...and a good time was had by all.

There are few joys in life that compare with spending time with good friends and eating good food. We enjoyed such an occasion this afternoon and it was the perfect time to try a fusion of a few cuisines from across the Mediterranean; Spain, Italy and Malta.

We started with a traditional Spanish asparagus stew as featured on this blog back in April 2010 only with chorizo sausage rather than bacon. This was accompanied by Maltese bread and dipping oil made from olive oil, chopped chilli and mixed herbs.

Following this we continued with tagliatelle and a bacon and mushroom creamy sauce along with a mixed leaf salad with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing. The recipe for the pasta follows, quantities are sufficient to cater for eight dinner guests.

500g tagliatelle;
200g butter (salted);
400g mixed mushrooms (button, closed cap, porcine);
400g chopped bacon or thickly sliced ham;
300ml cream;
Half a teaspoon of nutmeg;
One clove of garlic;
Salt and pepper; and
100g parmesan cheese.

Actually the execution is really easy. Melt the butter in a large frying pan then slice the mushrooms and add them to the butter along with the bacon. Crush and chop the garlic and add this to the pan. Fry together for about ten minutes then add the cream and pepper to taste then cook for a further two or three minutes.

In the meantime cook the tagliatelle in a large saucepan of salted boiling water until al dente, drain and add the creamy mushroom and bacon sauce. Finally, add the parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

For the salad toss together mixed lettuce, tomato, cucumber and drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a little lemon juice. Sprinkle with some fine sea salt and serve as an accompaniment to the pasta.

We chose a fine French Merlot as a companion to the meal and finished with a choice of sherry trifle and lemon meringue. A fantastic time was enjoyed by all.

The Italian Feast

Five courses created in a tight deadline of two and a half hours? Here's how its done. Firstly, grab a large G and T then read on.

Nothing like fresh ingredients

Antipasti.
This bit is simple. Lay the table with parma ham (or in my case fine Iberico ham), fresh bread, goose liver pate, olives and breadsticks. It just starts things off nicely and keeps the guests occupied while the next course is being prepared.

The next courses rely on advanced preparation. This is where the 2 hours prior to the guests arrival come in. The cooking is done while they are eating the first and preceeding courses.

Ready to go.

Primi.
Cook pasta and stir in pesto sauce. The pasta I selected was the little twists (fusilli). To make the pesto sauce you need the following ingedients.

About 40 fresh basil leaves;
4 cloves garlic;
50g pine kernals;
1 teaspoon of sea salt;
Olive oil; and
50g parmesan cheese.

Mix the ingredients together with a pestle and mortar until a smooth paste is achieved. You could use a food processor if you prefer however since I don't have one a pestle and mortar will have to do.

Frittelle di zucchini.
I did this as a little rest gap before the main course. These are courgette fritters and are easy to make and fantastic to eat.


Fritter mix



750g grated courgette;

1 crushed clove of garlic;

3 eggs;

2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese;

sea salt;

black pepper (ground);

Half a teaspoon of nutmeg;

5 tablespoons of flour;

A handlefull of fresh chopped mint leaves; and

Olive oil.

Beat the eggs then pour in a bowl with the courgette, flour, salt, parmesan, nutmeg, pepper and mint. Crush the garlic and throw this in too. Mix it all together thoroughly. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan then fry heaped spoonfulls of the mixture in the pan. Fry until one side is done before turning over (or attempting to turn over) to fry the other side. The result is a courgette fritter.  

Fritters afritting

Secondi.
For this you need a beef steak/beef medallians for each person. The beef is simply fried in olive oil until done depending on how you like your steak. The beauty though is in the sauce.

How do you like your meat?

500g of mixted mushrooms (closed cap, oyster, shitake, porcini - whatever you like);
1 large onion finely chopped;
1 clove garlic (chopped);
1 red chilli pepper (chopped);
1 tablespoon each of basil, sage and chives (all finely chopped);
Sea salt;
100ml beef stock;
70g butter;
100ml cream; and
A dash of Fino de Jerez (Optional as not in the original recipe but who cares).

Meat, mushrooms and er... monions?

Fry the onions, garlic and chilli in the butter until soft. Throw in the chopped herbs and stir in cooking for about a minute. Add the mushrooms and salt and stir into the mixture. Pour in the beef stock and sherry then cook for about 3 minutes.

Place the beef on the plate then top with the sauce.

To accompany this I roasted vegetables together in an oven dish. Aubergines, courgettes, garlic, onions, tomatoes and green peppers with sea salt, fresh ground pepper and olive oil. Parmesan cheese can be sprinkled over the top about 2 minutes befre serving. I also served peas in tomato pulp.

Result. And it was a beauty.

Dolci.
I cheated here as one of our guests brought a fruit crumble which was served with ice cream. Marvelous!

One the next blog we must get round to the subject of wine but for now that's all folks.

Steve

Thai style curry

Ok I know. It's not exactly a Spanish dish but still one of my favorites and very quick to make.

All you need is;
Meat of your choice (chicken, beef, pork, lamb or even fish. Actually, this works well with baby squid);
Stir fry vegetables, (I used onions, green pepper, mushrooms, beansprouts, Courgette - spring onion also works well as it adds to the colour and tastes great);
Vegetable oil;
Fish sauce;
One teaspoon of ground corriander;
One teaspoon of Ground cumin;
Soy sauce;
Coconut Milk (400g);
2 cloves of garlic (crushed and chopped);
2 (or 3 if you dare) Red or Green chillies; and
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Prepare your meat and vegetables in advance and chop into chunky pieces. the onion should be chopped as small as you can. Once ready heat up the oil in a large pan or wok and add the onion. Cook for a couple of minutes then add your chosen meat.

Keep turning the meat with the onions until cooked then add a splash of water followed by your seasonings. First add the ground spices, the chillies, the garlic, salt and pepper and stir into the meat.

Next, add a tablespoon of fish saurce and a table spoon of soy sauce and stir into the mixture. The remaining vegetables can then be added and stir fried for 2 minutes. Finally add your coconut milk.

Cook for a further 5 minutes then serve on a bed of boiled rice or with some noodles.

Enjoy. We did!

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