Coriander & Feta Spiced Loaf for the World Bread Day 2020 / Pão de Coentros, Feta e Especiarias para o Dia Mundial do Pão 2020.

Here I am!!

One year later and another World Bread Day.

The 2020 World Bread Day!

Though I thought I thought I wouldn't make it, I just found the time to make a delicious bread and, most importantly, the time to share it with you all.

With everything bad that's going on this year, this was not the year to not be able to bake the most essential and "soul comforting" kind of food of them all.

BREAD!!

Saying that, for you all and specially for Zorra, our annual fabulous hostess, Coriander & Feta Spiced Loaf from "Simply" by Sabrina Ghayour!

One of the most gorgeous books I've bought this year and a truly delicious loaf to bake and share with your loved ones, both family and friends.

Fig & Rose Millefeuille / Mil Folhas de Figos e Rosas.

You all know I love a good millefeuilles right?

To me, Millefeuilles are like Pavlovas! Can't see one new recipe of either of them, and you'll spot me running into the kitchen to make it straightaway!

In this post, you can see the list of all the homemade millefeuilles I've already made until today and, this one, with all these exotic and Persian flavours, couldn't go unnoticed and not being part of my millefeuilles list, right?

This is another great recipe from Sabrina Ghayour beautifully gorgeous "Feasts" book and it was so, so delicious that I had to share it with you all.

Try it and thank me later because you will be delighted :))).

Burrata with burnt Oranges, Pistachios, Mint and Pomegranate / Burrata com Laranjas queimadas, Menta e Romã.

Delicious little sharing "salad" type plate, from Sabrina Ghayour new book "Feasts" and one that fits perfectly into this month's "Marta's ingredient of the month" which is, pomegranate!!

I truly adore Sabrina's books and this last one, "Feasts" is a real delight.

Full of colorful and delightful recipes and the type of book that makes you go to the kitchen and cook the book off!

This salad was the first recipe I prepared form the book. Not just because I'm mad about Burrata, but also because all the ingredients and colours combination was screaming "PREPARE ME"!!

This plate is not, just easy and quick to prepare, but it's also a great combination of flavours and textures.

As soon as I saw that Marta chose pomegranate as the ingredient of the month, I knew that this gorgeous plate would be a winner at her monthly table and here it is!

Spice salted squid / Lulas com sal e especiarias.

Squid is an ingredient that we, (Portuguese people) adore and cook a lot with.

It's a very common ingredient in our kitchens and part of our culinary culture.

Apparently it is an ingredient that is very common in Middle eastern cooking too.

The recipe is from "Persiana" by Sabrina Ghayour and it was named the best new cookbook 2014.

Sabrina herself was named by The Evening Standard as one of 1000 Most Influential People in London 2014.

Although this one, is the first recipe I made from the book, I have to say that I have the book for a long time now and to be truthful, it's one of my favourite books as I love middle eastern food and flavours.

This recipe might not be be prettiest one to photograph but it is, indeed, the most delicious one to be eaten.

ingredients (serves 4 to 6 as part of a mezze):

700ml vegetable oil, for frying

750g baby squid (can be frozen)

2 tbsp black peppercorns

3 tbsp sea salt

3 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1 1/2 tsp turmeric

70g cornflour

method:

Put the oil in a large, preferably slightly deep, frying pan over a high heat and allow it to get nice and hot, but do not let it smoke.

Cut the squid tubes into 1cm thick rings and leave the tentacles whole.

Dry them as best as you can, using a clean tea towel or kitchen paper and set aside.

Using a pestle and mortar, crush the peppercorns as best as you can, then add the sea salt and other spices and grind them until they are evenly combined.

You don’t need to make a fine powder of the spices, so don't worry if you have chunks of broken peppercorns.

Combine the cornflour with the spice mix in a plastic bag and give the mixture a good shake to ensure the ingredients are evenly combined.

Add the squid and toss the flour and spices lightly over it without excessively handling the squid itself, as otherwise you will create a paste when the flour combines with the juice of the squid.

Shake off the excess flour from the squid pieces and fry them in batches, without overcrowding the pan too much.

Cook each batch for about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, depending on the oil temperature, or until you can see them browning and becoming crispy.

Using a slotted spoon, drain the squid over kitchen paper and serve hot.

For a Middle Eastern flavoured dip, stir quince paste into shop bought aioli and serve as a dip along with the fried squid.

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Lulas! Um ingrediente tão básico e comum na nossa cultura e cozinha portuguesa e que, aparentemente, é também um ingrediente comum na cozinha do Médio Oriente.

Esta receita/sugestão, é do livro Persiana da Sabrina Ghayour.

O livro foi nomeado o livro de culinária do ano em 2014 e a autora, a Sabrina, foi também, nesse mesmo ano, nomeada pelo The Evening Standard, como sendo, em Londres, uma das 1000 pessoas mais influentes em termos de culinária.

Embora esta seja a primeira receita que vos apresento do livro, é um livro que tenho há já bastante tempo e que é, sem dúvida, um dos meus favoritos.
Esta é daquelas receitas que, não sendo das mais bonitas de se fotografar, é, com certeza, das mais deliciosas de se comer!

ingredientes (para 4 a 6 pessoas, como parte de uma selecção de entradas):

700ml óleo vegetal, para fritar

750g lulas pequenas e limpas (podem ser lulas congeladas)

2 colheres sopa de grãos de pimenta preta

3 colheres sopa de sal

3 colheres chá de cominhos em pó

2 colheres chá de coentros em pó

1 1/2 colheres chá de curcuma (açafrão das Índias)

70g Maizena

method:

Colocar o óleo numa frigideira alta ou fritadeira e aquecer sobre lume forte até estar bem quente, mas não em demasia.

Cortar as lulas em rodelas de cerca de 1cm de espessura, deixando os tentáculos inteiros.

Secar bem as lulas sobre um pano de cozinha limpo e reservar.

Colocar os grãos de pimenta preta num almofariz e esmagá-los o melhor possível.

Adicionar o sal e as restantes especiarias e esmagar até tudo estar bem combinado.

Caso não consiga desfazer os grãos de pimenta completamente, não faz mal nenhum.

Num saco plástico limpo, colocar a Maizena e a mistura das especiarias e misturar tudo muito bem.

Colocar as lulas dentro do saco e abanar, por forma a que as lulas fiquem bem envoltas na mistura, mas tendo o cuidado de não mexer muito nas lulas, para que a mistura não comece a empapar, devido à humidade libertada pelas lulas.

Sacudir o excesso de farinha das lulas e fritá-las, tendo o cuidado de não encher muito a frigideira, por cerca de 1 minuto a 1 minuto e meio (dependendo da temperatura a que aqueceu o óleo), ou até as lulas estarem douradinhas e crocantes.

Retirar as lulas da fritadeira, escorrê-las sobre papel absorvente de cozinha e servir quentes.

Sugestão da Sabrina: Caso queira fazer um dip com sabores do Médio Oriente para acompanhar com as lulas, junte marmelada com aioli de compra e misture tudo muito bem.
Nós comemo-las simples, sem dip e mais que houvesse!!!

Recipe / Receita: