Tag: European Journeys

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A Simple Chicken, Prawn and Chorizo Paella Recipe

Bring a taste of Spain to your home with this simple paella recipe that combines chicken, prawns and chorizo into a mouthwatering dish that is perfect for parties!
This dish takes about an hour to create and should serve about eight.

What you’ll need

Chicken, prawn and chorizo paella
A simple chicken, prawn and chorizo paella recipe – the perfect party dish!

1 thinly sliced chorizo sausage
3 chicken breast fillets, chopped into bite size chunks
1 pack of large, pre-cooked, tiger prawns
2 large, diced onions
400g arborio paella rice
Paprika
White wine
Olive Oil
1.25 litres of chicken or vegetable stock

How to cook it

  • Add a glug of olive oil to a large, heavy bottomed frying pan and heat on a medium to high setting. Add your thinly sliced chorizo to the pan and allow to cook on both sides until golden and starting to go black. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chorizo whilst leaving the oil and chorizo juice in the pan.
  • Add the diced chicken to the pan and cook until lightly golden, the meat doesn’t have to be cooked thoroughly at this stage. Remove the chicken and keep until later.
  • Add your diced onions to the pan and cook until brown and soft.
  • Now add your rice, two teaspoons of paprika and about 200ml of white wine.
  • Bring to the boil and allow the mixture to cook for around 2 minutes.
  • Now add your chicken and chorizo to the mixture and stir in your stock.
  • Reduce to a low heat and allow the paella to cook for 20 minutes without stirring.
  • Finally, add your prawns to the dish and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes or until the remaining mixture has been fully absorbed.

Freshen things up a bit

If you would like to freshen this dish up a little, let your paella cool, add some freshly chopped tomatoes, peppers and cucumber and serve on a bed of lettuce.
Image courtesy of flickr user S. Navarro

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The 5 Best Travel Apps for your iOS Device

Just a few short years ago holidaymaker’s suitcases were packed with everything from CD players, to cameras and books to help pass the time. But nowadays all you need is a phone or tablet and these five travel apps. From camera optimisation to travel organisers, these apps will ensure your holiday runs smoothly from start to finish.
1. FlightAware – Free
FlightAware is a live flight tracking system designed to keep you up to date with the latest news and information regarding your flight. Just type in your airline and flight number and you’re away. From there you will be sent updates on flight delays, gate changes and cancellations. Plus, if you accept the push notifications you can receive all this information without even having to open up the app. If you’re flying, it’s a must have travel app in our opinion
2. Instagram – Free
Despite being recently bought by Facebook, Instagram is still the iPhones best camera app. This simple photo app allows you to share your travel snaps with all your friends back home and will transform your pictures from the mundane to effortless cool at the touch of a button! It’s like Photoshop in your pocket.
3. Wattpad – Free
The Amazon Kindle and iBooks apps are the most well known reading apps on the iPhone but in Wattpad there could be a huge selection of free books that you have been missing out on. The app has been around for several years now and offers over 5 million stories for you to read – all for free! Just download the app, choose you favourite genre of book and you’re away. From romance to horror to comedy, Wattpad’s excellent library has something for everyone.
4. Google Translate – Free
If you’re travelling to a country where you don’t know the language, it’s always handy to have a little helping hand from time to time. And rather than carrying a bulky phrase book around with you, why not simply download the Google Translate app? It will quickly and easily translate words and phrases between 64 languages and can be a real lifesaver when you’re struggling to get your point across. It’s like having your own personal translator!
5. XE Currency – Free
There’s nothing better than haggling with local market traders and coming back from your holiday with some absolute bargains. But when you don’t know the currency it can be difficult to know if you’re getting a good deal or not. Step forward the handy XE Currency app. The app quickly and easily converts different currencies so you can see exactly how much you’re spending. It’s a bargain hunter’s best friend.
Is there any apps that you think we may have missed? If so let us know in the comments below.
Image courtesy of flickr user Tony George

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Interesting facts about Italy

Mount-Vesuvius

Find out what makes our list of fun facts about Italy below:

  • Romans love cats, so much so that a new law condemns any person killing a cat to a 10,000 Euro fine & up to 3 years in jail!
  • The city of Pompeii was completely buried after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79.
  • Did you know that Rome is further north than New York?
  • The Sardinian islands are famous for their “witches” who make health potions for local people. The “witches” are usually women and they use a secret language that they pass on to their daughters.
  • Naples gave birth to the pizza around 1860.
  • The average Italian consumes 26 gallons of wine and 25 kilograms of pasta a year.
  • Italy has more hotel rooms than any other country in Europe.
  • Italyis home to more UNESCO world heritage sites than any other country in the world.
  • The national animal of Italy is the Italian Wolf.
  • Venice has over 400 footbridges.
  • In 2007 an Italian dog found a truffle weighing 3.3 pounds which was later sold for a world record $333,000.
  • At its height in A.D. 117, the Roman Empire stretched from Portugal in the West to Syria in the east, and from Britain in the North to the North African deserts across the Mediterranean. It covered 2.3 million miles and had a population of 120 million people.

Do you have any fun facts about Italy? If so, let us know in the comments below.

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The perfect recipe for a tasty Ratatouille dish

Ratatouille Dish

Ratatouille is a traditional French dish which packs plenty of vegetables into a tasty meal for the entire family to enjoy. This rustic recipe will serve four, is ready in about 40 minutes and packs in a massive 4 of your 5-a-day quota for fruit and veg!

Ratatouille Dish
A traditional, tasty ratatouille recipe

What you’ll need

4 large tomatoes
2 peppers
4 courgettes
2 aubergines
1 diced onion
3 garlic cloves
Olive oil
Basil
Sugar

How to cook it

  • Prepare your vegetables by chopping your aubergines, courgettes and peppers into bite size chunks.
  • Quarter your tomatoes and scrape out the seeds before roughly chopping into smaller pieces.
  • Heat a heavy bottomed sauté pan over a medium flame and then add a large glug of olive oil.
  • Brown your aubergines, courgettes and peppers on each side for 5 minutes or until soft. TIP – Be careful not to overcook the vegetables at this stage.
  • Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside for later. Add in a little more oil if required and cook the onion and garlic for 5 minutes.
  • Stir in a handful of basil, a pinch of sugar and your tomatoes and allow to cook for a minute.
  • Return your vegetables to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes. TIP – now’s the time to add a little salt and pepper to your meal if required.
  • After 5 minutes of cooking it’s time to dish up and enjoy!

Spice things up a little

If you would like to create your own version of this traditional ratatouille dish why not add some chicken, chilli and fresh noodles for a modern twist on a French classic.
Image courtesy of flickr user jplahm