Oreo Pancakes with Chocolate Fudge Sauce / Panquecas de Oreo com Molho Fudge de Chocolate.

28th of February!

That special day. My niece's birthday and the day that I always post something to celebrate her birthday.

Being far away from her makes it very hard but making something special to celebrate the day, makes the distance less painful.

I'm not going to write again about how much I love my niece and about how much she means to me. If you read the last two years posts, you already know everything that is to know about my feelings for this gorgeous girl that has always been my ray of sunshine.

Two years ago I made her these meringues and last year I made her this upside down meringue pie.

Today she's 19 years old and I decided to celebrate with something more indulgent. As today it's also Pancake Day, I made these delicious Oreo pancakes with a decadent chocolate sauce. Something easy to make and that will appeal to my niece and her friends and colleagues from the Medical School as it is something that they all can cook and enjoy together as a very special treat. The recipe is from Hannah Miles, "Pancakes, Crêpes, Waffles & French Toast" book.

Happy Birthday my lovely sweet niece! Love you from here to the Moon and miss you a lot!!!

Rose and Pistachio Granola / Granola com rosas e pistachios.

Today and because I'm in a kind of "rose recipes" mood, I'm sharing the first recipe from Nina Olsson AMAZING book "Bowls of Goodness".

This is the first recipe I'm sharing here on the blog, but not the first I made from Nina's book. No! I already made lots of delicious recipes, that I'll be sharing here soon.

Nina's book is the most delightful vegetarian (with vegan and gluten free options) book I have.

You know the kind of book that you just want to be in the kitchen and cook your way through it? Well, Nina's book is one of that kind...

Kimberly from The Little Plantation blog, shared a gorgeous recipe from the book and wrote an amazing review about Nina's book and I totally agree with every single word that Kimberly wrote and as I also wrote here:

"Nina's book IS NOT just another "avocado on toast" or average vegetarian cook book and believe me, because I have over 600 cookbooks and a good share of them are vegetarian and vegan.

Bowls of goodness is a thoughtful book, full of captivating images, colourful and appetising recipes. Balanced and very well written recipes that makes me (a meat eater trying to eat less meat), become vegetarian!

I got my copy on Saturday and honestly, since then, I can't stop reading it or cooking from it. One, after the other, I just want to cook all the recipes from the book and I'd say that there's no better sign of how good a book is.

Do I recommend it?

Even for meat eaters like myself?

YES! A 100%!!"

So, today, the recipe I'm sharing with you, is Nina Olsson, Bowls of Goodness, Rose and Pistachio Granola.

A granola that, after the first time I made it, quickly became the favourite one here at home and I'm making it weekly now.

Oh, and by the way..., just wait until I share with you the next recipe which will be Nina's Savoury Granola...

You'll be totally in love with it but..., you have to wait a few more days...

Sweet World Challenge and the Battenberg Cake / Bolo Battenberg e o Sweet World.

It's Sweet World Day and this month, for our 14th edition, we decided (Susana and myself of course...), to ask you to make a Battenberg cake!

Is it a difficult cake to make?

Honestly? No! 

Is it good? Depends on which recipe you follow. This one was to die for. Sensational!! 

But... What is a Battenberg? 

According to my researches, the most common story is that it was an English creation to celebrate Queen Victoria’s granddaughter’s marriage. 

In 1884 Princess Victoria married Prince Louis of Battenburg and this cake represents the uniting of England and Germany. 

Marzipan is a favourite in Germany and the Battenberg cake is named after a town in Hesse. 

It encases light sponges, which suit British palettes and it is thought to be a fusion of the particular tastes of the two countries. 

Because marzipan was fairly expensive at the time, encasing the cake in it elevated the treat to a level of indulgence, while at the same time, a slice of it went very well with one of Britain’s favourite pleasures, a cup of tea. 

However, this is an unconfirmed theory and nobody knows the exact way the Battenberg was made. Similar cakes to the Battenberg also exist, such as the domino cake, church window cake and Neapolitan roll. 

There is also dispute over how many squares of cake make up a Battenberg. Some cakes call for nine squares in the checkerboard, others call for four. 

Some say the four sections represent the Prince’s of Battenberg. Louis, as mentioned above, along with his brothers Alexander, Franz-Joseph and Henry. 

This theory falls apart as some traditional Battenberg cakes have more sections but the thing is, no matter the amount of sections, it is indeed a very delicious cake that I'd never made until now and that was a real delight. At least, this Luis Troyano version which has a Persian twist. 

As you might be guessing by now, the Battenberg Cake recipe I'm leaving you today is from Luis Troyano "Bake it Great" gorgeous cook book and I'm very pleased with the final result! 

In case you don't know, Luis Troyano was one of the 2014 Great British Bake Off finalists and I'm a Great British Bake Off addicted...

Poached rhubarb with vanilla and blood orange / Ruibarbo com baunilha e laranja sanguínea.

A simple suggestion with the best that February has to offer.

For Marta and her ingredient of the month, which is precisely the vanilla, I prepared this very easy and simple suggestion.

I don't even call it a recipe because it really is only a suggestion! A simple but delicious suggestion!

Saint Mark / São Marcos.

As you can read here, the theme for the 13th edition of the Sweet World is to create a Saint Mark Cake.

A Saint Mark is a layered dessert that features two layers of genoise sponge, one layer of a Chantilly cream mixture and a layer of an egg yolk creamy kind of curd.

There are different versions of this pudding, some of which include a layer of chocolate sauce or, versions like the one I followed that are finished with a layer of liquid caramel.

This cake is sold in all "old fashion" Patisseries in Portugal and I part of my childhood. So much, that I always thought it was a Portuguese cake.

It's made in big rectangular trays, cut into individual squares and sold wrapped in baking paper.

According to the research I did, the only accurate information I found was that it's a Spanish cake, from the Castile-Leon region.

Apparently this dessert was created in honour of the Monastery and Convent of Saint Mark. The date and name of its creator are unknown.

This was the first time I've made a Saint Mark and I followed this recipe.

Did I like it? YES!

Did I fall in love with it? NO!

The ones that ate it (family and friends), loved it so..., I suppose it's a matter of taste!

Hidden heart Chocolate Loaf / Bolo de Chocolate com coração escondido.

As I wrote last year, we don't celebrate Valentine's Day here at home but, all at the same, I like to leave suggestions for those who celebrate and that's why last year I made a cake very similar to the one I'm leaving you today. Nothing special, just a sweet treat to surprise your person on Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you and hope you enjoy the sweet hidden heart cake.

Scallops, Chorizo and Rocket / Vieiras, Chouriço e Rúcula.

Scallops, chorizo and rocket!

A fabulous combination of flavours and textures, easy to put together and so, so delicious!!

A combination that one day, I put together by accident and that turned out being amazing and a staple in our household.

I'm sharing this suggestion with you all today (with a more refined presentation than the one we use to have at home), just because I think it's a very special combination and "THE" perfect Valentine's Day starter to share with your person.

Blood Orange Roast Chicken / Frango Assado com Laranja Sanguínea.

Today I'm sharing this fabulous recipe with you all.

Blood oranges are in season now and at its best so, we have to use them as much as we can and you know, I love blood oranges and here on the blog, under the "blood orange" label, you can find a fair amount of blood orange suggestions.

As for this recipe, If you can't find blood oranges, you can use Navel oranges.

Remember that in this post I wrote that I would tell you more about Eva Flores "Adventures in Chicken" book in another post? Well, this is the post!

Everybody knows Eva Flores and her fabulous work and blog Adventures in Cooking right? So, no need for introductions!

Eva Flores book is, as I expected, an absolute delight. Recipes and photos that are to die for!! Actually, I can't ever think about Eva Flores without thinking and relating Eva and Mónica Pinto, as I find their work so similar, great and gorgeous...

Anyway...

Eva Flores first book is all about chicken. Chicken in many ways and with many flavours...

I've already made a lot of recipes from the book and some are in the queue to be published and others, I'll have to repeat them because (as I told you here, I lost the photos in the PC that broke).

Of course you might be thinking that there's nothing special about a book full of chicken recipes, but actually there is! and what makes Eva's chicken recipes different from another dozen of chicken recipe books?

I tell you what! What makes them different is that all the chicken recipes are delicious and specially the roast chicken ones! The chicken is always flavourful, moist and super delicious!! Chicken breasts, that were something that were always leftover here at home, are now being battled to be the first to be eaten. Why? Because as I said, they're moist and delicious and they're not dry and boring!

Now, you might be wondering what's the secret for those juicy and tasteful chicken breasts but for me, there's no secret!

Remember this post? This Donna Hay recipe? Well, the secret is the same, which is: Brining the chicken and, of course, a good free range bird...!

I knew that already, because in his book "In Search of Perfection" and about brining a chicken, Heston Blumenthal wrote: "Brining is a great way of tenderising the flesh and helping it to stay moist at the same time. The salt alters the proteins in such a way that they old on to moisture more effectively. The result is a much juicier chicken".

Actually and as I also wrote here, before I read this Donna Hay recipe and all the Eva Flores chicken recipes that I tried,  the best roasted turkey I ever made or tasted, was precisely a Donna Hay brined turkey and that's the only one I now make every Christmas!

Just try brining your bird before you roast it and you'll see. There's no coming back! Let's go for the recipe then!