While I was in St Gervais I wanted to treat my friends there to a little taste of Spain so decide to prepare a lunch of tapas dishes. This is what we had –

A little glass of Apricot Gazpacho.

I had planned to use Black Cherries for this and had bought some as well as the Apricots, but on trying the apricots they were quite tart to say the least so I swapped for them. See the Nispero Gazpacho post for the master recipe.  There is no need to blanch the apricots, I just needed to add some water to the soup as the puree came out quite thick. And don’t forget to chill the glasses – the condensation on the glass looks pretty as well as keeping the soup well chilled.

Sobresada on Toasts

The Sobresada is bought ready made all over Spain, it is almost like a Chorizo rillette if that makes sense. It is pork meat and fat beaten to a paste and flavoured with the same Pimenton and garlic flavourings as Chorizo. You spread it thickly onto stale bread and then bake in a medium oven -160 centigrade – for ten minutes. Sprinkle over some capers if you have them and serve.

Ensaladilla Rusa

Russian Salad – Spanish style. Small diced Boiled potatoes, Garlic Mayonaise or Aliolli, a small tin of Tuna, chopped Green Olives and Gerkins, Green Beans boiled and chopped finely or Sweet Peas all mixed well together. You want to add enough mayonaise to get a smooth consistency – some Spanish cooks mash part of the potatoes to add to the smoothness. The ideas is to get the salad to hold together on top of a piece of bread.

Revuelto De Setas

Revueltos are soft scrambled eggs that hold together whatever is in season. They are also made with Asparagus and Prawns, Spring Garlics, Peppers – the famous Piperrada, Salt Cod……….the list goes on.In good olive oil, fry a couple of cloves of garlic cut small. When slightly golden add the mushrooms – whichever variety you have to hand, stir, cover and stew until cooked. Break the eggs into a bowl, stir to break up the yolks and season. When the mushrooms are cooked add them to the eggs and mix well. Add more oil to the cooking pan, return the egg mix to the pan and cook slowly until just setting. Serve immediately.

Morcilla con Ajos

Morcilla is the Spanish version of Black Pudding and there are as many versions of it as chefs who make it. In my area of spain it is flavoured with Pine Nuts and little Anis. One can have it sweet or slightly spicy.Cut it up and roast it with whole cloves of garlic in a medium oven for half an hour.

Liver with Peppers

There are two keys to getting this right. The first is to make sure that you fry the onions and peppers long enough that they are starting to caramelise around the edges, and the second is not to overcook the liver. Bear in mind that liver even though it is cooked enough will ooze pink juices like a steak and like a steak if you find that it is undercooked it can always go back to the pan for a few more minutes.

Fry in olive oil a finely chopped onion and a chopped red and yellow pepper. Fry on a medium heat stirring from time to time until the vegetables are well cooked and starting to caramelise.

Meanwhile cut pigs liver into bite sized pieces. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

When the vegetables are cooked add the liver and stir to mix. Season with more freshly ground black pepper. Stir again. As soon as the liver is just cooked, serve. Then try to take a photo without camera shake!

Mixed Salad with Oil and Red Wine Vinegar Dressing

And to finish my friend Conny made a Bizcocho de Tres Leches – Cake of Three Milks – I will leave you to search for the recipe for yourselves. It was wonderfully light and creamy – and so pretty !