...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.

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.

The inevitable attempt at paella

We had some friends over recently, guests from Gibraltar and others from nearby La Linea. I wanted to make paella however felt a little trepidation seeing as our guests would know how a real paella should taste. Still, not being one to run away from a challenge I gathered the ingredients together and started to work.

There are many variations of this dish however I chose to make a mixta being a combination of meat and sea food. The ingredients I used are listed as follows;

Fresh chicken pieces, enough for each guest to have one piece;
Fresh mussles;
Fresh calamares (or prawns if you prefer);
1 large onion, chopped;
2 cloves of garlc;
One large green pepper;
One cup of garden peas;
Paella rice;
Paella seasoning*;
Salt and pepper to taste; and
One and a half pints of chicken stock.

* This admittedly is a cheat however the local Spanish supermarket, Mercadona sells a ready made seasoning mix which is just perfect for the job. If you can't get this where you are email me on recipes@burningdownthekitchen.co.uk and I'll send some to you (for a small fee of course :-)

As with most dishes, start by slowly frying the onion in olive oil until transulcent adding a little water from time to time to prevent the onion from drying out and burning. After about five minutes add the chicken pieces, salt and a large teaspoon of paella mix. Fry the chicken until the outside begins to brown.

Looking good and should smell delicious but we're not there yet. Slice and dice the green pepper and add this to the pan along with the crushed and finely chopped garlic. Fry for a minute and then add the chicken stock. Bring this to the boil and then add the peas.

For the rice quantities I usual allow two handfuls per person and then two for the pot. Some may not agree with this in fact I've heard so many different ideas on how to cook rice that I've lost count of them all. Frankly though, I don't give a chuff. This works for me but if you prefer to work out the quanities your own way then this is also fine. Add the rice and let the dish cook for 15 to 20 minutes adding a little water from time to time if neccessary.

Now its time to add the calamare and mussles.

Firstly the mussels should be cleaned with the beards removed. If you have not used mussels before you will find that they have something which resembles hair that they use to attach themselves to rocks etc... Be firm and give it the American treatment (give it a yank) and the hair will come off.

The mussles should all be closed. Any that are open before cooking should be discarded. Place the mussels in the pan and let the boiling liquid and steam do their work. You should find that after a few minutes the mussels will open up. Any that don't open with cooking should be discarded (they're bad).

Leave the dish to cook for a few minutes until everything is thoroughly hot throughout. At this point I like to remove the mussels and de-shell them prior to putting them back in the dish. This is up to you if you want to do this or if you prefer to leave them in their shells for your guests to extract.

Serve the paella in generous portions with fresh bread, olive oil and olives. Fantastic.

As mention at the begining, I attempted this with some Spanish and Gibraltarian dinner guests and to my surprise they loved it.

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

...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

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

Sunday Lunch

After the breadsticks and sardines (which were yummie by the way) prepared by Louise we come swiftly on to an alternative for the good old chicken Sunday lunch. Here's how it works;

Part One - The Chicken.

Chicken pieces (drumsticks, wings, breast... whatever you fancy);
2 cloves of garlic;
6 large mushrooms;
1 large onion;
Salt and pepper to taste;
Olive oil;
250ml cream; and
One cocktail consisting of pineapple, gaseosa (cream soda) and vodka.

So, first chop the onion into tiny little pieces, slice the mushrooms and chop up the garlic.

Get a largish oven dish with a lid and pour in about 2 table spoons of olive oil. Cover the bottom of the dish with the onions then place the chicken on top. Next sprinkle the chicken with chopped garlic and cover with the sliced mushrooms. Salt and pepper to taste then pour the cream over the top and you should have something that looks like this;

Now cover the dish with its lid and bang in the oven on about 200 degrees for about an hour to an hour and a half.

Part Two - The Vegetables.

1 large onion;
1 courgette;
1 aubergene;
1 green pepper;
2 cloves of garlic;
2 tomatos;
Tomato juice;
Olive oil;
Salt and pepper (to taste); and
grated cheese.

With the exception of the aubergene roughly chop all the vegetables into chunky pieces. Take up a large oven dish and pour in about 2 table spoons of olive oil. Place the vegatables in the oven dish then cut the aubergene into slices and layer on top. Add salt and pepper to taste then pour in the tomato juice. Scatter the grated cheese over the top and you should have something like this;

As with the chicken, 200 degrees will do only the vegetable will take about half an hour or so. When done the vegetables will be soft and juicy but the cheese should be crispy on the top.

Serve the chicken and the vegetables together for an alternative approach to Sunday lunch in a Spanish style.

Try it, enjoy it and post a comment.

Steve

Louise's quick sardine tapa (for when you can't wait for the main).

The Spanish love their sardines and when you return from a hot morning at the market and can't wait for the amazing chicken your husband is cooking up this little tapa idea will just tide you over.

1 tin of sardines in tomato sauce;
Mayonaise;
Garlic; and
Salt & pepper.

Simply mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl until you have a paste then serve with rosquillas (little shaped Spanish breadsticks).

Louise

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