Pasta with salmon and onion, narrated by Aurelio

A Cuppa

What is a cuppa?

 

Picture from http://www.kushtee.co.uk/

Picture from www.pinkcatshop.com

Not guessed yet? Then read this brief text from WiseGeek and find out.

Now, let's learn how to make a traditional British cuppa.

While you listen, think of the answers for the questions below:

Why did Gerry Wiseman decide to post these instructions?

Does he use water from the tap? Why/Why not?

Why is the use of a kettle essential for a decent cuppa?

What's the point of throwing away the water from the teapot through the sink?

What does the old English recipe call for? Is Mr Wiseman going by the book?

What's his tip for Brits coming to America? 

Why is he Mr Wiseman giving the Brits that tip?

Now, why not have a go at making a traditional "British cuppa" yourself?

Are you more into coffee, hot chocolate, capuccino? 

OK! Then, let's try and design a nice online flyer to advertise your favourite cuppas.

If still eager for a cuppa, don't miss this video-lesson where the staff from Fortnum & Mason show us the perfect cup.

Vanilla cupcakes, narrated by Julia

Chocolate Cake, narrated by Soraya

A delicious and surprising starter, by Isaac

Pancakes filled with vegetables and goat cheese.

Four servings.

Time: about 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

For the pancakes

1/2 litre of milk

3 eggs

300g of flour

A pinch of salt

For the filling

1 aubergine

1 courgette

2 or 3 carrots

A handful of young garlics

250g of mushrooms

150g of goat cheese

2 tablespoons of olive oil

A pinch of salt

Steps:

1) Mix all the ingredients for the pancakes in a bowl and stir until the blend has no lumps. Then, add one tablespoon of olive oil into a frying pan. Let it heat up and pour the blend until it  fills the bottom of the frying pan. Flip the pancake so it is well cooked on both sides.

2) Peel and chop the aubergine and the courgette, and chop the carrots too. In a frying pan, add two tablespoons of olive oil and let it heat up. Then, add the chopped vegetables and wait while they get soft. Lastly, add the mushrooms and the young garlics.

3) Add little pieces of goat cheese to the vegetable mix.

4) Spread the vegetables mix onto each pancake and roll them up.

5) Serve warm.

Chicken and ham pudding, by Paloma

I recommend you this dish, a recipe which everybody likes and which has something good: you can prepare it the day before so the day of the event you are relaxed and have time for yourself.

Ingredients:

300 grs Chicken breast fillet

300 grs Boiled ham

300 grs Cured ham

Different spices such as black pepper, walnuts, oregano etc.

A glass of cognac or brandy

2 or 3 eggs

People: 8

What is important in this recipe is the purchase of the chicken and the ham, you have to go to the butcher's and ask them to grind them up and machine blend them. 

Once you have the mix, beat the eggs and mix the chicken-ham mixture with the beaten eggs.Then, add different spices, the ones you have, I specially recommend you black pepper, walnuts, and oregano. 

Put the mixture in a long container which is compatible with high temperature in the oven. Spread the container with butter or flour before putting the mixture in (this is to avoid the mixture sticking into the container). 

Put it in the oven 200ª temperature during approximately half an hour. To see if it is done, poke it with a fork, it has to be hard. Once it is hard, get it into the fridge, it has to be inside a night long.

Next day, slice it and you can serve it with orange or raspberry jelly.

Penne rigate pasta with smoked salmon, by Aurelio

Difficulty: Very easy.

For four people:

500 gr. of Penne rigate pasta (preferably an Italian brand)

300 gr. of Smoked salmon.

1 or 2 onions (It depends on the size, in this case two medium onions).

A pinch of salt.

A small olive oil spurt.

Some Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese.

Take the onions and chop them. Once the onions are chopped, put a small olive oil spurt and the chopped onions in a frying pan, and let it cook slowly. While the onions are cooking, in a pan, put  some water and heat up until it boils. You should put enough water, that's the trick for making good pasta. Once the water is boiling put in a pinch of salt and immediately, the pasta. The pasta should be boiled in a few minutes. Don't boil the pasta too much, you'll ruin it, it should be "al dente", firm.

You have enough time to prepare the smoked salmon. You should only make small squares with it.

In ten or twelve minutes the onion should be ready and the pasta as well. Strain the pasta with a strainer and put it in the pan again. Take the frying pan and put the onion in the pan as well, finally put in the small squares of smoked salmon and stir all the ingredients. 

In a plate grate some Parmigiano and when you serve the pasta, put some grated cheese on top of the pasta. The recipe is done. Only we should enjoy it. 

Buon appetito!!!!

A chocolate cake, by Soraya

For 6 people.

Ingredients:

- 2 chocolate bars.

- 2 ¼ litres of single cream.

- A packet of crème caramel mix.

- 250 ml of caramel.

Preparation:

- Firstly, boil 2 litres of single cream in a saucepan over medium heat and add the two chocolate bars.

- Next, stir the mixture until the chocolate is melted.

- Put 250 ml of single cream into a bowl with the packet of crème caramel mix. Blend the ingredients and then pour them into the saucepan with the cream and the chocolate.

- Allow it to cook for 10 minutes stirring continuously.

- Cover the inside of a cake pan with the caramel and pour in the hot cake mixture.

- Finally place the cake pan into the fridge to set for one day.

Decoration:

If you have a sweet tooth, you can decorate this chocolate cake with strawberries or a fruit of your choice, chocolate chips or more cream. Another option is to serve it with ice-cream.

Never before have I tasted such a delicious chocolate cake as this one that my mother made for my birthday. In addition, it is cheap and very easy to prepare.

Hake with mariniere sauce, by Yolanda

Serves: 2

INGREDIENTS:

- Fresh hake

-6 prawns

-250 g clams

-2 medium onions

-1/2  pepper

-1 small tomato

-1 l water

-olive oil

-salt

-1 dessertspoon flour

-1 dessertspoon paprika

-parsley

First of all you have to cut the hake in medium slices keeping back the head.

Now, we are going to prepare the broth so, pour the water in a saucepan and heat it until  it is boiling, then add the head, the prawns and the clams and boil them 10 minutes more or less and of course season with salt. Finally, keep back the prawns and the clams.

Meanwhile season the hake slices on both sides.

Let´s prepare the sauce!

Heat enough olive oil just to cover the bottom of a saucepan.  When it´s ready add the chopped onions together with the pepper and the tomato cut in small cubes and fry them until tender, then add the flour and the paprika and stir them. Pour a little broth and let them boil 10 minutes and finally blend them.

This should be done just at the moment of eating. 

Heat the sauce in a clay pan, then add the hake and cook on low heat for five minutes on one side, then  turn over the slices and decorate with the clams, the prawns and the parsley and cook another five minutes more.

Ready to eat!!!

Quick dinner for friends

Recipes (for 4 people)

Starters:

Apple salad.
Ingredients: 1 Lettuce, 2 pippin apples, 1 egg, 1 tomato, some cheese, some walnuts, 2 onions and a vinagrette sauce made with 4 tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of one lemon and some salt.

Put the lettuce into a bowl, chop the onions, slice the tomato and mix them. Put in the sliced apples. Add the walnuts and a diced boiled egg. You can also add cheese. To make the vinagrette put some oil into a bowl, squeeze the lemon juice and add it to the oil. Add some salt and stir it.  Finally dress the salad with the vinagrette.

Main course:

Lemon chicken:
Ingredients: 4 Chicken breasts, 2 lemons, 2 onions, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, some salt and pepper.

Put the chicken on a tray with the chopped onions and salt it. Add some oil and the juice of a lemon over it. Put it into the oven and roast it for an hour at 180 C degrees. Serve it decorated with some slices of lemon and some chopped onion. 

Dessert:

Apple pie:

Ingredients: 4 pippin apples, 300 grammes of flour, 3 eggs, 100 grammes of sugar, 2 tablespoons of oil.

Add the flour, the eggs, the oil, and the sugar and knead them until the ingredients are well combined to make a dough. Put the dough on a baking tray and cover it with the sliced apples. Decorate it with some dough stripes onto the apples. Put it into the oven. 30 minutes at 200 C degrees.