One of My favorite Recipes- Pan-Seared Cod Over Vegetable Ragout

Like most foodies I like my comfort food during the cold winter months like Stews, Chili’s and Meaty Soups and I bring out the fish and salads during the hot months but it’s been awhile since I’ve had fish and since I saw my favorite fish Cod, nice big thick pieces of it at the store I had to make something with it.  After doing a little research on Cooking Light’s site I found the perfect dish for my Cod.   I can’t get over how tasty the Spinach, Tomatoes, Leeks and Mushrooms tasted under the Cod and I guess I cooked that Cod to perfection because it melted in my mouth like butter. It blended in so perfectly with the vegetables as I scooped it all up together on my fork.    This is yet another Cooking Light recipe with only 287 calories!  I’m adding this dish to my rotation as this is one of my favorites to make- quick, easy and tasty.  This is the perfect dish to make if your dieting and trying to cut carbs out of your diet or like me just wanting to work the vegetables into your diet. Which by the way the Prosciutto adds really nice flavor to the Spinach, so don’t improvise or skip it. If you’re looking for a nice winter dish to make using Cod- I also made yesterday a repeat recipe Fish Stew  that I love- check it out.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 1/2 cup diced prosciutto (about 2 ounces)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps (about 10 ounces)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped leek
• 3 cups diced plum tomato (about 1 pound)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (10-ounce) package fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup torn fresh basil leaves
• 4 (6-ounce) cod or other firm white fish fillets (1 inch thick)
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Preparation

1. Heat 1/2 teaspoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over low heat. Add the prosciutto; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in garlic; remove from pan. Set aside.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and leek; sauté 8 minutes. Stir in tomato, salt, and pepper. Gradually add the spinach to pan, and stir until spinach is wilted (about 3 minutes). Stir in the prosciutto mixture and basil. Remove from pan; cover and keep warm.
3. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in pan over medium-high heat. Dredge fillets in flour. Add fillets to pan; sauté 3 minutes on each side. Cover and cook 2 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Divide spinach mixture among 4 plates; top with fillets.

Victoria Riccardi, Cooking Light
MAY 2000

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 287
• Calories from fat: 20%
• Fat: 6.4g
• Saturated fat: 1.2g
• Monounsaturated fat: 3g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 1.4g
• Protein: 39.1g
• Carbohydrate: 20g
• Fiber: 5.9g
• Cholesterol: 82mg
• Iron: 5.3mg
• Sodium: 525mg
• Calcium: 146mg

3Twenty Wine Lounge in Los Angeles

So after the Lakers took a terrible loss to the Clippers my depressed mood needed a pick me up and we made our way down to 3Twenty Wine Lounge in Los Angeles.  We called in advance to let them know we were heading over after the Laker game and we arrived just before they closed their kitchen at 11pm.  They made sure we put our order in and they gave us a complimentary wine tasting with our meal which I thought was really nice of them.   This is a really nice place to come and do a little wine tasting with a group of friends or with your loved one.  I like places with dim lighting, it sets the mood for a nice romantic date or a nice atmosphere when you’re having wine with friends.  They serve Tapas style food here, so you order several dishes to share.  Great place, service, food, wine and there is out door seating as well.  I will be back again soon. (Don’t forget to click on the pictures for a better view)

2 Wine Tasting Machines both with different wines- all set up for you to do your own tastings of the variety of wines they have on display. You can also keep track of how much your spending during your tasting as it all goes on a card you hold on to and you go as many times as you like to the machines and it gets tacked on to your meal at the end. Pretty cool!

They gave us a Complimentary Wine Tasting of this really good wine-

The meat was nice and tender and melted on my tongue….I don’t like meat any other way, I highly recommend this dish.

Tender and cooked to perfection – The Scallops with Asparagus in a nice Olive Oil Pesto Sauce.

This next dish had interesting flavors- it was lamb meat with feta cheese and  mint over thinly cut fries with a salty finish.

Rosemary Chicken Panini With Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomatoes and how about some Fashion Chalet with your lunch

Hungry for lunch? Don’t know what to eat?  Yeah, lunch time really screws me up too, I never know what to eat as I like to keep my lunch meals really small because I invest my time on experimenting with creative dinners.  Well, I found a great sandwich recipe from Cooking Light and as I’m always looking for ways to sneak Spinach in my meals this was a great addition along with sun dried tomatoes and it works out perfectly without the meat as well as a nice veggie version.  If you’re interested in checking out other sandwich recipes I’ve tried before and loved than check out my Spicy Chicken Sandwich,  Mozarella Chicken Sandwich , Black Pepper Pulled Molasses Sandwich or my Prosciutto, Fontina and Fig Panini Sandwich Recipes, all of them are amazing and are repeat recipes.

Aside from being a huge fan of other fabulous food bloggers I’m also a fan of little miss fashion blogger “Fashion Chalet.”  She puts together really cute outfits and takes pictures of all her beautiful shoes, clothes and purses and makes the rest of us girls drool over her belongings.  Now,  I’m not someone that likes to shop, I use to love  putting the cutest trendy outfits together it was fun and creative but I now just buy what I need.  I’m a tom boy if you will and can live in my yoga pants and jeans but I still and will always have the biggest shoe fetish ever!  I’m always looking at people’s shoes,  it is an addiction of mine.  Thanks to Fashion Chalet my addiction will never go away….haha.  Fashion Chalet has some really awesome giveaways on her blog too and you must check out what she is giving away this week!!!  Yes, I want to win that Balenciaga purse because I know I would never ever spend $1500 dollars on a purse….never!  I rarely ever add purses to my collection just because if I don’t need it than why buy it but hey if I can win this really awesome purse I’d probably be carrying it around with me for many years before my next purchase…lol

click here and check her blog out now!   and make this sandwich to enjoy while your reading her blog.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 4 (4-ounce) chicken cutlets
• 1/4 cup chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomato
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
• 3/8 teaspoon salt, divided
• Cooking spray
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 (1-ounce) slices country-style Italian bread
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded fresh mozzarella cheese

Preparation

1. 1. Combine 2 teaspoons olive oil, rosemary, and chicken in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes.
2. 2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining 4 teaspoons oil to pan. Add sun-dried tomato, red pepper, and garlic; sauté 1 minute or until garlic begins to brown. Add spinach; cook 1 minute or until spinach barely wilts. Stir in 1/8 teaspoon salt; set aside.
3. 3. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat; coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle chicken with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Cook chicken 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep pan on medium-high heat.
4. 4. Top each of 4 bread slices with 1 tablespoon cheese, 1 chicken cutlet, one quarter of spinach mixture, 1 additional tablespoon cheese, and remaining 4 bread slices.
5. 5. Recoat grill pan with cooking spray. Arrange 2 sandwiches in pan. Place a cast-iron or heavy skillet on top of sandwiches; press gently to flatten. Cook 4 minutes on each side (leave skillet on sandwiches while they cook). Repeat procedure with remaining 2 sandwiches. Cut each sandwich in half; serve immediately.

David Bonom, Cooking Light
JANUARY 2012

Recipe Time

Hands On: 40 Minutes
Total: 1 Hour, 10 Minutes

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 414
• Fat: 14.8g
• Saturated fat: 3.9g
• Monounsaturated fat: 6.3g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 2.1g
• Protein: 35.5g
• Carbohydrate: 33.6g
• Fiber: 3.1g
• Cholesterol: 77mg
• Iron: 4mg
• Sodium: 687mg
• Calcium: 114mg

Incredibly Tasty Chicken and Shrimp Paella

Since I’ve been back from Spain I’ve had this craving for Paella and I found such an incredible recipe that I’m adding it to the rotation.  This is not a dish that you can find in any Mexican Restaurant, as this is a Spaniards staple.  Luckily, Cooking Light came through yet again for me and I found this fantastic Chicken and Shrimp Paella dish with less calories and fat than what you would find in a restaurant, all the reason to be at home cooking it yourself right?  I loved all the flavors in this dish, the combination of rosemary, Safron and smoked paprika along with veggies that I never eat like Asparagus and peas.  Though I’m not a fan of peas I barely even noticed them in this dish and they’re so high in iron too.  My 4 year old daughter had two pieces of chicken from this dish!  Kid friendly!  I’ll be honest this was a good 3 hour cook and prep time.

Quick note: I cooked it slightly longer than indicated in the recipe in order to get the rice to a nice soft texture so definitely taste your rice before thinking it’s done.  I used my Iphone 4S for the pictures.

Ingredients

• 6 chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds), skinned
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 (4-ounce) link hot turkey Italian sausage
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked Arborio or Valencia rice
• 1/2 cup diced plum tomato
• 1 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 3/4 pound large shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• 1 cup (1-inch) diagonally cut asparagus
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Sprinkle chicken with rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove chicken from pan; cover and keep warm.
3. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring to crumble. Add onion and bell pepper; cook 7 minutes, stirring constantly. Add rice, tomato, paprika, saffron, and garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Return chicken to pan. Add broth and 1/4 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil. Wrap handle of pan with foil; cover pan. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes. Stir in shrimp, asparagus, and peas. Cover and bake an additional 5 minutes or until shrimp are done.

Note:Saffron, the exotic spice with a distinct, earthy flavor, gives this Spanish dish its characteristic yellow hue. It’s a bit soupy when first prepared but quickly absorbs the liquid.

Marie Simmons, Cooking Light
MARCH 2004

Amazing Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to try something new to add to the table of desserts at my Parents house this year so after having the Peanut Butter Cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory recently all I can think about is trying to mimic that amazing cheesecake.  I had to find something online that would at least resemble it’s goodness and I came across this recipe from Food.com.

This is my Peanut Butter Cheesecake Recipe in the making….using my new iphone 4S camera

Placing Cheesecake in a water bath and into the oven.

Adding Reese Peanut Butter Cups to my Cream Cheese Filling

Mixing blended Oreo’s with Blended Peanuts for the crust

We do Christmas Eve at my Parents house every year and  my parents have always made Christmas truly memorable for me and my sisters.   When we were little we often spent Christmas in Mexico with my Dad’s side of the family and it was so much fun seeing my cousins, we would play all day long and the house would smell of tamales, Champurado and Posole.  Christmas Eve we celebrate from my Mexican roots and Christmas day if we don’t’ have anything planned with anyone I usually do the traditional American food of Bourbon Glazed Ham.  My mom is of Irish and German decent and my husband from India, so I get the opportunity to experience different cultural ways not just during the Holidays but always.

So, the only thing that can make this Christmas Day sweet….is the Lakers wining the game today.

Champurado

Vegetarian Posole

Tamale

Ingredients:

 For The Crust

• 4 1/2 cups crushed Oreo cookies
• 1 cup chopped roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup butter , melted

For The Filling

• 2 lbs cream cheese , softened
• 5 eggs , at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter (not natural-style)
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12 Reese’s Peanut Butter cups , broken into small pieces

For The Topping

• 3 ounces sour cream
• 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. 1
   Please Note****Plan ahead–cheesecake needs to chill for at least 4 hours.
2. 2
   To Make The Crust:.
3. 3
   Combine crushed Oreo cookies and peanuts that have been ground in a food processor with the melted butter.
4. 4
   Pat the crust mixture onto bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan.
5. 5
   To Make The Filling:.
6. 6
   Beat cream cheese in bowl of electric mixer until smooth.
7. 7
   Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
8. 8
   Add sugar, peanut butter and cream; mix until smooth.
9. 9
   Stir in vanilla, then fold in peanut butter cup pieces with a rubber spatula.
10. 10
    Pour filling into prepared crust.
11. 11
    Place springform pan into a larger baking pan.
12. 12
    Pour hot water into the larger pan so that the water comes 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan.
13. 13
    Bake at 275°F 1-1/2 hours, or until firm and lightly browned.
14. 14
    For The Topping:.
15. 15
    Combine the sour cream and sugar and spread on the cheesecake.
16. 16
    Return the cake to the oven for 5 minutes.
17. 17
    Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for one hour.
18. 18
    You may run a knife along the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan somewhat.
19. 19
    Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Gingerbread Roll With Cinnamon Cream Cheese

Christmas is in 2 days….this Gingerbread Roll is a soft, sweet and fragrant  Holiday treat that you must bring to your table for Christmas.  :)

Okay, so this was my first attempt at making a Gingerbread Roll and it was a challenge for me.   The hard part was actually rolling the cake up,  I made several mistakes, one I used a shorter pan than I was suppose to, so the cake was a bit thicker making it harder to roll and I tried cutting the cake and that made it not look so pretty and 2nd I put too much cream cheese mixture on it making it even more difficult to roll it.  I wasn’t about to give up on it as this was a very lengthy process with several bowls and mixers going on to put this thing together in the first place.  I made myself a promise as I was preparing gift boxes of goodies for people that this was going to make it in those boxes especially since my other baking disaster with the cupcakes didn’t go over to well. I must say the flavors of the gingerbread and cream cheese combination was soft, sweet and it smelled so heavenly when I took it out of the oven.  It was in no way overpowering as I get when I eat gingerbread of any kind, this was the perfect combination of flavors and I highly recommend you to give it a go, just don’t make the mistakes I did and you should be fine.  This fabulous recipe came from Food and Wine December 2005 issue.

I have this notebook when I first took on the challenge of wanting to be an awesome baker of everything.   I cut out magazine recipes from different magazines and I pilled them in this notebook,  I’ve yet to conquer this book.   I spend more time skimming through it saying to myself, “Yep…that looks good but it would take me all day to make.”   No more procrastinating, I want to open a bakery some day so my New Year’s Resolution is to conquer this book and I will make several attempts at these recipes especially the ones that become disasters or mere saves. This recipe I pulled from this book, and yes it was difficult and yes I will be attempting it again with different flavors next time.  :)

Folding the Egg Whites into the Cake Batter Mixture

INGREDIENTS

1. 5 large eggs, separated
2. 1/2 cup molasses
3. 1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
4. 2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
5. 3/4 cup cake flour
6. 1 teaspoon baking powder
7. 1 teaspoon ground ginger
8. 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
9. 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10. 1/4 teaspoon salt
11. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
12. 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
13. 1 tablespoon cold water
14. 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
15. 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
16. 12 ounces crème fraîche
17. 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
18. 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
19. Two 4-inch cinnamon sticks
20. 8 whole cloves
21. 2 tablespoons dark rum
22. 2 tablespoons apple cider
23. Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
24. Toasted pecans and dried cranberries, for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Line a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks until pale, about 2 minutes. Add the molasses, 1/4 cup of the brown sugar and the fresh ginger and beat until combined. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, allspice, black pepper and salt. Beat the dry ingredients into the egg yolk mixture until combined.
2. In a clean bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar and beat until firm and glossy. Fold the egg whites into the batter until no streaks remain. Spread the batter onto the prepared baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned and firm to the touch. Transfer to a rack and let cool for 10 minutes.
3. Sprinkle the cake with the remaining 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Run the blade of a sharp knife around the edge of the pan. Cover the cake with a clean kitchen towel and top with a large cutting board. Holding the pan, towel and cutting board, invert the cake onto the cutting board. Remove the pan and carefully peel off the parchment paper. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let the gingerbread cool completely.
4. In a small microwave-safe bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water; let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Microwave at high power until the gelatin is melted, about 10 seconds. In a clean bowl, beat the cream cheese with the cinnamon and melted gelatin until smooth. In another bowl, whip the crème fraîche with the confectioners’ sugar until still. Fold the cream cheese into the crème fraîche.
5. Spread the filling evenly over the entire surface of the cake. Starting at a short end, roll up the cake jelly roll–style. Wrap the gingerbread roll tightly in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.
6. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the remaining 1/3 cup of brown sugar and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Add the cinnamon sticks and cloves. Whisk in the rum and cider and remove from the heat. Let the butter-rum sauce steep for 1 hour. Discard the cinnamon sticks and cloves.
7. Unwrap the gingerbread roll and transfer it to a plate; dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar. Cut into slices and bring to room temperature. Garnish the gingerbread roll with the pecans and cranberries and serve with the butter-rum sauce.

MAKE AHEAD The finished roll can be refrigerated overnight. The sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 days; reheat gently before serving.

Barcelona, Spain- Part 2

This is part 2 of our Barcelona, Spain trip  and I’ve got more to cover on Antoni Gaudi a magnificent architectural modernist with the most unique creations that is astounding as well as a trip to the Marcat which is a version of what we call here in America “Farmer’s Market” just 3 times better than what we got to offer.  Fresh Fish, Meats, Fruits, Chocolates, Nuts, Candies, Fruit Juices….just a great place to stock up on the goods for a great home cooked meal.  :)  I really wish we had this at home and only my pictures can tell you what great stuff they carry.  Beautiful City and so much to photograph that I literally started walking into things with my camera.

This is the name of the Market we took a couple of visits to while in Barcelona.

It’s all about the Jamon in Spain, so many different cuts and brands and I’m pretty sure we’ve tasted them all as this stuff is addicting. It’s sliced so thin and it’s so soft and moist in the olive oil.

Mmm…will have to do some importing of this stuff.

Animals before being cleaned and cut up… for sale.  :/ I had to cover my daughter’s eyes at the sight of this.  Here’s a good way to turn an American girl Vegetarian.  Those poor little bunny rabbits…..I’m always trying to feed the ones in my front yard carrots….

Salted Codd is also their thing and man is that fish so good.

Also known for their cheese, we had some incredible cheeses during our stay.

Chocolate

Candy Variations- all of different fruit flavors….really good.

I’m not use to seeing meat sold like this in America.  

Tapas Bars…Galore…

So….while roaming around Barcelona, I saw these people window shopping,  for a long time they stood there  just gazing into this window. I took a picture and decided  to go check out this window display….

oh yes….this will make any sweet tooth person stop for a moment of drool….

Those are really big cupcakes….right?  With all that whip cream..

Though we did not buy anything here…we did stop for a chocolate tasting at Vicens

…

We bought some Praline Marzipan

Street performers…my daughter loved this…and that’s her there in awe of it.

But…the Barcelona Cops didn’t care for it…so it was over quickly.

Another interesting name for a store….my friend posing in a happy pose for this shot…

So…on with more beautiful work of art from Gaudi…

This is located in Park Guell

This is all done from Rock, it’s gorgeous.

Isn’t it just beautiful?  I love Antoni Gaudi’s perception.

This the view of that church he started working on that I covered in my previous Barcelona post, was able to see it from the top of this park off in the distance.

Goodnight Barcelona……

Beef Daube Provencal with Roasted Red Potatoes

This dish slowed cooked for  5 hours and the  Cabernet Sauvignon , meat, onions, thyme, rosemary and garlic just brought a beautiful smell to my house. I got this really incredibly flavorful and tender meat recipe from Cooking Light.   I obtained the Roasted Red Potato Recipe from the Food Network and the rosemary is a really nice touch to these potatoes- I say go with fresh Rosemary if you have it on hand.  This is definitely a repeat recipe- I’m adding it in the rotation!   For the bread, I bought sliced sour dough from Albertsons because I love their fresh baked breads, definitely the best grocery store in my area.  What I did was added Extra Virgin Olive Oil- drizzled it on the bread slices- dash of salt and pepper and toasted it under the Broiler for 2 mins.  I scooped up the onions and tomatoes in this dish onto the bread slices and it made for a fantastic finish to my meal!  How I love to eat…. hehe  Also, I used  Catena Cab 2008 from Argentina for the wine in this dish and with this dish.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 12 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups chopped carrot
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup less-sodium beef broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• Dash of ground cloves
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups cooked medium egg noodles (about 4 cups uncooked noodles)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 300°.
2. Heat oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic; cook 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Add beef to pan; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, carrot, and next 8 ingredients (through bay leaf), and bring to a boil.
3. Cover and bake at 300° for 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve over noodles.
4. Note: To make in a slow cooker, prepare through Step 2. Place beef mixture in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours.

Lia Mack Huber, Cooking Light
NOVEMBER 2004

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 367
• Calories from fat: 31%
• Fat: 12.8g
• Saturated fat: 4.3g
• Monounsaturated fat: 5.8g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 0.9g
• Protein: 29.1g
• Carbohydrate: 33.4g
• Fiber: 3.9g
• Cholesterol: 105mg
• Iron: 4.3mg
• Sodium: 776mg
• Calcium: 76mg

Barcelona, Spain- Part 1- Architectural work by Gaudi And Tapas 24 Restaurant

Our final destination stop in Spain was Barcelona and though it was not my favorite city due to the amount of tourists it attracted, we still had a pleasant stay in the city.   It was definitely very crowded and reminded me of New York with how the crowds all flocked to the same places.   The food as usual was incredible and I enjoyed the farmer’s market and loved seeing the works of art from Antoni Gaudi.

I know this is a bad shot, but I wanted to give you an idea how crowded this city is with tourists and locals.  The one thing I really enjoyed while roaming the city streets was all the musicians playing their instruments at every corner.

This is really impressive, the work started on this Cathedral by Paula Del Villar in 1882.   One year later, the modernist architect Antoni Gaudí took over as lead architect at the age of 31. From that moment on, Gaudí devoted most of his life to the construction of the church.  He passed away and this Cathedral is still till this day being completed and is said that it will be completed in the next 20 years.

In this picture you can see where they have added on to Gaudi’s work

Click on these pictures so you can see all the detail put into his work

Everything depicted here is from Gaudi’s sketches.

Inside this magnificent Church

The ceiling-

Zoom in on Ceiling on next picture

Spiral Staircase, stain glass window

Gaudi is known for his work of art being very deep and somewhat disturbing as in this sculptured piece that is on the outside face of this Cathedral. A Man slaying children.

One of Gaudi Sketches and the front entrance to the Church as the following sculpture to his sketch

We also visited the house Gaudi designed for himself that is just really nice- this is a picture of the outside of it

I wish my pictures came out better as there are some more amazing rooms to this place that my camera did horribly because of the lack of light

Outside way top of his house

So…..onto the food part of this trip

We stopped for a bite to eat at Tapas 24 and it was simply delicious, every bite of everything was just not enough to go around that table of ours.

Eggplant cooked to perfection!

Damn this was good, I can almost taste it again…

Okay so we ordered two plates of this stuff…..there was just not enough to enjoy between the 4 of us.  Salted Chocolate sitting in EVO!  I’m so making this…  This restaurant was located in what our area would be “Rodeo Drive”- as they had the fancy Cartier and Ferrari stores just down the street from here. I got in trouble for taking a picture of this in store Ferrari model….. ;/

I’m going to finish this Barcelona trip on a 2nd post as there is so much more to cover…

Granada, Spain- The Alhambra, Tea House and Paella Cooking Lesson

We started our vacation in Madrid than to Toledo off to Seville and my favorite stop of all would be in Granada.   There is so much to love about this city and to explain it best when we arrived from our Taxi cab the guy just dropped us off at the street corner and left us there with all of our bags along the side walk.  We stood there in the dark as our friends arrived shortly after along with the apartment owner and we all walked down this cobble stone narrow alley way that twisted and turned in different directions to get to our apartment.  We sounded like a horse and carriage as we trotted along these rocky streets with our rolling wheel luggage.  The City is just amazing, the beauty of being literally away from cars, scooters or any other motorized vehicle and just people walking up and down these up hill and down hill cobble stone alley ways, it was just a place I’ve never experienced to be in before.   It was this little hidden gem of a city tucked away from the vehicle traffic we are all so use to in our every day lives.

The owner of our Apartment had asked if we would be interested in learning how to cook Paella.   I was so excited for the opportunity to learn how to cook Paella from someone that grew up on the dish and learned from many generations passed and I took many pictures to show you all my cooking lesson.

This little town is all up hill and down hill and twisty that it was like going through a maze.

This was the path to our apartment and if the owner didn’t show us the way, I’m pretty sure we never would’ve found the place.

Vendors along one of the alley streets

This was our view from our Balcony Apartment of the Alhambra sitting on top of the hill……beautiful!

This was our visit to the Alhambra.

So much engraving detail ….just flawless piece of work.

During our stay in Granada we stopped at a Tea House fully equipped with Hookah,  yummy Crêpe’s and a huge selection of Tea’s and Coffee’s

Teteria La Oriental

Crêpe with Banana’s, Chocolate and Creme  ;)   Oh so good…

My Mexican Chocolate…oooooh so good.

There is so much to cover on our stay in Granada that I thought of breaking this post up in two posts but decided to make this a really long post.  I love to cook and learn new recipes so I was so excited at the opportunity to learn to make Paella but all I can offer are my pictures on the making of Paella, I can’t post any recipe out of respect to the young lady that showed us how to make it, I’m sure she would like to keep teaching how to make it without the recipe being easily obtainable online.  ;)

We had this delicious meal on our apartment balcony…..beautiful day!

Topped the meal off with some Pots de Creme dessert…..