IBERIAN SCRAMBLED EGGS

Scrambled eggs are only eaten for breakfast in Spain when they are plain. When other ingredients are added to the eggs (the below is a particularly good combination) they become a lunch or dinner dish. The only explanation for these eating times is cultural: for example, if you see somebody eating paella for dinner you can be sure they are not Spanish - paella is just not a dinner dish.

I have been asked by many people over the last three days to be more precise with all the quantities. The below is for a lunch/dinner for one, though sure it depends on how hungry you are!

You need:
- 2 eggs
- 3 tinned 'piquillo peppers' (they sell them in most supermarkets now) - cut them into stripes and keep also two teaspoons of the tin juice.
- 2 slices of Serrano, Iberico or Parma ham (the ham will be slightly fried, so no need to get an expensive one)
- a teaspoon of chopped parsley
- one teaspoon of olive oil
-  pinch of salt (not too much as the ham is salty anyway)
and a non stick frying pan.

Heat the pan (medium heat). Add the piquillo peppers with a tablespoon of their tin liquid. When the liquid has evaporated (1-2 minutes) take them off the pan. Heat the olive oil in the pan, tear the ham slices into strips and add them to the pan with half of the chopped parsley. Wait for one minute. Then add the peppers back to the pan. Beat the eggs, add the salt and add them to the pan. Stir with a wooden spoon. After a couple of minutes they are done. Just sprinkle the rest of the parsley on top and eat immediately.

My middle son makes really good scrambled eggs now and he manages to do the 'stir, lift and fold' movement which is the key to avoiding scrambled eggs looking miserable. These are definitely 'happy" eggs:

INSPIRING GIRLS

Dear female reader (and in particular dear MNer)

You are more than welcome to browse all these 214 these recipes, but before you do so, p-l-e-a-s-e  click in the link to the Inspiring Girls Campaign and register: www.inspiring-girls.com

It takes only 5 minutes and all you are committing to do is to go to a state school near where you live or work and talk to the girls (normally 13-14 years old) about your life for one hour every year.

Every single woman is welcome: working, non-working, full-time, part-time, old, young, at the beginning of their careers, at the very top of them…  You just have to talk about yourself and answer any questions the girls may have.  I know some of you will be wondering (as I did when I started this) whether the girls will really find your life interesting, but of course they will! No matter who you are, no matter what you have done in life, there is always a girl out there who can benefit from your experience.

It is just an hour per year... less than my daily commute…sure everybody can do it!

We launched the campaign in October 2013. We have spent 18 months going around the country getting together women from all walks of life and girls. We have reached more than 250,000 state school girls and now have 10 countries interested in mirroring the campaign. Below you can find some links with more info and pictures on the campaign.

Last week we reached our goal of getting 15,000 women registered (to be accurate we are now 15,009 women) Do join us and help us to make this even bigger. It is not only a very good cause, it is also a lot of fun!

Looking forwards to seeing you in the campaign.

Miriam  

TINY TORTILLAS WITH SHRIMPS

This is our international version of the 'tortillitas de camarones', a wonderful tapa from the South of Spain. Children like making them as it is a bit like making pancakes (the olive oil is very hot though, so be careful if they approach the frying pan)

You need:
100 g brown shrimps
90 g plain flour
60 g chickpea flour (you can buy this in supermarkets nowadays and also in Middle East shops)
300 ml water
two spring onions (sliced very thinly)
two teaspoons of chopped parsley
salt
Half a glass of olive oil (or a whole glass if you are using a bigger frying pan) to fry the 'tortillas'

Mix the flours, water, salt, spring onions and parsley. Stir well. Then add the shrimps. Heat olive oil in a frying plan until it is very hot. Pour a couple of tablespoons of the mixture into the oil. Wait until the 'tortillita' gets golden (a couple of minutes), turn them so that they get golden on the other side (1-1.5 minutes). Take them out and put them over kitchen paper to get rid of any excess oil. Eat them immediately. The are crunchy outside and soft inside - very delicious.

MILK BUNS

Children love these, either on their own or with butter, jam, cream cheese, ham, cheese...
It takes a bit to prepare them but to be fair  most of the time is just waiting while you are doing other things (homework?) so it is not a lot of effort.

You need:
- 500 g  plain flour
- two eggs
- 250 m milk
- 9 gr fast action yeast
- 100 gr sugr
- 90 g butter (room temperature)
- a pinch of salt
- one more egg

Warm 100 ml of milk. Mix the yeast, 50 g of flour and the100 ml of milk and let it rest for half an hour until  it gets frothy.

Then mix this with all the other ingredients. The easiest way to do this is in a food processor with the kneading hook for around 8-10 minutes. Then put it all into a glass bowl (greased with a tiny bit of sunflour oil) and let it rest for 2 hours until it has doubled in side.

Punch the dough to get rid of the air. Then divide the dough into 10 parts. Shape each one like a ball, or  give them an oval shape. You can also flatten them (oval shape), cut one extreme of the oval shape into three stripes and roll them on themselves (see bun on the right down corner in the picture). Put them on a tray lined with baking paper. Cover the buns with cling film and wait for another 35 minutes until they rise again.

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. Cut the buns (if you like that shape) and 'paint them' with beaten egg. Put them into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.