Chic-Nic

I'm not being clever with the title for this post although I certainly thought so at first. Google proved me wrong and gave back a few results including a whole Italian vintage festival held in 2015. 

The hubby had always commented on how he would love to have a traditional wicker picnic basket to take me out for lunch or dinner. We have it really easy as we live by the sea and the countryside is very nearby. I was trying to find a fitting gift for his birthday this year and somehow the picnic basket popped up into my head. After some online research I decided on this model that I ordered from Les Jardins de la Comtesse.

Last Friday we went to the beach carrying our picnic basket, some chairs and an oil lamp. It had gotten very late and there barely was any light left so I decided to take a picture both with and without flash. Both are awful quality but it's the best I could accomplish.

The basket comes with ceramic plates, wine glasses, cloth napkins and cutlery for 4 people, salt and pepper shakers and a bottle opener. The inside is fully lined with a cotton plaid material. The right side features an insulated bag that can keep your food fresh and cool. There's still space left on the other side after filling it with the plates and glasses so you could carry more food. In the middle there are two slots where you can fit two bottles, we carried a bottle of wine in one slot and some water and a baguette in the other.

The wine glasses that came with the basket were so tiny that I decided to take these ones instead. In the north of Spain it's very common to use these kind of glasses to drink beer or wine from. They are commonly know as "txiquitos" or "chatos". The first name means tiny but they can actually hold quite a lot. They are easy to stack up for transport, they don't take up too much space and are pretty sturdy.

For food we kept it quite simple: a few cheese varieties, a tomato and cucumber salad and some mouthwatering Iberian ham.

We've decided to have a weekly chicnic on Friday night as long as the weather allows so I can hardly wait for the weekend to come.

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Vacation Haul: Portuguese Delicacies

I think I've well established my love for food & wines in previous posts. We've just come back home from our vacation in Galicia and Portugal. Instead of buying souvenirs like magnets, key holders, pens and such we prefer to bring back something food related to give to our friends and family. 

The last Parador hotel we stayed in is the first and only one that has been opened in Portugal for now: Casa da Ínsua. They have their own winery and they also produce different kind of jams, olive oil, honey, cheese and much more although these are the ones that you can purchase directly from them. They also sell a lot of pottery and gorgeous crockery but we aren't very keen on those.

We prefer red wine over white and rosé so we took one of each: a small bottle to give to the in-laws and the 2010 and 2012 wines for us. We already had a glass of the 2012 with our dinner the previous night so we already knew it would make an excellent choice for a souvenir.

They only make two types of cheese: young and matured, we picked one of each. 

I don't have much of a sweet tooth but the hubby does, so we picked some honey for him, my mom and our friends, an apple jam for the in-laws and a 1/2 liter olive oil for me.

This is the hotel seen from the backyard. I have some amazing pictures to share with y'all but I'll leave them for a future post. I don't want to overload you with all the amazingness. If you ever have the chance to visit this hotel I'd highly recommend it. It's only a hour and a half from Porto, Coïmbra and 3 hours from Lisbon. The food and wine are delicious and the scenery is beyond amazing. 

Blenders: Breville Blend Active vs NutriBullet

In January last year I decided to swap my usual tea and cookies for a more healthy breakfast. During the week I never have time to have breakfast before leaving the house in the morning so I need it to be easy to transport. Smoothies seemed the way to go for me.

After some research I decided to get the Breville Blend Active blender from Amazon UK. A year and a half later I can definitely say that it's the best purchase I've made in a long time. I've been using it almost every single day and I can really tell how much it has improved my skin.

A few days ago my mom's boyfriend came back from the UK and brought me a present: the NutriBullet blender. It had been my initial choice when looking for a blender but I'd decided that a cheaper alternative would work just as well. I haven't given it a try yet but there's a couple of things that are making me doubt if I'm going to keep it or give it back.

It's only a tiny bit bulkier than the Breville but not by much so that's not an issue for me. It's double as powerful though, featuring 600W but I've had no problem with the Breville crushing frozen bananas and berries.

The blades are pretty much the same, the Breville's are pointier and smaller but that's about it.

The NutriBullet comes with two kind of blades, though: an extractor blade (left) and a milling blade (right). I've had no problem with using the one blade that comes with the Breville for milling and blending. This is going to take up more space in my already crowded little kitchen.

The large cups can hold up to 600ml (Breville) and 650ml (NutriBullet), so pretty much the same amount of liquid. The taller and slimmer bottle has a more ergonomic design to carry with you. The wider version is easier to clean up as you can fit your hand in it but I'm used to getting a spatula to press down the sponge and clean up the bottom of the Breville cup.

As you can see from the picture bellow the Breville cup is easier to drink from as it features a flip top lid with a nozzle, the NutriBullet sells them separately but apparently they cost a small fortune. The handle from the NutriBullet is adjustable  to any of the cups but you can't use it in conjunction with the lid what makes it a bit of a nuisance when you're on the go.

Of course I could use a straw to drink out of the wider cup or transfer my smoothie to the Breville cup, but that would defeat the purpose of using one container for both blending and drinking.

The NutriBullet is more versatile and powerful, it could be used to dice or chop up veggies in a second. Preparing salsas and mousse-like textures could be done with both devices, I feel, but the wider opening of the NutriBullet cups would make it easier to get the product out. Not that I've ever used the Breville for anything other than making smoothies but it's something to take into account.

What are your thoughts? Which one should I keep?

Spanish Delicacies: Nísperos aka Loquat

Following with my food themed posts I'm going to talk about a succulent fruit that grows in the area: the loquat. They have been part of my daily diet for the past few weeks as my neighbour keeps me well supplied.

They grow in clusters, the fruit is about 4 to 5cm, oval or slightly pear shaped and can be yellow to orange in color depending on how ripe they are. 

The skin's thin and fuzzy but smooth and is very easy to peal. Unfortunately they stain a lot so you may end up with brown fingertips if you suffer from dryness. The fruit bruises pretty easily and the ones that have brown spots are usually discarded and don't generally make it to the market.

It only bears a few pits, usually between 2 and 5 but they are bundled up together so they are easy to pick out and discard. Don't ever eat them, though, they are poisonous as they contain cyanide.

The meaty flesh is very juicy and tangy but sweet. It oxidizes pretty fast so it turns an awful brown color but it doesn't affect its taste. 

They are low in calories and rich in Vitamin A and pectin. The latter functions as a laxative and is said to lower cholesterol levels. For more nutrition facts and health benefits you may be interested in reading this article.

More on Spanish Delicacies:

- Sobaos Pasiegos

- Miguelitos de la Roda

- Piononos

- Flan de Huevo

- Polvorones & Mantecados

- Churros con Chocolate

V TORRES EXPERIENCE ALTEA

Torres is a 5th generation family owned winery that originated from the Penedés Region in Spain. They have since expanded to several other Spanish wine areas and even gone abroad. They own a winery run by Miguel Torres in Chile and one in Sonoma Valley that is run by Marimar Torres.

Last weekend they chose our home town to celebrate their V Torres Experience in which you could taste over 60 wines for as low as 10€ and attend food & wine pairings for only 4€!!!

The wine stands were scattered all over our main church's square, not the most comfiest place what with the paved cobblestones but it sure looks nice.

I started out the Saturday morning by attending a food & wine pairing. Of course I totally forgot to take a picture of the second "tapa" and only remembered when I was chewing it away.

First we had an oyster bathed in some kind of asian sauce. I'm not particularly keen on oysters but I have to admit that this one tasted dang good.

The second was a tiny steak tartare served on a bed of some sort of cereal grain that I can't remember the name of. This one above was the third bite: a tuna tartare with a twist, don't ask me, I'm the worst at describing food and I can't even remember what it was paired with.

Last one was a beef tataki with an asparagus, that's supposed to be very difficult to pair with any particular wine or so we were told by our very knowledgeable and funny sommelier.

The following day we went to the Italian Cuisine & wine pairing and my batteries died so I had to ask the hubby to take the pictures of the food for me. 

Some of the more expensive wines and champagnes you had to pay extra for, but not much, only 4€. We had some pink champagne on the Saturday but I can't seem to find the picture anywhere. On the Sunday I went for this wine from the Spanish Priorat Region:

I did my best to try all the wines but I could only make it to 36, although I think I had some refills of the wines that I'd loved. If I had to choose one brand that I was pleasantly surprised with I'd have to mention the Jean Leon wines. 

So far, best weekend ever! A huge thank you to Torres Wines for organizing such a fantastic and delicious event, I hope they'll come somewhere nearby in the future.

P.S. I'm the one on the far right.

Food Truck Groupie

Food trucks have become increasingly popular in Spain thanks to TV programs like Master Chef. Its success opened the way for similar food related programs like "Cocineros al Volante" which, more or less, translates into Chefs on wheels. 

These moving restaurants had never proliferated before due to the strict regulations we have in this country. The permit will only allow them to participate in certain food fairs and markets and they aren't allowed to set shop anywhere else. 

This venture needs less of an investment than opening a restaurant and, with taxes and fees sky rocketing since the crisis began, many chefs have decided to jump on the bandwagon before the novelty wears off.

For the last few months the hubby and I have been following them around the area, a 100 km tops for now. Whatever it takes to enjoy a sunny day outside and put some tasty food inside our belly.

In Albir during Easter weekend we enjoyed the Tuna Ceviche from Ellas Sushi & Art and the Kangaroo steak from the Aussie food truck. I forgot to take pictures of the food: worst blogger ever!

A couple of weeks later we followed them to Denia and I went for the Tuna Ceviche, again. The hubby ordered a Japanese sandwich which had both chicken and tuna in it, which sounds a bit weird but paired really well.

This food truck had the funniest name: the "Pulponeta", it's hard to translate but it's a mix of two words: "pulpo" (octopus) and "furgoneta"(truck). We tried the octopus sandwich which was very tasty.

At the Aussie food truck we ordered the Surf 'n Turf: a mix of kangaroo meat and crawfish. We could have done without the latter, not our cup of tea. Give me a plate of shrimp instead!

For dessert there were some cute vintage food trucks to choose from but we went for a Japanese mojito instead: it's made with sake and strawberries, the rest stays the same: mint leaves, brown sugar and soda water.

And these are the other food trucks we could have chosen from. Next time I want to try out the barbecue skewers, they smelled and looked yummy.

Last weekend we wanted to visit them in Mutxamel but the hubby didn't feel well so we had to stay in. Next week they will be nearby so I'm sure not going to miss it, even if I have to go alone.

What would your dream food truck look like? 

Easter in Wines: V Mendoza's Experience

For a few years now I've been really looking forward for Easter, not only it's warm enough to go to the beach but it's time for another edition of the Mendoza Wine Experience. 

For only 15€ you can visit the winery from 09:30 to 16:00 on the Easter Thursday, Friday, Saturday and, this year, even on Sunday!

The entry fee allows you to taste a few selected wines, such as their crown jewel: Santa Rosa. Not my personal fave but everybody else seems to really love it. You can also visit the different workshops they have spread all over the grounds. For the express tasting course you need to be early and ask them to put down your name as it gets filled up pretty quickly.

We started off with the limited edition Merseguera-Chardonay, the only white wine you can choose from. 

This year I didn't have a clear favourite wine, I just kept jumping between the Shiraz and the Merlot-Monastrell, which was a very nice surprise. Monastrell wines can be a little too strong for my taste but this one was perfectly balanced and had kind of a sweet aftertaste to it. Weird enough I didn't go crazy on the Petit Verdot, that's my all time favourite, but I still keep some bottles at home so I preferred to try the others.

For food we had a some cheese and smoked fish as an appetizer and then we had to wait in line for the tastiest paella by Restaurante El Xato in La Nucía. We were lucky to be early for the paella, I later heard from some friends that there wasn't any left when they wanted some and that they had even run out of sandwiches!

And I never got round to order a cup of coffee as I kept drinking wine... hip! Needless to say that I was in an extremely good mood after having a few glasses and that I can't remember much of what I did after they kicked us out of the winery. We got a parking ticket and the car got towed away, though, but that was the hubby's fault, not mine.

For the IV Mendoza Wine Experience click here and for an OOTD post on the III edition click here.

Until next year,