Oysters, Tabasco and Limes

I lived in the mountains away from the sea for way to many years.
I do not love cold weather but I do enjoy skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing; my biggest complaint was the lack of fresh seafood. On top of that the little seafood we get is extremely expensive.
Since I arrived to Brazil I can’t stop eating raw Oysters.
They are so fresh and sweet. I like the smaller ones, not because of difference in taste but I think Oysters should be a one-bite affair
Walking to a bar on the beach and enjoying beautiful sunsets with great company.
Good music…what else could I ask for?
Oh yes…A cold beer

Top three reasons to go to Brazil.

Food, food, food.

A few days ago I was chatting with my cousin on line and he asked me: “What are you doing?”
“Not much” I answered, since I just woke up and I was enjoying my cup of super-strong coffee.
“Come over” he replied.
“Over to Brazil?”I asked, thinking maybe the coffee wasn’t as strong as I thought.
“Yes” he said.
“Ok” I answered.

I finished my coffee, grabbed my little red bag, threw in 2 bikinis, a pair of flip flops, a couple of sun dresses and my camera; and left.

Twenty six hours later I was arriving at the Florianopolis rodoviaria (bus station), hugging my cousin after almost 20 years of being apart.

The love for food is definitely a family thing. I’ve been feasting for 4 days nonstop. The fact that it rained for 3 days didn’t help at all; no sightseeing, no morning walks just eat, munch, munch, eat.

Today it was the first sunny day and to celebrate we went out for lunch. We had seafood, my favorite.

The food was so good and fresh that I almost forgot to take pictures. So I’m sharing pics of what was left. Better than nothing, I guess.

We had Oyster, fried fish, fried shrimp, mussels with vinagrette sauce, a side of rice and a second side of something like cream of wheat, that I need to ask the name again because I forgot.

Fantastic!

Me Me

I have been tagged...

By Ilva from Lucullian Delight to tell six random things about me:

· I am 42 years old and I still do not know what I would like to do when I grow up.
· When the sun touches my face I get an instant smile.
· My grandfather died when I was 5 years old, but in those few years he left me with enough happy memories for a life time
· I have seen the movie Under the Tuscan Sun over 100 times and I never get tired of it.
· I do not care much about sweets but I could eat a jar of Nutella a day.
· I really wish people would smile some more.
I'll just invite anybody who feels like it to consider himself tagged (or herself)

EATING MY WAY THROUGH ARGENTINA

Good friends, good food; can you think of a better combination?
We had a fun Paella night and a mouthwatering barbecue.

We traveled a little around the province.
Drove through “El Trapiche”, such I nice community, I definitely want to go back and spend some time there.
We stopped for lunch at El Hotel Potrero by a beautiful lake in “El Potrero de los Funes”great service and a very nice meal.
Then continued our drive to “La Carolina” , a very small gold mining town with population 250. The end of our day trip was at “La Gruta de Inti Huasi” .

I saw old friends and I made new friends.
My stay in San Luis was wonderful; I can’t wait to go back.

For dessert after the Paella we had a cake called Pirineo, made by one of the guest, un-be-li-va-ble!! The bottom was similar to a thick brownie with nuts, cover by dulce de leche repostero, a layer of heavy whipped cream and meringue on top.

My lunch at the hotel, Veal with a reduced Marsala sauce with peach and a side of veggie mashed potatoes. Big enough for 2.

One of my friend's meal was a typical Milanesa a la Napolitana.

3 Delicious Spinach Recipes

Somehow the last three posts have been about spinach.
This is the end of the series.
This recipe is from my friend Patricia, who hates to cook, but has this signature dish that is fast simple and delicious.
Try it you can’t go wrong.
Just follow these easy steps.

Spinach Nests

Put some butter in an small oven proof bowl. (Individual portions)

Enmantecar unas cazuelas. (Porciones individuales)

Add some fresh spinach.

Agregar espinaca fresca.


A touch of salt.

Un poco de sal.




An egg in the middle.

Un huevo en el medio.

Heavy cream (that was really good heavy cream)

Crema

Parmesan Cheese. (a lot)

Queso rallado. (bastante)

And into the oven until the egg is cooked.

Y al horno hasta que se cocine el huevo.

Niditos de espinaca

Spinach, a delicious source of iron and calcium

I left Buenos Aires and moving on to San Luis, visiting some chilhood friends.
The weather is fantastic, warm with a nice breese keeping the day from becoming hot.
My frineds are so kind and happy and hospitable; I don’t want to leave.
“Vivi”has been working at my friends house for almost a decade and yesterday she made a fantastic spinach fritatta. She is the proud owner of some very expensive Essen cookware. Interestinly with that kind of pan you do not need to precook any of the frittata ingredients and you do not even need to turn it over.
Here she is sharing her recipe.

Spinach. So good for you

I’m visiting my hometown after many, many years. It feels as if I never left.
I’ve seen a lot of friends, visited many places and I’m enjoying immensely the food I grew up with.
The country I am from has a strong Italian influence. A very characteristic dish from my area is Tarta Pascualina or Spinach Pie.
I found a recipe for Tarta Pascualina in the book “The Silver Spoon”, this book is the English translation of Il Cucchiaio d'argento, an Italian classic.
This is not exactly as the Pascualina I grew up with, but in my opinion, it is a wonderful variation.

Tarta Pascualina

Butter, for greasing
1 ½ pounds, spinach
10 eggs, divided
1 ½ cup ricotta
½ cup Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs bread crumbs
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbs fresh marjoram, chopped
16 oz puff pastry dough, thawed if frozen
all purpose flour for dusting
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a pie dish with butter. Cook the spinach in salted boiling water for 5 minutes until tender, then drain, squeeze and chop. Beat together four of the eggs. Put the ricotta in a bowl; add the beaten eggs, Parmesan, breadcrumbs and cream and season. Stir in the spinach and marjoram. Roll out half the dough on a lightly floured surface into two sheets. Line the prepare dish with a sheet of dough, letting the edges overhang; pour in half the spinach mix. Make 6 small hollows in the spinach mixture and break an egg into each. Season, cover with the remaining spinach mixture and top with the rest of the dough and crimp carefully around the sides to seal. Prick the surface with a fork. Bake for 1 hour. The pie may be served hot or cold.

Tarta Pascualina

Manteca
1-½ libra de espinaca
10 huevos
1-½ tasa de ricotta
½ tasa de queso rallado
2 cucharadas de pan rallado
1 tasa de crema de leche
1 cucharada de mejorana fresca, picada
Masa de tarta
Sal y pimienta a gusto

Precalentar el horno a 400 F. Enmantecar la tartera. Hervir la espinaca en agua salada por 5 minutos, luego colar, escurrir y picar. Batir 4 de los huevos. En un bowl mezclar la ricotta con los huevos, queso rallado, pan rallado, sal y pimienta. Luego agregar la espinaca y la mejorana.
Poner masa de tarta en la tartera y agregar la mitad del relleno de espinaca. Hacer 6 huecos en el relleno y romper un huevo en cada uno. Luego agregar la otra mitad del relleno; cubrir con la otra tapa de tarta; hacer el respulgue y poner al horno por 1 hora.
Se puede servir frío o caliente.