ANGELINES' CROQUETAS (CROQUETTE)

Para ver esta receta en castellano, pulse aquí: LAS RECETAS DE ANGELINES

Hi!

Today we are going to show you how to make spanish croquetas, but even better the Angelines' croquetas! We are pretty lucky to enjoy them when she prepares them for us. Maybe you think it is hard work to prepare them, but you can see how easy the process is. Now, you don´t have to wait to go to spain, or to go to a restaurant, you can prepare them at home! You just need a bit of practice...

- 3 tablespoons of flour

- Jamón serrano, ham, cod, chicken, cheese, turkey, spinach... (you can choose your favourite)
- 3/4 of a cup of meat stock

- Olive oil

- Salt
- Milk
- 1 tablespoon of butter or margarine 
- 1/4 of an onion
- 2 cheese wedges 
- Egg
- Breadcrumb
- Flour

- Chop the onion finely,

- Warm the milk, but do not boil it.

- Prepare a plate with flour on it.

- Prepare a plate with breadcrumbs on it.

- Cut finely the 3 slices of ham, better from the butcher.

First.  In a deep pot, place olive oil and the onion that we cut before. Cook the onion, until it looks gold, then add the butter.

Second. Today we are doing the ham croquetas, so place it inside of the pot with the 2 cheese wedges. Move it until looks like a mixture.

Third.  Add the flour and move it, until it has a some colour.

Fourth.  Add the milk, depends of the creaminess that you want you should add more or less. If you add too much, it will be liquidy and  complicated to make the croquetas. If we add not enough, the paste will be too dense and will be hard to eat them. That is the hardest part of the recipe, you need some experience to prepare them in the right way.

Fifth.  Add 3/4 of a cup of meat stock, and move again the mixture until it is perfectly cooked. The trick to know when it is done, the mixture will start to pop.

Sixth.  Take the pot out of the heat, and we mix the mixture with a blender, if you don't want to feel some clumps in it. Taste it and add salt if needed. 

Seventh.  Place the mixture on a dish and let it cool, at least for an hour and a half, until it is mild and you can manipulate it to do the croquetas. 

Eighth.  Whip at least one egg on a plate. 

Ninth.  To make the croquetas, you also need a bit of experience, pick a bit of mixture with a tablespoon, place them on the plate with flour (be careful not to put so much flour, if not they will dry). With the hand make the form, and place it first on the place with egg, and then on the one with breadcrumbs. 

Tenth.  In a pan, place a bit of oil, and fry them. Move them, so they will have a uniform colour. 

And..... They should look like that! 

And try to eat them when they are still warm! Enjoy them!

Cheers,

Arantza

Note:

- If you are not going to eat them the same day, you can freeze them in a tupperware after the step eight. It is worth it to make more, so you have for some days.

SPANISH POTATO OMELETTE (OMELETE)

Para ver esta receta en castellano, pulse aquí: LAS RECETAS DE ANGELINES

Hi:

Without a doubt Paella and potato omelette or omelet are the most known spanish dishes! Everyone has it own way to prepare it, with or without onion, a bit runny or well done, thinner or thicker... Here is our way, and of course the best one! You are indeed lucky, because we already showed you the way of preparing paella, so you can know how to prepare the most traditional spanish dishes!

We hope you like the potato omelette!

   (for 4 people):

- 3 medium potatoes

- 4 eggs
- 1/4 onion (optional)
- Oil (cooking olive oil or vegetable oil, because you need quite a bit)
- Salt
- Cayenne pepper (optional)

Option 1 -  WITH onion

- Chop finely about 1/4 of the onion.

- Peal and chop the potatoes in small pieces. We recommend first to cut lengthwise and then chop it in horizontal. 

Option 2 -WITHOUT onion

- Peal and chop the potatoes in small pieces. We recommend first to cut lengthwise and then chop it in horizontal.

- Please go directly to step 2.

First. In a pan place the oil, then add the onion, salt and cayenne pepper. Cook it medium heat, we don´t want to burn it.

Second. When the onion is soft, but still white, place the potatoes, keep it at medium heat.

Third. Move the potatoes and onion, and when they become softer, try to melt the potatoes with a wooden spoon. The process depends on the kind of potato, but should take about 15 min. They should look like the picture below, before adding the eggs. 

Fourth. While the potatoes are cooking, place 4 eggs in a bowl, beat them an add salt to taste. Don´t add to much salt because we already add some to the onion.

Fifth. Add the potatoes to the eggs, be careful and try to drain as much oil as possible from the potatoes before adding them to the eggs. Move until it is an uniform mixture. 

Sixth. Take the oil from the pan, let just a tablespoon of it. Don't trow it away, we will need the oil later. Wait until the oil is hot, on high heat, and place the mixture in the pan.

Seventh. Cook it for about 15 seconds, and turn it over. For that you are going to need a flat lid, see picture, if not you also can use a flat plate, bigger than the omelette. The procedure is to hold the lid with the left hand and the pan with the right, and turn it over using the lid. The omelette stays on the lid, don't worry if some liquid drips, you need some experience.

Eight. Add again just a bit of oil, and place the other side of the omelette to cook. Let it run carefully from the lid, use a wooden spoon to help. Cook it for 20 seconds.

Should looks like the picture!

Don't worry if the first time doesn't look perfect, keep trying!

Enjoy it!

Esteban

Notes:
-  If somebody doesn't like spicy food, don't use the cayenne pepper.
- You also can try and add other elements inside of the tortilla, like red or green capsicum, add them in the second step.
- We normally use piquillo capsicums or roast capsicums as side dish.

CRAYFISH IN TOMATO SAUCE (SPICY)

Para ver esta receta en castellano, pulse aquí: LAS RECETAS DE ANGELINES

An amazing dish from the spanish traditional kitchen!  The preparation is really fast, it looks really good on the plate and it is even possible to freeze it, so you can prepare a greater amount and have it for several days. 

   (for 3 people):

- 500 grs. of Crayfish

- fried tomato sauce

- 1/2 onion

- 1 clove of garlic

- 1 cayenne pepper

- White wine

- Olive Oil

- Salt

- Typically, the crayfish are sold already cooked, but if you buy them alive, don´t forget to clean them (remove the backbone, by tearing gently from the central fin) and cook them for 10 minutes. First you place them in cold water with sea salt and start the timer when the water begins to boil. 

- If you buy them already cooked, rinse them with salted water to clean them.

First.  Place the olive oil in a pan and gently fry the onion, the clove of garlic and the cayenne pepper. The onion doesn't have to be gold, just soft. Also add some salt. 

Second. Remove the cayenne pepper and save it.

Third.  Mixed the onion and the garlic with the mixer.

Fourth.  Place the crayfish in a pot, preferably one with a larger diameter, because it looks nicer. Add some olive oil and fry them for a couple of minutes. Add the white wine and also cook it for another 2 minutes. Then spread the mixture of onion and garlic evenly on top of the crayfish. Add the cayenne pepper and cook it on high heat for about 3 minutes. 

Fifth.  I also add a couple spoons of fried tomato sauce (if you prefer to add more to give an intense red colour it is up to you) and a bit of water to help thin the sauce. Cook it for 6 minutes, medium heat. Move the pan a bit to help mix the sauce.

And that's it!! Enjoy the meal and try not to get yourself too dirty.

Cheers,

Esteban

Note:
- The meals with sauce taste better the next day!

CHICKPEA AND CABBAGE STEW

Para ver esta receta en castellano, pulse aquí: LAS RECETAS DE ANGELINES

Winter is a time of the year where you feel like to cook this kind of dishes. Well, i have to confes to you that i also like to cook them even in summer... AS you are going to see, we present you a complet meal, cause in one time you have a 3 course meal. Although you could think if a dificult one, becuse the amount of ingredients, i promise you that is easy to prepare. 

  (for 4 people)

- 4 small cups (aprox. 100 ml each) of chickpeas

- 500 grs. of beef shank

- 1 ó 2 beef bones (the best, knee)

- half cabbage

- 1 piece of Chorizo

- 3 rosted cupsicums/peppers in oil.

- 2 leeks

- 1 carrot

- 1 potatoe

- 1 onion

- 4 cloves of garlic

- 1 cube of beef stock

- 3 tablespoons of passiert tomato or tomato puree

- noodles for soup

- Olive oil

- Salt

- If you are going to prepare it in the morning, place the chickpeas in a bowl with water. 

- Read the complete recipe first, because although the chickpeas, soup and meat have to been prepare sequentially, the cabbage can be prepared in parallel.

First. Place in the pressure cooker the shank. Cover it in water, about 3 cm. above the meat. Cook it about 12 minutes (depends as always in which type of pressure cooker you have) until the meat. If you realize that is not enough cook, close again the cooker and let it cooks for a bit longer. 

Second. After the time, open the cooker, carefully because it is too hot, and add the chickpeas (previously dried), bones, leeks, carrot , chorizo, potatoe (peeled and cut), not peeled cloves, cube of beef stock, 2 tablespoons of oil and the salt. Close again the cooker and cook it for about 15 minutes. Open it again, and take out the bones (and throw them away). Take also the meat out and keep it for later. Strain the broth and also reserve it for later (one ladleful of broth should be use later to prepare the meat). And the chickpeas are prepared!.

Third. In a pot, place the broth from the previous step until boil and add the noodles to taste and cook it 10 min. Also add salt if necessary. and... the soup is also prepared! 

Fourth. In a frying pan add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the cut onion. Let it cooks until you could feel it soft, a bit gold but not burnt. Place the meat, previously cut and the cupsicums in strips.  Cook the meat for a couple of minutes and then add the 3 tablespoons of the passiert tomato, and the broth from the second step. Cook it again for 5 minutes and... we also have the meat prepared!.

Fifth.  Clean the cabbage, cut it in small pieces and placed in a bowl with water to hydrate it. Put in the pressure cooker water and salt to taste. When the water is boiling, add the cabbage and a half of a sliced cut leek and let it cooks for about 8 minutes (depending on your cooker). When it is done, put a frying pan with a 2 tablepoons of oilive oil and 2 peeled and crushed cloves of garlic and fry lightly. And also we have the cabbage prepared!

Sixth.  Serve, the noodle soup as a first course, the chickpeas with cabbage as a second, and the meat with capsicums as a third course. 

Home made, filling, complete and really yummy, what else can you ask for?


Cheers,

Virginia

BEEF STEW WITH POTATOES (RAGOUT)

Para ver esta receta en castellano, pulse aquí: LAS RECETAS DE ANGELINES

As i´ve told you, Angelines is a really good cooker. I thought that already tried all of her recipes, but at Easter time, she surprised me with a easy and tasty recipe (using the pressure cooker), a beef stew! 

   (for 4 people):

- 3 Potatoes, not too big.

- 1 Onion (We will the half of it)

- 1 Carrot

- 1 green capsicum / pepper 

- 1 red capsicum / pepper 

- 500 gr. of beef for stew (rib roast)

- 1 glass of white wine (aprox. 100 ml.)

- 1 cube od beef stock 

- 1 tin of mushrooms (or 300 gr. of fresh ones) 
- 1 tin of artichoke

- 1 small tin of peas

- Olive oil

- Water

- Salt

- Black pepper

- Chop the onion, and the capsicums. 

- Chop also the beef (for example, in Germany, you could find the meat already cut), in small cubes, aprox. 4cm.

- Cut the garlic.

- Peal and cut the potatoes.

First.  In the pressure cooker place 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and fry lightly the choped oinion and capsicums. 

Second. Then add the beef (salt and pepper to taste), and cook it until is gently fried, cause on that depends that the sauce becomes darker colour.  

Thirth.  Once the meat is cook how we wanted, add the white wine and the beef stock. Let that cook for 2 min. and close the lid. Let it cooling for about 20 min. The cooking time depends on the pressure cooker, if when you open it, the meat is still hard, you should close it a let a bit still cooking. 

Fourth.  Open the cooker and add the mushrooms, peas and potatoes. Close the lid again and let cook for 4 min. (for example, my pressure cooker needs 7 min.)

Fifth.  Open again the lid and place the artichokes, if they are from a tin or froozen, you should cook the with the mixture for 5 min (lid open). But if thea are already cooked, or in oil, you should also warm them the the mixture (about 2 min). 

and... that´s it ! it should looks like that:

 Cheers,

Allende

Notes:
-I really like the artichokes in oil.
-If the sauce is too fluid, you could mixt a half of a tablespoon of flour with a bit of cold water and add it, into the pot.