Frozen fruit

There are many things wrong with the world, they say. ...For me, they can be subsumed under a few principles in its mechanics that should be tweaked -but I won't get into that. If you know me, we'll chat about it, or yet better, seriously joke about it some time.  One thing I'll say, though, .... oh boy, I was going to start rambling again.

Well, to the point. There's no need to chat, though I felt philosophical when I began thinking about that mantra of mine; every time I'm asked where I want to eat, when I'm eating out, my choice is usually any place where I can eat "sano, rico, y barato" (healthy, yummy, and cheap). And that, having learned it from my dad who always refused to eat out (also because in the island there aren't many choices, eating out is crazily expensive if you live on a salary, and the traditional food is not exactly what you would call healthy), that place, is home. My dad is a great, inventive cook, so I learned that from him. I do, however, love eating out, my circumstances of course are different, and I'm not always in the mood for cooking -nor do I always have the desire to devote time to it  (I can make quick dishes, but more about it in coming posts).
Every time I cook, though, rest assured, it is healthy, and it is cheap (even if you cook expensive stuff, cooking it at home will be many times cheaper than if you have it at a restaurant), ...and the more I practice cooking, the higher the statistic that the outcome will be good.

...That octopus recipe I promised in the previous entry.., well you know. Good that I wrote I'd do it, it means I'll remember the recipe, and I'll make it again, which is the main purpose of this blog. A reminder to myself of the dishes I make, ...quite hard since I cook an original recipe almost every time I cook. But again, more on that later.

For today, a healthy, veritable yummy, and cheap snack.

Buy frozen fruits.
Again, buy frozen fruits.
Chances are that you are in the first world now. And in this -many adjectives, and none- first world, you have frozen fruits in the frozen section of your supermarket. They say berries are good for you, I always have berries, you pick whatever suits your palate, but do keep frozen fruits in your fridge, ...they last so long, they are nutritious, they come so handy.


Put them in a jar with at least one (portion of?) fresh fruit so you go easy on the hand blender, because that's what you're going to do, blend them. (apples make the thing dark, so I advice you against them, I usually add bananas, kiwis, pineapple, and/or some type of melon -bananas are the most common ones in my preparations, since they are also the easiest to peel and the cheapest)

Want to impress your commensals/visitors, or treat yourself? Sprinkle slivered almonds and irregularly cut pieces of a chocolate bar (hmmm..., dark chocolate) over one of the easiest and healthiest snacks you can offer to people, they'll feel pampered and you'll have the right to feel proud of how much you love them, 'cause good and yummy food is love, ask grandmas (I feel like one sometimes).

other lands

I said it, I'm an eclectic cook, that, with respect to the geographic origin of the inspiration of my meals or their ingredients. I LOVE to travel, and I'm quite literal, although being literal does not necessarily restrict me to moving my entire frame across parallels and meridians. During the first part of my life that was mainly accomplished thanks to my imagination and my outdated Soviet-era atlas, -I must confess that >90% of the geography that this adult knows she learned it when she was 11 yrs old or younger. I don't know where it came from, but my mother had a huge map of the world (a Soviet-era one) with its economic and natural resources for me at home. At some point, I decided to hang it on one of the walls of my bedroom. It was, of course, just another oddity for my friends of the time -and one of which I wasn't embarrassed since, for this at least, I had the support and even the encouragement of my elders. I traveled far across my blue-and-yellow Earth with no country borders, only ugly symbols of industries and mineral resources (outdated, I must insist, yet it made me question why Africa was so rich in natural resources yet so poor, a question not very obvious to the straight forward thinking of the child I was; and it also made me realize how poor in natural resources my own country was, a truth somewhat burdensome for such a young person). I challenged myself to locate strange -'ztan' countries in the map, but most of the time I got frustrated, the gigantic map was cool, but I liked city names, frontiers, and, most importantly, geographic accidents. The atlas, the book, was much more fun. I have kept a love for maps since then, though I don't hang them any more, I rather send maps to my dad, a strange way of making both him and myself happy.
I didn't travel, physically, until I was already a grown up person, and my contacts with foreign things were random and infrequent. I was born and raised in an island, a geographic and also a cultural island. The closest thing I had to anything outside my latitude and longitude were my own genes, and yet the terrible economic situation of the country when I grew up (and I think ever since it emerged from the sea, really) didn't permit for traditions to be kept. Adults already had a hard time preparing the most basic daily meals, how could they then afford worrying about oriental spices or traditional ingredients. Ah, the language of my grandfather was also lost, a pity, really, but I was the youngest of his descendants, I wish I had been with him more, oh boy, I would have learned (they told me I was already learning when I was a little child). Now I am not looking forward to learning Chinese any time soon, sad, again, but a predictable consequence; I am very much an islander, ...a roaming islander, but that's just a whole another -and recurring- topic.

Books were the natural vehicle, no matter how common place this sounds, books are "the" great vehicle for traveling, ...and art. When I was a child, I was a vicious book worm, and I had a beautiful catalog of the National Museum of Fine Arts. Also, I had a powerful imagination.

Just because I have to work now, and I am a boring adult, I will cut short my rambling. I wanted to come to the point of why discovering new foods is such a gratifying experience for me. It's like traveling in a sense, and I believe it is a quite material, factual experience. I think I get to "know" something of other places, my mind gets broadened my the experience, sometimes catastrophic, sometimes quite nice. ...Also, because cooking is a bit of an intellectual enterprise for me, a very pleasurable one.
I was going to write about the octopus I prepared today. I was, of course, going to celebrate myself because I recreated a dish I tasted over two years ago at a Spanish restaurant. A tapa dish, very simple, yet I realize now, very unforgettable. Please go to the next post if you want to learn about it.
Must work now. Adios!

Octopus and clams; shiitake, enoki, asparagus & lemon

I'm an eclectic cook. I like recipes, but I read them for inspiration only; almost every time I cook I make something new, and I want it to be healthy and tasty. It also has to be cheap.
Here you go, the very first time I cook clams, they all opened, and taste great!

I bought small octopuses and cleaned them myself. I had them simmering in water over low heat for almost two hours while I worked. They were yummy and tender, ready to eat just like that. Mind you, there was only water and salt.
The clams were easier than I thought (thanks Internet). I put butter and garlic on a pan over medium heat, added the clams -all touching the bottom of the pan-, and covered it tightly for 2-3 mins. Then added approx 1/4 cup of cooking wine per every two clams and riesling (ran out of cooking wine, but I always have riesling ;-)  ).
No much cooking after this, since I read that the clams get chewy if you cook them for too long, 2-3 mins. The rest was to add the octopus, a can of tomato sauce, generous oregano, and cumin. ;)


Second pic is asparagus, with shiitake and enoki mushrooms (bought at the Asian market, always cheaper), with olive oil, salt, and, secret ingredient, ...lemon.

Told ya, cheap, tasty, healthy.  ...and quick.