For a bit of a change...

After a break of a few months this blogger is back with a new web address and a new location.

We're now in Malta, right in the heart of the Med' and ready to share some new recipes. Blogs will be more regular and will include some of the local flavour as well as old favourites from Spain and the UK.

So now for the addresses;

www.adventureswithcookinginmalta.blogspot.com

www.burningdownthekitchen.co.uk

www.burningdownthekitchen.com

All links lead here. If you experience difficulties please let me know. If they work then go tell your friends.

'til next time...

Home Alone

I put  my wife and daughter on a plane bound for blighty last night for some UK shopping, catching up with family and other things so am home alone. At times like this I always seem to get the same questions from friends asking how I'll cope alone and what will I eat. I haven't thought up a snappy come-back yet to this yet but really... come on! I'm a grown man and can cook. Even if I couldn't its not rocket science to simply open a tin of baked beans and eat them with toast. In fact there's a lot to be said for the humble baked bean. A nice tasty meal with entertainment thrown in when they reach the end of the digestion process. Name that tune with farts instead of piano. Dinner and a show; what more could you want.

Anyway, rather than rocking back and forth in my chair and drooling into my beans I arrived home from work, took the dog for a quick walk, poured myself a glass of single malt, put some Divine Comedy on the stereo and started to cook.

Tonight I mostly had pork with creamy mashed potatoes and fresh green beans. While I prepared this feast I also cooked something for Wednesday and Thursday to save me from cooking after getting home from work. (I get home late you see). I went back to the old favorite of stew made with fresh vegatables and a small quantity of meat and beer. Very simple to make too. Just fry a couple of chopped onions in some olive oil until soft, roll the diced meat in flour, salt pepper and rosemary then fry with the onions. After a few minutes pour in two bottles of beer and your choice of vegetables (and it really is your choice). I used chunky cut carrots, new potatoes, light green cabbage and garlic.

Add a stock cube, top up with water, bring to the boil then turn down the heat, cover the pot and simmer for an hour or so. Fantastic and so easy to make. It will be great tomorrow after resting overnight.

No photos with this one. My wife took the camera with her.

So for all those who doubt a man can cope on his own, watch this space as I blog a variety of easy and practical meals over the next two weeks.

...and we're back.

Yes indeed after a prolonged absence due to work, exams, foreign travel and other assorted excuses the blogging resumes.

Way back in the summer I promised an Italian feast. This was somewhat hampered by the fact that Louise threw my home cured olives away by mistake however I am about to make good on my promise starting right now. Yes you read correctly. I am in the kitchen as I write surrounded by fresh ingredients and with a tight deadline. Guests arrive at 6:30 for 7 so here goes.

I'll be posting live updates on Twitter so keep following.

Steve

Dead fish never tasted so good.

Despite the less than appetising title this is actually a quick and simple way of cooking fish ensuring it retains its flavour while not becoming dry.

The fish in question was brought from the fresh fish counter at the local Mercadona by my wife. Unfortunately she does not recall the name of the fish however being as its dead I don't think it will mind.

Actually we normally use a fish called Dorada (not Wanda) but any oily fish will suffice. It is the principle of the method that counts rather than the fish.

Before I list the ingredients, let's have a look at the fish.

If you think they look bad you should see the other fellow.

The rest of the recipe is as follows;

1 large onion;
A table spoon of olive oil;
A knob of butter;
Three cloves of garlic;
One large tomato;
A teaspoon full of brown sugar (helps the medicine go down);
Salt and pepper to taste; and
Beer.

First chop the onion into pieces as small as you can make them. Then heat up a sauce pan and melt the butter. Add the olive oil to the pan with a little salt then add the onion. Cook the onion pieces for about 6 to 7 minutes adding a little water from time to time to make sure they don't dry out. The onion will become soft, sweet and translucent. At this point add the sugar and cook for another 2 minutes but don't let them burn - use a moderate heat.

The fish should be cleaned up and gutted. Remove the spine and as many of the bones as possible. The fish should be opened up like a butterly. You'll see what I mean from the next photo. Place each fish on a piece of silver foil.

Crush then chop the garlic and place down the centre of each fish. I used 3 fish hence 3 garlic gloves. Next chop the tomato into tiny pieces and place on top of the garlic. Finally, when the onions are ready, distribute them equally between the fish by piling then on top of the garlic and tomato.

You should have something like this;

Impressive don't you think. Add salt and pepper and drissle some olive oil over the top just for the hell of it then fold the fish up in its foil to make a little parcel ready for the oven.

Place in the oven on 150 degrees and cook for about 20 to 30 minutes. Check to make sure the fish is done and that it is not drying up or burning. The fish should go from being pink in colour to white. The foil helps to retain the moisture and intensify the flavour.

When done, remove from the foil carefully and serve with a side of your choice. Boiled new potatoes with a coating of melted butter and a sprinkling of fresh garden mint would be fine. I chose a light salad with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing.

Superb!!!

Try it, eat it, enjoy it.

'til next time.

Steve

Tapas in Madrid

We went to Madrid last weekend. It's about 6 hours drive from where we live (nearer 7 if you count pee pee stops) and well worth the journey. Actually travelling up is part of the adventure however the place itself is fantastic. We stayed on the outskirts in a town named Alcala de Henares and travelled in to Madrid centre on Sunday evening to wander around Plaza Mayor and get something to eat. More on Madrid at another time but for now here is an observation and a piece of advice for the traveller thinking of visiting Spain's capital city.

Tapas in Madrid is free!!!

On the Costa del Sol and Costa de la Luz we get fleeced. You go into a bar, order a drink and then buy tapas at around €2 to €3 each which, considering the size of the dishes takes 3 or 4 tapas to fill you up. Not so in Madrid where you go into the bar, order your drink and then order the tapa of your choice. This is then brought to you along with your drink free of charge. This meant that we were eating out at a fraction of the cost we originally budgeted for. Superb! How do they do it? Who cares? Free food!!!

While there we watched Spain beat Chilli in the World Cup qualifier. I was quite surprised at one point when the team wearing blue kit scored and every one cheered. I had assumed the blue team was Chilli you see while the other team wore red (Spain's usual kit). Someone later explained to me that each team has two kits of different colours and on this occasion Spain wore blue. Anyway they won which was good as I now live in Spain and its not as England has got a team right now is it? But, what do I know, I hate football.

Back to tapas and here, in true spirit of this blog is one quick recipe for a tapa. More will follow soon. Just you try and stop me.

3 eggs
3 rashers of bacon (or 4 depending on how big they are or how much you like bacon)
About 4 good handfuls of green beans (well how else do you measure them)
2 measures of vodka
Half a glass of orange juice
Half a glass of cream soda
1 shot of Grenadine

First, chop up the green beans and put in a pan with salt and water. Bring the water to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Next, beat the eggs in a jug or bowl then throw them in a frying pan with some olive oil and fry them up until, well... fried I suppose. When fried break up into little pieces and leave in the frying pan.

Then, chop the bacon into little pieces and again throw into the frying pan with the eggs. Fry for about 4 minutes.

Finally, drain the green beans and add them to the frying pan. Cook together for about 5 minutes and then serve with fresh crusty bread as shown below courtesey of our new camera.

The observant of you will have noticed the extra ingredients listed but not used in the above recipe. For those new to 'Burning Down The Kitchen' there is a law first and foremost that must be obeyed as drilled into me by my friend and Executive Chef (who will remain nameless to protect his professional reputation) namely...never cook without alcohol within arms reach.

Get a tall glass and place it in you freezer for 15 minutes. Take it out and immediately fill it with the vodka, orange juice, lemonade and a dash of Grenadine. Throw in a couple of ice cubes and sit back and watch.

The Grenadine is for artistic effect as it sinks to the bottom of the glass and set against the orange juice gives the appearance of a sunrise. Very effective. Just as efective is the result that comes from placing the empty glass in the freezer before filling it, but I'll leave this to you to try.

Anyway, more tapas recipes are to follow and we still need to get around to that Italian feast.

Hasta luego

Steve 

Mexican Jumping Beans

Ok, so there aren't really any jumping beans but the rest of the title is accurate. There are beans and this is Mexican. Actually, what follows is a simple process for creating a base for Mexican dishes.

The story behind this has nothing to do with our lives in Spain, rather it stems back to a previous life in England and in particular yours truly's job working for a local newspaper in Stafford. The area I coverered for the paper consisted of North Stafford and a beautiful little town named Stone. My job was to convince business owners to place advertising in the paper and to assist me in this endevour I produced a monthly feature extolling the virtues of one shop, restaurant or service each month. My favourite feature by far was the opening of a new Mexican Restaurant and co-incidentally my introduction to Mexican food. So taken was I that I grabbed myself a cook book and went through it faster than a dose of... well, damn hot chilli I suppose.

Without further ado then, here is my quick (short-cut) recipe for chilli which can be enjoyed with rice, taco shells or as in this case, wrapped in corn tortillas and baked in the oven.

The base for my version is;

One large Onion;

2 cloves garlic;

1 Heaped teaspoon of hot chilli powder (or extra hot if you dare... and you do, don't you);

2 teaspoons of oregano;

1 teaspoon of ground corriander;

4 fresh tomatoes;

500ml of tomato pulp;

4 fresh mushrooms;

one large green pepper

250g of kidney beans; and

500g of minced beef, pork or if vegetarian use substiute mince or extra beans and mushrooms.

Optional - fresh jalapeno chillis for an extra kick.

For the sharp of eye, while the beer is not an ingredient, it is not optional. A friend of mine who also happens to be an Executive Chef and therefore an authority on the subject once informed me that the biggest crime committed in the kitchen is to cook without alcohol within arms reach.

So here we go. Chop the onion into small pieces (diced if you prefer) and place in a large frying pan (I use an old wok for pretty much everything) with a dash of corn oil and a splash of water. The oil should be hot but not too hot and the water is meant to help keep the onion moist. Fry them for about 5 or 6 minutes with the aim of making the onion soft, sweet and kind of translucent.

Add to the onion the corriander, chilli powder and oregano. Also salt and pepper to taste. It's not mentioned in the above but I sometimes add about half a teaspoon of turmeric. It gives the onions a yellow colour and enhances the flavour. Stir for a minute or so and if the onions are drying up and starting to burn, add a splash of water. Now you can add the meat and fry until the red/pink colour has gone.

You should have something like this!

Into this should go sliced mushrooms, crushed and chopped garlic, roughly chopped tomatoes and the green pepper sliced lengthways (well why not). Stir in with the rest of the mixture and a final dash of water then add the tomato pulp and kidney beans. Just a note at this point on your choice of beans. It is possible to buy beans in a can or jar ready to just throw into the dish however if you choose dried beans ensure you follow the directions for their preparation on the packaging material. Dried kidney beans will require soaking and cooking before being added to the recipe. We wouldn't want to have you poisoned now would we?

Cook this for about 20 to 30 minutes so that the mixture is nice and thick and looks something like this;

And that's basically it. We had a friend over for dinner and so I made up a batch of chilli con carne as above, used it to fill rolled up corn tortillas (not flour tortillas as these go soggy) and placed them in an oven dish. Copious amount of grated cheese was sprinkled on the top and then the whole thing was placed in the oven on a medium heat so that the cheese melted and the tortillas warmed but did not burn or go too crusty. The result is below.

I served this along with salad and refried beans which are easy to make and taste fantastic but, that's another post.

Incidentaly, the restaurant in Stone was called The Casa Loco and was opened by a former flight attendant who had developed a taste for Tex-Mex on her stop-overs in the States. I hope the restaurant is still there as the food was sublime and the atmosphere lively. Maybe if someone from Stone reads this they could let me know. (Who am I kidding? If anyone reads this it will be a miracle).

Ta tar for now, Steve