Andalusian pork

Serves 4
Ingredients

2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp coarse sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil
500 g pork fillet, trimmed
2 lemons, cut into wedges, to serve

1. Mix the paprika, oregano, garlic and salt with the olive oil to make a thick paste.

2. Spread the paste evenly over the pork, cover and marinate in the fridge, ideally overnight.

3. Cut the meat into slices on the diagonal.

4. Heat a griddle or large heavy frying pan until very hot. Cook the pork for 3-4 minutes on each side until cooked through.

5. Serve at once with the lemon wedges.

One of my favourite ways to cook pork, especially for warm weather which I am suffering from now. I used pork loin steaks, and added the tomatoes and green peppers to the griddle pan to cook it.

Chicken with chorizo

Ingredients

4 chicken legs jointed
2 tbsp paprika
2 small onions, sliced
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
150g chorizo sausage sliced
400g can of chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
5 tbsp sherry

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Coat the chicken in paprika, making sure that they are evenly covered, then season with salt. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken until brown.

Transfer to an ovenproof dish. Add the onions to the pan and fry quickly. Add the garlic and sliced chorizo, and fry for about 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, the bay leaves and the sherry, and bring to the boil. Pour over the chicken and cover with a lid. Bake for 45 minutes.

Remove the lid and season to taste. Cook for a further 20 minutes until the chicken is tender and golden.

I know I can be really repetitive with my food but I just can’t go without my chicken tomato casseroles!

Chicken in a garlic, herb and olive sauce

From GoodFood 101 Mediterranean Dishes
Serves 6

Ingredients
225ml olive oil
2 small chickens, each cut into 8 pieces (skin left on)
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
3 bay leaves
1/2 pint dry white wine
12 manzanilla green olives
mashed potato and frisee salad, to serve

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan, then fry the chicken over a high heat for about 5 minutes on each side until browned.

Add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves, then add the wine – take care as it will splutter so put the lid on quickly. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15 – 20 minutes until the chicken is tender. Season with salt. Stir in the olives and serve with mash and salad.

Prawn, chorizo and chickpea stew

From Ramsay’s Best Menus
Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil
4 fresh piquillo peppers, cored, deseeded and cut into 2cm squares
1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
150g good-quality cooking chorizo sausage, sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 ½ tbsp sherry vinegar
3 tbsp dry sherry
600g drained cooked chickpeas (freshly cooked or tinned)
100ml chicken stock
70g baby spinach leaves, washed
20 good-quality raw tiger prawns, peeled, deveined and heads removed
Large handful of basil, leaves only, torn
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large, wide pan and add the peppers, red onion and chorizo. Cook for a few minutes, then add the garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes again, then add the sherry and vinegar and reduce down.

2. Add the chickpeas, stir and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the chicken stock and cook for 10 minutes on a medium heat.

3. In a separate pan, fry the tiger prawns in the remaining olive oil for about 30-45 seconds each side. Once cooked, add to the chickpea stew with the spinach. Let wilt slightly, then scatter over the basil, season and serve.

Couldn’t find any tiger prawns at Marks and Sparks and so I settled for Honduran raw prawns. This is one GR’s recipes from his Channel 4 show, Ramsay’s Best Restaurants, and this is the main course for his Spanish Summer menu. The starter for this is Chunky Gazpacho and his dessert is Lime Mousse… Ok just by writing all this, it’s tempting me to actually do this whole menu. May do it for the next lunch / dinner party I do or back home in Singapore.

Cod in spicy tomato with potatoes

From Spanish
Serves 4

Ingredients
400g/15oz salt cod/salt fish, soaked in cold water for 24hours
30ml/2tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 green peppers, seeded and chopped
500g/1¼ lb peeled & chopped ripe tomatoes or 400g/14oz tin tomatoes
15ml/1tbsp tomato purée
15ml/1tbsp clear honey
¼tsp dried thyme
½tsp cayenne pepper
Juice of ½ lemon
2 potatoes (medium sized)
45ml/3tbsp stale breadcrumbs
30ml/2tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
Salt & ground black pepper

If using shop bought salt fish it should be soaked in cold water for 24 hours, drained and rinsed before use. If home made lightly salted fish is used then an overnight soak followed by a rinse should be adequate.

Drain the salted fish, place in a pan, generously cover with water and bring to the boil. As soon as it boils remove the pan from the heat and set aside until cold.

Heat the oil in a medium sized pan. Gently fry the onion for 5 minutes and then add the garlic. Add the chopped peppers and tomatoes and cook over a gentle heat to make a sauce. Stir in the tomato purée, honey, dried thyme, cayenne pepper, black pepper and a little salt. Taste and season as required. Add a little lemon juice to make it ‘tangier’.

Peel and halve the potatoes lengthways and cut them into slices about the thickness of a coin.

Drain the fish and reserve the cooking water.

Turn on the grill to heat up. Cook the potato slices for about 8 minutes, with no added salt, in the reserved water.

Flake the fish and remove any skin and bones.

Make up the dish in layers. First put in a third of the sauce, cover with potato slices, followed by a layer of flaked fish and the finally the remainder of the sauce.

Combine the breadcrumbs and parsley together and sprinkle over the dish.

Place under the grill for 10 minutes until golden brown.

There’s kind of a funny story here. I was supposed to use salt cod and honestly I thought I had salt cod. I brought back from Barcelona a can that says salt cod on the label (Bacalao) and I thought when I opened it, I will see slices of salt cod. Instead, it turns out that I bought a can of bacalao paste which, obviously, I can’t use for this recipe. Because I had bought all the ingredients, I decided to just use fresh cod for this dish.

Can’t really say much about this dish except that it tastes like a typical fish bake. I think it definitely needs some salt cod to make it more distinctive.

Sherried onion soup with saffron

Ingredients
3 tbsp butter
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
pinch of saffron threads
50g blanched almonds, toasted and finely ground
750ml chicken stock
3 tbsp sherry
1/2 tsp paprika

To garnish
2 tbsp flaked, toasted
chopped fresh parsley

Melt the butter in a heavy pan over a low heat. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to ensure that they are thoroughly coated in the melted butter, then cover the pan and cook very gently, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes, or until the onions are soft and golden yellow.

Add the saffron threads to the pan and cook, uncovered, for 3-4 minutes, then add the finely ground almonds and cook, stirring the ingredients constantly, for a further 2-3 minutes.

Pour in the chicken stock and sherry into the pan and stir in 1 tsp salt and the paprika. Season with plenty of black pepper. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for about 10 minutes.

Pour the soup into a food processor and process until smooth, then return it to the rinsed pan. Reheat slowly, without allowing the soup to boil, stirring occasionally. Taste for seasoning.

Ladle the soup into heated bowls, garnish with the toasted flaked or slivered almonds and a chopped fresh parsley and serve immediately.

This is one of the most interesting soups I have made. The ground almonds give the soup a distinctive taste; a taste which is close to that of soups found in posh restaurants (ok, I am still far away from that but I am getting there…one day…)

Albondigas con Salsa de Tomate (Meatballs in tomato sauce)

From Spanish – Pepita Aris
Serves 4
Ingredients
225g minced beef
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
30ml grated fresh parmesan cheese
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tomatoes chopped
2 tbsp white wine
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
pinch of sugar
salt and ground black pepper
fresh thyme to garnish

Put the minced beef in a bowl. Add the spring onions, garlic, parmesan and thyme and plenty of salt and pepper. Stir well to combine, then shape the mixture into small firm balls.

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy frying pan and cook the meatballs for about 5 minutes, turning frequently, until evenly browned all over.

Add the chopped tomatoes, wine, rosemary and sugar to the pan, with salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Cover the pan and cook gently for about 15 minutes until the tomatoes are pulpy and the meatballs are cooked through. Check the sauce for seasoning and serve the meatballs hot, garnished with the thyme.

This is so easy to make and it doesn’t require egg to bind the meat together. It uses parmesan instead which I think is a much tastier alternative. I am quite happy with the meatballs, I think they are definitely better than the ones you get at La Tasca!

Chicken Chilindron

From the Spanish Cookbook
Ingredients
Serves 4

675g red bell peppers
4 free range chicken portions
2 tsp paprika
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
200g Serrano or other ham, in one piece or a gammon chop
200g can chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp chilli powder
salt and ground black pepper
chopped fresh parsley to garnish

Preheat the grill (broil) to high. Put the peppers on a baking sheet and grill (broil) for 8-12 minutes, turning occasionally until the skins have blistered and blackened. Place the blackened peppers in a bowl, cover with clear film and leave to cool.

Rub salt and paprika into the chicken portions. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the chicken portions, skin-side down. Fry over a medium low heat, turning until golden on all sides.

Meanwhile, select a casserole into which the chicken will fit comfortably. Spoon in 3 tbsp fat from the other pan. Fry the onion and garlic until soft. Dice the ham or gammon and add, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes into the casserole, with the chopped dried chilli or chilli powder. Cook for 4-5 minutes, letting the sauce reduce.

Peel the skins off the peppers and discard these and the stalks. Put the peppers into a blender and strain in the juices, discarding the seeds. Process, then add the puree to the casserole and stir in. Heat through.

Add the chicken pieces to the casserole, bedding them down in the sauce. Cook, covered, for 15 minutes and check the seasoning, adding more if necessary. Garnish with a little parsley and serve with small new potatoes.

Ok I can’t go without a chicken casserole for more than a month even though it’s summer. I am covered in sweat now from the cooking and eating. This is a famous chicken dish from Navarre and the word Chilindron refers to a game of cards; I presume people play this game while eating this dish.

As you can see from the photographs above, I have actually grilled the peppers and peeled their skins off (despite my previous stance that it is a waste). I guess I needed to do it at least once to see what the fuss is all about; why so many dishes require peeled peppers. It’s the taste and texture of the sauce; the taste is sweeter and the sauce is smoother. That said, I am not too sure whether I will do it for myself again (i will probably do it if I am cooking for others) as it’s just too much hassle and lots of things to clean after the cooking process.

Grilled red mullet (English trout) with bay leaves

From the Spanish Cookbook
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 red mullet about 225-275g each, cleaned and descaled
olive oil for brushing
fresh herb sprigs, such as fennel, dill, parsley, or thyme
2-3 dozen fresh or dried bay leaves

For the dressing
6 tbsp olive oil
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 dried chilli, seeded and chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp parsley

Preheat the grill with the shelf 15 cm from the heat source.

Brush each fish with oil and stuff the cavities with the herb sprigs. Season with salt and pepper. Brush the grill pan with oil and lay bay leaves across the cooking rack. Place the fish on top and cook for 15-20 minutes until cooked through, turning once.

To make the dressing, heat the olive oil in a small pan and fry the chopped garlic with the dried chilli. Add the lemon juice and strain the dressing into a small jug. Add the chopped parsley and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve the mullet on warmed plates, drizzled with the dressing.

No red mullet at the Waitrose seafood counter and so I settled for an English trout. I love grilling (broiling) food these days, and placing them on a bed of salad leaves. The warmth of the food and the juices, cooking the leaves to some extent. It’s the perfect summer food!

Pan fried sole with lemon and capers

From the Spanish cookbook
Serves 2

Ingredients

2-3 tbsp plain flour
4 sole fillets
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp pickled capers, drained
salt and ground black pepper
fresh flat leaf parsley to garnish

Sift the flour on to a plate and season well with salt and ground black pepper. Dip the fish fillets into the flour, to coat evenly on both side.

Heat the oil and butter in a large shallow pan until foaming. Add the fish fillets and fry over a medium heat fro 2-3 minutes on each side.

Life out the fillets carefully with a metal spatula and place them on a warmed serving platter. Season with salt and ground black pepper.

Add the lemon juice and capers to the pan, heat through and pour over the fish. Garnish with parsley and serve at once.

This is such a ridiculously simple and quick dish to make (there’s really no reason why people should say that it’s difficult to cook fish when you have such simple recipes!) I made it in 15 minutes (right after I got back from Waitrose; managed to get myself some reduced price lemon sole as well) I really like the combination of the mild, crisp taste of the coated fish and the sharp lemon and caper sauce.