Author Archives: Nevenka

Bodega Aranda – Almeria City

11 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by in Fish, Food for One, Snacks and Tapas, Starters, Sweet Things, Vegetable Dishes

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After visiting the central market in Almeria we had worked up an appetite for lunch, and remembered that this ancient tapas bar was not far away.

Having installed ourselves at a table we asked the waitress to bring us a selection of what was good at the moment. She suggested the house salad, a couple of plates of fish and fried potatoes topped with broken eggs and the local made chorizo and morcilla. Perfect we said, not realising what culinary delights lay behind these simple descriptions.

The house salad arrived. Rich green corn salad, walnuts, pine nuts, raisins, and a halo of tomatoes surrounding a mound of blue cheese ice cream. The waitress had a small bowl of dressing – olive oil and sherry vinegar with seasonings – which she poured over the salad, then she cut the ice cream into pieces and gently mixed it with the salad.

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It was heavenly. I am working on a recipe for the ice cream – maybe have it perfected for the next post.

The fish course was next –

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Fillets of baby Cod and Smelts in light batter and fried served with the best Ajo Blanco I have ever tasted. You could taste the slight bitterness of the almonds, a hint of garlic that was not overpowering, the sauce was made smooth with bread and olive oil and balanced with white wine vinegar.

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Jureles en Escabeche. Escabeche is a way of mildly pickling fish. It is gently poached in a broth of olive oil, white wine vinegar and water which is flavoured with onions, peppercorns, saffron and bayleaves. Frequently smoky Pimenton is added as well, but in this dish of small fish it wasn’t needed.

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Next was the Potatoes with Chorizo, Morcilla and broken eggs.

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To finish the meal a succulent large date each, dark chocolate covered raisins and mint tea.

Eat with Your Eyes – Almeria City Market

07 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in Shopping

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We took the scenic route to Almeria via the Grace Kelly Memorial Route –

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A bit of wandering around the old town hall square and cathedral –

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Before checking out the market – IMG_0740 IMG_0747 IMG_0741 IMG_0745 IMG_0746 IMG_0748 IMG_0749

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We had a fabulous lunch of local specialities at Bodega Aranda, but you will have to wait for the next post for details of that……..

November sun in the huerta

05 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Cultivation

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This morning I have been out in my huerta doing gardening jobs. I have planted out seedlings of onions, broad beans and escarole. Runner beans have had supports and string put up for them to climb. Furrows have been tidied up to stop the irrigation water wandering off in the wrong direction. Grapes and dates have been picked. And I have started sowing garlics which will slowly grow over the winter and be ready to harvest in April or May.

But all is not well.

It is an unseasonable 23 degrees centigrade in the shade at mid-day. Those of you reading this while looking out at northern drizzle and cloud will think how lucky we are here to have such glorious weather. I am not gloating. In fact I am going to behave like a typical farmer and have a moan.IMG_0713

Illustrated above is the main object of my discontent. Cultivating in a hot climate means that our vegetables grow big fast, so we tend to have big bugs, the beautiful creature above is the size of my little finger, but if the cold weather does not come and kill them off, then they become mega bugs in mega numbers. So no potatoes or brassicas this year.

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Public enemy number 2 is the Mediterranean Fruit Fly. Anyone who drinks wine will have met this fellow in their glass at some point. In an ideal cool autumn clementines and oranges will not start to ripen until just before Christmas by which time the fruit flies will have been decimated by the cold. In a warm autumn like this one, the citrus are already ripening and being eaten from the inside by the happy and warm flies.

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To be fair the warmth is encouraging other crops to gallop along. The beetroot and turnips are making nice fat roots, as is the Florence fennel. I am inundated with red peppers, the basil lettuce is still going strong, the gleaming aubergines continue. All the endives are huge but a bit fierce in flavour, but that should calm down if the weather eventually cools.

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And we have been getting the most spectacular sunsets……

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French Style Shepherds Pie

02 Saturday Nov 2013

Posted by in Food for One, Main Courses, Sauces

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????????????????????This recipe came to me from Jean-Jacques De Bruin many moons ago. Since then whenever there is any leftover lamb, or in this case goat, from a roast, it is my first choice of dish to make with the meat. In fact it is that tasty that I have been know to deliberately buy a joint bigger than needed so that I can make this dish a couple of days later.

This pie differs from the Anglo version in that the moisture is provided by a copious amount of onions with no added liquid. A sauce is served on the side and is made more piquant by the addition of capers.

FRENCH STYLE SHEPHERDS PIE

Cooked lamb or goat – cut into small cubes

An volume roughly equal to the meat of onions cut small

lamb fat or dripping or olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mashed potatoes to match the volume of meat and onions

Grated cheese for topping the potatoes

Having cut the onions, melt some fat in a shallow pan. If you have tasty lamb fat left from the roast, use this otherwise use dripping or olive oil.

Slowly fry the onions until starting to change colour to a light brown.

Add the meat cubes and stir to mix well. Season well.

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Continue cooking until the meat is hot.

Put the meat and onions in the base of a shallow ovenproof dish.

Top with the mashed potatoes and sprinkle with the grated cheese.

Put in a hot oven – 180 Centigrade – for half an hour or so until golden brown on top.

Meanwhile make the sauce. If I have gravy left from the roast, I start with this and add half a teaspoon of chopped capers per person. Reheat the gravy and capers, then add cream to enrich the sauce and add extra volume.

If you don’t have gravy, then you can make a classic caper sauce. I will warn you that this involves what seems a large amount of butter, but then it is so rich that you don’t need too much on your pie.

CAPER SAUCE – enough for about 4 people

1 Egg yolk

1 tablespoon vinegar from the capers

1 tablespoon water

100 grams butter at room temperature

2 teaspoons chopped capers

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Find a bowl that can fit into a saucepan without touching the bottom. Put boiling water in the pan to a level where the bowl sits into it by about a centimetre. Put onto a low heat.

Add the egg yolk, vinegar and water. Whisk to mix.

Cut the butter into small cubes. Add a cube to the egg yolk mix and a stir with the whisk until it is dissolved. Continue adding the butter a cube at a time and stirring until it is dissolved before adding the next.

Season with salt and pepper and add the capers. Keep stirring.

The sauce is ready when it is thick and glossy and warm.

Take the bowl out of the hot water with a tea towel and dry it underneath.

Pour the sauce into a warm sauce boat and serve with the Shepherds Pie.

Aubergine Salad & Exquisite Hummus

27 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by in Food for One, Snacks and Tapas, Vegetable Dishes

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This is one for the boys, namely George and Joe, who both love this aubergine salad recipe.

I have been making this salad for so long that I now don’t recall the origin of the recipe. It is equally good as a salad, or puréed in the food processor as a vegetarian pate.

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The herbs can be changed to vary the flavour depending on taste and what you have available fresh. In the master recipe I have specified Oregano, I also like Coriander or Mint.

AUBERGINE SALAD

2 largish aubergines

Half teaspoon cumin seeds

1 large or 2 small cloves garlic – finely chopped

2 table spoons extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Pinch of salt

Fresh oregano – finely chopped

Fresh chilli – finely chopped

Chives finely – chopped

I have found that the best way to cook the Aubergine for this is in the microwave, although you can roast them if you prefer.

Prick the Aubergine all over with a fork to prevent any explosions and put on a plate  in the microwave. Cook at full power for two minutes.

Turn over and cook for another two minutes.

Depending on the size of the vegetables and the power of you microwave they may now be cooked . They want to feel soft all the way through.

If they need a bit more cooking, turn them on their side and cook for another minute.

They can be turned to the other side and given another minute of cooking if you think that they need it.

Let cool until only warm and handleable.

Meanwhile toast the cumin seeds in a shallow thick based pan until they are slightly coloured and you can smell their aroma. Grind them and the salt with a pestle and mortar.

Once the aubergines are cool cut them into small cubes. I grow on the farm a variety of Aubergine called Gandia which has very thin soft skin, so I leave it on, but if the skin is tough remove it before cutting up the flesh.

Put in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

If you are making pate, put all the ingredients in the food processor instead and process to a purée.

Leave for an hour at room temperature for the flavours to develop with one another before serving.

HUMMUS.

A classic revisited.

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Mass production has turned this dish into a bland cream, let’s get back to the super tasty dish that it started life as. The deep nutty flavour of the toasted sesame seeds blended with that of the chick peas should be the first to hit the taste buds, then the pungency of the garlic closely followed by the citrus sharpness of the lemon. If you like you can also add some finely chopped fresh coriander to add yet another flavour.

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 jar or tin chick peas

2 cloves garlic – chopped

Grated rind and juice of a lemon – unwaxed if possible

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Picante paprika or pimenton

Put the sesame seeds in a shallow thick based pan and toast on a low heat shaking from time to time until light brown and giving off their distinctive aroma.

Grind to a paste with a pestle and mortar adding the olive oil to moisten as you go along.

Drain the chick peas from their liquid and rinse well to wash off the starchy residue.

Put in the food processor with the sesame paste, garlic, lemon rind and juice. Process to a paste – but not a smooth puree – leave some texture in the chick peas. Add more oil if it seems too dry.

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Put in a small bowl with the paprika sprinkled over.

Serve with warm pitta bread.

Try hummus rissoles – add egg, then egg and breadcrumb or flour and fry

A Late Summer Summer Sunday Lunch – The Dessert

28 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by in Sweet Things

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When I was planning the menu for this lunch, I was originally wanting the dessert to be based on some sweet pancakes that I have that could do with being used. They were spread with an apricot puree and rolled up to be baked or fried later. The semi-freddo was to be vanilla to accompany the pancakes, but once I started to make it and sweetened it with a richly flavoured rosemary honey, the recipe went off in a totally different direction.

The pancakes were delicious fried in butter a couple days later.

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HONEY & WALNUT SEMI-FREDDO

Enough for 10-12 portions

250 grams mascarpone

300 ml full cream

400 grams honey

2 tablespoons vanilla liqueur or a few drops vanilla essence

120 grams broken walnuts

25 grams butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Always buy honey from as local to you as possible and honey that has not been processed or pasteurised. It is more expensive, but has so superior a flavour to the supermarket honey that it is worth it. My current favourite which I buy in the weekly market in my village of Vera, is made from the pollen of rosemary flowers. It is dark and not overly sweet with a deep flavour to match the colour.

Beat together the mascarpone, cream, honey and vanilla.

Heat the butter on a low heat in a shallow pan. Add the walnut and stir round to warm.

Sprinkle over the sugar and stir to mix.

Continue cooking and stirring until the sugar is starting to caramelise. Remove from the heat and let cool a little.

Add to the cream mix and stir in. The cream mixture will have been quite thick before and the addition of the nuts will make the texture thinner. Don’t panic this is OK .

Put in the fridge until quite cold. Stir to lift the walnuts from the bottom of the mixture and distribute them evenly thoughout the mixture.

Pour into your pre chilled containers and put into the freezer until nicely solid but not rock hard.

A Late Summer Sunday Lunch – Main Course

26 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by in Main Courses

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SALMON STEAKS WITH RASTA SAUCE

It is purely the colours in this sauce that have earned it its name. Yellow saffron with black and red fish eggs. The green being provided by beans to accompany.

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I started with a whole salmon and having removed the fillets made stock from the head and bones. The stock I then reboiled and reduced by half to concentrate the flavour. I let it cool completely so that I could remove any fat from the top.

For 6

350 ml concentrated fish stock

Large pinch of saffron

2 teaspoons black fish roe

2 teaspoons red fish roe

1 heaped teaspoon cornflour

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 salmon steaks

Olive oil for frying

Dry the saffron in a thick based shallow pan over a low heat. This will not take long and will burn easily, so as soon as you get a faint odour of the spice, whip  it off the heat and into a mortar. Add a small pinch of salt and grind to a powder.

Add a ladle of the stock to the mortar into which the saffron will dissolve. Return this to the rest of the stock. Add the fish eggs and put to one side while you cook the salmon.

Put the teaspoon of cornflour into a small container and add just enough cold stock to make a thin cream.

Fry the salmon in a small amount of oil over a medium heat for about seven minutes each side until nicely browned.

Put on a warm serving dish and keep warm while you heat the sauce.

Drain any excess fat from the frying pan and add the stock sauce. Heat quickly to boiling. If it is a bit thin then thicken with the cornflour mix, stirring the mix first to make sure that the cornflour is evenly pourable.

Serve the salmon on a bed of white polenta or creamed potatoes surrounded by the sauce and some steamed green beans.

A late summer Sunday Lunch – The Starter

23 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by in Starters

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On the menu –

Salad of Basil Lettuce, Bresaola, Toasted Pine Nuts and Parmesan Crisps

Salmon with Rasta Sauce and White Polenta

Honey & Walnut Semi-Freddo

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I never think of salad combinations as being recipes, but I suppose they are really. This salad uses most of the ingredients in Pesto which we all know complement each other perfectly, and adds cured beef – Bresaola in Italy and Cecina here in Spain. The salad leaves of course are grown on the farm. If you have a plot on which to grow your own vegetables, look out for seeds for Basil Lettuce, the large leaves are milder in flavour than the usual sweet basil, so perfect for salad. It is very happy in the summer heat, but you do have to keep cutting it to encourage the large tender leaves. of course a smaller amount of sweet basil leaves can be used with salad leaves if basil lettuce is not available.

SALAD OF BASIL LETTUCE, BRESAOLA, TOASTED PNE NUTS & PARMESAN CRISPS

Mixed salad leaves – one third of which want to be basil lettuce or a sixth if using sweet basil

Cured beef – Bresaola or Cecina – 25 grams per person

Pine nuts – 1 heaped teaspoon per person

finely grated parmesan cheese

extra virgin olive oil

fresh lemon juice

freshly ground black pepper

Make the parmesan crisps. Heat the oven to 180 centigrade.

Line an oven tray with baking paper then using a small round pastry cutter, spoon the grated cheese into the centre and pat down with a teaspoon to make even depth discs.

Bake for 7-10 minutes until golden and bubbling.

Remove from the oven and let cool before removing the discs from the paper. When they are completely cold they can be stored in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.

Toast the pine nuts. Use a thick based shallow pan on a low heat and keep moving the nuts around until an even golden colour. Toasting the nuts really brings out their flavour. This can be done several hours in advance.

Put the salad leaves in a large bowl and dress with the olive oil, lemon juice and black pepper. Toss well.

Add the pine nuts and toss again.

Put onto individual plates and lay over strips of the cured beef.

Decorate with the parmesan crisps.

Next post the main course

Potatoes Anna

21 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by in Main Courses, Vegetable Dishes

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Every few weeks myself and some girlfriends get together to have lunch and exchange books that we can recommend to one another. What started as a literary meeting with lunch has now evolved into a culinary exchange as well. Each person contributes a dish, and with the minimum of consultation it all works well together.

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This week our hostess Doris decided to salt a loin of pork for the lunch and suggested I bring a potato dish. I immediately thought of Potatoes Anna. Similar to the better known Dauphinoise, but lighter and with a flavour as strong as the cheese that is used in it.

Lynda made a tangy salad of prawns, mango, red onions and leaves, dressed with sweet chilli sauce and lime. Corrine courgettes with a spicy rice and tomato stuffing. A beetroot jelly to go with the ham completed our main course. All delicious.

Dessert was a plum pie made by Pat served with vanilla ice cream.

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POTATOES ANNA

Floury potatoes – about 150 grams per person

Chicken stock

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Firm cheese –  pecorino, emmental or parmesan

Peel the potatoes and slice as finely as you can. A mandolin or the slicer on the food processor is ideal for this.

You will need a shallow oven proof dish of the size suitable for the number of portions you are making.

Lay a single layer of slightly overlapping potatoes in the dish. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and grate over a thin layer of cheese.

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Continue with the layers of potatoes, seasoning and cheese. It is worth at this point putting on one side enough nice evenly sized slices for the last layer.

On the last layer concentrate on prettily overlapping the potatoes. Don’t season straight away.

Heat the stock until simmering. Pour over the potatoes until just level with the top layer.

Season and spread a thicker layer of cheese onto this last layer.

Cover with tin foil and put in an oven preheated to 200 centigrade. Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the tin foil from the potatoes and put the dish back into the oven for a further 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

Let rest in the dish for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

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Sweet & Spicy Fish with Pineapple

14 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by in Fish, Food for One, Main Courses

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IMG_0533We have the first Yard Long Beans of the season ready in the garden. I get excited about these because even though in appearance they look like an extended French bean, the flavour and particularly the texture are quite different. These beans have a crunchy and crispy texture even when cooked, and a fresh flavour.

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The other crop now ready are the pale green mild chillis. I can eat these straight from the plant and they are super pickled in mild vinegar.

I have to cook a dish that can use both of these ingredients. I bought a fresh pineapple in the market this week, and that reminds me of a fish dish that I had in Thailand some years ago. It was spicy and sweet and a little bit sour from the pineapple. Here is my recreation of that dish.

SWEET & SPICY FISH WITH PINEAPPLE

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Per person

1 clove garlic

1 mild chilli

Piece ginger aprox 2cm x 1cm

1 cm Lemon grass stalk finely sliced

Olive oil

150 grams mixed fish and seafood – prawns, mussels, white meaty fish

Yard long beans

Bean sprouts

Half slice of fresh pineapple 1cm thick

Tablespoon sweet chilli jam/sauce

Teaspoon fish sauce/Nam Pla

20 grams dry roast Peanuts – roughly crushed

1 teaspoon chopped chives

Start with the aromatics, peel and finely chop the ginger and garlic. As thin as you can slice the lemon grass and chilli.

Prepare the fish. Peel and dehead the prawns, cut the fish into chunks, steam open the mussels if using them.

Heat some oil in a wok and add the above aromatics. Cook on a low heat for a few minutes.

Next the pineapple, cut out the woody centre and cut the rest into smallish pieces. Add to the pan and continue cooking .

Add the yard long beans cut into 3 cm lengths.

Add the bean sprouts

The pineapple by this time should have given out some of its juices. Add to these the fish sauce and chilli jam and mix in.

Add the fish, stir to mix with the sauce. Cover and leave to cook for five minutes.

Stir again and look at how cooked the fish is. It will most likely need a few more minutes but be careful not to overcook.

To serve, sprinkle with the crushed peanuts and chives and serve with plain boiled rice or noodles. If you want you can mix these into the pan of fish and pineapple to absorb the flavours in the sauce.