Tag: Quick

Calamares en Salsa de Tomate – Quick Braised Squid in a Garlicky Tomato Sauce

Chica Andaluza50 Comments

This is a lovely, light dish which looks impressive but is quick and easy to prepare. More so if you have already made some tomato sauce and buy ready cleaned  squid.

If you need some help cleaning your squid, click here.

Ingredients Per Person

  • 3-4 medium squid, cleaned
  • 1 cup of garlicky tomato sauce (To make mine I soften 3 crushed cloves of garlic in olive oil, then add 1 kilo of crushed peeled tomatoes, 2 tablespoon of tomato purée, half a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of sugar, plenty of fresh garlic, a glass of red wine and a few stalks of basil leaves. Simmer for about an hour, remove the basil and you´re done. This will give you 6-8 cups of sauce).
  • Seasoning

Simply warm the sauce through then drop in the squid (this can be served whole or cut into smaller chunks. Simmer gently for about 5 minutes or until the squid has turned white. Taste, season, then serve – see, I told you it was easy!

Speedy Strawberry Delight

Chica Andaluza64 Comments

For many of us it´s strawberry season right now. The pleasure of eating a sweet juicy strawberry on its own, or covered in whipped cream is something very special. And of course we can mix them into cakes, turn them into jam…well, the possibilities are almost endless.

Sometimes though you fancy a bowlful of strawberry deliciousness but you need it NOW. Here´s a little dish of strawberries that´s not too naughty and quick to pull together and hit the spot last night when we fancied a little midnight feast (hence the dark shot)!

Per person

  • Half a cup of thick creamy natural yogurt (I used Greek)
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar (optional)
  • About half a dozen strawberries, sliced
  • A drizzle of honey
  • A splash of framboise (raspberry) liqueur – optional

Stir the sugar (if using) into the yogurt, pile the strawberries on top, splash on the liqueur, drizzle the honey over then find yourself a nice quiet spot to sit and enjoy a little indulgence and a moment of peace all to yourself.

Roti – Indian Flatbread

Chica Andaluza44 Comments

When we recently made our Cortijo Curry, we also made a little batch of roti, to accompany the meal.

Roti is an unleavened, flat bread (which does puff up when cooked) and is also known, I believe as chapati (I am prepared to be corrected if they are different, but all my recipes seem to indicate they are pretty much the same thing).

Super simple and quick to make, they´re also great to use as an alternative to tortilla wraps or if you just fancy a change.

Ingredients (to make 6)

  • 200g chapati flour (or finely ground wholemeal flour)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tbs vegetable oil
  • Water

Add the salt to the flour then mix in the oil. Gradually add drops of water (you won´t need much) until the mixture comes together then knead for about 10 minutes. Leave to rest for 30 minutes if possible.

Divide into 6 portions and roll each one into a ball, then roll the ball flat using a rolling pin.

Heat a non stick frying pan until very hot and place a roti in the pan. Press down on it (I used a spatula) as it cooks. When the underside is speckled brown, flip it over and repeat. As you press on it, it will start to puff up. You can also do this by holding it over a flame once it is cooked. We did try this as well, but found that they puffed up nicely in the frying pan.

Wrap in a tea towel to keep warm and serve immediately – they will lose some of their puffiness as they cool down, but taste delicious!

If you enjoy curries, do check out this lovely recipe from Frugal Feeding as well.

Stem Gingernuts

Chica Andaluza71 Comments

A recent post on cheesecake made with a biscuit base, started a dialogue about biscuits. The lovely Tia mentioned that she enjoyed Ginger Nuts, a biscuit enjoyed widely in the UK with a cup of tea or coffee.  I said I would try to find a recipe (and I did find a Delia Smith one which was a huge disaster), then the equally lovely Evie from Pendle Stitches sent me over the recipe she uses to bake for her family.

Of course, I had to give them a go.  Result? Fabulous, better than shop made and even without the Stem Ginger (which I couldn´t get hold of) they were amazing.  Thanks Evie, these will become a family favourite here too!

Here´s Evie´s recipe, and like her I added extra ground ginger (another half a tablespoon).

Stem Gingernuts (From The Great British Book of Baking)

  • 350g self-raising flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger (I usually add a bit more because I love my gingernuts to have bite)
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 115g unsalted butter
  • 85g golden syrup
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3 pieces stem ginger, drained and finely chopped (this is ginger in a sweet syrup which you can buy or make your own)

Preheat oven to 170oC/350oF/gas 3.  Grease or line baking trays.  I just use parchment.

Sift the flour, ground ginger, bicarb of soda and sugar into a mixing bowl.  Gently melt the butter with the syrup in a pan over a low heat and set aside until barely warm.

Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients, add the beaten egg and the stem ginger and mix with a wooden spoon. When thoroughly combined, roll the mixture into 24 walnut-sized balls, using your hands.

Arrange on prepared baking trays, spacing well apart to allow for spreading.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until a good golden brown.  Keep an eye on them and, if necessary, turn the trays around halfway through the cooking period so that the biscuits brown evenly.

Leave the biscuits to cool on the trays for a couple of minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container, or make a large pot of coffee and scoff the lot!

Salpicón De Mariscos – Seafood Salad

Chica Andaluza58 Comments
So many colours!

A typical tapas here which offers the best from the sea and the best from the salad garden is a Salpicón de Mariscos. We also enjoy it as a light lunch or supper dish or a starter.  Of course, there are many ways of making it, depending on what you have available.  Avocado? Yes, put some in. Don´t like cucumber? Leave it out.

Here´s my version which I also made a lemon vinaigrette for.  Typically though it would just be dressed with salt, white wine vinegar and olive oil.

Serves four as a starter or two as a main course.

Vegetables (all to be chopped into roughly 1cm squares)

  • Two long thin green peppers or one green bell pepper
  • Half a large red bell pepper
  • One medium red onion (or a sweet white onion). Tip…if you thinly slice and then leave in iced water for about 30 minutes and then drain before adding to your salad, it will remove any harshness of flavour
  • One small cucumber, partly peeled
  • Two carrots peeled and cut into thin strips with a peeler (this is not typical, but I enjoy the crunch and colour) and then cut into smaller pieces
  • One large salad tomato (add this just before serving)
  • Two heaped tablespoons of chopped flat leaf parsley

Seafood

  • A mixture of cooked prawns, octopus, mussels – I had about 2 cups in total

Dressing

  • One clove of crushed garlic, half the juice of a lemon, olive oil (you want 3 measures of oil to one of lemon), salt, pepper, half a teaspoon of sugar, a quarter teaspoon of English mustard powder (or use half a teaspoon of made up mustard)

Also – the grated zest of one lemon

Method

Mix together the salad and seafood.  If you are using tomato (and/or avocado) add just before serving.

Shake the dressing ingredients in a jar, taste and adjust seasoning to your preference.  Pour over the salad and mix gently.

This benefits from sitting somewhere cool  (but not cold) for at least an hour before eating. Otherwise you can make ahead, store in the fridge and then remove it an hour before serving.  Add the tomatoes and/or avocado if using, grate over the lemon zest and give it one final stir.

Have plenty of crusty bread to hand to mop up all those lovely lemony juices.

Setas Asadas – Fire Roasted Oyster Mushrooms with Poached Eggs

Chica Andaluza68 Comments

I have mentioned previously that we have some mushrooms growing, intentionally I might add, in our garage.  It was a slow start, but we are now getting regular supplies of oyster mushrooms to enjoy.

After a week away, they had gone a little crazy, and some of the ordinary mushrooms which we are also growing had turned into monsters which I´ll chop up and use in sauces or soups.

Back from London with not much in the fridge, we had to “make do and mend”, as my grandmother used to say.  The fire was blazing merrily, so we put some of the larger mushrooms onto our parilla (which is a grill which you can sandwich things between) and cooked them over the embers of the fire. You could do this over a barbecue or even under the grill (for grilling I´d recommend you brush them lightly with oil first).

Once they were done we seasoned them with Maldon sea salt, freshly ground pepper then drizzled some olive oil over and added a little squeeze of lemon juice. With a softly poached egg and a plate of jamon we enjoyed a simple supper but felt that we had dined like Kings!

PS. Our dogs Luna and Alfi stayed with our lovely neighbours while we were away. Our dogs love being there and they get loads of walks.  It seems this week they discovered the joys of goat manure and spent lots of time playing in it, which was much less fun for our neighbours who had to deal with two very stinky dogs.  Alfi is now in need of a major haircut and they were both happily exhausted yesterday when we got them home.  I took this snap of them “recovering” from their week of fun whilst trying not to laugh too much at Alfi´s lack of energy to get either into or out of the bed.

Huevos Revueltos con Gambas y Setas – Scrambled Eggs with Prawns and Mushrooms

Chica Andaluza54 Comments

This is a bit of a “non recipe” recipe, as scrambled eggs are not really so tricky to do.  And as for my photos of the end result – well, not so appealing.  I know that many of you out there can make them look creamy and gorgeous but it was a case of “snap ´em quick as we don´t want to eat cold, dried out scrambled eggs”. Sorry.

Funnily enough, these are such highly prized dishes here that scrambled eggs (in different variations) often appear on restaurant menus as starters and top chefs demonstrate the art of cooking them on TV cooking programmes.  I do find that a little odd, as scrambled eggs was the first thing I was “taught” to cook by Sister Sylvia in my convent school cookery lessons.  I had already been baking and making meals at home so was a little insulted when a tiny chain smoking nun who wore high heels and a very elaborate hair do told me off for not getting into the corners of the pan with my wooden spoon.

When I told her that round saucepans don´t have corners (and between us convent girls we all knew she bought cigarettes and sherry with our cookery money) a wary truce was established but, much to my family´s surprise, I loathed cookery lessons at school. I was quite a bratty and opnionated 13 year old as you can see…

So, I digress.  Back to a quick and tasty and very Spanish supper dish for two.

Ingredients

  • About a cup and half of mixed mushrooms (they sell very good bags of mixed frozen mushrooms here which, when defrosted, are perfect for this and other dishes)
  • A cup of peeled prawns (shrimp) – or keep it vegetarian by leaving these out
  • One clove of crushed garlic
  • Four eggs (free range if possible)
  • A splash of milk
  • Seasoning
  • Olive oil or butter for frying (we use oil and I sometimes stir in a knob of butter to the eggs at the end)
  • A heaped tablespoon of finely chopped parsley,

Beat the eggs, milk and seasoning together and put to one side.  Now slowly fry the garlic and mushrooms until the mushrooms have given off their juices and are tender. How long this takes will depend on your mushrooms. Now turn the heat up, add the prawns and stir fry until pink.

Keeping the heat at medium, add the eggs and scramble to your liking (don´t forget the corners!). When they are a few seconds away from being done, stir in the parsley and serve with crusty bread or toast and a glass of something gorgeous.

Saint Valentine…don´t you mean San Jacobo?

Chica Andaluza67 Comments

I have a work project on at the moment which is keeping me busy, so at home we´ve got a week or so of quicker to cook dishes coming up, or slow cooked dishes that I can put in the oven and then forget about for a few hours.

This speedy light lunch or supper is often served as a “child friendly” dish here in Spain. Sometimes you just don´t fancy “fancy” food. Something simple and speedy, and just a little naughty is required.  Deep fried ham and cheese coated in breadcrumbs hits the spot.  And if you serve it up with a dollop of ketchup and a fried egg with a runny yolk – well I won´t tell anyone that you´re not 9 years old!

Per person you´ll need

  • 2 large slices of your favourite ham
  • Enough thin slices of cheese to almost cover the ham (choose one that melts like cheddar, mozzarella etc)
  • A beaten egg plus 2 tablespoons of milk (this is enough for 4 slices of ham)
  • Dried breadcrumbs to coat the ham
  • Hot oil for frying

Place the cheese on the ham and either roll it up or fold it over to make a “sandwich”. Use a toothpick if necessary to keep your San Jacobo closed, but don´t forget to remove before eating…!

Dip the ham in the egg then the breadcrumbs and then repeat. This will give you a good seal so that the cheese doesn´t ooze out as it melts when it cooks, and a super crispy coating.

Get your oil very hot and fry (you can deep or shallow fry – your decision). Remove when browned and serve immediately.

I tried to find out why these little fried ham parcels are called “Saint Jacobs” but no one seems to know.  At least it makes the meal sound a little more gourmet than it actually is.  Make sure you have a cold beer to hand as a medical aid in case you burn your tongue on that lovely melted cheese.

PS. Happy Valentine´s Day to you all – young. old, single or happily with someone, it´s all about love…so go on, go out today and hug someone!

Pimientos del Piquillo Rellenos – Stuffed “Piquillo” Peppers

Chica Andaluza65 Comments

As I was mostly quite a good girl last year, Secret Santa gave me a beautiful cookery book packed full of delicous Tapas recipes. Thanks Giovanna at BlueJellyBeans!

After having a good old read of it, I decided that the first recipe I wanted to make from it was one that I often order in bars or restaurants but had never made at home.  The stuffed piquillo peppers (sweet, red and shaped like a little beak which gives them their name) are sold here in tins or jars. If you can´t get hold of them, I won´t tell anyone if you adapt with full sized peppers or perhaps the tips of some long sweet peppers.  You´ll need to roast and peel them first though.

I adapted the recipe a little to use up some salt cod (bacalao) that I had left, but the filling is up to you.  It could be cream cheese, mashed potato, tuna, vegetables, béchamel sauce….let your imagination go wild!

Ingredients to serve 2 as a starter

  • 4 pimientos del piquillo
  • Half a cup of mashed potato plus half a cup of cooked, flaked bacalao (or a cup of your preferred filling)
  • A tablespoon of chopped parsley
  • Black pepper (no salt with bacalao as it is already very salty)

For the sauce – half a cup of tomato conserva, 2 tablespoons of single cream, 1 tablespoon of tomato purée blended together with an immersion blender and seasoned to taste

Mix the potato, fish and herbs together and season with pepper.  Carefully fill the peppers using a small teaspoon.  Put them into a small frying pan and cover with a lid.  Warm through on a very low heat, turning them over after about 2 minutes.  I didn´t use oil but if your pan is not non stick, then use a very small amount. Now pour the sauce over and warm through very gently.

Place the peppers on your serving plate and cover with the creamy, tomatoey sauce.  Gorgeous, tasty and really rather cheffy looking!

Speedy Pasta with Aubergine and Tomato Sauce

Chica Andaluza33 Comments

When I lived in London my life was, as you can imagine, very different from life Up The Mountain.  For a start I had a Proper Grown Up Job. And I travelled a lot, sometimes spending weeks living out of a suitcase or briefly stopping at home for a pit stop to repack the case.  At times like this my best friends were the local take away menus.  Luckily, I lived in an area that boasted an amazing amount of pretty good quality restaurants who could get something tasty to my doorstep within about 30 minutes of me placing a call.

When I moved to Spain, it took me a while to adjust to the fact that when I didn´t feel all that much like cooking it was either Big Man´s special fried eggs, or jamon, cheese and melon to eat. The nearest take aways or delivery services are, I imagine, in a town a 45 minute drive away.

Finally I realised that I could still have something tasty to eat in about the same amount of time as it would have taken me to decide what to order from the take away menu, make the call and wait for the delivery guy to show up.

This is one of my speedy suppers.  In the time it takes for a large pot of water to come to the boil and the pasta to cook, I have a delicious sauce made to serve with my favourite pasta, plenty of grated parmesan and I even get to swig a glass of wine while it´s cooking.  Well, I need a dash of wine for the sauce.

Per person you need half an aubergine finely diced, two cloves of crushed garlic, two medium tomatoes peeled and chopped, a large slug of wine, a tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs (I used a mixture of parsley and basil), seasoning and olive oil. I also use a crushed dried chili as I like my sauce spicy, but this is up to you.

Put the pot of water on to boil and sauté the aubergine until brown.  Now add the garlic and once it is softened add the tomato and seasoning and the chili if using.  Let the tomato cook down a little by which time you will probably be ready to put the pasta into the pot.  Add your wine and herbs to the sauce and let it bubble away gently until the pasta is cooked and ready to be drained. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

The sauce is a little like the one used in Pasta alla Norma  (ChgoJohn has a fine example of it here and Linda at Savouring Every Bite here).   These recipes give you a deeper tasting, richer sauce as it´s cooked for longer. Yum!

Now all you need to do is mix the sauce into the pasta, grate or shave over plenty of your favourite cheese, pour another glass of wine and think about how you are putting the fast food delivery services out of business.