Category: Recipes

Potato and Broccoli Tortilla

Chica Andaluza26 Comments
A tasty tortilla

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!

Up The Mountain Pizza Dough

Chica Andaluza23 Comments
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!

Pork Ribs in Barbecue Sauce

Chica Andaluza16 Comments
Wait for them to cool down...!

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.

Kid (or lamb) with rosemary and garlic

Chica Andaluza13 Comments
Simple and tasty

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!

 

 

 

Merluza A La Barbacoa y Ensalada Arcoiris – Barbecued Hake & A Rainbow Salad

Chica Andaluza13 Comments
Dressed For Dinner

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...

Food for a sunny, or not so sunny day!

Lechuga con anchoas – Lettuce hearts with anchovies

Chica Andaluza18 Comments
Oh so simple...

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.

Spicy Tomato Sauce

Chica Andaluza16 Comments
Delicious Dip or Spicy Sauce?!

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!

 

Speedy Apricot Jam

Chica Andaluza27 Comments
Ready to enjoy!

A visit to Málaga a few days ago to sort out some paperwork also led us through the backstreets to the old market, which has been beautifully restored.  Sadly, I didn´t have my camera with me to show you the stalls beautifully laid out with fruit, vegetables, fish and meat.

Sadly too, some of the fruit, when we got home, was not as lovely as it had promised to be.  I think the best stuff was “up front” and the bags of non regular shoppers were filled with the less than top quality produce from the back.

Hey ho, squashed and not so fruity tasting fruit lends itself to jam making, and making it in small quantities is also fun.  It´s quick, you don´t feel obliged to give away most of what you made to friends and family, and you get to have a wide selection of different flavoured jams in the despensa (that´s the larder to you and me)!

After tasting a few apricots and deciding that they weren´t up to that much, I stoned the rest and chopped them roughly and was left with 500g of fruit in weight.  I added 300g of sugar and the juice of one lemon and put into a deep pan.

Start the jam off at a low temperature until the sugar has dissolved.  The turn the heat up and get it bubbling, but making sure that it doesn´t boil over.  Cleaning cold, set jam off your cooker is no fun at all. 

Bubbling Away

Keep it bubbling away for about 10 minutes.  Don´t get distracted or walk away!  If you have a jam thermometer, do use it, it saves having to reboil the jam later if it doesn´t set.  Otherwise you can drop a spoonful of jam onto a saucer which you have previously placed in the freezer.  When the jam cools on the saucer you push it slightly – if it wrinkles, it´s at setting point.  If not, boil a little longer then repeat.

Sometimes you can just go with instinct, and even if it doesn´t set, runny jam tastes just as good.

Now you need to leave the jam to cool down a little for 5-10 minutes so that when you pour it into still warm, sterilized jars (I run mine through the dishwasher to do this), the fruit will not float to the top.

Seal the jars while they are still hot and this will keep (although I doubt you´ll be able to resist!) for at least a year.  Now, where´s that loaf of bread?

 

Salmorejo Cordobés – Another kind of gazpacho

Chica Andaluza27 Comments
 

Creamy Salmorejo

As promised, another version of the famed Andalucían gazpachos.  This one originates from the beautiful city of Córdoba, and is my favourite version of all.  It is different in that it uses very few ingredients but can be served three ways – very thick as a dip with small breadsticks (known as Picos), medium thick garnished with chopped hard boiled egg and jamon or tuna as a chilled soup starter, or diluted with water as a refreshing drink.  So…three dishes in one!

Ingredients for this are few and it will serve from 6 (as tapas) to 2 (as a soup) approximately:

  • 2-3 slices of stale bread without the crust (should be a fairly dense bread rather than sliced white from the supermarket)
  • About 500g of tomato, cored and peeled (I had one HUGE tomato as you can see in the photo) but usually the volume of the tomato once in the jug is a little more than the volume of the breadcrumbs
  • A chunk of red pepper (optional)
  • Half a clove of garlic (don´t recommend you use more or it will overpower the taste the taste of the salmorejo)
  • Vinegar
  • Water
  • Olive oil
  • Salt

Once again, the holy trinity of water, salt and vinegar appear but we´ll use very little water this time.

Dribble a very little amount of water onto the bread which you will have put into a mixing jug, and leave for a minute or two to absorb it.

Start with bread and water

Add the tomato and pepper if you are using it.  The truly authentic recipe doesn´t use red pepper, but after wondering why my salmorejo never looked as red or tasted as sweet as anyone else´s, I was let into the secret of the locals round here – red pepper!

Tomato and Red Pepper

Add your garlic, a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of vinegar and at least two tablespoons of olive oil and start to blend with the hand blender.

Add Vinegar and Salt

You need to get this really smooth, almost like a purée.  The more oil you add, the smoother the mixture will be, although I tend to go easy on it just for the sake of my waistline!  Taste every so often and adjust the salt and vinegar to your liking.  Again, it should be “alegre” or lively in flavour.

Start to blend

When you´re done, leave to chill in the fridge for about an hour.

Get it smooth and thick

Traditionally it´s served in a deep earthenware bowl (to maintain the freshness) with chopped hard-boiled egg and jamon on top.  Some people substitute the jamon for tinned tuna but I guess chopped bacon would also be nice.

It´s also great as a dip or sauce served with little breadsticks (like very short grissini) or croutons.

Not for the fainthearted! Slow Cooked Pig´s Trotters

Chica Andaluza15 Comments
Slow Cooked Pig´s Trotters

So, are you ready for this?! You may know that in Spain, especially the south, the pig is a highly prized beastie.  We start at the top with the aristocratic pig that is the “Pata Negra” (which translates as the Black Hoof) who is fed on acorns and snuffles round in a life of luxury until he is turned into the most expensive Jamon in the world. At the other end of the scale, after the regular jamones and normal cuts of meat have been consumed and enjoyed, we´re left with all the other bits that most people think would be best consigned to the bin.

Well, not so here, and in many other countries and cultures too.  If they could turn the “oink” of a pig into a soup in Spain, I´m sure there would be a recipe for it.  Pig´s trotters are pretty common place in butchers and supermarkets here.  No need to place a special order as they are often put into stocks and soups, or boiled up with chick peas for their dish “Puchero”.  Sometimes though, they have a starring role all to themselves and this recipe is one which comes from Big Man´s mum, to one of his sisters and on to me.

I was told that this, like many other Andalucían dishes, was the poor folks´ food.  When the Matanza (pig killing) was carried out in the autumn, the “extras” such as the tripe, trotters, tail and ears were given to those who had helped out in payment for their services.  Because there was so little (or no) meat on them, the cooks had to get creative to add flavour and use long, slow cooking to tenderise the food.

I have to confess, I´m not a big fan, but I love the sauce from this dish.  Pig´s trotters, when cooked, are rather gelatinous and involve a lot of chewing and then spitting out of all the little bones.  It doesn´t bother me, but Big Man loves them so much that I make a pot for him every so often to enjoy all to himself whilst I tuck into something like aubergines or curry – which do nothing at all for him.

It´s a slightly long winded, but not complicated process to make this dish as you need to plan several days ahead. Give it 5 to be on the safe side.  Here´s how to do it if you´re feeling adventurous.

For two people as a main course

  • 8 pigs trotters split into halves or quarters (they usually come like this or ask your friendly butcher to help you out)
  • Salt about 6 tablespoons
  • 2 bay leaves
  • About 12 peppercorns
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 2-4 small dried chilies

For the sauce

  • 3 cloves of garlic peeled and cut in half lengthways
  • 1 large slice of stale bread
  • A few strands of saffron soaked in water (or use a heaped teaspoon of paella spice mix)
  • Half a teaspoon of hot chili powder (pimentón)
  • Olive oil
  • About 12 peeled almonds
  • Salt to season

On the first day salt the trotters, put into the fridge for 24 hours

Salting the trotters

On the next day and for 48 hours, de salt them by submerging in a pot of fresh water which will need to be changed about 3 times per day

The day before you want to eat them you need to put them into a large pan with a lid, cover with water and add the garlic, bay leaves, chilies and peppercorns.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 2 hours or until really tender.  The trotters will start to fall apart and you need to end up with half the liquid you started with.  You may need to top up the water during cooking.

For the sauce you need to fry the garlic, almonds and bread in a small amount of olive oil until browned and then put into a jug with the saffron and it´s water plus about 2 ladles full of the water from the trotters.  You add the pimentón and then blend with a stick blender until you have a thick purée.

Pour this into the pot with the trotters and simmer again for about half an hour.  Add salt to taste and then cool and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

In the fridge the gelatine will cause the whole thing to solidify.  When you warm it up to eat it, it will all return to a liquid state and you´ll have sauce again.  This isn´t typically served with anything as you have to eat it with your fingers which get incredibly sticky!  I love the sauce though and serve it with plain boiled rice.

This is not a dish that will be to everyone´s liking, but for those of you willing to try it, it has a wonderful flavour. Do let me know if you´re brave enough to give it a go!