Last night over much of Europe (not sure if it was visible elsewhere) there was a spectacular Lunar Eclipse. It was a clear starry night and we sat in the garden, listened to the crickets and frogs (and the occasional donkey), inhaled the scent of honeysuckle and watched the magical show.
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When it went dark, it gave me goosebumps. I was thinking about how people must have felt centuries ago when they didn’t understand these things. Imagine their fear when the night was plunged into darkness and their relief when the moon reappeared! Is this a good time for planting? I´m sure it must be…
The photos are not anywhere near as spectacular as what we saw, but hope you enjoy!
Now, I´m not laying claim to this being the most authentic of Spanish tortillas. For a start, the most famous is the potato one, sometimes with onions added. Secondly, the potato is cooked from raw in a fairly significant amount of olive oil, very slowly until tender. It´s wonderful, but when I´m at home I try to cut out a few calories and this is how I make my tortilla. To be honest, no one seems to have noticed the lack of oil!
For a Spanish tortilla to be successful, i.e. to be able to turn it over half way through cooking without ending up with an eggy mess all over the kitchen floor there are a couple of things which I have found help in the process:
A large quantity of filling in relation to egg – the egg just binds the ingredients together
A deep high sided pan (you´ll see from the photos that mine is very old and battered but it´s perfect for making a one person/two egg tortilla and I won´t throw it away!)
A very, very low heat
A lid to put over the tortilla in the first stage of cooking
Slow cooking, it takes patience, this is not a speedy French omelette
So, for one person, this is what I use, just multiply the ingredients for more people and of course, use a bigger pan! This makes a tortilla large enough for a decent supper or light lunch, served with salad, bread and of course a glass of wine.
Two eggs
Cold cooked, peeled potatoes
Any other vegetable, cooked, that you want to use in your tortilla
Salt and Pepper
About a tablespoon of olive oil
A tablespoon of milk
Start by putting the oil into the frying pan and then chopping your potato into small chunks. Also add the vegetables if using. You want the potatoes and vegetables to fill the pan almost to the top.
Warm them through turning them over gently so that they are all covered in the oil for a few minutes.
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In a bowl beat the eggs, seasoning and milk with a fork then add the potato mix to the eggs and mix it all in gently with a spoon.
You should have a little oil left in the pan, but if not a tiny splash extra will be sufficient.
Pour the egg and potato mixture into the pan, turn the heat down to the lowest setting, put the lid on the pan and then leave the bottom half to cook slowly. Depending on how large your tortilla is, this could take a while. The two egg tortilla takes about 10 minutes.
Every so often, press gently on the sides with a wooden spoon or spatula to see if it is browning underneath. When it is a lovely golden brown and the top is set, it´s time to flip it over!
You can use a plate, or two plates (tip out onto one plate, invert onto another and then back into the pan). I have a plastic tortilla “flipper” which has a small handle underneath. You turn the tortilla onto it then slide it back into the pan. A flat saucepan lid would work just as well.
Now turn the heat up a little, leave the lid off and cook for about another 4-5 minutes until the bottom has turned the same lovely golden brown. Leave it to stand for a minute or two once it is cooked, then turn it out onto your plate and enjoy.
Thanks go out to JamieAnne at A Dash of Domestic for her wonderful tutorial on how to insert a slide show!
Definitely not thin and crispy, but still delicious!
I adore pizza, and I drool with the memory of childhood pizzas in Rome with my family. All thin and crispy, not too much topping and hot from the wood burning oven. I make pizza up my mountain, but for some reason I can never get the dough to stay thin and crispy. It just wants to keep on rising, no matter how much I knock it back! Some people have suggested that the combination of heat and altitude are probably affecting the yeast, I think they´re right.
It does mean that I generally don´t have problems getting my bread dough to rise beautifully though. I have learned to accept that unless I go back to Rome, I will have to wait for the perfect pizza, but in the meantime enjoy my puffier, slightly saucier ones!
For the dough I use my bread maker to knead, but it can also be done by hand by mixing the dry ingredients together then adding the oil and finally gradually adding the water until the dough gets to the right consistency. Knead for 10 minutes, knock it back then cover in cling film and leave in the fridge until needed.
Ingredients (in this order) for the bread maker
280ml water
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 cups of strong flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 packet of easy blend yeast
When I´m ready to make the pizza, I heat the oven and a large, wide baking tray at maximum temperature. Then I get my toppings ready to use.
I usually roll the rough into one large rectangle (the pizza is enough for four) and put it onto my large flexible chopping board which I have floured. This is so that I can slide the pizza, when it has been assembled straight onto the hot baking tray which gives it a nice crispy base – but if you can´t do this, just take the tray out, lay your dough on it and then work as quickly as you can with the toppings.
This weekend we had tomato sauce, white asparagus tips, hard boiled egg, bacon and crumbled mature goats cheese. Yes, not very “Plan Bikini” I know, but we were off to a fiesta and had a long night of dancing ahead of us to burn off the calories!
Once of the nicest things about doing a blog is that you get to “meet” new people from all over the world and share a special little piece of their lives. In this case it´s a lot of delicious recipes and talk about gardens and food and drink – all my favourite things!
We barbecue a lot here up our mountain, and finally invested in a gas barbecue last year. I know, to the purists, it´s not exactly the same as using wood or carbon (although we do sometimes use this method too) but it´s so quick and easy and works well for us. Mostly we keep things simple – a sprinkle of salt, some herbs, a dash of olive oil if the food needs it and we´re off!
I personally adore barbecue sauce, but rarely make it. Big Man always insists he´s not a big fan of sauces, but whenever I make them he seems to enjoy them greatly. I saw Greg´s delicious barbecue sauce over on his blog Rufus´ Food and Spirits Guide and thought I´d adapt it a little to make my own. I only adapted it as we can´t get hold of all the ingredients here! I only made a small batch and regretted it. Big Man said on tasting the ribs and sauce “Ay, ¡que buena es esta salsa Americana!” which roughly translates to “Wow, this American sauce is so good!”. Approval all round….
This was my version
A cup of chopped, peeled tomatoes
Half a cup of ketchup
2 teaspoons of tomato purée
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons of hot chili powder plus one dried chili
1 teaspoon of English mustard powder
4 tablespoons of molasses (miel de caña)
A few shakes of Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
Quarter cup of water
All I did was put all the ingredients together in a pot and simmer for about 10 minutes. I kept some back and with about two thirds of the sauce I marinated my ribs. It was meant to be overnight but we ended up eating them 2 days later. I don´t think they suffered from the experience.
There´s nothing like a good long soak in the bath!
When we barbecued the ribs, I heated the remaining sauce and we dipped our ribs into it, licked our fingers and had very messy but happy faces.
Ok, so I could be posting about the delicious ribs in barbecue sauce I cooked today, inspired by Greg´s recipe over at Rufus´Food and Spirits Guide, but more of that another day. They were superb though!
Have been down amongst the chickens and olives again and little brown (well, she´s more honey coloured) hen was quite happy for me to have a little cuddle with our new chickie whilst she had a well earned snack.
S/he (I´m not quite sure) is grey (like his/her daddy, the big grey cockerel) and honey coloured, totally gorgeous. I read that Japan is the most advanced country in the world for training “Chicken Sexers”. My, that would be a career! It seems you have to look at the one day old chicks´ nether regions (and it has to be a pretty good look). If you see a little “button” it´s a cockerel, if not it´s a hen. Did try this once, but as I´m the kind of woman who often misses motorway junctions and road signs, it wasn´t something I excelled at…
Chicken number two, who is an agressive little thing, has her first chick hatching out as we speak. She still has another three eggs, so hopefuly between now and tomorrow, there will be more.
Sitting and waiting.....
Ok, enough chicken speak, but you can all go “aaaaah” now!
No, not hen parties and weddings, but the real thing!
We currently have three broody hens sitting on eggs. One of them was a hen that we couldn´t find for ages. I suspected the worst. The one day we saw her popping out from under the water deposit – she had made herself her own little nest! I was convinced they weren´t going to hatch as we weren´t sure if they were fertilised eggs, and even how fresh they were.
I went down this morning to check on the ladies and look what I found!
Mother to be in her nest under the water tank
One chick at least is hatching.
What a struggle it must be!
She´s sitting on 4 or 5 eggs, I can´t be sure.
A first glimpse of the world...
She´s a very calm hen and let me look at what was happening. The eggs went straight back under her, don´t worry!
We have more due on Saturday and then another batch later next week. Will keep you posted!
We´re very lucky here to be able to get hold of the freshest, free range goat and lamb. I know that most lamb is free range anyway as it needs to graze, but I guess we can never be too sure if there have been chemical sprayed on what they eat or if they are getting food supplements. When I first arrived in Spain my only experience of eating goat was in a plate of curried goat at an ethnic restaurant in London. It was alright, I suppose, but apart from a delicious sauce, the meat was rather tough and greasy.
I read somewhere that more goat is consumed per person in the world than lamb, and I guess it makes sense. They are hardy creatures, can survive in very rough terrain and can climb to what we would consider inaccessible heights to reach their food. Once I had tasted good kid (or young goat) out here, I realised that taste wise, it´s very, very similar to young milk fed lamb.
When you see the flocks of goats going past your house daily, you know they´re well fed and looked after. We buy direct from the goatherd who slaughters for you and then you have to prepare it for the freezer. I´m sorry if this all sounds a bit gruesome to anyone who either doesn´t eat meat or is a bit squeamish, but it´s what has to happen if you choose to eat meat. And I do, and luckily I am able to eat the freshest most organic, free range meat possible. Whew! Hope that didn´t sound like I was on my little soap box.
Anyway, one of the cuts of meat you get is neck of kid -and I know that in the UK at least, you can buy neck of lamb. It used to be one of those cheap cuts, but has now become trendy. It´s cooked in the oven simply and then depending on the weather I serve with salad or vegetables and plenty of crusty bread to mop up the juices. It´s best picked up and eaten with your fingers!
It´s an incredibly quick and simple dish to prepare if the meat is young and tender and lamb can be substituted for goat. If it´s a little older, just add more liquid and cook for about 30 minutes longer. You´ll need the following:
Neck of lamb for 2 people (I think mine was about 800g)
6 cloves of garlic
A large spring of rosemary
Coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper
A glass of white wine
A glass of water
Half a lemon
Rub the lamb with seasoning and roughly chop the rosemary and mix it in with the lamb. Peel and half the garlic cloves and add them in. Pour over the wine and if you have time to leave it for a couple of hours, so much the better.
Leave for a while if you can
Put into an oven dish where it will fit quite snugly and put into a high oven for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, cover with foil and cook for a further 45 minutes approximately. After about 20 minutes check the liquid – you don´t want to casserole it but you want some at the bottom of the bowl to cause a slight steam effect under the tent of foil. If necessary add more water.
When it´s done (you can check by prodding with a skewer to see if the juice run clear), remove and leave it to sit for 10 minutes still under the foil. Squeeze over a little lemon juice, then serve and enjoy!
PS. Sorry for blurry photos, they were taken with my old camera which was on its last legs!
Fish Man came up trumps the other day with a whole hake in the back of his little van. It was rather large, too much for just Big Man and me, so as it was fresh it went into the freezer.
A few days later friends were coming over for lunch, and the sun promised to shine, so I decided to barbecue it. A quick visit to the garden to gather mint and lemons, and out into the olive grove for the tops of the wild fennel which is everywhere, and I was set.
I had to gut and clean the fish, but if you´re buying from a fishmonger, I´m sure it will be cleaned for you. It´s not that tricky (wear kitchen gloves though, or you´ll smell like a hake for the rest of the day!) but not for the squeamish.
Pat the fish dry with kitchen paper and salt the inside slightly. Stuff it with bunches of herbs and thin slices of lemons, then sprinkle the outside with coarse sea salt. No oil needed, but the salt will protect the fish and you´ll end up with lovely charred skin which I personally love to eat, but I know some people don´t.
Then it´s on to the barbecue for your hake. We cooked it on a low heat and the lid on for about 15 minutes in total. If you do use hake, but you could do this with pretty much any fish, it´s firm, so easy to turn when it´s half done. Check it´s cooked by peeking inside – the flesh will be white when it´s ready.
Ready to eat!
I served this with a delicious salad which was so beautifully coloured, it didn´t matter that the sun went in and a big cloud hovered over us all through lunch! I used chopped new boiled potatoes, cooked beetroot, oranges, thin slices of raw carrot and chopped chives. I made a simple dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, mustard powder, a clove of garlic, salt and pepper.
With so much colour, it can´t not be good for you...
This one is so quick and simple, it doesn´t even need a recipe! Perhaps just a quick explanation, though. This is served in Andalucía as a pre meal appetiser in the summer or when unexpected guests pop round and it´s drink time. Add a plate of slice Spanish cheese, some jamon or salchichon (salami), a cool drink of your choice and you´ve served a super speedy tapas selection without even really trying!
Wash and cut a lettuce heart into eighths, open a tin of anchovies (in olive oil if possible) and lay an anchovy over each slice, pour the oil from the tin over, add a squeeze of lemon or white wine vinegar and serve. These are picked up with the fingers, or little cocktail forks if you´re feeling refined, then just munched and crunched.
If you can´t stomach anchovies, replace with a strip of roasted red pepper.
Big Man and I are trying to shed a few kilos. He´s not my Big Man for nothing you know! He has a very big heart, which is good, the waistlines (his and mine) could do with a little streamlining though. In Spain, if you go on a diet at this time of year, they call it “Plan Bikini”. The thought of either us in anything other than a large, stout bathing costume or trunks would be enough to scare anyone, but we´re trying to be sensible.
Being sensible doesn´t have to mean dull though, and I cooked up this delicious (no fat) sauce to go with some grilled fish. It would taste just as good though with grilled meat or vegetables. Probably not so good with grilled bananas though! I like my sauce quite spicy, but you can make it as hot (or not) as you like.
Two cups of peeled, chopped tomatoes (or used tinned)
A teaspoon of salt
A good few grinds of black pepper
One tablespoon of brown sugar
Two tablespoons of white wine vinegar
A teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Hot chili powder to taste (I used 2 teaspoons of hit, smoked pimentón)
Dried chili flakes to taste (I used two birds eye chilies, crumbled)
Put everything into a saucepan, bring to the boil them simmer for 5 minutes and that´s it. Serve hot or cold.
Makes enough for several meals and will keep in the fridge for a week, or you can freeze. Bet it doesn´t last long enough though!
So in 2016 I turned 50. I was in Italy for my 21st, 30th and 40th. To keep this birthday tradition going I always knew I'd be in Italy for my 50! This blog starts with my 5 week adventure in Puglia but my love affair with Italy continues.....
Chica Andaluza 