Archive for the 'Recipes' Category
Roast young lamb
This is a version of roast suckling lamb, a dish eaten at Christmas in some areas. I admit to being a little disappointed in the original recipe so haven´t bothered doing anything with it and made up my own. For those of us in small families perhaps a joint of lamb would be more appropriate. The original recipe, with this quantity of lamb, was for 6 people!
Half a Suckling Lamb
2 garlic cloves
6 tbsp Olive oil or melted lard
Sea salt, to taste
Rinse the lamb and pat dry, trim off any excess fat and discard
Put the garlic cloves, salt and olive oil in a mortar and pound until a smooth paste is formed
Place lamb in a roasting tin or oven proof dish
Rub the lamb with the paste * see below
Place in the lower half of a preheated oven
Baste every 30 minutes until the lamb is golden brown on the outside and tender
Allow 25 minutes to the pound and 25 minutes over
Check the lamb is done by using a skewer to prick the thickest part of the roast
Serve with roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables along with a light gravy made from the juices, 1 cup of red wine and 2 cups of chicken stock, to thicken use flour and butter mixed to a paste
*Alternatively put small cuts over the skin and place a sliver of garlic and a piece of rosemay in each, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, place sliced onion underneath the lamb
Food cravings
I have a yearning for a piece of American Cherry Pie.
American choc chip cookies, chocolate (and other flavour) muffins, though we can buy the latter in Carrefour they aren´t a good as following an American recipe. Am I punishing myself, I should say so!
Bit it´s the pies. A Patriotic Pie recipe I found on the web and baked for the family just before coming to Spain, the Peach Pie – extremely delicious. I no longer have access to these recipes (deleted the link in error) the deep dish apple pie by an American lady who could trace her roots back to “the old country”. Blueberry pie too! This is absolute agony as I have lost all but the cherry pie recipe, though I could search online and find a replacement, will they be as good? Can´t find my breakfast muffins either, yet another link deleted. I do this every so often, thinking “won´t use that again”, then realise what I have done when I get “the craving”.
Amazing, last week I didn´t want muffins or pies, just chocky buns, this week I do.
We did have a hot dog yesterday, a rare treat, with some American mustard, as good as the French Dijon in its own way. I just fancy another one, but am only allowed this treat very very occasionally. Today is all things American are GOOD, tomorrow it will probably be Yorkshire treats, then Italian. I get cravings you see, strong cravings that spoil my healthy eating plans. And today … it is fruit pies and hot dogs! Can´t have either, the pie cos I don´t have an oven.
Mediterranean Hot Sandwiches
I like hot sandwiches and this, along with the traditional beef or pork with gravy sandwiches we always liked to eat at Bramham horse trials is one of my favourites. You can, if you wish, use a traditional white bread recipe rather than the Spanish bread. For me a good quality bread for all sandwiches is a must.
1 lb Spanish peasant bread dough – proved and ready for baking
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
8 slices of Jamon de York
8 oz pork sausage – ready cooked and thinly sliced
8 thin slices Spanish bacon
2 oz Manchego shavings (good quality aged cheese)
2 small handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves
2 tsp freshly chopped oregano
8 oz Mozzarella cheese – sliced as thinly as possible
Roll out the dough on a floured work surface into a rectangle, about 8” x 16”
Preheat oven to 180° Celsius
Very thinly spread the mustard over the rectangle of dough – leaving ½” gap at the edges
Lay the Jamon de York on the mustard
Place the thin slices of sausage evenly over the ham
Top with the thinly sliced Spanish bacon
Scatter on the Manchego cheese shavings
Lay the Spinach leaves over the Manchego
Sprinkle over the oregano
Top with a layer of Mozzarella cheese
Roll up – starting on a long end
Seal seam together and pinch and tuck ends under
Turn the roll so the seam side faces downwards
Spray the preheated oven with hot water
Place the bread into the centre of the oven and bake for 35 minutes
Leave to cool for 10 minutes and then slice into sandwiches
Serve with mixed salad and a very cold Spanish beer
Beef with tomato
I love Chinese beef with tomatoes, this is a recipe with similar results, but somehow not quite the same. If anyone has a nut allergy, use a different oil.
Marinade: 2 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp caster sugar, 2 tsp vegetable oil, 1¼ tsp cornflour
1 lb sirloin – cut across the grain into thin slices – about 1½” in length
6 medium tomatoes – skinned, quartered
2 sticks of celery – peel and slice across diagonal – about 1½” length
2 spring onions – peel and slice across diagonal – about 1½” length
2 slices ginger – peeled, thinly sliced, then cut into strips
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
1 whole garlic clove, skinned
2½ tbsp groundnut oil
2 tsp caster sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp water, see note below
Salt and white pepper – to taste
Whisk the marinade ingredients together, add the beef, cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes
Place the wok over a medium to high heat, add 2 tablespoons of oil, when hot, add the whole clove of garlic and cook briefly until aromatic, then add the beef. Stir-fry until it changes colour and is 80 per cent cooked, remove from the wok and discard the garlic clove
Wipe the wok, replace on the heat and when hot add ½ tablespoon of oil, stir-fry the ginger and chopped garlic for a few seconds, then add the celery, followed by the tomato.
Sprinkle in the sugar and a little sea salt, cover and bring to boil
Stir the **cornflour/water mixture, remove the cover from the wok, push the tomatoes to one side, add the cornstarch mixture in the centre while stirring quickly to thicken
Return the beef to the pan, mix everything together, taste and adjust the seasoning
** Arrowroot – used in the same way as cornflour with the added advantage that it will add a nice “sheen” to the sauce and will not dilute the colour. Arrowroot tends to “clarify” liquid into which it is introduced. If you want a clear sauce add this instead of cornflour but note that sauces made from arrowroot thicken at a slightly lower temperature than those made from grain startches. They do thin if overstirred, overheated or cooled and reheated. So as soon as it thickens, remove from the heat and serve.
Christmas 2009
Last year we went home to the UK to join the extended family for Christmas. This year we are staying in Spain and have decided on a rather different dinner from roast turkey and trimmings. We rarely eat red meat and have decided that this is what we want … so it has to be lamb with mint sauce, I fancy trying mint and apple jelly but will “test drive” it before the big day. Home made tomato soup with parmesan crisps to start and boozy orange cheesecake for dessert plus, if we have any space left, cheese and crackers and to end black coffee and mint thins! My idea of heaven.
On New Year’s Eve, we are thinking of going traditionally Scottish and having Haggis, tatties and neeps followed by Cranachan, this is the only recipe I have for this dessert and I am unsure whether we will be able to find raspberries as fruit is available only during the season in Spain, if not I fancy Stone Cream with a little fruit compote, I found this recipe written in an old book, luckily I wrote it down in my folder … my mother threw the original book away which contained a host of old recipes, now sadly lost.
Cranachan … 2 oz medium oatmeal,12 fl oz double cream, 2 tbsp Scottish honey, 2 tbsp Drambuie, 10 oz fresh raspberries
Put the oatmeal into a dry frying pan and toast over a medium heat, keeping the oatmeal moving, until golden brown. This will take between 10 to 20 minutes, leave the oatmeal to cool. Whisk the cream until it is just starting to form fairly stiff peaks, then stir in the honey, Drambuie and oatmeal. Gently fold in the raspberries leaving some for decoration. Chill for at least an hour before serving. Place into tall stemmed glasses and decorate with a few raspberries. I know we won’t be able to get the white raspberries of Scotland, but I understand it is very good made with these berries. I had thought of changing the recipe to include a really nice Whisky liqueur, the same that is in the boozy orange cheesecake, we shall have to see.
Stone Cream … 2 sheets gelatine (or 10 gm powdered gelatine), 2 fl oz hot water, Whites of 2 fresh free-range eggs, 1 rounded tbsp white castor sugar, 10 fl oz double cream, 3 drops of vanilla extract, 8 fl oz whole milk, a little Sherry or Orange Liqueur … to taste
Serving suggestion: raspberry or bilberry compote
Melt the gelatine in 2 fl oz of hot water. Whisk the egg whites until they begin to thicken and then add the sugar gradually while continuing to whisk. Whisk the cream and vanilla extract in a large bowl until softly peaking, gently add the milk and sherry or orange liqueur and finally stir in the egg whites. Add the gelatine slowly whilst gently whisking. Cover and place in the refrigerator.
When ready to serve, place a layer of fruit compote in the bottom of a pretty glass, spoon the cream mixture on top, sprinkle with grated dark chocolate and flaked almonds
The ultimate chocolate cake recipe
Like many chocolate addicts I have been looking for the chocolate cake recipe that turns out a cake which is moist, rich and totally fulfilling. I thought I had found it after years of searching through cookery books, on the web and doing a little work myself on my various cake recipes.
Reading the introduction to this “best in the world” “wonderfully moist cake” I became really excited … and then quickly came down to earth with a Big Bang (one of my favourite TV shows by the way). It started with “take a half packet of chocolate cake mix”, that´s me gone.
I do appreciate when I don´t have the time to make a cake that some cake mixes are OK, but they are not the best cakes in the world. I am told that for them to be moist and keep longer they use Tapioca Flour as it absorbs more moisture.
The most disappointing cakes I have eaten have been in restaurants where they boast of a master chef whose speciality is baking … bland, sometimes sad, tasting of anything but the ingredients that are supposed to be in there, really just boring and horrible. The best cakes I have had were made by my Father in Law who was a “master baker” and a friend at the Coal Board who made the most beautiful light and tasty cakes, she was neither chef nor master baker, just a home cook like myself, and last but not least, my daughter.
For me … IMHO … cake making and baking in general is part of getting all the ingredients together, mixing, baking, adding icing/frosting/ganache topping if you must, and eating said cake. All steps give me lots of pleasure, just seeing something you have worked on take shape. I just love baking, though I cannot do it at the moment as here in Spain many houses do not have ovens. I like a simple cake without adornment with a quenelle of cream, rich thick creamy cream not single or whipping cream. I eat so little of it that the occasional treat can include Cornish or Devon Clotted Cream, but I digress …
The search for my untimate chocolate cake continues …
“Don´t try it at home” Ginger Beer
I jest of course, but I will not be held responsible for bottles that blow up and discharge the contents all over your kitchen.
8 pints cold water
2 large organic lemons
100 grams fresh root ginger
450 grams caster sugar
2 rounded tsp tartaric acid (to people like me that is cream of tartar)
1 level tsp of dried yeast, a little sugar and a little blood temperature water
You will also need a large pan that holds 8 (or more) pints of water, a large jug, a glass bowl, a coarse grater, a clean wooden spoon, glass Demijohn with a capacity of a gallon, plus a bubble seal for said demijohn, juicer, zester, very fine sieve and some storage bottles (preferably plastic – 8 x 1 pint bottles – if you can get them or 9 x 500 ml if you can´t)
Method:
Put all the cold water into the pan and bring to boiling point
In the meantime, zest the lemons, coarsely grate the ginger and place in a bowl, add the sugar
Cut the lemons in half (around the horizon), and squeeze out all the juice, place in the jug (have them at room temperature and roll them about on the surface to make juicing easier)
Add the tartaric acid to the lemon juice and stir
Place the dried yeast, a little sugar and warm water into the glass bowl, stir, put aside
When the water comes up to boiling point, add the sugar, ginger and lemon zest to the water, turn off the heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved
Leave the water to cool to about blood heat, cover with a tea towel
Stir occasionally
Then add the lemon juice and tartaric acid to the water, followed by the yeast mixture
Transfer the contents of the pan to a jug and pour into the Demijohn
Seal the demijohn with the bubble seal (after sterilising both the seal and Demijohn)
Leave in a warm place for 48 hours
When the mixture has been standing for the required time, sieve contents (through Muslin lined sieve) back into the jug and from the jug into the bottles, leaving an air gap
Screw the caps tightly onto the plastic bottles
Leave at room temperature for 24 hours then refrigerate for 3 days for the yeast to settle
This last step I am told is very important otherwise you will have the same problem my Mother did when she once made it, ie the bottles will explode and discharge their fizzy and very sticky contents all over your kitchen or wherever you store said bottles
As I said, I do not like Ginger Beer, either home made or shop bought. The only ginger products I enjoy are Ginger Nut Biscuits and Parkin! Pity as it is so good for you. Or so I am told. If you like Ginger Beer, then enjoy after it has been refrigerated. My Mum used to leave it a little longer so that the Ginger Beer was drier than this recipe, just try it and see which you prefer
American Mississippi Mud Cake
Many years ago (have you noticed most of the food I love was found many years ago!), I was treated to a lovely dessert, ie Mississippi Mud Pie in a pub run by a young chef in Normanton near Wakefield. It wasn´t until I started trying to find a recipe to make this treat at home that I realised it was the personal recipe of this excellent chef. I cannot find anything like it on the web or in cookery books. It didn´t have ice cream in, and it had a pastry base, chocolate cake (rather rich) and a creamy concoction on the top! That is as much as I can remember, my main memory is the taste … minty the first time and coffee the second time I ate it.
Lightly butter and line an 8 inch cake tin
Set oven to 170 degrees Celsius
250 grams of butter, cut up
150 grams of (Lindt) dark chocolate (about 70% cocoa solids), chopped
440 grams golden caster sugar
250 ml of hot water
2 tbsp strong espresso coffee
80 ml of coffee flavoured liqueur
225 grams plain flour
35 grams self raising flour
225 grams good quality dark cocoa powder
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Place the butter, chocolate, caster sugar, water and coffee into a saucepan
Put over a low (ie gentle) heat and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the chocolate melts
At this point add the coffee liqueur
Remove from the heat and pour into a large bowl
Leave to cool for 15 minutes
Sieve the flour and cocoa together, then whisk into the mixture
When combined, add the eggs and beat in until thoroughly combined
Spoon the batter into the cake tin
Put into the centre of a preheated oven and bake for about 1 hour 30 minutes … or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean
If the top of the cake starts to brown too quickly, cover the cake with a sheet of greaseproof paper or kitchen foil, then continue baking, remove from oven when done!
Leave in tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and remove lining paper
Ice with coffee icing, or chocolate ganache
Serve with a cup of coffee
Swordfish
I love swordfish, but the only way I have ever eaten it was baked and served with plain boiled potatoes, salad or vegetables on the side. This dish is a little different, but I think I still prefer swordfish cooked the way I first had it in Fuengirola. I am told that it is nice served simply with a mixed salad and rice cooked in stock with garlic and herbs!
Serves 2 people
2 pieces of swordfish
3 to 4 tbsp olive oil
Sauce:-
3 tbsp olive oil
Fresh parsley leaves, chopped
Fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 shallots, skinned and chopped
Sea salt and pepper
Oil/garlic mixture:-
1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp white breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp oregano (leaves only)
Juice of half a small lemon
2 tomatoes, halved
Place the swordfish onto a plate
Drizzle with olive oil
Leave to marinate for about 10 minutes
Sauce – heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan, add the parsley, basil, shallots and seasoning – put to one side until the onion is cooked
Put the crushed garlic, breadcrumbs, oregano and lemon juice into a bowl, mix to combine then adding seasoning to taste
Wash the tomatoes, cut in half around the equator then place onto a baking tray and cover with the oil and garlic mixture
Place on the middle shelf of a preheated oven set to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for 10 minutes (or to taste, I like them with a little bit of bite left in them rathern than “squashy”)
Swordfish – place the fish onto a hot griddle and cook until golden brown on both sides, adding more olive oil if required (I prefer it baked in the oven)
Place the fish onto a serving platter, circle with the tomatoes and drizzle with the sauce and garnish
Serve with salad leaves and plain boiled new potatoes
Sweet and Sour Sauce
I have been looking for a good (ie to suit my taste) recipe for Sweet and Sour. In the end I gave up, put the cookery books away and looked through my old scrap book of recipes scribbled out and altered over the years. Much to my annoyance, this is the only one I could find, so try it if you want, but it is to suit my taste, so it may not suit yours. I like arrowroot as a thickener rather than cornflour as it makes the sauce look “pretty”, but care must be taken you don´t overcook the arrowroot as it will go thin again! The original recipe was for just plain oil, ordinary olive oil if you must, but I have changed it to groundnut oil, mainly because it doesn´t add its own flavour to the finished dish! I tried it with tomato frito instead of tomato ketchup – it was not too good, didn´t look right, a bit too “red”, could have been the peppers in the tomato frito. I also tried pickled garlic, not my best idea!
2 tbsp groundnut oil
4 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
Pineapple juice from an 11 oz can of pineapple chunks or rings (in juice! not syrup)
Use 5.5 oz pineapple – chop finely
1/2 cup of tomato ketchup
1/2 cup of soft light brown sugar
1/2 cup of red wine vinegar (or white if you prefer)
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp chilli powder
Pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place 2 level tbsp cornflour into a bowl and mix to a paste with 1/2 cup cold water
Place the oil in a medium saucepan set over a medium heat
Add the prepared onions and garlic, sweat until opaque
Add the finely chopped pineapple and cook (stirring) for one minute
Then stir in the pineapple juice, ketchup, brown sugar, white vinegar and Worcestershire sauce
When combined, bring up to the boil while stirring (do not allow the mixture to burn – a heat diffuser may help)
When it reaches boiling point add the chilli and turn the heat down to a simmer
Leave to cook very slowly (ie simmer) for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
Remove from heat and taste to check seasoning, adding salt/pepper to taste (if required – I don´t think it is necessary to add either salt or pepper). To thicken the sauce turn the heat up to medium and return the pan to the heat
Whisk in the cornflour paste again then add (slowly while stirring the sauce continuously), continue cooking until the sauce has thickened to suit your taste
If keeping for the storecupboard, leave to cool before refrigerating, alternatively use immediately with egg noodles and fried pork or chicken strips (quickly stir fry the latter, add some thinly sliced vegetables also, ie baby sweetcorn, snow peas, onion and whatever else you fancy throwing in), remove from heat, add sauce and noodles, serve and enjoy
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