Mrs. G. Mixology (2): Homemade Arancello with Cinnamon and Cardamon | You've Got Meal!

Strong, full of flavor and sweet, this home made drink is based on the classic Italian Arancello. Ready in 2 weeks, it is amazing served chilled, with ice or used in desserts. It is also great to give someone as a gift, especially if you play around with the presentation.

You will need:

• the zest from 5 oranges
• 1 l vodka
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cardamon pods
• 600 g sugar
• 500 g boiled water

1st step: Week 1:

1. Peel the orange zest, trying to avoid the white, bitter part. Place the zest, the cinnamon and the cardamon in a big jar.
2. Pour the vodka on top of them.
3. Seal the jar.
4. Shake the jar everyday, for a week to combine all the flavors.

2nd step: Week 2:

1. Place the sugar in a heatproof bowl.
2. Pour the hot water over it and stir well, until all the sugar is dissolved.
3. Add the syrup over the vodka in the jar and stir.
4. Let it sit in the jar for another week
5. Shake the jar daily.
6. When it is done, pour it in bottles. You can keep it bottled for up to 4-5 months.

Enjoy,

Christmas Cake Recipe: Buttery and Sticky Orange Cake | You've Got Meal!

Nice and simple recipe for buttery and moist cake with oranges and poppy seeds. Perfect Christmas or holiday cake with minimum effort.

This cake recipe is inspired by the classic Lemon Drizzle Cake. Oranges are great this time of the year and I wanted to take as much advantage as I could of their full flavor. It is as buttery as lemon drizzle cake, of course it uses oranges instead of lemons and, to take it to the next level, you add a delicious sticky orange syrup on top and some drunken orange slices.

For the cake/ sponge:

• 200 g butter
• 200 g powder sugar
• 3 eggs
• 300 g flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 50 g poppy seeds
• 200 ml milk
• 150 ml orange juice

Method:

1. In a bowl, beat the butter (at room temperature) with the powder sugar. I did it with a hand mixer.
2. Add the eggs and mix some more.
3. In a different bowl mix the dry ingredients: flour + baking powder + poppy seeds
4. Incorporate the flour mixture into the eggs and butter mixture.
5. Add the milk and the juice to the bowl and mix.
6. Line a round cake tin with detachable bottom with baking sheet (both the bottom and the sides).
7. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake in a preheated oven, medium heat, for 30 minutes.

Syrup:

• 300 ml orange juice
• 200 g granulated sugar
• the zest from 1 orange
• 1 cinnamon stick

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients in a sauce pan.
2. Bring it to a simmer.
3. Let it simmer for at least 10 minutes, until it gets thicker. Beware that the syrup gets thicker when it gets cold.

For the oranges on top:

1. Heat up some rum (around 100 ml) in a sauce pan. No need for it to boil, just make it really hot.
2. Cut 2 oranges in slices. Try to remove as much white skin as you can while doing it.
3. Put the orange slices in the hot rum and let them soak and absorb the alcohol for 50-60 minutes.

To put the cake together:

1. While both the cake and syrup are warm, make tiny holes in the cake with a fork on all the surface and pour the syrup on top. 
2. The syrup will be absorbed and the cake will be soooo moist.
3. You can reserve some syrup for extra flavor for each slice. The syrup is also amazing cold, so don't worry.
4. When the cake is slightly colder and you have removed it from the tin, take the orange slices out of the rum and place them on top of the cake as desired.
5. Optional, sprinkle some powder sugar on top.

I hope you will find the result as rewarding as I did. I took some slices to work the next day and everybody loved it, they were surprised how much beautiful orange taste it had. I also want to mention that the cake is at its best when it is served after it had been refrigerated for 2-3 hours.

Happy December,

Warm Potato Salad/ Salata calda de cartofi

One of the most cooked meals back in my parent’s home was something called “Oriental Salad”, which is basically potato, pickles and boiled egg salad. Not much of culinary wonder piece, but, trust me, it would sure hit the spot. 

Oh, and by the way, that is one of the 3 or 4 dishes that my younger sister knows how to cook. So, 4^th of July and everything, I wanted to cook a nice, warm, summer, potato salad that was both light and flavoursome. 

The ingredients are as it is:

500 grams of boiled new (red) potatoes- rinse them under cold water then pat them dry with a towel. Do not peel them, the red skin will bring a gorgeous touch to the dish;

150 grams of bacon, cut into thin strips

2 chillies, one green and one red

2 hard boiled eggs, cut into sections

2 oranges

2 tbs of chopped fennel leaves

2 tbs of chopped parsley

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Start of by cutting the potatoes into cubes the boil them just until they are cooked enough, but be careful not to overcook them or they will crumble, keep trying them out. Meanwhile, fry your bacon strips, leave them to cool off for a minute so you can handle them, then use a knife to dice the meat into small pieces. Use one orange for its juice and the other one cut into small cubes. Mix all the ingredients together, nice and easy, you want to keep everything intact.

Despite the fact that this recipe had bacon and egg, the end result is a very light and fragrant  dish, with a very nice kick from the orange and the fennel and the awesomeness of bacon (maybe I should trademark that….). You can pair this dish with a Bordeaux style rose (made from a cabernet or merlot grape) or with a light, young red. We had a 2009 Portuguese red made in the same region as the Port wine (Douro) that really went well with the salad.  

By the way, I also tried to add some yogurt and Kalamata olives to the dish, it works just great, but I wanted the potatoes to not be covered in the pictures, I just loved that red skin. 

In casa parintilor mei una dintre cele mai  des pregatite feluri de mancare era salata orientala, practic cartofi fierti, muraturi si oua fierte. Nu e chiar cea mai tare inovatie culinara, dar cateodata era exact ce iti lipsea. Ah, si sa nu uit, asta este si una dintre cele 3-4 feluri de mancare pe care chiar si sora mea stie sa le faca. Deci, cu 4 iulie in gand, am vrut sa pregatesc o salata calda, de vara, care sa fie si usoara dar si plina de arome.  Am folosit: 500g of cartofi rosii noi fierti pe care am pastrat coaja,150g bacon, fasii subtiri, 2 ardei iuti, unul rosu, unul negru, 2 oua fierte tari, 2 portocale, 2 lgite frunze de fenicul, 2 lgite patrunjel tocat, ulei de masline, sare si piper. Cartofii se taie in cuburi destul de mari si se fierb mai tari. In timp ce se fierbi cartofii, se prajeste putin baconul si se lasa la racit, o portocala se stoarce si se pastreaza sucul, iar cealalta se taie cuburi. Amestecati ingredientele cu atentie pe farfurie, adaugati si ierburile. Chiar daca contine cartofi si bacon, preparatul este foarte usor si proaspat, feniculul si portocala merge foarte bine cu minunatia de bacon. Puteti servi salata cu un roze sau cu un rosu tanar si light. Noi am ales un rosu portughez 2009 cu un nume interesant (vezi poza) , care se face in aceeasi regiune ca si Porto.   Am incercat sa adaugam si putin iaurt si masline kalamata, se potriveste bine, dar nu am vrut sa acopar cartofii in poza, imi place la nebunie  coaja lor rosie.
 

Enjoy,

Mr. G.