Chocolate Roulade with Sweet Chestnut Purée, Honeyed Cream & Crushed Honeycomb Filling / Torta de Chocolate, recheada com Creme de Castanha, Natas batidas com Mel e Honeycomb.

Time just flies by and before we realize, here we are!

Last day of 2017!

I can say that, all in all, it was a great year and if 2018 is going to be as good as 2017, bring it on.

I'll not complain and I'll not ask for more!

As I didn't have the time to write a post wishing you a very Merry Christmas, I didn't want the same to happen now and not be able to wish you a Fabulous, Fantastic and very Happy 2018!

This super delicious roulade is my choice as the last post of 2017.

The original recipe is in a shape of a Yule Log and I made it for Christmas (as you can see here).

As it was such a huge success, I decided to make it again - as a roulade - to leave you the recipe, so you can make it and try this absolute delight.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we all did!

The recipe is from Jamie Oliver, Christmas Cookbook, which is also the book of the month for the Rainydaybites Cook Book Club.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you and never forget to BE HAPPY, as life is way too short!

Red Curry, Ginger and Squash Soup / Sopa de Abóbora, Caril Vermelho Tailandês e Gengibre.

For this month's Rainydaybites Cookbook Club, we are cooking from Joanne Chang and Karen Akunowicz "Myers + Chang at Home" book.

This cookbook brings to the table dishes from the incredibly popular Boston restaurant. The recipes are Asian inspired and unique with a focus on flavour.

The perfect book to kick off the comfort food season and for me, nothing is more comforting than a big bowl of soup and that's why this was the first recipe I chose from the book.

Full of balanced flavours, this soup is perfect for lunch or dinner and it's so satisfying that, after having a warm bowl of it, you don't need anything else.

Babka with Chocolate filling / Babka com recheio de Chocolate.

Second recipe challenge of the month and Deborah asked us to make a Babka for her fabulous Rainydaybites Cook Book Club.

I love Babka, simple and enriched doughs and everything related to kneading and shaping doughs so, to be able to make this recipe was a real pleasure.

The only difficulty was the choice for the filling as there's a few options to choose from but, to make the "chocolate lovers" of the house happy, of course, I had to choose the chocolate filling.

The recipe, is another one from the gorgeous Brian Hart Hoffman "Bake from Scratch" book and it worked perfectly well and without any hiccups.

This Babka, with a soft and delightful dough, drenched with a simple syrup and oozing (literally oozing) with melted chocolate, was a hit and the requests to make it again are more than many.

I'm leaving you the complete recipe in case you want to make the two loaves, instead of making only one and regretting it after, like I did.

Focaccia with Burrata, Prosciutto and Rocket / Focaccia com queijo Burrata, Presunto e Rúcula.

Beautiful and absolutely delicious Focaccia for Deborah's and her Rainydaybites Cook Book Club.

The chosen book for September is, as I wrote here, Brian Hart Hoffman "Bake from Scratch" and apart from the monthly recipe challenges, I honestly can't decide what to bake because everything looks so good, that I just want to cook my way throughout the book...

One thing is for sure, this Focaccia was the first recipe I marked down to try as soon as I had a flick through the book and my instinct was right because it's the most delicious Focaccia I made until today.

Easy peasy to make, crispy on the outside, fluffy and perfectly structured on the inside and a superb array of ingredients on top...

Just Perfect!!

Pomegranate glazed Pork Skewers with Burhan’s Onion and Parsley Salad / Espetadas de Porco marinadas em Melaço de Romã e Salada de Cebola Roxa e Salsa.

This is the recipe Deborah chose as the second recipe challenge of the month for the Rainydaybites Cookbook Club.

Shame that I had no time to participate in the first recipe challenge of the month, which was a super gorgeous walnut roll cake but, for this second one, I made sure I wouldn't miss it.

As I told you here, this month we're cooking from Paula Wolfert books.

This recipe is from a book that I don't have, "Unforgettable: The Bold Flavors of Paula Wolfert’s Renegade Life" but Deborah told me that I could find the recipe here at the Food and Wine website and I'm very glad I made it because it's truly delicious and the contrasting flavours are absolutely incredible.

Penne with Spinach, Peas and Gruyère / Penne com Espinafres, Ervilhas e queijo Gruyère.

Another fabulous Melissa Clark "Dinner: Changing the Game" book recipe!

This vegetarian pasta dish was our dinner a few weeks ago and, of course,  because it's so delicious and easy and quick to put together, I had to share the recipe with you all.
The original recipe calls for wholemeal or regular penne but as I had this absolutely fabulous red lentil penne here at home, that's the one I decided to use.

Thai style Mussels / Mexilhão à Tailandesa.

Who likes mussels?

I know a bunch of people that doesn't like mussels but I certainly love them!

This recipe, another successful one from Melissa Clark "Dinner: Changing the Game" cookbook, is another winner, specially for those who love Thai flavours.

This is also my last contribution (out of date) for this month's Rainydaybites online Cook Book Club and I couldn't have chosen a better recipe to end May and the Melissa Clark cook off. Although, I must say, there's still lots of recipes marked down to be tried and tested so, you'll see more of this gorgeous book recipes around here soon.

Harissa Chicken with Leeks, Potatoes and Yogurt / Frango assado com Harissa, Alho francês, Batatas e Iogurte.

Second and last recipe challenge of the month and also a "Cook the Cover" challenge for May's Rainydaybites Cook Book Club.

Deborah asked us to cook this fabulous one sheet meal and I'm glad she did because, not just I love all the ingredients in this recipe, I also love the fact that there's almost no washing up after.

The combination of ingredients, as you might guessed by the title, is absolutely incredible and the textures and flavour are, both, absolutely fabulous.

Another great hit from Melissa Clark "Dinner: Changing the Game" book which, by all means, I'm loving to bits!

Herbed Parmesan Dutch baby / Dutch baby com Ervas aromáricas e queijo Parmesão.

This is the recipe that Deborah chose as May's first recipe challenge for the online Rainydaybites Cook Book Club.

I have to say that I was very happy with Deborah's choice. First, because I've never tried or made a Dutch baby before and second, because it's a savoury one and you know, I'm a savoury girl.

I have to say that this is another great and very moreish recipe from Melissa Clark "Dinner: Changing the Game" book and it was a true winner. A mix between a giant gougére "style" cheese puff and a giant Yorkshire pudding and the flavour couldn't be better.

It can be served it for dinner with a big salad or roasted meat or for a delicious and savoury brunch. Serve it straight from the oven, still in the pan and tear it to pieces with your fingers.

Just don't be shy to lick your fingers after because they'll be full of yummy salty, cheesy and herby bits.

Smoky Paprika Chicken with Crispy Chickpeas, Roasted Lemon and Kale / Frango com Paprika Fumada, Grão de Bico Crocante, Limão assado e Kale.

By the amount of chicken recipes that I publish, you might well already guessed that we love chicken here at home. Well, it's true!

This recipe, from Melissa Clark "Dinner: Changing the Game" cook book is a stunner!

The chicken is moist inside, with a perfectly crisp skin outside. The combination of the lemon, kale and crispy chickpeas is totally genius and the whole dish is absolutely delicious and full of textures and contrasts.

As you Know, this month we are cooking from Melissa's book for the Rainydaybites Cook Book Club and of course, this recipe had to be shared because you'll be in love with it if you get to try it and, it's also super easy to put together.

Roasted butterflied chicken / Frango assado no forno.

Today I'm leaving you a simple and easy roasted chicken but all the goodness is in the dried brine.
As I wrote here and here, brining the chicken is a method that will give you tender moist meat every time.
This brine method is a dried one but it works as perfectly as the wet brine.
According to J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, the author of "The Food Lab" book, from which we are cooking this month for the Rainydaybites Cook Book Club, salting the poultry under its skin and letting it stand for a period of 24 to 48 hours in the fridge, has much the same effect as brining.
At first, the salt draws liquid out of the meat, but then it dissolves in the extracted liquid, forming a concentrated bird juice brine right on the surface of the bird that then goes to work at dissolving muscle fibers the same way as a regular brine.
Eventually, as the muscles fibers get more and more relaxed, the liquid is reabsorbed. Over the course of a night or two, the salty solution can work its way several millimeters into the bird's flesh, helping it retain moisture and seasoning it more deeply.

Extra Crunchy Southern Fried Chicken / Frango frito à americana.

Who wants KFC when you can have extra crunchy fried chicken at home? I'm not mad about this kind of food but my teenager son adores fried chicken so, he was really happy the day I made this recipe.

I confess that fried food is my nemesis in the kitchen as I'm very bad at frying stuff so, when Deborah suggested this recipe as the first recipe challenge of the month for the Rainydaybites Cook Book Club, I thought that it would be disastrous...

Actually it went very well and I can assure you that this is the best fried chicken I've ever eaten.

The interior of the chicken is moist and tender and the exterior is super crunchy and fabulously flavoured with the spice mixture from the marinade and coating.

As I mentioned here, this month we are cooking from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, The Food Lab cook book and the experiments and explanations for every recipe are a joy to read and learn.

Just so you have an idea, for this recipe, he cooked more than 50 chickens in order to achieve the perfect fried chicken, which, as you can imagine, is a lot of chicken...

Yvette van Boven Cannelés / Os cannelés da Yvette van Boven.

Canelés, Cannelés!

It can be writen or said either way but what matters it's how delicious they are, these pretty morsels of goodness!

Originally from Bordeaux in the South of France, these little cakes are a little delight and nothing else than baked custard.

Usually, they are baked in thick walled copper molds in a hot oven, the crust is dark brown but not burned and the inside is soft barely set. The filling is creamy and usually the batter calls for rum as one of the main ingredients.

You know me and my love for cannelés right? I'm totally unable to flick trough a book and read a recipe for cannelés and not make them as soon as I have an opportunity.

Here on the blog, you can find three recipes for cannelés.

This one, from Mimi Thorisson first book "A Kitchen in France", the first cannelés recipe I ever made, after buying my beautiful copper molds at E. Dehillerin, when I visited Paris for the second time in my life.

This one, a Donna Hay magazine recipe for Chocolate cannelés and this one, my favourite recipe until today, from Rachel Khoo's "Little French Kitchen" book.

As I wrote here, the book chosen for this month's Rainydaybites Cook Book Club is the Yvette van Boven "Home Baked" cook book and guess what I found while flicking through it? Yes!! This recipe for cannelés..., and of course!!! Couldn't resist it!

Although the usual liqueur used is rum, this time I used coffee liqueur and they turned out so beautifully delicious that I had to share them with you.

Raspberry and Thyme Pie / Pie de Framboesas e Tomilho.

Another recipe for this month's Rainydaybites Cook Book Club from which I told you about in this post.

Apart from all the food we want to cook from the chosen book, Deborah asks us (if we want, of course), to post, each month, two specific recipes on specific days, and because today is #PiDay (the math formula 3.14... etc., celebration), but people usually celebrates it with pie, making it a #PieDay, that's the day Deborah chose to publish this Pie.

A fabulous Pie with fresh berries, combined with an amazing thyme flavour that was a big hit here at home and totally my kind of recipe because..., You know how much I love berries right? and so you also know, the pastry itself is to die for!!! Melt in the mouth almondy, buttery, crumbly, delicious pastry!!

The original recipe calls for fresh strawberries but, I didn't like the look of the only strawberries I could find so, I decided for raspberries instead but, saying that, fell free to use any berry you like.

As I also told you here, this month's chosen book is the amazing Home Baked by Yvette van Boven and therefore, here is it, another contribution for this amazing Cook Book Club.