Easy to prepare – Page 5

Oops we did it again! (Tortellini with a leek and bacon broth)

January 29, 2013January 29, 2013 Chica Andaluza75 Comments

First of all I am going to have to say lots of “sorries” to people. Sorry for not having posted for a while, sorry for not visiting you all so often, and a very, very big sorry to all the lovely folk who have nominated me for awards over the last few months and who I have not thanked properly. My excuses are many – the house renovations, a dreadful cold and my old laptop almost dying and having bought a new one which I’m trying to get to grips with (but not always successfully). The technical problems mean that the e-mails with the lovely award nominations are no more…along with some photos and documents. My fault entirely. So sorry. Again.

We’ve had some snow here, which was actually quite fun as there wasn’t enough to turn our little world upside down.

We bought another place to do up – but this time it’s for us to use as our UK holiday place. Er yes, you did hear that right. Last one, I promise. But it was so sad and sorry looking and is part of an Edwardian House that needs to be loved again, we couldn’t just leave it there to get sadder could we? And when it’s done we may even let loved ones come and stay…so if you’re ever in the area…

Eek - that's all got to go! — Eek – that’s all got to go!

But we’ve eaten too. Hearty dishes to keep out the cold, and glamorous dishes to celebrate the sea. I did cook an amazing monkfish tail with prawns and a champagne sauce. But guess what? The photos seem to have been lost in transit from one laptop to another. Too much renovating and not enough backing up I hear you say.

Not a recipe as such for you today, but a bowl of hearty pasta and broth to chase away the snow, winter colds and house renovation madness.

For the two of us, I took one leek and finely sliced it, stir fried it with some finely chopped bacon (but you could use mushrooms if you wanted a veggie version), added in a packet of ricotta and spinach tortellini (or you could be fabulous like my pal ChgoJohn and make some ravioli) and covered with broth (stock). I used the broth from boiling a gammon but chicken or vegetable stock would also be good. Then I just simmered for a few minutes until the tortellini were cooked, and voila, a speedy supper. Be healthy and eat it as it is, or do like me and smother it in grated parmesan. Buon appetito!

Apricot Stuffed Pork Loin

January 18, 2013January 18, 2013 Chica Andaluza71 Comments

Rest assured that despite the hard work, rubble and paint that is our life right now, we never go hungry! In fact, we even manage to do a little small scale entertaining and this dish was one I made when Best Pal Ria and her brother-in-law came to visit and see what we had been up to.

I was inspired to cook this dish after having seen a beautiful recipe from ChgoJohn, take a look at this beautiful Roast Loin of Pork with Fig Preserves.

It was a great dish as it can be prepared ahead and served hot or cold, leaving you time to catch up with your guests.

Ingredients

A loin of pork (or a boned shoulder) mine weighed about 1.75kg 8 (which serves 6-8 people)
10 finely chopped dried apricots soaked overnight in orange juice
1 tablespoon of harissa paste
2-3 tablespoons of pine nuts dried fried until toasted (or you can do this in the oven)
Salt and pepper
A glass of white wine (or chicken stock)
Olive oil

Use a long sharp knife to cut a slit through the middle of the pork loin (think of a hollow tube) so that you can then fill this with “stuffing”. Mix together the apricots and the juices, the pine nuts, the harissa and about 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Season the mixture and use it to fill the pork loin.

Season the outside of the loin and rub a couple of teaspoons of oil into it. Place the meat into a deep dish, cover with a lid or tightly with foil and cook at a medium low heat for about 3-4 hours. Remove the meat from the juices (which you will save) and chill the meat. Don´t skip this step, it makes serving so much easier!

The next day, thinly slice the meat into rounds. Warm the sauce and reduce a little. If you want to serve the meat cold, serve the sauce separately. If you want to serve it warm, pour about a third of the sauce over the meat, cover with foil and put into a medium oven for about 20 minutes and serve the rest of the sauce on the side.

I served mine with cous cous with mint, lemon zest, pomegranate and pine nuts but we ate if before we remembered to take a photo!

Speedy Suppers – Smokey Pork with Pimentón and Peppers

January 13, 2013January 13, 2013 Chica Andaluza54 Comments

I do love alliteration don´t you?! Even more I enjoy a speedy supper dish which tastes amazing and looks pretty too.

If you don´t eat pork, this would be delicious too with chicken. It just wouldn´t be so alliterative.

Ingredients (to serve 2)

1 pork fillet cut into small strips (or use a small piece of pork loin)
1 pepper, sliced (I used an orange one)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced quite thickly
About 6 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
2 crushed cloves of garlic
1 heaped teaspoon of smoked pimentón
A small glass of white wine
2 tablespoons of crème fraiche (or use full fat yogurt)
Salt & Pepper
Olive oil

Start by browning the little strips of meat in a tablespoon or so of olive oil. When they are browned, remove from the pan and set aside. Now add the onions, garlic, peppers and mushrooms into the same pan and cook gently until softened then turn up the heat slightly to give some colour to the onions.

Add the meat back into the pan and sprinkle over the pimentón and season. Fry gently for a minute then add the wine. Turn the heat down and continue to cook for a further 2-3 minutes then turn the heat up for a minute or so just to reduce a little of the liquid.

Check to taste the seasoning, turn off the heat and stir in the crème fraiche. Delicious served with plain boiled rice and some green vegetables.

Skating on Thin Ice – Skate Wing with Prawns

January 2, 2013January 1, 2013 Chica Andaluza66 Comments

Well, with my track record of falling into holes, walking into lamp posts and generally bumping into things, it´s probably a good thing that there are no local ice rinks for me to run amok in!

Best to stick to Skate (ray) of the edible variety. Here´s a super simple dish, which is quick to cook if the skate is already prepared. If not, check out this “how to” post. Aside from using the biggest frying pan you can get your hands on, it´s all plain sailing. Or skating…

Ingredients (per person)

1 whole skate wing (or half if it´s as enormous as the one I bought)
Half a cup of raw peeled prawns (or you can use cooked)
Flour for dusting
Salt & Pepper
Lemon
One clove of crushed garlic
Olive oil and butter for frying (or you can use just oil)

Dust the skate wing in seasoned flour and fry gently on both sides until lightly browned. Remove and keep warm while you fry the garlic and prawns until the prawns are cooked through and pink (if raw) or just warmed through if already cooked.

Squeeze a little lemon juice into the pan with the prawns and garlic and the oil/butter then pour over the skate to serve. Easier than a triple salchow. Whatever that is.

If, like me, you prefer a walk in the bright Winter sunshine to skating, hope you enjoy this shot of the beach at Bexhill on New Year´s Day morning where we walked with the dogs. Yes….we´re back in England to finish of the last bits of work in House No 2!

Lamb Shanks with Borlotti Beans

December 11, 2012December 11, 2012 Chica Andaluza48 Comments

Any regular readers of this blog will know that in the colder months, when I can light the oven in Spain (or pretty much any time in England) I am a huge fan of slow cooked comfort food.

In Spain we often eat pork shanks, in England we got to enjoy lamb instead. Here´s a simple recipe that is great for those cold winter days or nights and also a useful dish for entertaining as it can be prepared ahead and then forgotten about for several hours before serving.

Ingredients (to serve 2 people, easily doubled)

Two lamb shanks
1 can (400g approx) of borlotti beans
About 1 cup of chopped tomatoes (tinned are fine at this time of year)
A sprig of rosemary
4 cloves of crushed garlic
A glass of red wine
A teaspoon of olive oil
A teaspoon of tomato purée
Salt & Pepper

Mix all the ingredients (except the meat) together and season, pour them over the lamb using a deep oven proof dish. Cover with a lid or wrap tightly in foil and cook in a low oven for about 4 hours.

Serve with creamy mashed potato and make sure to finish that wine you opened to make the dish.

Venison Chops with Creamed Spinach and Mushrooms

December 3, 2012December 3, 2012 Chica Andaluza52 Comments

I have spoken a few times about our lovely local butcher, London Road Butcher of Bexhill (just in case any locals are interested – but he does need a website!). Funnily enough, he was bought up in the same road as House Number One. Small world.

We recently saw a programme about cooking with traditional ingredients that are falling out of fashion, and venison was mentioned. I hadn’t eaten if for years and Big Man didn´t know if he had ever tasted it. In a timely fashion, the butcher had venison chops (which looked more like smaller versions of T-Bone steaks) for sale, so how could I say no?

The chops were cooked very simply – salted, rubbed with a little olive oil and cooked on a very hot griddle pan. To go with them I made creamed spinach and mushrooms which I have since made again and served simply with rice. A great vegetarian dish (but obviously not when you have a slab of Bambi´s mother on the plate next to it). Quantities are flexible, the process is simple.

Ingredients (to serve 2 people)

About 10 chestnut mushrooms, cut into medium slices
4 or 5 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
About 4-6 cups of washed spinach leaves
A splash of white wine
2 heaped tablespoons of full fat crème fraîche (don´t use the low fat version for this, it will split and be very runny)
Olive oil
Sea salt
Black pepper

Gently fry the mushrooms and garlic in a little oil with the lid on the pan until the mushrooms start to release some of their juices. Add a splash of white wine and the spinach and cover again. When the spinach has wilted, removed the lid, season and turn the heat up so that most of the liquid evaporates. Turn the heat down low, stir in the crème fraîche, add a final grind of pepper and serve.

Still Working Hard Blue Cheese & Rocket Crostini

November 30, 2012November 30, 2012 Chica Andaluza56 Comments

I´m starting to sound like a scratched record now, I´m sorry. Work continues but with huge progress.

Last night, in House Number 1, we mopped the final floor, we screwed in the final light bulb, polished the final window and left a Welcome Card and bottle of wine for our lovely new tenant.

It was all a little emotional if I admit the truth. It was our first truly joint business venture and blood, sweat and tears (literally) went into the work. We feel happy with a job well done, to a high standard and we were happy in our time spent in the little house.

Who remembers the bathroom that went from this…

…to this…?

Or the kitchen (sorry about my nose causing a big shadow!)…

…which now looks like this

And that scary hall….

Scary carpet...this house needs some love! — Scary carpet…this house needs some love!

..sorry, I know you loved that carpet….but it had to go!

Last night we were exhausted. Too tired almost to eat. But we rallied for a bottle of bubbles and a little celebratory snack. I was reminded of a fabulous recipe From the Bartolini Kitchens and created some tasty little crostini which went perfectly with our “end of the first part of the project” drinks. Simple, tasty, perfect.

Ingredients

Slices of toasted ciabatta (or other dense bread) drizzled with a little olive oil
Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
A few handfuls of rocket leaves
Olive oil
Honey
Coarse Sea Salt & Freshly ground pepper

Spoon some crumbled cheese over the little toasts and then sprinkle over some rocket leaves. Drizzle with olive oil and honey, add a tiny sprinkle of salt (optional, blue cheese is typically very salty) and a good grind of black pepper. Raise a glass, put your feet up and enjoy.

PS. Thank you all so much for your patience, and apologies for not being able to get to all of your great posts as much as usual.

Sometimes Life Isn´t Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom

September 17, 2012September 17, 2012 Chica Andaluza63 Comments

Now that I have some semblance of normality cooking back into my cooking life, it´s fun to start enjoying foods that are not so readily available to us in Spain. Stilton cheese (that beautiful, pungent English blue cheese) for one. And bizarrely flat mushrooms – we don´t get much mushroom choice available locally Up the Mountain unless we go foraging.

To go with an amazing T-Bone steak for Big Man (what else) and a fillet steak for me, I made some delicious mushrooms stuffed with spring onion, stilton and dolcelatte. Another simple dish, but oh so good with the beautiful local beef available here in East Sussex.

Ingredients (to stuff 2-4 flat mushrooms, depending on the size of your mushrooms)

About half a cup of coarse, fresh breadcrumbs (I made mine from day old ciabatta)
The finely chopped stems of the mushrooms
About 75g of cheese (I used a mixture of stilton and dolcelatte)
2 medium spring onions finely sliced
1 fat clove of garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Start by drizzling a little olive oil into each mushroom. Mix all the other ingredients together, season to taste and divide it between the mushrooms. Press the filling down a little and then drizzle a little more oil over the top.

Bake in a hot oven for about 15 minutes until the mushrooms are soft and the stuffing starts to crisp. Delicious as a side dish or a starter.

And for anyone feeling brave..take a look at the old kitchen/bathroom in house number two. Eek!

Vegetable Fajitas with Soft Goat´s Cheese

September 13, 2012September 12, 2012 Chica Andaluza66 Comments

Easy, nourishing dishes that are quick to prepare are still very much the order of the day here. To make a change from sandwiches, I decided to make fajitas this week. I did have to buy my tortillas, but for a fabulous recipe for home made ones (I can vouch for it, I made them in Spain) take a look at Tandy´s recipe.

Quantities are flexible, and use your favourite veggies or whatever you have to hand. We ate 2 tortillas each for lunch.

Ingredients

Finely chopped savoy cabbage
Finely shredded carrots, red peppers, onion
Finely Sliced Mushrooms
A handful of fresh beansprouts
Olive oil for stir frying
1 teaspoon of tamarind sauce per person (pinched from my mum´s store cupboard – thanks Mamma!)
Pinch of dried chili flakes (optional)
¼ teaspoon of ground cumin per person
Salt & Pepper
1 small log of soft goat´s cheese
Creamy Natural Yogurt
Tortillas for wrapping

Simply stir fry all the vegetables until they start to soften. Add the cumin, chili (if using) and tamarind and cover the pan. Continue to cook until the vegetables are cooked to your liking. Remove the lid if you prefer no juice.

Spoon the vegetables over warmed tortillas which you can spread with yogurt, place a few slices of creamy goat´s cheese on top, roll up and enjoy!

And finally, a totally gratuitous dog shot…at least someone can enjoy the rare bursts of sunshine this week…

Stuffed Grilled Peppers

July 22, 2012July 21, 2012 Chica Andaluza50 Comments

The Huerto, or Vegetable Garden, is doing well. Although we won´t get to enjoy all of it over the summer, we are making the most of our vegetable bounty before we leave for the UK. The long thin peppers are doing well. Typically here they are used in salads or deep fried and served with a good sprinkle of salt.

To try something different, and because I had plenty of Creamy Goat´s Cheese “Paté”, I made this dish recently. Very easy and quick to prepare, and you can add whatever flavours/herbs you have to hand and enjoy.

Ingredients

4 medium long green peppers
200g cream cheese paté (or mix your favourite herbs and spices into a tub of cream cheese)

Blanch the whole peppers in boiling water for about 3 or 4 minutes, drain and leave until cool enough to handle.

Cut a slit down the middle of each pepper to create an opening and then fill with cream cheese. Use a cocktail stick to seal them.

I cooked mine on the griddle pan which I had sprayed with a very little olive oil. This would also work on a barbecue. Start with the uncut side first. When they are done on one side, flip them over and cook the other side which will probably need less time.

Remove from the heat and take out the cocktail stick. Serve either warm or at room temperature with a little drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of good coarse sea salt.