tomatoes, the olives and season with salt (if necessary, it’s better taste first…), pepper, olive oil, the colorau if you have it by hand…Mix well and let it stand for one hour before serving…it’s very tasty also if served with “casareccio” bread and olive oil…:))

Homemade Baguettes

MariRecipes — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:44:25 +0000

I came to know this recipe in a internet short movie from Julia Child with a french boulangère. I’ve tried to do it with satisfatory results…I give you the recipe and also some changings I’ve done according to our taste…

. 600 g of wheat flour (I used 300 g of all purpose wheat flour and 300 g of semola)

. 15 g of fresh bread yeast

. 1 teaspoon of sugar (not present in the original recipe)

. 2 teaspoons of salt

. 1 tbsp of olive oil (not present in the original recipe)

. 300 ml of warm water (you may or may not use all the water, you have to observe the mixture and also the climate humidity)

On the table pour the wheat flour and make a “hole” in the middle. Pour a little quantity of water, the yeast and the sugar. Let it set for 15 minutes until starts to rise. Afterwards add a little quantity at a time of water, the salt solved in the water, the oil until incorporating all the flour. Continue to mix and “bang” the mix against the table until it’s smooth and elastic. (the boulangère said you must do it at about 800 times…I’ve lost the count when I was banging it for the 50th time…but the mix raised well). Let the mix set for 15 minutes uncovered and then covered it with a cotton table cloth for 1h and half in a warm place. (if it’s too cold I turn on the oven to 60°, TURN IT OFF and let the mix set in it, always covered)

After this 1h and half you must do the baguettes (they must have 350g each, so they will bake all well ), covered them again with the table cloth and allow to set another hour.

Afterwards you must do diagonal cuts on the baguettes, brush it with water and bake them in the pre heated oven (180°C) for 30 minutes until golden. Let them cool down for 20 minutes before eating…

Zucchini and Saffron Risotto

MariRecipes — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:03:35 +0000

As the World Cup Championship starts tomorrow for the Brazilian team I decided to make this risotto to pay homage to them (or to the South African team or the Australian’s as it’s all green and yellow like their national flag…

. 3 medium green zucchini (courgettes) diced into cubes of 1,5 cm

. 1 clove of garlic chopped

. 320 g of vialone nano rice for risotto

. saffron (about 0,130 g )

. vegetable stock (see pumpkin and zucchine risotto)

. grated parmigiano or grana padano

. 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Heat the vegetable stock. In a non stick pan heat the olive oil and cook the garlic until golden. Add the zucchini, mix well to flavour and add the rice, toasting it for 1 minute. Add a little quantity of stock each time and mix always and well. After 10 minutes, add salt, ground pepper and the saffron, dissolved in a small quantity of boiling stock. Continue to mix until the ultimate cooking (note that the rice must be “al dente”). Turn off the heat and add the grated parmigiano. Divide into 4 plates and add more grated parmigiano. I hope it will bring fortune to the brazilian team!!!

Beef Stew with Creamy Polenta

MariRecipes — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:32:05 +0000

This is a very traditional dish, delicious and particullarly suitable for winter nights…

. 1 kg of beef chopped into cubes (neither big, nor small ones)

. 400 g of peeled tomatoes

. 1 laurel leaf

. leaflets of thyme

. 1 onion finelly chopped

. 1 clove of garlic chopped

. 1 small carrot finelly chopped

. salt

. ground pepper or red pepper

. 6 juniper berries

. olive oil

Heat some olive oil in a great pan. Fry the meat, until golden all parts. Take the meat off the pan and add some olive oil if necessary. Fry the onion until it becomes transparent with the chopped garlic. Add the carrot, the juniper berries and the meat. Mix well, add the tomatoes, a small quantity of warm water, the laurel leaf, the thyme, salt, pepper put on the lid and allow to cook in very low heat for 1 hour and a half or 2 hours. The beef will become very tender….When the stew beef is almost done you can prepare the creamy polenta:

. 1 l of water

. 1 teaspoon of coarse salt

. 1 cup of polenta (I use the fast preparing one, that cooks in 5-8 minutes)

. 1 tbsp of olive oil

. 4 tbsp of grated parmigiano or grana padano

In a small pan bring the water to boil. When it starts boilling, add the coarse salt and let the polenta fall like rain, mixing well and continuously with a wooden spoon, until it’s cooked. Turn off the heat, add the oil, mix well and add the grated cheese. Serve with more grated parmigiano with the beef stew just prepared….

Egg Plant and Black Olives Hors d’ouvre

MariRecipes — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:35:39 +0000

You can prepare this starter in advance and it matchs very well with grilled meat.

. 3 firm egg plants cut into slices strewed with salt and let rest for 30 minutes in a colander. Afterwards wash the egg plants, let them dry and cut into sticks or little triangles.

. 1 onion (white or red one) cut into slices

. 3 cloves of garlic unpeeled (you will throw them away in the end of the cooking time)

. 4 tbsp of black olives unstoned cut into slices

. salt, black pepper

. fresh thyme and oregano

. 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar

. 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

In a big bowl mix the egg plants, the onion, garlic, olives, salt, pepper, herbs, vinegar and olive oil. Mix with a spoon until very well mixed. Pour this mixture into a non sticking baking tin and bake in the pre heated oven (180°C) for 1 hour, mixing a little every 20 minutes, until the egg plants are cooked and “dry”. Serve with “crostine” of heated bread or with grilled meat.

Joaquina’s Codfish

MariRecipes — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:27:17 +0000

This is probably my prefered codfish dish… It’ s a great speciality from my mother who used to have great success when prepared it and certainly the ones who have tasted it have never forgotten it…it’s very delicate and savoury…(for 4)

. 4 cuttings of codfish of 150 g (600 g for all) disalated for 72 hours and skinned off

. 2 small white onions finely sliced

. 3 cloves of garlic (whole to be taken out afterwards or sliced if you like it)

. 4 tomatoes peeled off without seeds cut into cubes

. olive oil

. 4 to 8 anchovies (you must choose according to your personal taste)

. chopped parsley

. grated parmesan or grana padano cheese

- for the bechamel sauce:

. 30 g of wheat flour

. 30 g of butter

. 400 ml of heated milk

. 200 ml of fresh cream

In a pan heat 3 tbsp of olive oil, add the garlic and the onions, cook until the onions are “transparent”. Then add the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Add a small quantity of salt and set aside.

Prepare the bechamel sauce: heat the butter in a non stick pan, add the flour cook for some minutes and add the heated milk. Cook until thickens. Add the fresh cream and cook for other 2 minutes. Add salt, pepper (if you like it) and some grated nutmeg.

In a baking pan strew the onions and tomatoes sauce, lay down the cuttings of codfish, put over them 1 or 2 anchovies and cover with the bechamel sauce and some grated parmesan. Bake in the pre heated oven (180°C) for 1 hour and a half (control the baking time, it could be cooked with just one hour, depending on the oven). Serve with basmati rice (or venere rice) covered with the cream that has been formed during the baking and some chopped parsley. Unforgettable!!!

Rigatoni in Tomatoes, Leek and Codfish sauce

MariRecipes — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:20:49 +0000

This is a fast preparing recipe and I think that the taste of leek is great with the codfish and tomatoes….(for 4)

. 320 to 400 g of rigatoni pasta

. 2 leeks (only the white part) sliced

. 6 peeled of tomatoes without seeds cut into cubes

. 150 g of codfish desalated and unweaved

. 1 clove of garlic

. olive oil

Take to boil a large pan with water. Meanwhile prepare the sauce: in a non stick pan heat 2 tbsp of olive oil and make the clove of garlic golden. Take the garlic off the pan and add the sliced leek in a low heat temperature until it gets “transparent”. Add the unweaved codfish and mix well. Add the sliced tomatoes and cook for at about 15 minutes until the tomatoes are almost dissolved. Taste and if necessary add some salt.

In the meanwhile cook the pasta according to the instructions in the package. Switch off the heat of the sauce, add a small quantity of olive oil and when the pasta is cooked add it to the sauce, mixing for some minutes vigorously. Serve immediately strewed with minced parsley.