M.I.A

Dear blog readers (if there's still any),

I would like to apologize for not writing for the last 7 months, and even before that for not writing so much around here.

I started what we can call university in January, and it has been consuming my time, energy and creativity to write. I am a Culinary Student in Switzerland. I go to this hospitality school that has even more rules than my former high school. We wear uniforms, in university, and they have to super neat at all times, we must wear stalkings, doesn't matter if its 35 degrees outside and its hotter than an oven, we must be properly groomed everyday, wear a name tag, the school scarf and the school pin. It kinda sucks most of the times, but I really wouldn't have it any other way. Its an amazing experience, and what better place to learn about the food industry, that's often linked to the hospitality industry, than an hospitality school? Its just amazing, to the point, that my way to give it back is by being on the student council and doing the best work I can.

The culinary world is amazing, so many things to try, explore, cook and think about. Before coming here, I'd never thought that I would be mesmerized by the vegetable sections on supermarkets, because the peppers look super big, or the tomatoes kinds they have, or just look at different kinds of salts and analyzing them and taking pictures of it. Before I would just have the thought of how big those peppers are, but never actually analyze and enjoy looking at them. I mean, I just realized that the things I talk about the most now is food. I might be on a date or something and start describing all the things I learn or that I want to try. Guess that is what my life is now.

Don't know if anyone could ever relate to this. But there's more about culinary than a kitchen, and that's the direction that I find myself looking at it at the moment, I still want to study and learn as much as I can, I mean, I have so many things that I would like to learn, such as Italian cuisine, more about baking, Thai food, the art of sushi, seafood. So many things.



I am trying to create a new idea of the blog, sure I will still try and talk about make up, because I really enjoy that, but I want to bring this idea of how the culinary world is, specially on a student perspective.

I am having an amazing time in here, meeting people from all over the world, trying new foods, traveling a little, partying, shopping and freaking out over midterms and finals.

Hope you stay tuned to what I will try to bring on the future and my sincere apologies about being MIA.

Is there anything in specific that you would like me to cover about this life?

Red Velveeeeet cake

Merry Christmas! Hope its not too late! First of all, I am sorry for everyone that has been waiting for any post, but I don't know what happen, its seems like I suddenly got a life, that puts me away from the computer! Whaaaaaaaaaaat? So, I must update you all.

I finished my internship, about a month ago, and then I did make up on Mozambique Fashion Week. It was amaaaazing! I can even imagine myself doing that as life, and now, I am packing to University, it has been insane! I had no idea of the amount of things I have, and clothes! Mamma Mia, how did I complained about having nothing to wear? Anyways. I leave next week, yap, the 1st of January, GO BIG OR GO HOME.

Well, today is Christmas, and like usual, I gotta have some contribution to the table, and this year, besides, roasted chicken with coconut milk, I tried Red Velvet cake, it was one of the best cakes I ever had, it just vanished! I have been wanting to do this for such a long time, and for some reason, I never made it, possibly because I thought it would be freaking hard ( don't ask ) and its even easier than making regular cake, who'd know.

The recipe I used requires this:
*250 g of all purpose flour
*1/2 tsp of salt
*2 tbs of cocoa powder
*120 g of butter
*300 g sugar
*2 large eggs
*1 tsp vanilla extract
*240 ml buttermilk
*2 tbs of red food coloring
*1 tsp baking soda
*1 tsp white vinegar.

If you don't have buttermilk, you can make some, with 240 ml of milk and one tbs of vinegar, join it and let it rest for a while.

First, you mix the flour, cocoa and salt and let it rest, then with the mixer, beat the butter and sugar, and add the eggs, one at a time and beat it, add the vanilla extract.

Then, add the red dye to the butter milk and pour it into the butter mixture, altering with the flour mixture. 

On a small bowl join the baking soda and the vinegar and let it bubble, and then add to the cake batter.

Pour the batter into a cake mold and take it to the oven at 180 degrees cCelsius for about 40 minutes, or until the cake its properly baked.

Now, the best paaaaart! Cream cheese frosting! You'll need:
*230 g of cream cheese at room temperature
*230 g of unsalted butter at room temperature
*1 cup of confectioner's sugar
*1 tsp of vanilla extract.

Start by placing the cream cheese on a mixing bowl and with a rubber spatula soft it, add the butter gradually, and keep beating until smooth and well blended, sift in the confectioner's sugar and continue beating until smooth, and finally add the vanilla and stir to combine.

This part its all about your choice, you can either make many layers of the cake, or cut the cake into layers. I choose baking 3 small layers. So, after that, you start stacking the cake, first layer, cream cheese, second layer, cream cheese and keep going and top it with cream cheese, and you can either make it naked or put the frosting on the sides. Its up to you ;)

As you can see, its a pretty simple cake, no rocket science, just baking passion.

Do try this recipe and let me know how it went.

I do promise to start posting more again, and the blog might change a bit next year.

Have you ever made this cake? What's your secret?

Don't forget to follow me on ; instagram

 

The joys of a 'To be' Chef - 25.07.14

Well, before I start this new thing on the blog, I should explain everything.

Like I mentioned before, I failed a subject on my last year of school - the big year, the one that you have to make the REAL decisions for your future. And by the end of the term, and before exams, I have decided to do International Relations, but I felt like I wasn't so sure about it, and since I was going to do Foundation, I felt like I still had another year to decide, and in fact I had another year to decide, because I failed an exam. At the beginning it was really bad, I now realize that I was quite depressed, I just wouldn't leave home, unless I really had to, I kinda stopped talking with some people and I become not my usual self, like someone that was always judging the others.

But luckily things changed for me, I became friends of people that I never thought I'd be and I began to worry about more important things, such as my future and my career. And one day I saw an ad  on the newspapers about a group of hospitality school, that was going to have a presentation in town and I went there, and  I LOVED everything about the school. And I realized what I wanted to do, Culinary Arts.

Which leads to this post. Since my big decision, I did everything to convince my parents about the course, to conclude 12th grade, to achieve good grades, and most of all, to became a better person, and I managed to do it all. Because I had a long waiting period of wait before I go t o university I decided to do an internship, to learn more and occupy my time. I am currently at Radisson Blu, working on the kitchen. It has been about a month, and I am loving it. Of course is quite a stressing job, a bit hard and has some things that really suck. E.G : STANDING FOR ABOUT 8 HOURS PER DAY! I only felt the pain like 3/4 days after the first day.

Of course I am not either a professional cooker nor a chef, but I feel so powerful in that kitchen, like I have the power about what you're going to eat! I DECIDE HOW ARE YOU GOING TO EAT! But at the same time is very comforting knowing that others are enjoying something that you did or helped doing it.  And that the joy of hospitality.

Today, as soon as I got there, my current supervisor told me that I had to do some salads for the buffet. I was so nervous at the beginning, because I had nothing to do and there wasn't a thing going through my mind, but then I had an idea and she told me that there was already some pasta cooked. I did 2 salads.

Salad Number One : Penne, cheddar cheese and cherry tomatoes.
 For this salad, you will need to boil a certain amount of penne - you can use another kind of pasta - cut the cheese in cubes and the tomatoes in half and then roast them for a tinny bit.
As soon as everything is done, you mix them together. I made a sauce using olive oil, salt, pepper a tinny bit of Dijon mustard and 1 lemon juice and I mixed it all together. I putted some chopped parsley on top.

Salad Number Two : Green beans, cherry tomatoes and chicken breasts cut in stripes.
 First, you will need to cut the tomatoes in half as well, cut the tips of the beans and cut the chicken into stripes. Then, you boil or steam the green beans with some salt and garlic and while you're doing that, season the chicken stripes with salt, pepper and chopped garlic. When the greens are done, sauté them with some garlic and then sauté the chicken too. Season the tomato with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast it for another tinny bit. As soon as everything is done, mix everything together and season it with some olive oil and vinegar. I personally like this specific salad a bit sharp - as in with a good portion of vinegar.

After the salads being done and doing the same usual, the executive chef put me in charge of doing some special plates. Which consisted on pita crisps with a tomato on top of a small amount of basil pesto and a funky stripe of balsamic vinegar reduction. I did it. And everyone seemed to like my work, I even got some compliments. That felt a bit like a reward, which felt great.

I love the fact that they ( the REAL kitchen crew/staff ) trust me with quite big things. I mean, cooking for someone is already a responsibility, imagine cooking for a full house? Or for someone important.

But the most important thing about it, is that I am really loving what I am doing, I feel like I am doing it with my true heart, in such a way that I've been complimented on that.

First month is done, let's see how the next 4 months go! Fingers crossed.
  - p.s : sorry for the lack of photos and the bad quality of this one, I still haven't had the time to get a new charger.

Apple Crumble Pie

                             

Here in Mozambique its ' Autumn ', even though it's still really hot, and one of the things that makes me feel better about this season, is the baking and spice smells.

Cá em Moçambique é ' outono ', apesar de ainda fazer 30 graus, e uma das coisas que mais gosto desta época é o poder usar o forno de inúmeras maneiras, pois não aquece mais ainda a casa, e os cheiros das especiarias.

 Recently I made a pie and I looooooove apple crumble, so I decided to combine them both and made  the perfect combination, Apple Crumble Pie.

Há uns tempos atrás, eu fiz uma tarte e por adooooooro apple crumble, decidi juntar o útil ao agradável e fiz uma Tarte de Crumble de Maçã. 

For this recipe I used the same crust as I used on the Caramel Meringue Pie, and for it you'll need :
* 1 1/2 cups of flour
* 2 tbl spoons of caster sugar
* 2 tbl spoons of butter
* 1 egg beaten

Ao fazer esta receita usei a mesma massa que usei quando fiz Tarte de Caramelo e Merengue e para tal foi necessário:
* 1 1/2 chávena de farinha
* 2 colheres de sopa de açúcar
* 2 colheres de sopa de manteiga
* 1 ovo batido

Start by placing the flour and sugar on a bowl and add the butter and beat it until it resembles bread crumbles, like when you do the crumble on a Apple Crumble. Then add the egg and some water to mix to soft dough. When you're satisfied with the way your dough looks refrigerate for 30 minutes. And pre-heat oven to 210 degrees.

Comece por juntar a manteiga e a farinha numa tigela e adicione a manteiga, e bata até que pareçam-se com migalhas de pão. Depois, acrescente o ovo e alguma água para poder trabalhar com a massa. Quando achar que a massa está no ponto, ponha no frigorífico por 30 minutos. E aqueça o forno à 210 graus.

And while you wait for the dough, in the fridge, start preparing the crumble. 

For it you'll need
* 2 1/2 cups of flour
*1 cup of brown sugar
* 200 g of butter cut in cubes

Do it like you did with the dough, mix the flour and the sugar and mix it, and then add the butter and keep mixing it until it resembles bread crumbs.

Enquanto espera pela massa no frigorífico, comece a preparar o crumble.

* 2 1/2 chávenas de farinha
* 1 chávena de açúcar castanho
* 200 g de manteiga cortada aos pedaços.

E faça como fez com a massa, junte a farinha e o açúcar e misture, e depois acrescente a manteiga e continue a mexer até que pareçam migalhas de pão.

When the dough gets out of the fridge, roll it and outline it on a pie place. Pierce it with a fork all over it and bake on the pre-heated oven for about 15 to 18 minutes, according to your oven you may need some more minutes.

Quando tirar a massa do frigorífico, estenda-a e amasse e depois coloque no prato para tarte. Fure com um garfo e ponha no forno pré-aquecido durante cerca de 15 à 18 minutos, dependendo do seu forno pode precisar de ficar mais uns minutos.

While the dough is on the oven, prepare the apples. 

* 1 kg of Apples ( use your best choice to bake )
* 1/3 cup of sugar
* 2 tbl spoons of flour
* 1 tbl spoon of cinnamon ( you can also add a Mixed Spices )
* Juice of one lemon.

E enquanto espera pela massa no forno, prepare as maçãs.
* 1 kg de maçãs ( use a sua preferência para cozinhar )
* 1/3 chávena de açúcar
* 2 colheres de sopa de farinha
* 1 colher de sopa de canela ( pode também acrescentar Mistura de especiarias )
* Sumo de um limão.

Dice the apple into small cubes and put it on a bowl, add the sugar, flour, cinnamon and lemon juice, mix it  and let it be there for a while. 

Corte a maçã em pedaços pequenos e ponha numa tigela, junte o açúcar, farinha, canela e o sumo de limão, misture tudo e deixe repousar por um bocado.

Remove the dough from the oven and let it cool for a bit. Put the filling on the crust and top it with the crumble.

Tire a massa do forno e deixe arrefecer um bocado. Ponha o recheio e por cima ponha o crumble.

Let it the oven for 45 minutes.

Leve ao forno por cerca de 45 minutos.

Take it out, and serve it with a generous ball of vanilla ice cream and enjoy it

Retire do forno e sirva com uma bola generosa de gelado de baunilha.

Caramel Meringue Pie ( Tarte de Caramelo com Merengue )

                               

So, last Friday my mum had a few friends over, as part of her Holly Friday tradition that every year they meet for lunch, and she was supposed to make dessert, but for some reason she ended up not doing it a Pie. It was actually my first time doing it, and to top it off, it had meringue and I had no idea of how I would make it look brownish, because I always had the idea that to brown the meringue you need one of those lighters, but either ways, I decided to give it a try. And in fact it was something  easy to make.

Na sexta feira passada a minha mãe ia ter uns amigos cá em casa para almoçarem, parte de uma tradição dela de há anos com a amiga dela e era suposto ela ter feito a sobremesa e por alguma razão acabei sendo eu a fazer e fiz uma Tarte. Foi a minha primeira vez a fazer e a cereja no topo do bolo foi  que levava merengue e eu não fazia a mínima ideia de como é que ia ficar com aquele tom acastanhado porque sempre tive a ideia de que era necessário ter aqueles isqueiros todos sofisticados, mas de qualquer das formas decidi tentar e realmente foi muito fácil de se fazer.

So, first you should do the pastry, than the filling and while doing the sauce and waiting for the pastry on the fridge and in the oven,fo the  meringue.

Primeiro deve-se começar pela massa, depois o recheio e enquanto se faz o recheio e espera-se pela massa no frigorífico e no forno faz-se o merengue.

Starting from the pastry, you will need :
* 1 1/1 cups of flour
* 2 tbl spoons of caster sugar
* 2 tbl spoons of butter
* 1 egg beaten

You'll start by placing the flour and sugar on a bowl and add the butter and beat it until it resembles bread crumbles, like you do it in Apple Crumble and then add an egg and water to mix to soft dough. When you're satisfied with the way your dough looks refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Começando pela massa será necessário :
* 1 1/2 chávena de farinha
* 1 colher de sopa de açúcar
* 2 colheres de sopa de manteiga
* 1 ovo batido.

Junte a farinha e o açúcar numa tigela e junte a manteiga e bata até que se pareçam com migalhas de pão, como quando faz Apple Crumble e depois acrescente o ovo batido e água para amolecer a massa. Quando estiver satisfeita com a massa ponha no frigorífico por cerca de 30 minutos.

And while waiting for the dough,  start making the filling and for it you will need :
* 1 cup of brown sugar
* 1 tbl spoon of flour
* 1 cup of milk
* 2 egg yolks
* 1 tbl spoon of butter

In a saucepan combine the sugar and flour and add a bit of milk and start stirring to form a smooth paste then add the rest of the milk, yolks and butter and start cooking it until it boils. And let it cool

As soon as the pastry is out of the fridge roll it and outline it to a 23 cm pie plate. Pierce it with a fork all over it and bake on a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees celsius it for about 15 to 18 minutes, it might need more time in the oven, it depends on the products you used and your oven. 

Enquanto espera pela massa, comece a fazer o recheio e será necessário:
* 1 chávena de açúcar castanho
* 1 colher de sopa de farinha
*1 chávena de leite
* 2 gemas
*1 colher de sopa de manteiga

Numa panela junte o açúcar e a farinha e ponha um bocado de leite e mexa até que se forme uma paste e depois acrescente o resto do leite, as gemas e a manteiga e ligue o lume e vá mexendo até que levante fervura. E deixe arrefecer.

Quando tirar a massa da geleira amasse-a e passe o rolo e ponha numa forma de tarte ( de preferência de 23 cms ). Fure-a com um garfo e leve-a ao forno pré aquecido à 180 graus Celsius por 15  à 18 minutos; pode ser que tenha que ficar mais tempo no forno, depende do seu forno e os materiais que usa.

And while waiting for the filling to cool down and the pastry in the oven and cooling as well start doing the meringue, and for it you will need :
* 2 egg whites
* 1/2 cup of sugar.

Start beating the egg whites until peaks from, and keep on adding the sugar at a time until its dissolved. Keep on beating it until its glossy and shine, basically like you do it with Macarons.

When the pie and filling are cooled down, put the filling on the crust and then with an icing bag put the meringue on top of the filling and if you want you can raise it with a fork.

Bake it for about 15 minutes, until the meringue its golden and serve it, perhaps with ice cream or you can eat it like that.

Enquanto espera que o recheio arrefeça e pela massa no forno, comece a fazer o merengue. Será necessário
:
* 2 claras
* Meia chávena de açúcar
Comece por bater as claras em castelo e vá acrescentando o açúcar aos bocados até que se dissolva. Continue a bater até que fique brilhante, como quando faz Macarons.

Quando o recheio e a massa estiverem arrefecidas, ponha o recheio na massa e com  um saco de pasteleiro ponha o merengue em cima e se quiser pode fazer picos com um garfo no merengue.

Leve ao forno por cerca de 15 minutos, até que o merengue fique com um tom dourado acastanhado e sirva logo, talvez acompanhe com um gelado.

I really hope you try it, its super delicious! I actually made it 2 and they were eaten in a *FLASH*.

Unfortunately I don't have the pictures of the steps so I hope the steps are easy to understand ;)

And don't forget to LIKE the Fcebook Page

Espero mesmo que tente fazer, é muito deliciosa! Na realidade fiz 2 tartes e as duas acabaram num instante! Infelizmente não tenho fotos por isso espero que a receita esteja clara, qualquer coisa é só perguntarem ;) 
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Apricot & White Chocolate cookies with Apricot Frozen Yougurt

Depois de imenso tempo com vontade de comer um bom frozen yogurth  e sem poder, porque aqui nao ha e sem poder fazer fazer porque também não havia iogurte grego e as receitas que tinha eram para iogurte grego, FINALMENTE fiz ! Encontrei o iogurte grego na mercearia e não resisti leva-lo. 

After a looooooong time craving for frozen yogurt and not being able to eat it because its not available here and I couldn't do it because I needed Greek yogurt and it wasn't available here, but FINALLY I did it. I found the Greek yogurt on the grocery store and could not resist, so I took it home with me.

A ideia inicial deste fim de semana era fazer um bolo de morango com iogurte de morango mas nao resisti a esta delicia.

The initial idea for this weekend was to make a strawberry cake with strawberry yogurt, but I could not resist to this treat. 

Então, precisei de 4 chávenas de alperces cortados , 2 colheres de sopa de mel ( a receita dizia 3, mas decidi inovar ), 1 colher de chá de doce de pêssego, sumo de meio limão e 2 taças de iogurte grego.

So, I needed 4 cups of diced apricots, 2 table spoons of honey (the recipe said 3 but I decided to change it ), 1 tea spoon of peach jam, half a lemon juice and 2 bowls of Greek yogurt.

Se quiser pode descascar as alperces ou então usar pêssegos ou mesmo damascos.

Feel free to peel the apricots or use peaches.

Pus tudo no liquidificador e deixei bater durante 2 minutos. Depois pus todo conteúdo numa tigela que pode ir ao congelador e deixei la por 4 horas.

I put all in the blender and let it blend for 2 minutes. Then I poured the mixture into a bowl that is freezer safe and let it freeze for about 4 hours.

E enquanto esperava pelo iogurte, lembrei-me das sandes de gelado e que ja a muito tempo que nao comia, e decidi fazer os biscoitos. Comecei por aquecer o forno a 180 graus.

While waiting for the yogurt I remembered those ice cream sandwiches, and that it has been a very long time since I had those, so I decided to bake cookies. I started by pre-heating the oven at 180 degrees Celsius.

Usei 2 ovos, 150 gramas de manteiga amolecida, 1 chávena de açúcar, 2 chávenas e meia de farinha, 1 colher de chá de fermento,  1 chávena de chocolate branco triturado e 1 chávena de alperces também triturada

I used 2 eggs, 150 grams of butter, 1 cup of sugar, 2 cups and a half of flour, 1 tea spoon of baking powder, 1 cup of crushed white chocolate  and 1 cup of blended apricots.

Comecei por bater a manteiga com o açúcar, depois acrescentei os ovos. Depois juntei a farinha e o fermento peneirados, e por fim acrescentei o chocolate branco e as alperces e bati mais um bocado.

Started by beating the butter with the sugar, added the eggs. Then added the flour and the baking powder and then I added the white chocolate and apricots and mix it a little bit more.


Num tabuleiro para o forno pus papel para o forno e fiz seis bolas espalmadas de biscoito e deixei no forno por 15 minutos.

On a oven tray I placed some baking paper and made 6 flat balls of cookie dough and let it on the oven to bake for 15 minutes.

E depois de tudo pronto, peguei em duas bolachas e pus o iogurte no meio e comi, estava tãooooooo bom que comi logo 2 de uma vez.

After everything was done I got two cookies and put the frozen yogurt in the middle and had it, it was sooooo delicious that I had 2 in a row.







Anseio experimentar com outras frutas, e gostei do resultado.

I am looking forward to try with fruits and I really fancied the results.

Espero que experimentem e gostem ;)

Hope you try and that you enjoy them as well.