The Perfect Spanish Tortilla/Omelette

Whether you call it an omelette or a Spanish tortilla and serve it warm or cold I absolutely love this type of dish. I can completely understand how this evolved in the heat of Spain to be a cold tapas though. Cutting it into slices and serving alongside other small dishes and a lovely glass of Rioja just makes sense.

 

Ingredients

• 6 eggs (or however many you like but adjust the proportions in line). Don’t make it too few it you want to cut it into slices though!
• Salt and pepper pinches
• Potatoes (peeled; boiled and cut into little pieces)
• Red onion cut into thin slices
• Oil to fry
• Knob of butter (melted)
• Splash of milk
• Herbs and spices you like e.g. pinch of sweet paprika or chill flakes
• Optional: Grated parmesan or cheddar

 

Method

1. Peel; cut into small pieces and boil the potatoes then allow to cool whilst you do the rest
2. Crack and beat the eggs in a container such as a Pyrex jug so you can pour it later
3. Add the salt; pepper and any herbs/spices you like
4. Slice the onion and add to the mix
5. Add the milk and butter (remember to melt the butter or it will sit in a big blob)
6. Add the oil to a frying pan and heat at medium (try to pick a pan with a metal handle and not plastic so you can put it under the grill later if you want to)
7. Add everything to the pan and heat for a few minutes until the bottom of the mixture starts to set
8. Either flip the mixture using another plate very bravely or sprinkle with cheese and place under a hot grill for 30 seconds to a minute watching carefully until it browns and sets on top
9. Either eat immediately if you like it warm or allow to cool and cut into slices for tapas
10. Serve with a nice glass of Rioja wine!

 

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Sephora Makeup Palette

I’m definitely not a beauty blogger but I did want to share and recommend this tip for storing makeup that I’d never seen before and have really fallen in love with. You can buy these but also I guess you could make one too. The American makeup company Sephora sells a container for your powdered makeup such as blush; bronzer and eye shadows. It’s a little palette with a clear lid and is completely empty when you buy it other than some little flat removable magnets. They then sell their powered makeup in metal containers so you pop each one out and place on the magnet and fill the palette with all your favorite items. It’s a great way to carry around your items rather than as individuals. I’ve taken mine all around the world and it’s never come open. What I also worked out was that most normal powdered makeup you buy comes in a thin metal container once you dig it out of its plastic container, so you don’t just have to use the Sephora branded stuff. Be careful doing this though as they are often glued down so you’ll need something sharp to prize them out.

If you are not based in the US you can order this online but shipping costs are quite high so share the cost with someone else or order a lot at one time. Also, I guess you can make one out of an old container adding a magnetic base and some little magnets if you are feeling particularly creative!

Link:

https://www.sephora.com/product/z-palette-P384677?skuId=1573229&icid2=products%20grid:p384677

Outside:

Inside:

Basic Cake Recipe

This recipe is just the standard recipe everyone in the world knows how to make and I use and adapt if for everything. It’s the first cake you make and once you crack it you are set for baking forever.

Ingredients

4 eggs (free range or organic if you can afford it)

225g sugar caster

225g self-raising flour

225g butter or margarine

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Ideally use a round tin but you can use any including cup cake tin or just the cases
2. Grease the tin by dipping a bit of kitchen roll in the butter and covering the inside of the tin lightly
3. Set the oven to 180 degrees c
4. Mix all the ingredients together and beat well. You don’t need to cream the butter, just mix well
5. Pour the mixture into the tin leaving a slight dip in the middle as it will rise higher there
6. Cook for about 20 minutes until light and golden. It’s done if you stab the middle of the cake with something sharp and there’s no batter mixture on the stick. Cocktail sticks are good. It’s better to cook slowly and make sure the cake is cooked through than quickly. Also, if the cake starts to brown too much put some baking paper on the top to protect it
7. Let the cake cook and slice in half through the middle if you used the round tin
8. Victorian sponges are traditionally filled with jam and cream and a sprinkling of cater sugar on the top but make sure the cake is really cool so the cream doesn’t melt
9. This cake batter can be used for anything. Just add cocoa powder to make chocolate or any flavourings you like such as coffee or lavender

My simple cake tin if you’d like it:

https://amzn.to/3rPSs6k

Wrestling Cake

I got this recipe from a baking magazine. I was looking for ideas for my nephew’s birthday and he was really into wrestling at the time. He loved it as he got to keep the toys as well so it made a complete present in one.

Ingredients

Square shaped tin (or cut your cake into a square)

Use the Basic Cake recipe

Wrestling Birthday Cake

4 large pieces of sturdy liquorice

Red shoe lace sweets/candy

Coloured icing (sugar paste)

A couple of cheap wrestling dolls (you can but online)

Red ribbon (optional)

4 cooking skewers (be careful to remove this before serving though so kids do eat them)

Writing icing kit

 

Method

1. Bake a square basic cake, allow cooling
2. Cover the cake with icing of your choice. I chose white but black would look good for a wrestling or fighting ring
3. Skewer the liquorice with the skewers so they sit at the top of skewer and insert the uncovered part into the cake. Repeat for the four corners
4. Tie the red laces around the four corners to look like rope. This can be a bit tricky but it doesn’t matter too much if you can see the knots
5. I used writing icing to make the symbol of the floor but you could even buy a pre-made stencil online. Red ribbon placed around the outside helps the ring look more rigid
6.  Allow to dry
7. Add the wrestlers or fighters of your choice. This would work well for video game or other TV show themed cakes where there are opposing characters

Some materials to buy if you want to copy this:

Tin

https://amzn.to/3Mt9vVe

Red Laces

https://amzn.to/3VrfFt2

Wrestling Figures

https://amzn.to/3MumeqD

Related Links:

https://twitter.com/search/wwe

http://www.wwe.com/

Basic Bread

I’ve never been able to make bread. It seems like the simplest thing in the entire world and yet I have never been able to master it. Every few years I try again and out of the oven comes a rock hard brick of bread. I’ve toyed with the idea of a bread maker but always figured that was cheating but I did start trying again with a packet of bread mix.

I bought my bread mix from Aldi. They have a wide range if you go in store of little packets of mixes to make different specialities of bread from. I picked a seeded loaf but you can pick any or none and just use strong white flour.

After lots of reading on kneading and gluten I think the best method is to really stretch the dough with a wooden spoon. I think this has the same effect as significant kneading and works for me (finally)!

Ingredients

• 500g strong white flour (or equivalent mix)
• 2 tsp salt
• 7g sachet fast-action yeast or a packet
• 3 tbsp olive oil and some for oiling the tin
• 300ml water
• 1 tsp sugar
• Bread tin (makes all the difference)
• Get a clean tea towel ready slightly dampened
• Cling film
• 5ml milk or beaten egg to glaze

Method

1. First mix the yeast in a little warm water. Add a tiny tsp of sugar and mix thoroughly. I think the sugar is what the yeast eats and the warmth starts to activate it
2. Oil using olive oil the tin so the mix won’t stick
3. Mix the bread mix or flour with the water (make sure it’s slightly warm) and the olive oil. Choose a bowl double the size of your mix to allow it space to rise
4. Stir with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes to keep your hands away from the sticky mess initially and to really stretch the mixture (apparently the gluten in the flour which is what makes it rise). Keep pulling the mixture up and away to create strands and drop them back down again
5. I like to then put a bit of clingfilm on the top and then the damp tea towel or the risen dough sticks to the tea towel?!! Don’t completely seal the top though as you need air to get in. I then put my bowl on top of a fairly low heat radiator or on top of the oven
6. Set the oven to 180 degrees and allow it to warm slowly
7. After 20 minutes check the dough. It should have risen a little so give it another stir and let it rise again for a further 20 minute
8. Give it another stir and transfer it to your tin shaping it into a rough loaf shape
9. Glaze the top with a little milk or egg wash
10. Move to the oven to bake for circa 20-30 minutes but keep an eye on it. If it starts to brown too early cover with foil or lower the heat 10 or so degrees
11. Once baked leave in the tin to cool for 10 minutes from it recedes from the sides and can be removed easier

You can then try different mixtures or adding this to the top of your bread such as seeds or in your bread to make more fun.