We interrupt this blog for a public service announcement

If you live or work in Gibraltar please help find a missing dog named George. He went missing a week ago and was last seen in the town area! He is chipped!

If you see George or can help locate him please let me know and I'll pass the information to his owner.

Thanks for helping

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

Bronte's Yummie Marshmallow Bites.

To make these yummie treats you will need:

125 g / 4½ oz milk chocolate, broken into pieces
40 g / 1½ oz mini marshmallows
25 g / 1 oz chopped walnuts (i use hazulnuts)
25 g / 1 oz ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped

·First, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. I put the heatproof bowl in the microwave for 1½ mins.
·Next, put the marshmallows in with the chocolate and stir.

TIP: You don't have to buy mini marshmallows. I bought normal ones and cut them up. And you don't have to buy the nuts and apricots all ready chopped. I chopped them myself.

·Once you have mixed all the ingredients, line a baking tray with baking paper and put spoonfuls of the mixture on it in bite sizes (or a bit bigger if you prefer) and then put the tray in the fridge. Let the chocolate freeze and then dig in.
Yummie Marshmallow bites for everyone!!!!!

Bronte Griffiths

On a brighter note - remember Father Ted?

A quick rant then business as usual.

Rant begins.

On Sunday afternoon the water supply for the whole of Santa Margarita, the village where we live was cut off. The neighbourhood took to their phones to complain to the water company only to be told that the supply would be restored in a matter of hours or a day or so at the most. I write this post on Friday afternoon and guess what! Still no water. We're now being told that there is a faulty pump in Malaga which won't be repaired until next Tuesday when the enginer returns from his holidays!!!

Firstly, what does a faulty pump in Malaga have to do with a village just over 100km away?

Secondly, should not the fact that during a hot summer thousands of residents are left without running water from which to drink, wash in and flush toilets constitute some kind of emergency? How many diseases spread from toilets backed up with...?!?

While Spain may hold itself up to be a modern sophisticated European society sadly it still displays the traits of a third world country. We may as well be living in a mud hut somewhere in Africa.

Rant ends.

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