Yes, I mentioned the “H” word. Home! Big Man and I arrived back Up our beloved Mountain in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Only for a week mind you. This weekend is our village fiesta, and it was time to touch base with family and friends and to pick up some warmer clothes for the English autumn weather.
Our last night in very rainy Bexhill was spent pulling staples out of floorboards, hammering in nails and preparing the floor downstairs in House Number One to be sanded and varnished in our absence. Well, it was easier than trying to varnish around two excited pups (who are staying with my parents this week and creating havoc in their home). We had also spent time at House Number Two knocking down an outside loo, dealing with most of the kitchen ceiling falling in and leaving things ready for the plasterer to do his stuff while we are in Spain. Hectic times.
To get us in the mood for being home again I cooked a delicious one pot (what else) pork dish, reminiscent of Spain with the flavours of smoky pimentón, olives and peppers. I made sure to make double so that when we get back, tired and hungry (as we inevitably are after a day of travelling) we´ll have dinner sorted.
Ingredients (to serve 4)
- 500g of cubed pork shoulder
- 1 heaped teaspoon of smoked pimentón/paprika
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 2 fat cloves of garlic, crushed
- Approx 150g olives (I used anchovy stuffed olives) sliced or halved
- 1 ½ cups of your favourite or home made tomato sauce (yes, I made it!)
- 1 tablespoon of tomato purée
- A glass of red wine (optional, but of course I added!)
- Water
- Olive oil for shallow frying
- Salt and pepper
Start by frying the pork until browned and remove from the pan. Then add the onions, garlic and pepper and cook gently until softened. Add the pork back into the pan and sprinkle over the pimentón. Now stir in the olives, the tomato sauce, the purée and the wine and season lightly. Bring to a simmer, cover (or half cover) with a lid and cook gently for about 45 minutes while you continue to pull staples out of floorboards (the stapling bit is optional).
If it starts to dry out too much, add a little water, depending on how saucy you like your dish.
When the sauce is rich and thick, and the pork tender and delicious, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Serve with rice or boiled potatoes or simply crusty bread. Pour yourself a glass of wine from that bottle you opened, pull the staple out that has embedded itself in your knee and relax.
And what did we do with our first day back? Take it easy? Heck no!
We dealt with the last tomatoes in our Huerto.
We met up with a cousin of Big Man´s to pick plums.
Then we went to a wine tasting last night.
Today we planned to attack our very overgrown garden and enjoy some sunshine, but it´s not to be. The weather here is as cold and rainy as Bexhill on Sea.
Time to dig out the winter woolies I think.
Chica Andaluza 
Comfort food at its best. Can’t wait to get back in the kitchen!
I realy do feel for you – it´s so frustrating and hotel food gets so dull 😦
That pork dish looks lovely – I think I will try it this weekend. Sorry that the weather at ‘home’ isn’t good. The sun is out here in Bewdley so I am making the most of it – cooking and sewing can wait! (Magazines posted to Bexhill on Monday – hope you enjoy them)
I never thought to check the weather in Spain before we left so I was totally expecting sunshine! Oh well, it´s lovely to be home for a while. Enjoy the sunshine and I am looking forward to checking the mail in Bexhill 🙂
Seems yesterday was a fluke. Back to rain and cold. Perfect for your pork dish.
A one pot meal fit for a king Tanya – S C R U M I T Y !!!
How lovely to be home again even if for just a short while.
🙂 Mandy xo
I am beginning to think though that I need a few more pots and pans! We really enjoyed it, and it´s great to be back Up the Mountain 🙂
I know it is good to get home…we just arrived back home as well. You certainly didn’t let any grass grow under your feet on your first day home. Your meal sounds wonderful. I like the idea of the anchovy stuffed olives but I think I’ll leave out the option of pulling out staples. LOL.
Hope you had a good trip too – looking forward to hearing about it! Yes, the staples weren´t much fun 😦
Marvelous reward for staple-pulling (I’ve done that – UGH!)…
Good to know you’re home safe, and I hope the Nastiness we’re seeing on tv from Madrid doesn’t touch your lovely mountain.
Eek those staples are horrible! Madrid is far from us physically, but on everyone´s mind right now – not a good time for Spain.
Hi T, Looks delicious. Fab photos. Great talking to you this morning. Thanks for bringing the weather back to Spain with you! he he
Regards Florence x
Yes, sorry about the weather. Can´t believe our luck!
That was some farewell/welcome back dinner you prepared there, Tanya, and perfect for the damp weather you’ve been experiencing. Personally, I might have served it over polenta but that’s just me. 😉
You guys have been working so hard. Just look at how much you’ve accomplished! Great idea having the floors varnished while you’re away. That is such a mess and the fumes can be headache-inducing. Having them done will make a nice surprise when you return. Enjoy your week home!
Funny you should mention polenta – on my last day I saw some quick polenta in the supermarket which I bought (can´t get it in Spain, at least have never seen it) and planned this for our return! AM looking forward to seeing the floors when we get back – it will mean that House Number One is nearly finished…yay!
Sounds like you are having a good time back home – very good timing to arrive for the village fiesta 😉
Yes, that was lucky wasn´t it 🙂
Great one pot dish. I admire your work on those houses in Bexhill. You’d need horses to drag me off your mountain to go back there again:)
I was a bit worried we might get home and not want to go back – but the weather here is dire and we left the car and dogs in the UK, so good motivation to go back!
Wow, don;t you every sit still? you are flat out darling.. love the pork and yes I like it saucy! exciting to be at the plasterer stage, you won;t know the place when you go back or should i say places! c
Well, we´re trying to but things just need to be done/seen! The house will look so much better once the plasterer has done his tuff and at least we have learned from House Number One that it had to get worse before it gets better 🙂 PS. I love it saucy too!
A great lesson in life too! c
Welcome home!
it must feel so good even if it is for a short time 🙂
Love the look of those freshly picked plums Tanya
It feels WONDERFUL! Have been experimenting with the plums today…. 🙂
OMG that looks amazing! Welcome home!! Hope you had a wonderful trip. 🙂
Thanks Caroline – great trip, thanks, and all going well 🙂
What amazing things Google Earth and Maps are! Any would be stalkers out there can find you in an instant! I now know where Bexhill “is” in the scheme of things. What a lovely little seaside place you have to live in while you are doing up your home. I bet it was amazing to get home. A change is SO much better than a holiday because you expect more from a holiday and are often left deflated and melancholic at your return home but a change…A CHANGE is unexpected or necessary and returning home is triumphant! What a triumphant dish to serve on your arrival home! The best thing about autumn is that the plants start to slow down…and winter…they stop! Hallelulia! Now worrying about gardening because the garden certainly isn’t worrying about itself, its fast asleep! It looks like you are having a magnificent time back home and it should keep you in good stead when you are up to your armpits in rising damp and bent nails in the comming season. Keep up the good work or to quote the most ancient stellar Mr Grace “You have all done very well”… 🙂
Ah, if a stalker turned up and got past the wild rabid pups and me with my staple gun, I guess I´d just have to hand them a paintbrush and ask them to join in! All going well at home apart from the torrential rain – we wanted to cut back the garden and “put it to bed” for the winter. Good old Mr Grace (and his buxom nurse)!
Looks like the garden might have to go wild for winter. The good thing about gardens is that they tend to know what they are doing and even after 20 years (like ours) of sweet sod all…once you start to clean them out and prune them back and give them a bit of sun they reward you exponentially. Your garden is lovely by the way. In summer can we have lots of garden shots? Its a fantastic way for we gardeners to get a good taste of Spanish life :). I will send my 2 amstaffs over and NO-ONE will set foot on your property (without being thoroughly licked to death ;))
Gosh, Tanya. The more pictures I see of your renovations, the more I’m impressed at the amount of work you’ve taken on. You certainly need that comfort food to sustain you. One thing about renovation though, it does eventually come to an end, then you can lie back and really enjoy the food and wine. 🙂
It’s cold here in NZ too – so winter fare is still on the menu – and I love pork.
Hi Diane. Sometimes I worry that we have taken on too much, but we´re actually enjoying it, losing some weight (which is good), and working together. Shame it´s still cold in NZ – it should be warming up soon though I think? It´s cold and very wet here in Spain this week for our visit home 😦
Bon voyage! I’ve never made something for the freezer for when we get back from traveling! Not sure why not as it makes perfect sense 🙂
I hadn´t exactly planned it, but I always make too much and then we have leftovers, so it worked out perfectly!
Great dinner, picking plums, and wine tasting…I’m so jealous. Enjoy your break!
Thanks TBM, and we have a weekend of fiesta-ing now to come!
Wow, is that the view from your place, in the last photo? What a view!! Love the look of those plums too – how wonderful. Got any plans for them?
The pork pot looks great too – lovely and saucy – I bet it’s great eaten out of a big bowl with a spoon and a good chunk of bread, while watching a good movie, listening to the rain lashing down outside 🙂
You must have been watching us while we ate the pork! Yes, the mountains are behind the house (well, in front actually) so that´s our view. All very beautiful, even when shrouded in rain and mist! Hope all is going well with the little one 🙂
I love the peeks you give us into your like Up the Mountain… and I can almost smell that pork! Mmmm… thanks!!
You´re welcome – would have liked to give you a few more this week but my camera is out of battery and I forgot to pack the charger 😦
The weather seems mad everywhere at the moment! I bet you’re glad to be home, even if it’s only for a short visit! x
Very happy to be here and this morning (Sunday) the sun has finally come out!
Good to hear you are safe and sound, eventhough its all so hectic. Your one pot cooking is going great Tanya!
Well, we had expected a week of sunbathing “a la English Tourist” but it was not to be – can´t even work on the garden/veggie patch but are making up for it in fiesta-ing! Enjoying our time here, but also looking forward to getting back to work. How worrying is that?!
The weather is changing in Northern hemisphere and awakens cravings for comfort food… Lovely meal! 🙂
It certainly is changing – time for warming dishes!
I hope you’re safe from flooding, it’s been a crazy month in that corner of the woods. Travel safe. 🙂
Safe here, but thanks for asking. Finally the sun has come out!
Okay, so maybe I wasn’t quite as behind as I thought. I’m bookmarking this dish…it would be terrific for an autumn night. Glad all is coming along well at both houses. 🙂
No…I haven´t been able to post very often and it was just a flying visit home!
Even a brief visit is so much better than none! We’ve pulled out the woolies here and by noon we begin to sweat in the mid-day heat, lol! I love those plums!! Wow, they’re massive!! This is a lovely, hearty dish.. smoked paprika is one of my favorite spices:D
I´ve really got into smoked paprika – it´s currently one of my favourites too!
I think this recipe is delicious..
I wont try it real soon.
I like change my italian flsìavors.
You have a beautifull blog.
Bye from Italy
Grazie Alberto – spero che ti piace si lo fai!
Playing catch up with my blog reading…by now I suspect your back in England and the sun is shining on you. Which even if it’s a little cooler is a bonus in my view. But you still need delicious hearty stews to warm you up after a hard days work. I suspect you’re having fun with it too.
Yes, we´re back in England and the weather has been mixed – but as we´re indoors working it doesn´t matter too much! Am enjoying the autumn colours here too 🙂
Autumn is without doubt my happiest time of the year. I love the colours and when it’s not raining (which lets face it isn’t enough of the year) it’s just perfect.
Looks fantastic! I’m absolutely making this dish. Wishing you all the best 🙂
Hope you enjoy it Karista…the smoked paprika really added something special!
Greatt! Comfort food at its best.
that looks great.. i hope you had a great trip