Ginger, soy sauce and lemon marinated chicken

     An easy recipe for today. It would be a fantastic option for... a Thursday lunch (for example!) We had some chicken thighs at home and we marinated them to give them a different flavour. But you can use this recipe with chicken legs, or breast. 

     After marinating the chicken we left in in the fridge for around 5 hours. It can be prepared the day before and leave it overnight. We opted to cook it in a saucepan, but it could have perfectly been cooked in the oven too. As side dishes we chose some rice and some grilled courgettes. Keep it simple, because the flavour of the chicken is intense. The truth is that the chicken was nice! so we decided to share it with you. Here:

We hope you like it! We'll be back soon. 

Apple crumble in an apple

     Apple crumble (or apple crisp, as it is known in USA) is one of the most traditional desserts in British cooking. This all time favourite consists in a baked layer of apples with a crumble on the top (being this a mixture of butter and flour, with sugar in its sweet version) In some versions a base is added to the cake, and there are optional ingredients, like raisins or lemon juice. 

     We bring you a different option to present this classic dessert. Once more, in Cukinando we opt for the individual portions. In this occasion we use the apples to present it. 

     The result is a delicious (as is always the case with apple crumble!) sweet mini cake and you add an original touch. In our recipe we added some cinnamon and raisins to the filling. You can add some cinnamon to the crumble as well, if you prefer a stronger flavour. 

     You can find the video here: 

     Please, let us know what you think. We hope you like it! 

Chocolate, red wine and strawberries cake

   Today we couldn't record the recipe, but we can't stop sharing it with you. Isn't it gorgeous? There won't be too many strawberries this year anymore, so we decided to use them to make these two delicious cakes. The recipe we are sharing with you today is a brownie and red wine based cake, filled with buttercream and fresh strawberries.
   

     To make the chocolate and red wine brownie you will need:

• 200 g of dark chocolate
• 200 g of butter
• 150 g of sugar
• 100 g of flour
• 100 ml of red wine
• 4 eggs

     Start melting the chocolate with the butter and add the read wine and the sugar. Once everything is properly dissolved and not too hot add the eggs and mix everything well. Pour it in 2 baking moulds coated with flour and bake at 180 °C for 20 minutes. Let it cool down before adding the filling.

     To make the strawberries buttercream:

• 200 g of butter
• 200 g of icing sugar
• 250 g of smashed fresh strawberries

     Whisk the butter with the sugar until it is white. Smash the straberries, strain them and add them to the mixture. Pit it in the pipping bag. 

     To make the glazed chocolate:

• 150 g of cream
• 80 g of water
• 90 g of sugar
• 40 g of cocoa powder
•  4 gelatine sheets

     Boil the cream, the sugar and the water together for 2 minutes. Add the cocoa powder and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the (previously soaked) gelatine sheets once it has cooled down. Strain and reserve. Use the shine when it reaches 40 °C.

     Finally bring everything together. Fill the cake with the buttercream, add the glased chocolate and decorate with the fresh strawberries. 

     We hope you like it! 

How to make homemade butter (or buttermilk!)

     The process to make butter just can't be easier. Probably you made it accidentally at some point, when you over-beat cream and it started to separate... in that case, don't throw it away! just keep whipping until you have butter and buttermilk. 

     It is a fantastic activity to do with children, and even more if you start separating the cream from whole milk. They will know where butter comes from, and we are sure they will enjoy it.
    
    Buttermilk is a subproduct of the process and has multiples uses in cooking. It is a fantastic tenderiser for meat. Furthermore, it is a drink itself in lots of countries. You will find lots of recipes to use it, so keep it!

    Here you have today's video:

    See you in our next post! 

How to make bechamel sauce in the microwave

  Bechamel sauce (also known as white sauce) is one of those basic recipes that can be used in an infinite number of dishes, and everybody has their own way of making it to have the perfect result. Today we bring you one of our most precious culinary secrets: how to make bechamel sauce in the microwave. Just in 4 minutes! 

     As a result you will have a light sauce in texture. If using this method, in our experience, if you try to add more flour it is easy to end up with a lumpy sauce. Anyway, you can always fix it using the blender. 

    You will have 250 ml of sauce using the quantities shown in the video. If you want to make 500 ml, just put it in the microwave 1 minute and a half in the last step, instead of 1 minute. 

     You can see the video here:

     We hope you like it!

Roasted peppers soup

     Today we cook a starter we love: roasted peppers soup. It is a recipe we discovered several years ago, and we have been cooking it in special occasions since then. Actually we even cooked it at home for Christmas dinner this year!

     
     We roast the pepper in the microwave, following the recipe we posted some time ago (you can see it here). As an alternative to this recipe you can keep the vinegar syrup to decorate at the end, although we prefer the version we have cooked, because it gives a beautiful contrast between sweet and acid flavours.

     You have to tell us what do you think about this soup, we are sure you will be surprised by its flavour! 

     You can see the video here: 

     We hope you like it! 

Oatmeal cookies with banana, orange and honey

    Today we have decided to bring you a treat recipe, but a healthy one: oatmeal cookies. For all of you who have oats in your breakfast they are a good alternative to take from time to time, and if you don't, they are a fantastic way to increase your fibre intake.

     They are "chewy cookies" (kind of american type of cookie), maybe not everybody cup of tea, but if you like whole flavours we are sure you will enjoy them, and you could use them instead of the traditional porridge.

     The video: