today is a bad day

i had to leave work earlier today...too much stress, negative energy and headache is not a good combination...i need some inspiration to make me feel useful...

on saturday, besides conchas i cooked chicken in beer and chipotle with mexican rice...

for the chicken i used:

6 pieces of chicken (wings or legs)
1 liter of dark beer
4 spoons of chipotle
salt
pepper

for the rice i used:

1 cup of rice
1 cup of peas
1 cup of carrots cuts into cubes
1 clove of garlic
1/2 of onion
2 tomatoes
vegetable oil
chicken stock
salt



i washed the chicken and seasoned it with salt and pepper.






then i fried it till golden on a spoon of oil.

when ready, i placed in a wok, poured the beer on the chicken, added the chipotle, a pinch of salt and cooked until the chicken meat got tender.




and that was all :) to prepare the chicken this way is quick and easy :) and it is delicious...meanwhile i was preparing the rice...

i put boiling water and let it sit for 10 minutes (the heat was off, the rice was not cooking).





i got rid of the excess water and let it sit for another 15 minutes.







while the rice was resting, i took the tomatoes, garlic and onion...






...and blended it to create a smooth tomato paste.






i heated about 4 spoons of oil and fried the rice. after about 5 minutes i added the peas and carrots.






5 more minutes passed and i added the tomato mixture in the rice.






when mixed, i added the chicken stock (if you don't have chicken stock, use water and add some salt to the rice for the flavor).






when the liquid is consumed by the rice, it is ready :)







finally, we can eat :)





i feel better now...

como cumpli mi reto...

when i lived in mexico, i always wanted to know how conchas are made. i was so curious about what is the top part made of and how the bakers make it stay on the bread :)
after i left and started to make sweet mexican bread myself, conchas were too challenging for me...this saturday i gave it a try...

these are the ingredients i used...

the dough:

4 cups of flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
50 grams of non-salted butter
20 grams of yeast

the topping:

120 grams of flour
80 grams of powdered sugar
80 grams of non-salted butter
vanilla
cocoa powder

first i prepared the topping...flour, powdered sugar and butter...





i mixed it thoroughly and divided in two. added vanilla to one and cocoa powder to the other one.





mixed them again, rolled them, wrapped in the plastic and placed in the fridge.





after that i prepared the sourdough started...it contains warm milk, a little flour and the yeast...left it to grow for 15 minutes.






in a large bowl, i put the flour, sugar, eggs and the sourdough starter...




and started mixing. when the dough was more less smooth i added the butter...little by little...and i kept on mixing. when the dough was ready, i left it in a warm place to double its volume.





then i divided the dough into 10 balls.






i took out the butter, flour and sugar mixture and cut it in 5 pieces each. flatten them and prepared the ''cover'' for my conchas.





each dough ball got a nice sugar coat :)





i used a wet knife and cut stripes on each concha, to make it look like shell.






i placed them in a preheated oven (190 °C) and baked them for 15 to 20 minutes.

and they looked like this :)





they grew a lot in the oven. when i bake them next time, i will keep more space between each concha :) but i can happily say that i fulfilled my challenge :)

spring rolls

this saturday...attempt number one...they turned out tasty...next time i'll learn from my mistakes :)

this is what i used:

chinese vegetable mix (it contains mostly ginger, carrots, onions and cabbage) (i also used some ham and corn because i didn't have enough vegetables)
phyllo dough
spices (i used salt, chili, sesame seeds and cinnamon)

vegetable oil
egg


in the wok, i sauted the vegetables...








added the spices and put the mixture in a small bowl.





i prepared a beaten egg and the dough for the rolls.





i took one piece of the dough and placed a spoon of the vegetable mixture on it...






and started to roll...

it goes quickly...i brushed the end of every roll with the beaten egg to make the dough stick together...







then i fried them in a hot vegetable oil...they only need few seconds on each side...i was not quick enough and they started to burn...next time i will fry them one by one.





when ready, i served them with sweet and spicy sauce :) delicious :)






PS: my computer died :(...had to get a new one

cap, computer and something more

friday night...we were driving home and the moon was just gorgeous...big and red...we stopped the car and i tried to take a picture of the moon...but i did not succeed...without the tripod it is almost impossible...we took off and drove home.

when we arrived i noticed my cap is missing...i realized i must have dropped it while taking the photo of the moon :(

to make things worse, my computer started to give me a headache. it wouldn't turn on properly. i have checked it and saw that the graphic driver is broken. i reinstalled it...everything seemed to be OK, but it was not...on saturday morning i decided it's time to clean the computer and reinstall everything - both operating systems...i saved my docs on an external hard drive and started the installation process...

nothing was working as expected...i could not install windows at all. unfortunately there were no problems with linux...linux never fails :). i was happy that the computer is working again. when copying my folders back to the computer i got few errors. that was not a good sign...some of my documents got damaged...i lost many of my pictures :( my treasure...the good thing is that i still have many...it could have been a loooooot worse ;)

while trying to bring my computer back to life, i baked few phyllo dough appetizers...here is the recipe :)

1 cup of lentils
2 sausages
vegetables
shredded cheese
1 package of phyllo dough
1 table spoon of butter
barbecue sauce
chili powder
kurkuma
caraway seed
salt
egg

i got the inspiration for the lentils from this recipe (paratha with lentils). when prepared like this, the lentils are simply delicious. i poured water over the lentils and let is sit for about an hour. after that, i rinsed them and cooked in water until they were soft.





in a small pan i melted the butter and put in the spices (caraway seed, chili and kurkuma).





i added the cooked lentils a pinch of salt and cooked until the mixture got dry. i let it cool down in a bowl.






meanwhile i cut the sausages...





fried them in a pan and added the barbecue sauce (i used sauce with chipotle).

i cut the dough in squares...








...took two sheets and put them in the muffin tin.




Then i spooned in some lentils and sausages...






and sprinkled with shredded cheese... (i also filled some with frozen veggies and sprinkled with cheese).





I closed the dough with the help of the egg...





and baked them in the preheated oven (170  degrees centigrades) for about 30 minutes.




They turned out delicious :) I also made a poppy seed dessert :)

today when we were driving back to the place we work i had a crazy idea to go back to the place where i lost my cap...i thought...maybe no one saw and took it...maybe it is still there...and believe or not...IT WAS THERE...after two days lying close to the road...nobody took it :) i was happy as a small child :)

good night world :)