Ratatouille

Zé Eduardo, a close friend of mine, was always telling me how I should make Ratatouille, how great it was and how easy to make. So I made it today, and he was absolutely right.

Let's see the recipe, then.

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 aubergine, thinly sliced
1 courgette, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped

Generously pour extra virgin olive oil to a pan. Place onions and peppers and cook until soft. Add the aubergines, garlic and salt. Lower the heat and add a little bit of water, so that the onion and pepper don't stick to the pan. Cover the pan and leave to cook for a few minutes, until the aubergine is cooked. Add the tomatoes, the courgette and let it cook until courgette is slightly cooked.

Serve with pasta or bread.

Chocolate Cake with Walnuts

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter
300 g sugar
300 g plain flour
2 eggs
3 tbsp cocoa powder
100 ml milk
1 tbsp baking powder
100 g chopped chocolate (whichever you like)
100 g walnuts

Method

Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, the flour, cocoa, milk and baking powder, slowly mixing through. Add the chocolate and walnuts and pour the mixture into a greased cake tin. Bake at 170C for about 50 minutes, depending on the oven.

Serve with tea or coffee :)

PS: Sorry about the picture. I no longer own a good camera, so I have to rely on my phone to illustrate the recipes!

Salted Cod with Potatoes and Peppers

This is one of my favorite dishes ever. My grandmother and/or my mom make it every year for Christmas and/or New Year's Eve. It was my turn to make it for my family in London this year... and I can't lie, it was very good!
And it is very easy to make... so here it goes.

Ingredients

- 500g salted cod fillets, preferably skinless and boneless
- 1kg potatoes, peeled and sliced
- 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced
- 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced
- 2 onions, sliced
- 1 cup of pitted olives


Method

To rehydrate salt cod, soak it in cold water for 24 hours, changing the water two or three times, depending on how much salt you like (yes, you will have to taste it... don't be a wuss!)
Save the last water in a pan and pre-cook the potatoes on it (let it boil for a few minutes, until the potatoes are slightly cooked).

Generously coat the bottom of a casserole with olive oil. Place the other ingredients in layers, with a bit of olive oil in between them: first, a layer of potatoes, then a layer of onions and peppers, then a layer with more potatoes, a layer of codfish, another of onions, peppers and the pitted olives on top of everything. Pour some more olive oil and cover the casserole with kitchen foil.
Place in the oven on medium heat, and cook, covered, for about 1 and 1/2 hours (dependin on the oven), until everything is completely through.

Serve with white rice on the side.

Take a picture of it and send it to me.
Comment on the blog, please. It will make me really proud and happy :)