It’s my party and I’ll cook if I want to.

One of the many things I enjoy about food is the process of making it and sharing it with friends, before snapping a few photos first, of course. It just so happens that this was my fourth birthday spent in Spain but the first time I’ve been able to celebrate. (The past three years involved, being lost in a new city, several flight transfers, and a stomach flu.) Well it’s about time I got to throw myself a party and contemplate my 24 years on this earth. What better way to celebrate than cooking and eating with friends and loved ones?

Oh what a festive night of gluttony it was. Those who participated talk about it 'til this day (two whole weeks later!) and those who missed it can only cry in shame and envy. I kid. But it was quite fun!

Here are my dishes that started off the night:

An eggplant and olive hummus with parsley that I barely got to try before it was devoured by my eleven guests. They tell me it’s good and I believe them. It’s very easy to make and takes about 30-35 minutes to complete. Most of that time is taken up by the eggplants roasting in the oven, so don’t worry, it’s not so complicated! I paired the hummus with some tortilla chips, freshly baked bread and celery sticks.

Followed by a mixed salad with cherry tomatoes and fresh, organic goat cheese. I opted for a bag of store-bought mixed salad leaves to save time and threw in a few pieces of organic arugula. The salad takes no time to make and brings more color to the table.




Also featuring my incredible friends who are obviously talented up-and-coming chefs! A carrot, ginger, curry soup by Audrey, the queen of soups that warm your soul. A creamy, spinach spread on toasted bread by Carly, an expert on healthy eating. Freshly baked pastries with pear butter and goat cheese by Gwyn, our badass vegetarian cook. Mmm! What can I say? We’re food lovers! And how lucky am I to have met these great people in Granada who love eating so much.

After the dinner, in the traditional Spanish style, we went out and partied some more to speed up the digestion process in which a lot of dancing was involved. We took the long walk home from the center at 3 in the morning (a very un-Spanish thing to do on the weekend) and crashed in our bed. The next morning, there wasn’t anything else left to do but drink tea, eat the leftovers, and snuggle with the cats in my comfy clothes. The dirty plates and the recycling could wait.





How do you like our mismatched plates and plastic bowls? Pretty nice huh?

I don't have the recipes for my friends' dishes (I'm working on obtaining those), but here's how to make the eggplant hummus in case you were interested:


INGREDIENTS//

+ 1 can of garbanzos (about 15 ounces/400 grams)
+ 1 small eggplant
+ 10 pitted green olives (or more if you like the taste)
+ 1/2 lemon
+ 1-2 cloves of garlic
+ parsley
+ extra virgin olive oil
+ salt
+ pepper
+ paprika to garnish


RECIPE//

First preheat the oven to 450 degrees F or 230 degrees C. Remove the skin of the eggplant then cut it into small flat, circular pieces of the same thickness. That way they can roast evenly. Place the pieces on a pan and drizzle with plenty of olive oil and sprinkle on the salt and pepper. The eggplant pieces will need to be in the oven for 20-25 minutes, basically until they’re fully cooked. If they start getting dry before they finish, add more olive oil.

In the meantime, wash your garbanzo beans if they came in a can with preservatives. (If you got dried garbanzos then you need to soak them in water overnight.) Place them in a blender along with a small handful of parsley, the olives, garlic, and eggplant when it’s done roasting. Squeeze in half a lemon, add enough salt & pepper to your liking, and drizzle in the olive oil as it blends. I had a hand blender, so I placed everything in a big bowl and hoped to god the ingredients wouldn’t start flying once the blending began. And if you don’t have any kind of blender, good luck mashing.

I like the texture to be kind of rough, not too puree. Also make sure it's not dry – if so, add more olive oil. When it’s done mixing, put the hummus in a pretty bowl, garnish with parsley, and add a dash of paprika on top. Paprika really doesn’t contribute any new flavors since it’s sweet – I just add it for the color contrast. This hummus turns out a bit greener than normal since we added the eggplant.

And that’s that! Enjoy and let me know how it turns out if you decide to make it!

Chinese Tea Eggs

Let’s start off the new year with one of my mom’s old recipes – hard boiled tea eggs! Delicious, really easy to make, but a bit time consuming. But hey, all I got is free time to spend in the kitchen. I much prefer these flavorful eggs, the taste and the appearance, to normal hard boiled eggs. Since they take 2+ hours to make, my mom would throw in 10 or 15 at a time, leave them on the stove on a low fire for what seemed like half the day, then we’d have enough eggs for the rest of the month.

Now if your mother was anything like mine, you probably never bought any food or went to a restaurant during your family vacations. But I very much doubt anyone had huge tupperwares filled with tea eggs and steamed buns and cold beef marinating in a vinegar sauce that occupied the backseat of the car. Typical vacation food. I’m not complaining though, everything my mother made was delicious.

I had the idea to try making these eggs in Spain after going back home for the summer. In August, my boyfriend, Luis, and I took a week long road trip to Nevada and Arizona and guess what we found waiting for us in the car? An ice chest filled with food, and lots and lots of eggs. Luis was a big fan. That means a lot because he’s one picky bastard. And if he likes it, I think you will too. So, let's get started!






Boyfriend approved!


INGREDIENTS//

+ eggs
+ black tea leaves (no green tea)
+ star anise
+ spicy peppercorn
+ soy sauce
+ salt

An advanced warning: I hate measuring ingredients, in fact I never do, which is why I'll never be a baker. For this recipe, if you're going to make... let's say 6 or 10 eggs, use two pinches of tea leaves, 2 or 3 pinches of salt, around 4 full star anises, a (very) small handful of peppercorn, and enough soy sauce until the water in the pot turns dark brown. Taste the water and make sure that it's salty, but not too salty.

You can find star anise and spicy peppercorn in most Asian supermarkets. If there isn't one nearby, you can find star anise in a spice and herb shop since it's a common ingredient in some teas. Replace the spicy peppercorn with normal peppercorn, but it might lose a bit of it's Chinese touch.


RECIPE//

Put the eggs in a large, deep pot - however many you want to make - and make sure they have space to move and do their eggy business. Add enough cold water in the pot so that it fully covers all the eggs. The trick to making good hard boiled eggs is to start off with cold water, not hot or already boiling. That way the shell comes off nice and clean afterward.

Leave the fire on high until the water starts boiling, then lower to medium. Let the eggs boil for four minutes then remove and rinse under cold water for about a minute. Once you're cool enough to touch, crack the eggs but DO NOT PEEL.

When the entire shell is covered with cracks, it's ready to go back in the pot with new cold water, not the hot water from before. Add the soy sauce and salt first. (Make sure to put the soy sauce in before the tea leaves.) Once the water starts boiling again, throw in the leaves, star anise, and spicy peppercorn.

Turn the fire down to low so that the water is still boiling. Cover the pot and leave on the stove for 2-3 hours. In fact, the longer you leave the eggs boiling, the better it will taste. Some people have been known cook these eggs overnight. The egg white will have a firm texture and the interior will crumble as you bite into it. Now get to it! Forget about the eggs for half the day and go read a book.