Kefta

Kefta or Kofte (depending on the country) is a very popular meatball in the Middle East. Its name means "hand" due to the elaboration process, which is very easy to prepare, as you will see.

Preparation time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy

 Ingredients: (for 3 persons)

500 grames ground beef
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
20 grames pine nuts (peeled, obviously)
Cayenne pepper
Paprika
Ground black pepper
Ground cumin
A pinch of ground cinnamon
2 tomatoes
Parsley
Olive oil
Salt

Preparation:

1. Cut 1/4 of the onion, the garlic cloves and the pine nuts in very little pieces (or even grated). You can use a mixer.

2. Put me mixture in a bowl with the ground beef and all the spices: Salt, 25 ml of olive oil, a pinch of cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon paprika, a pinch of ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, a pinch of ground cinnamon and parsley.

3. Mix it all with the hands until you get a homogeneus mixture.  Let it settle for 20 minutes.

4. Make little meatballs. If you want to make it more traditional, you can give it a long shape (like a sausage) and skewer them in a brochette. If you have enought time let them settle in the fridge for an hour, if not, don't worry, the kefta will be great anyway.

5. While the meatballs are in the fridge, put some olive oil in a pan, cut the rest of the onion and add it to the pan once the oil is hot.

6. When the onion is starting to get ready add the tomatoes (first, cut them in small squares) and a bit of water (the amount of water depends on how much sauce you want to do). Add some salt, a teaspoon of ground black pepper, a teaspoon of ground cumin, a teaspoon of paprika, stir it all and let it cook until the tomatoes are mushy.

7. Once the sauce is ready, add the meatballs and cook them until they get ready.

*As it is a dish from the Middle East I have prepared it with beef as it is usual there, but you can try it with other meats.

Enjoy it! يتمتع بها!

Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

I know this recipe thanks to a friends´ blog. It is a very easy and really tasty recipe. The best is that contrary to other recipes, in this case preparing the filling will take you just 15 minutes! I am sure you will like it!

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Very easy

Ingredients:

1 jar (260 grames) of whole Extra Piquillo peppers

For the filling: 

120 grames tuna, drained

250 grames Philadelphia Light

A pinch of black pepper

For the sauce:

200ml cooking cream

2-3 piquillo peppers

Grated emmental cheese

Salt 

Pepper

Preparation:

1. In a bowl, mix the draines tuna with the Philadelphia cheese and stir it until you get a homogeneous mixture. Add a pinch of black pepper to the mixture and stir it again.

2. Fill the Piquillo peppers with the mixture and place them on an baking sheet

3. For the sauce: Put in a mixer 2-3 piquillo peppers, the cooking cream and some salt and pepper. Mix it all until you get the sauce.

4. Pour the sauce over the peppers and sprinkle them with the grated emmental cheese.

5. Pre-heat the oven and cook the peppers to 200ºC for 10 minutes and then 5 minutes more turning the oven to “grill function” to gratiné the cheese.

Et voilà! Enjoy it!

Stuffed Aubergines

Today's recipe is easy to prepare and very tasty! 

I am going to prepare the stuffed aubergines without bechamel adding instead some mushrooms to the filling.

Preparation time: 1 hour

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients for 4 persons:

400 grames mince meat (pork and lamb)
2 aubergines
1 onion
1 green pepper
100gr mushrooms
1 can 100 gr fried tomato
100 gr grated cheese
Salt
Olive Oil
Black Pepper

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven 180 ºC

2. Wash the aubergines and cut them in half vertically. Make some deep cuts in the pulp without cutting the skin of the aubergine. Add a bit of salt and olive oil to each part.

3. Put some oven paper over the oven tray and place there the aubergines with the pulp down and cook them for 30 minutes.

4. Wash the mushrooms and cut them into pieces. Keep them back.

5. Cut the onion into little pieces. Put the onion in a pan with olive oil and add some salt. Cook it for 5 minutes.

6. Wash and cut the green pepper in little pieces. Add it to the pan with the onion and let it cook for another 5 minutes

7. Add the mushrooms to the pan and let it cook for 10 minutes more.

8. Once the vegetables are ready, take the mince meat, cut it a bit and add it to the pan. Add a bit of salt and move it all with a spatula until the meat gets nearly ready

9. When the aubergines are cooked take them out of the oven. Be careful not to burn your hand and remove all the pulp without breaking the skin of the aubergine.

10. Cut the pulp and add it to the pan.

11. Add the fried tomato sauce to the pan, add some black pepper and stir it all. Let it cook for 5 minutes. After a while taste it just in case you need to add more salt or pepper.

12. Once it’s ready we are going to put the aubergine’s skins over the oven tray and we are going to stuff them with the mixture.

13. Put the grated cheese over the aubergines and let them in the oven for 10 minutes to 180ºC (if the oven it is still hot you can turn down the temperature to 120ºC) During the last 4 minutes you can turn the oven to “grill function” to gratiné the cheese.

And they are ready! Enjoy the meal!

PS. This way of preparing the aubergines in the oven let their skin a bit dry. I recommend you not to eat the skin and use it just as a recipient.

Pisto Manchego. Recipe by Fer

Hello everyone! Ananas' dinner is back! I know, I know... I took a long break during the summer.. lol but now the blog is back with some new recipes.  

Today's recipe is Pisto Manchego, a typical Spanish recipe with its origins in Castilla La Mancha.

Difficulty: Easy

Preparation time: 50 minutes

                                                          Ingredients for 4 person:
 
1 can crushed tomatos
1 onion
2 green peppers
1 courgette
2 tablespoon  of salt
3 tablespoon of sugar
Olive Oil

                                                                   Preparation:

1. Put some olive oil in a pot and heat it in a mid heat.

2. Cut the onion into little pieces and add it to the pot. Stir the onion from time to time until it gets nearly done.

3. Add the crushed tomato, salt and sugar, stir it all and let it cook over a low heat.

4. Wash the courgette, don't peel it, cut it into little pieces and the green peppers too, and add them to the pot, stir it all to mix it .

5. Stir it from time to time and let it cook over a low heat until it gets cooked.

Now it's ready! Don't forget to serve it with some bread or with a fried egg, as you prefer! ;)

Enjoy it! 

 Picture by: Fer

Salad with pesto, avocado and gula

Summer is comming and salads are a good option for a nice meal.
Today I am going to explain how to prepare an easy and very tasty salad!

Difficulty: Very easy
Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 bag mix Lettuce
1 packet Gula (It is a kind of surimi made from pieces of fish, shaped and textured to resemble a cheaper version of the very expensive baby eels)
1 Avocado
Kikos
Pesto

Preparation:

1. Put the gula in a hot pan with some pesto and stir it for 3-5 minutes.
2. Cut the avocado in small squares
3. Mix in a salad bowl: lettuce, avocado, gula and some kikos

And... that's all my friends! easy and really nice recipe. Enjoy it! :-)

Chicken with Tahini (sesame Paste)

Anana's dinner is celebrating its more than 1100 visits!
Today's recipe it's a new one I found on Pinterest. It looked really good so I decided to try it and... I really liked it! I hope you liked it too!

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

1 Chicken breast
1/2 Onion, minced
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon sesame paste
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 Tablespoon water
1/2 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoons and a half of rice vinegar
3 Green onions (spring onions), chopped
1/4 Cup peanuts, chopped
Some large outer lettuce leaves
Salt
Black pepper

Optional: (to improve the recipe)
1 Inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 Tablespoon peanut butter
2 Teaspoons chili garlic sauce (if you want it spicy and don't have chili garlic sauce, add a bit of cayenne pepper)
1/2 Can sliced water chestnuts, chopped

Preparation:

1. Cut the chicken and the onion into small pieces.

2. Heat a pan with some olive oil. Add chicken, onion, some salt and pepper, and cook it until chicken is nearly done.

3. Add the minced garlic (and ginger if you want), and continue cooking until the chicken is cooked..

4. Meanwhile, in a microwave bowl, combine sesame paste (1 Tablespoon), soy sauce (2 Tablespoons), water(1/2 Tablespoon), honey (1/2 Tablespoon), rice vinegar (1 Tablespoons and a half), and pepper (if possible, add peanut butter and chili garlic sauce). Put it into the microwave for 20 seconds, then stir it until it gets smooth. Add it into the pan and stir to combine.

5. Add the three green onions chopped (and water chestnuts if possible) into the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes until the onions are soft and the water chestnuts are heated through.

6. Once it is done add some chopped peanuts, and serve with cold lettuce leaves

7. Put the chicken mixture on a lettuce leaf and roll it like a taco!

Enjoy it! ;)

 

Picture by: iowagirleats.com

Tomato stuffed with Babaganoush (aubergine paté)

Today's recipe: Babaganoush or aubergine mousse paté,  is a tipical dishs from the Eastern countries.
It is very similar to hummus but the taste is completely different. 

You can eat it just with bread or with tomato as we are going to explain in the recipe.

Difficulty: Easy

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Aubergines

6 small tomatos

The juice of half a lemon

1/2 teaspoon of Comin

1 Garlic clove

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon Tahini (sesame paste) or sesame

Olive Oil

Some Bread

Optional:

Tuna (1 can = 50gr)

Preparation:

To prepare the Babaganoush:

1. Preheat the oven 200 ºC

2. Wash the aubergines and cut them in half vertically. Make some deep cuts in the pulp without cutting the skin of the aubergine.

3. Put some oven paper over the oven tray and place there the aubergines with the pulp down and cook them for 30 minutes.

4. When the aubergines are cooked remove the pulp and put it in a mixer with the salt, black pepper, cumin, (and tuna if you want)

5. Mix it all until you get the paté

6. Let it get cold for 1hour.

7. Before serve:

- You can serve it with some toasted bread or with "pan tumaca" (bread with tomato) and a bit of olive oil.
 

- Another option is to fill in some small tomatos removing the pulp of the tomatos and stuff them with the Babaganoush.

In both cases I recomend you to put some olive oil on top and spread a bit of paprika above the tomato or the bred with paté

Enjoy it!