Chica Andaluza

Sort of Saag Aloo

July 8, 2011 Chica Andaluza19 Comments

Chard & Runner Beans 013 — Yummy curry...

I love Indian food. If I had to choose a favourite cuisine, I think Indian would be it. We do have a few Indian restaurants not too far away from us (i.e. about half an hour´s drive) but I usually get my curry fix when I go to London. I was lucky enough to live in a neighbourhood that was predominantly Indian and African, so I was spoilt for choice in wonderful ethnic restaurants.

Sometimes, however, my cravings get the better of me and I have to make curry at home. Big Man hasn´t ever really “had” the full curry experience, so doesn´t really understand my need for curry, but on the occasions I´ve made something “currified”, he´s enjoyed it.

We currently have a lot of chard growing and usually eat it wilted with oil and lemon juice but I decided to substitute the spinach in a Saag Aloo (that´s a Spinach and Potato curry) for chard, and see how it worked. Fortunately it was a perfect substitution and Big Man adored it. I think he´s starting to become a curry monster like me!

Chard & Runner Beans 001 — Freshly picked but not yet cleaned

I lay no claims to the authenticity of the spices I use in relation to a real Indian Saag Aloo, but the combination worked well and had good spicy (but not too hot) flavour.

Ingredients used:

Chard & Runner Beans 003 — Smells wonderful even before cooking

3 teaspoons of Garam Masala mix (you can buy ready made or make your own). I used a mix bought over by a friend which a chef friend of hers makes up and I then grind as I need it. I don´t know the exact mix but I picked out coriander seeds, curry leaves, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, cinnamon and coriander.

1 or 2 teaspoons of hot chili powder (or use mild) according to taste

1 teaspoon of ground turmeric

Half a teaspoon of mustard seeds

Two medium potatoes (mine were ready cooked as it´s what I had in the fridge but you can use raw) cubed

About 3 cups of uncooked (or just wilted in its own steam), chopped spinach or chard, otherwise you can use frozen

About half a cup of chopped tomatoes

3 cloves of crushed garlic

Oil for frying (something with little flavour, not olive oil)

Salt

Lemon

Start by frying the potatoes until lightly browned then remove them from the pan and drain off most of the oil.

Chard & Runner Beans 004 — Fry your potatoes

Fry the spices until they start to release the most wonderful smells and then add the garlic and fry until it softens.

Chard & Runner Beans 005 — Breathe deeply and enjoy the wonderful spicy scents

Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 5 minutes then add your spinach or chard.

Chard & Runner Beans 007 — Add your spinach or chard to the tomato

Put a lid on the pan and simmer for another 5 minutes or so then add the potatoes.

Add salt, Indian food can take (and usually needs) a heavy hand with the salt, but use low sodium if you can´t use regular.

Simmer, uncovered until most of the liquid has evaporated but all of the vegetables are coated in the tomato and spice sauce.

I like this served with a generous squeeze of lemon juice.

Can be served as a side dish or a main (vegetarian) dish with plain boiled basmati rice. Now, where are my popadoms?!

Gazpacho as we know and love it

July 7, 2011 Chica Andaluza44 Comments

Gazpacho y Chivo 008 — In Andalucia we don´t eat tomatoes...we drink them!

So, now we come to the Gazpacho most people are familiar with – the iced tomato and vegetable soup famed the world over (well, almost!).

It is served both as a soup here and as a drink. In most homes it comes in a glass. In fact there is a wonderful advert for my favourite Spanish beer, Cruzcampo, which celebrates all things Andalúz. One line in the voice over says something along the lines of “In Andalucía we don´t eat tomatoes, we drink them!” (If you have time to watch it, it´s worth it, even if you don´t understand Spanish, just to see a few snippets of summer life in Andalucía).

Every housewife will give you a slightly different recipe, adding her own little tweaks (more of this, less of that). Some use stale bread, some don´t. I tend not to unless I want to serve it a little thicker as a soup which can then be garnished with little chopped cubes of the same vegetables that go into it.

So, without further ado, here´s how I make mine.

Peeled Tomatoes, Green Pepper, Red Pepper, Onion (optional) Peeled Cucumber, Salt, Water, Olive Oil, White Wine Vinegar.

It´s difficult to give quantities. If my tomatoes are lovely and red, I use less red pepper. Sometimes I don´t use onion. But the green pepper and the cucumber do give it that distinctive fresh taste, so try not to leave them out.

Gazpacho y Chivo 003 — A few simple ingredients

Today I used 4 large plum tomatoes, one thin green pepper, a small amount of red pepper and a small chunk of onion and half a small peeled Spanish cucumber.

Put all the vegetables into a jug or the food processor.

Gazpacho y Chivo 004 — Put into your jug or blender

Start with one level teaspoon of salt, 3 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and about half a litre of water.

Gazpacho y Chivo 006 — Add water, vingegar, oil and salt

Now it´s time to start blending. Add more seasoning, vinegar and water as you go along if you want to. Today I added another tablespoon of vinegar (you remember they like it “alegre” or lively here right?!) and about another 250ml of water to thin it a little.

Then chill until you need it. If you have put onion in it´s fine on the day you made it but I find it starts to “ferment” a little if you have any left over. Also, while standing in the fridge it may start to separate a little with the water at the bottom and the vegetables on top – just give it a stir before serving and it will be fine.

Gazpacho y Chivo 011 — Big Man gets arty with the vegetables

Now, go and put on a straw hat, a paso doble on the cd and lie back in a shady spot and sip on your ice cold Gazpacho. Or ga-pacho, as they tend to say here! These Andaluces and their habit of dropping the “s” sound….most confusing!

Pear, Lime and Ginger Preserve

July 6, 2011 Chica Andaluza22 Comments

Pear Lime & Ginger Preserve 003 — Fruity, Spicy and Tangy!

Over at Lavender and Lime, Tandy has set a Weekly Food Challenge to cook using citrus fruits. Anyone who pops over to my blog regularly will probably have noticed that I use a lot of oranges in my cooking, particularly salads, so I felt inspired to take part in my first ever challenge!

I´m not sure if you´re allowed to submit two recipes, but I recently put up a post for one of my very favourite salads, Ensalada Cateta, so I´m putting that one forward too!

However, I also thought I´d like to try something different and as I´m in jam making mode this week, I had a little play around with ingredients. After the visit from my friends from the UK last week I had a few limes left over from a Mojito session, so I took it from there.

I love pears, but tend to either eat them as they are, or with cheese, or poached in wine. How about trying a chunky, spicy preserve instead? I could eat it on bread or toast, or serve it, almost like a soft quince jelly with cheese or, finally, as a sweet option drizzled over creamy vanilla ice cream.

In the end I decided to marry the pears with lime juice and fresh ginger, and I have to say I was thrilled with the results. Just a hint of the tang of lime and the warmth of the ginger combined with the fresh taste of the pears. Pears contain a lot of water so I cooked the preserve for about half an hour for the quantities given below on a gentle boil. The final result left me with soft pear chunks which still held their shape and a jelly like syrup.

I used the following:

500g of pears (peeled weight) chopped into small chunks

250g sugar

A piece of fresh ginger (about 3cm in length) peeled and grated

The juice of two limes

For the method I used, please see either my Ruby Jewel Jam recipe or my Summer Cherry Jam recipe. This quantity gave me two medium jars of preserve. I do hope you enjoy it, it has an almost autumnal taste to it – I think it must be the ginger!

Cheers – It´s 4th July!

July 4, 2011 Chica Andaluza38 Comments

Cherry Brandy & Ginger Beer

Being the sort of girl who needs no excuse to raise a glass, here´s a big “Cheers” to all my new blogging pals celebrating the 4^th July. Hope it´s a great day for you all.

As you know, it´s cherry season here up the mountain and after stoning far too many kilos for jam making, I decided to ring the changes and make something gorgeous for the cooler months. I came across a wonderful recipe over on Olive and Artichokes for a cherry liqueur they have made with Eau de Vie. We can´t get that here, at least, I´ve never come across it…but I didn´t let this stand in my way!

I bought a bottle of Spanish Brandy, not one of the rough ones might I add, and got my sugar, cherries and bottles ready.

Cherry Brandy 001 — Not many ingredients...

I followed the instructions given in the recipe, that is layering cherries and sugar and then filling the containers with liqueur.

Hopefully in a few months time I´ll have a delicious cherry flavoured brandy and some brandy flavoured cherries. Can´t wait!

Just over three weeks ago I started to make some alcoholic ginger beer. If you want to give it a go, you´ll find the recipe here.

It´s very simple, all you need is a sachet of yeast, a jar of powdered ginger, sugar and a jar or jug you can loosely cover.

After a week of adding yeast and sugar to your initial mixture (see the recipe) you´ll add water, lemon juice and more sugar to make about 7 litres of ginger flavoured drink.

Ginger Ale Chicken & Pizza 002 — Get Squeeeeeezing...

You need to leave some space in your plastic bottles for expansion, so only fill them about three quarters and then squeeze some of the air out before sealing them. If you don´t do this you´ll have exploding ginger beer all over the place and it´s very sticky. I know this from experience!

Once you´ve been patient you will be rewarded with gorgeous sparkling, lemony, gingery Ginger Beer. I don´t know exactly how alcoholic it is, although it does get stronger the longer you leave it. After about 3 months it starts to taste acidic, but I don´t suppose you´ll have it for that long as it´s delicious. And if you can´t wait 3 weeks, wait a week and mix it up with soda or water for a refreshing, non alcoholic drink.

Ginger Beer (2) — So good, even Alfi wants to get in on the act!

Happy Independence Day!

Summer Cherry Jam

July 3, 2011 Chica Andaluza39 Comments

Habas, Merluza, Cherry Jam 011 — Ready to wing their way to the UK!

Yes, it´s back to jam again today. You may, or may not, recall that a nearby village is famed for its cherries. We had a very, very long and wet winter which meant that a lot of the blossom this year was lost from the cherry trees. Such a shame for those whose livelihoods depends greatly on selling their crop, a shame for the cherry fiesta which is coming up next weekend, and a shame for all the customers who were hoping for a bumper crop.

We were very lucky in that a friend gave us a kilo the other day. We tried a few and they were delicious, but I wanted to make my first cherries into jam, to capture a special moment at the start of summer. Cherries are quite hard to get to set (at least, these were!), so in this jam I used a sachet of pectin powder, the setting agent which occurs naturally in some fruit like apples and citrus fruits. If you can´t get hold of it (or the liquid pectin) don´t worry, a little grated apple or the pith of a lemon plus a few minutes extra boiling should do the trick.

After pitting the cherries (that´s a messy job!) I ended up with 600g of fruit to which I added 400g of sugar and the juice of 2 lemons. Feel free to vary these quantities a little if you like your jam less tart and more sugary.

As with most recipes for jam, start it off at a low temperature until the sugar has dissolved. This is when I added the pectin powder and then turned the heat up and got it bubbling

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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.

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 for at least a year. It´s delicious on bread but also fantastic on ice cream, especially if you warm it a little first.

Sorry, I only took a photo of it in the jars, and they are already earmarked to wing their way back to the UK with my friends! Luckily Big Man came home with several cartons of cherries this morning, so tomorrow I´ll be busy stoning cherries again for the next batch.

First Runner Beans of the year….

July 1, 2011 Chica Andaluza29 Comments

: Grubby Gardening Hands

Yes, the planting is starting to deliver! Great excitement this week with my two best friends visiting, with lots of talking, laughing eating and drinking going on.

The vegetable patch gave us its first little crop of runner beans this week, and a second picking a few days later. Big Man, despite being the largest of the family group this week, was given the honour of squeezing in between the bean canes and picking those precious runners, making sure not to knock any of the delicate flowers (or future beans) off.

When I was last in the UK I bought a little gadget for cutting runner beans. You snip the ends off with a little blade then run them through a hole with several blades. Result? Long thin strings of spaghetti like bean strips. This means you can cook them quickly and still retain colour and flavour.

I won´t say it´s quicker than doing it the old fashioned way with a sharp knife, but you can see how pretty they look with this simple bowl of boiled beans lurking behind some barbecued hake with alioli. We served them just warm with olive oil and lemon juice.

Inspired by a delicious recipe over at Fati´s Recipes, I also cooked some up later in the week with mushrooms and a simple tomato sauce.

I lightly fried some sliced mushrooms.

Food end June 2011 018 — Stir fry in a little olive oil

Then I added some blanched beans (which I had chopped into little squares this time).

Food end June 2011 019 — Add blanched beans

Finally I poured over some home made tomato sauce, a little water, seasoning and simmered until ready.

Food end June 2011 022 — Simmer gently...

Delicious!

Food end June 2011 029 — Thank you vegetable garden!

Green Dress

June 30, 2011 Chica Andaluza23 Comments

So, anyone who popped by today hoping for a recipe or a vegetable garden update will be sorely disappointed. Sorry! Today is sewing, well dressmaking to be more precise.

I have never been formally taught to sew apart from a brief four week evening class about a hundred years ago which did, usefully, teach me how to put a sleeve in. The rest I am picking up through trial and (a great deal of) error.

Living in Spain has made buying clothes quite tricky for me. Being a woman who loves her food means that this is reflected in my shape – I think I´m an “apple”….well endowed on top, and not much bottom to speak of. If only I could find my waist I´d be heading somewhere towards hourglass! Actually, no, I´d just be a top heavy woman with a waist and a flat bottom…

Spanish fashion, at least in Andalucía, seems to cater for either the very young, thin and trendy or middle aged and frumpy. I´m probably over exaggerating, but finding something half way fashionable that suits a well rounded forty something is quite tricky.

This year I decided to stop buying things that I either never wear because I get them home and decide they´re hideous, or wear a few times and then they fall apart. I also have a wardrobe full of lovely clothes from my “past” which I felt could be recycled and given a new life.

Back to basics for me, both in terms of not spending money and using what I have at my disposal to recreate. Buying new material though, is permissible!

Having gone through my wardrobe now and pretty much renewed everything that could be altered, I have plenty more skirts that actually fit, dresses that go over my chest but come in at my hips and the charity shop is also a whole lot better off.

I wanted to make something simple, but to do it well and chose a summer shift dress from the latest Burda magazine. No zip (although having said that, I think I´ve pretty much mastered putting in zips), but I added some darts to fit it a little while still leaving room to put it on! It´s the first time I´ve done a v-neck and I used bias binding. I´m sure professionals would turn their noses up at this short cut, but it worked well and I´m pleased with the results.

Ok, am off to put on my new summer frock and do a bit of wafting around in it!

Stuffed, Baked Artichoke Bottoms

June 28, 2011 Chica Andaluza18 Comments

Artichokes & Chicken Paella 001 — Romantic lighting or just too dark...?

Am I allowed to say “bottoms” or will I be censored?! I had to say it because the hearts didn´t really make it into this dish.

Big Man came home the other day with about a dozen artichokes that a pal had given him. Unfortunately they had been sitting in his truck, with daytime temperatures reaching 34 degrees Celsius for two days. They were rather sad and dry looking.

I peeled away all the leaves and took out the “choke”, the hairy bit in the middle and then cooked them in water (with a good few spoonfuls of white wine vinegar to stop them going black) until they were almost tender.

I was just going to use them in a salad, but then decided that as they´d had a miserable few days in the heat, I would give them a more dramatic exit!

For the stuffing I used (for 12 artichokes)

2 cloves of garlic, crushed
6 medium mushrooms and stalks, finely chopped and fried in olive oil with the garlic until soft
3 heaped tablespoons of cream cheese
3 level tablespoons of grated cheese (I used a mature goat´s cheese)
Some finely chopped parsley

I mixed all these ingredients together, seasoned with salt and pepper and then spooned the mixture onto the artichoke bottoms which I then placed in a lightly oiled baking dish.

I sprinkled them all with fresh white breadcrumbs and finished with a drizzle of olive oil.

These then went into a hot oven for about 15 minutes (until the breadcrumbs were browned) and I served them with my Spicy Tomato Sauce. I think they were happy with their finale.

Ensalada Cateta – Country Salad

June 27, 2011July 10, 2012 Chica Andaluza27 Comments

Before I start this quick post, I have to tell you that I´m having a giggle. The word cateto or cateta translates perhaps more literally as “Peasant”, but not in an offensive way. Before I started typing I just thought I´d do a quick translation check to see if there was another word I could use and all the on line translation tools, bizarrely come up with the word “leg”! Not quite sure what is going on there…but I decided to call it Country Salad.

It´s another celebration of that most Andalucían of fruits, the orange. Again, typically a poor person´s salad it was originally made with salt cod as it was cheap and you didn´t need to use much. A few other bits of country produce like potatoes, peppers and olives, a good soak in olive oil and you were done.

Of course, nowadays you can get all sorts of glorified versions, but the one I´m giving you here is the one you´ll find in all my local bars and homes around here. It´s served as tapas in bars, and as a light meal at home. Of course, some people make their own little tweaks, and why shouldn´t they? They might leave out the peppers and add tomatoes. Some people like tomatoes or onions in it, others don´t. And complete heathens, like me, sprinkle chopped fresh chili all over it to the amazement of their other halves….each to his own I say!

Figs and yogurt 008 — A delicious serving of “Leg” Salad!!

This is what you´ll need (approximately) per person as a light main dish servng size

1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped
2 medium potatoes (boiled in their skin) peeled then chopped into chunks
1 small tin of tuna (I use tuna in brine and drain it, but use your favourite)
1 roasted red pepper, chopped
2 medium oranges (bitter if possible) peeled and cut into chunks
About 2 tablespoons of pitted olives sliced (or use ones with stones, your choice!)
Optional – chopped onion, chopped tomato, small flakes of salt cod (or use whatever you have available)
Salt & Pepper
Olive oil
White wine Vinegar (optional) but I like to use it

All you need to do it combine everything in a bowl, season and dress it and leave it for at least half an hour in the fridge so that the potatoes can soak up some of the lovely olive oil.

Good to serve at a party or buffet as it can be prepared ahead and does not suffer from being forgotten in the fridge for several hours. Hope you enjoy it!

Easy Greek Style Yogurt

June 25, 2011 Chica Andaluza34 Comments

Figs and yogurt 015 — Thick, creamy yogurt

Making yogurt at home is very simple. No need for yogurt makers, thermometers or complicated equipment. I don´t claim that this yogurt is Greek, as the milk I´m using is from Spanish cows (hopefully!) but the taste is the same creamy taste and texture is thick and gorgeous.

Are you ready? Ok, then this is what you´ll need.

Fresh Milk – I used two litres, but you can make any quantity you like. I also used semi skimmed, but you can use whole or skimmed if you prefer.
1 small carton of live yogurt for your first batch
A saucepan with a lid
A hand whisk
A thermos flask big enough for your quantity of milk (optional)
A sieve
A piece of clean cloth for straining (I used a clean handkerchief – perfect size for my sieve!)
A little patience

Start by heating your milk until small bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat and whisk in your carton of yogurt.

That´s it for now! You have several options at your fingertips to get this milk to do its magic and turn into yogurt.

As it´s hot here at the moment, I put a lid on my pot and sit it in the sun for about five hours.

You can put a lid on the pot and leave it in a very, very low oven for up to 12 hours – check on it after about 5 hours to see how it´s doing. You can even leave it overnight.

Put it into a warmed thermos flask and leave overnight.

When you´ve done this and waited patiently, your yogurt will have formed and will look like this.

Figs and yogurt 004 — Yogurt before straining

Yogurt with some watery liquid surrounding it. You could just whisk it all together and eat it as it is, it´s pretty delicious already.

To make it into Greek style yogurt you will need to strain it. Set your sieve over a deep bowl or pot, line with clean muslin (or whatever), pour the yogurt in and leave to strain in the fridge.