Mizmoe

The Seville oranges are back on the market, they make the most beautiful clear orange jelly (marmalade) for people who have a “texture” problem with the chunky style, you can get the taste without the texture. You can, if you wish, add the thin pieces of zest to the marmalade. For this recipe, I use jam sugar (or liquid pectin with granulated sugar) as it cuts down on the cooking time. I tried some Spanish Marmalade, and while I like most of their food, I simply cannot eat the orange marmalade.

1/2 kg seville oranges
Juice of 1 lemon
5 cups cold water
4 cups warmed jam sugar

You will need 2 ounces of rind - remove any pith, shred the rind finely and place on a square of muslin
Halve the fruit and squeeze out the juice into a pan, put the pips onto the muslin and tie loosely, suspend from the jam pan handle
Add the lemon juice and water
Bring to boil and simmer for about 2 hours, remove the muslin bag after 90 minutes - if you intend putting this in the marmalade, put to one side
Strain through a jelly bag, return to the pan and add the sugar
Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to boil and boil rapidly until setting point is reached (use the cold plate method and/or a sugar thermometer)
Remove from the heat, remove any impurities, ie scum, and leave to stand for a few minutes
Stir again, pour into hot sterilized jars, place the waxed discs on top and cover with screw top lids when cold

There is a downside to life here in Spain, caused - I regret to say - by some of the Brits. It pays to be wary of those who approach you and say “now I´m being honest here, I don´t want to see you being taken in”. Sometimes these people aim to do just that, take advantage of the “new person in town”!

Bored Brits can - and often do - cause “malicious gossip”.

 If you look at a flat over the Internet, make sure it is a residential flat and not part of an aparthotel, they are unsuitable for living in all year. Not enough storage and insufficient space. The bedrooms are small, the kitchen usually forms part of the living area and no decent heating system. Make sure you get a “legal contract” and seek advice to ensure that it adheres to the laws here in Spain and not in the UK! Be aware that you can be asked to leave if the owner suddenly has a need to live in the accommodation though you do have to be given adequate notice. Make sure the length of notice from you and the owner is shown in the contact. You can be asked to pay a deposit of one or two months rent, if you have a pet, even more in some cases. Oh, and you can ask for the deposit to be held by a third party. Some owners simply do not intend returning your deposit, even when the place is left in the “condition it was in when you took over the property”.

 It gets cold at nights and you will need a heater, electricity is quite expensive, so a wood burner would be better than hot-cold air con.

 Most important of all, take care, look at the area, try and research crime statistics (my daughter was mugged by two male gypsies just after we arrived), and be aware - as you would in the UK.

 Having said all that, enjoy when you arrive.

Herb sauce
125 ml plain bio yoghurt (or thick Greek Yoghurt)
2 tbsp chopped chives
2 tbsp chopped dill
1/2 French grain mustard
1 tsp white wine vinegar
Sea salt and black pepper
Filling
1 oz butter, melted
500 grams assorted mushrooms inc Chestnut & Morels, roughly chopped
1 tsp Sea salt
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
Pastry
4 large sheets filo pastry
4 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
6 tbsp butter, melted

Set the oven to 200 degrees Celsius

- Place all the sauce ingredients into a bowl, mix then chill to allow the flavours to develop
- Heat the butter oil in a large frying pan over a high flame and add the mushrooms and sea salt
- Fry the mushrooms for 10 minutes, stirring often until soft and golden and the liquid has entirely evaporated
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic, thyme and freshly ground black pepper
- Cook for two minutes or until the garlic is soft and fragrant, remove from the heat
- Cool the mixture for a few minutes then place in a food processor and set to pulse, the mushrooms needs to be finely chopped
- Lay one sheet of pastry out on a clean dry tea towle
- Cover the remainder with a slightly damp cloth to prevent it from going dry out
- Brush the pastry with the butter then sprinkle half the breadcrumbs evenly over the surface
- Add a second piece of filo, brush with butter and sprinkle with the remaining breadcrumbs, cover with the third piece of pastry and butter the top
- Spread the mushroom filling in a 3″ band across one long side of the dough, about 2 inches in from the edge and the short sides
- Fold the shorter sides over ends of filling then gently lift cloth under the filled end of dough (see photo at right), guiding it forward to form a compact roll, ending seam down
- Transfer to a baking sheet, seam side down
- Brush with butter
- Cut several diagonal slashes halfway through the pastry - using a very sharp knife!
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp
- Slice and serve with the herb sauce

Finally managed to get into the Internet Cafe in the nearby town to write a post, send and receive email messages from the family. We have moved into a new flat and enjoying life here in Spain. This area is truly beautiful having all that I love, ie sea and beach on one side and mountains behind, we actually live in the hills outside of town in a relatively new development of villas, duplex apartments and apartments plus a couple of aparthotels.

 We have met some lovely people of all nationalities, us Brits (of course), Germans,  Romanians, Dutch,  Irish, Scottish and last - but not least - the Spanish, oh and I forget the Cubans, Portugese and Morrocans (seem to have lost the ability to spell - so please excuse any errors).

 I have had some lovely Spanish food at nearby restaurants and lots of good coffee and the occasional beer.

 On a downside, I have been going through a bad time - been a little depressed and at one point decided that it was time to return home, I have never been a “quitter”, so just stuck it out and the depression passed eventually. We have been in Spain now for nearly a year and no doubt will be going out to celebrate on our anniversary, hopefully in Aguilas.

TTFN, hopefully not for as long this time.