Tag Archives: Almonds

Intense Chocolate Heaven

26 Saturday Mar 2022

Posted by in Sweet Things

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For dessert these days I prefer to serve fresh fruit, but then with coffee is good to have a mouthful of sweet intense naughtiness. This tiny chocolate loaf fits the bill. Amaretto infused biscuits, dried fruits and nuts, bound together with a thick dark bittersweet chocolate mousse. What’s not to like?

I’ve made this Chocolate Heaven twice now, the first time using the very sweet dried pears from my own tree, which produced a bumper crop this year, and ginger biscuits. For the second version I managed to get hold of cantucci biscuits, not common in southern spain, which I paired with orange peel from my Orange Conserve. I mistakenly thought that I had given you the recipe for this, so it will appear as the next post on here. Both versions were successful, so any flavour crunchy biscuits can be used with what ever dried fruits you fancy and whichever nuts you think will go with them. Have fun experimenting.

My loaf tins are small, 12 x 7 cm and 5 cm deep, and take 350 ml volume, and the amount below make two loaves.

200 grams – dark chocolate 85% cocoa solids

110 grams – biscuits – almond (cantucci) or ginger. 

100 grams – dried fruit – pears, apples, apricots or candied citrus peel

60 grams – toasted almonds

4 tablespoons – amaretto

3 egg yolks

Slice or cut the fruit into chunks and put into a bowl big enough to eventually take all the ingredients.

Put the biscuits into a plastic bag and with a rolling pin break them into smallish pieces, add to the fruit.
Add the toasted nuts to the fruit and biscuits and mix throughly.

Break the chocolate into pieces and put into a bowl over hot water to melt. Stir from time to time so that it is evenly melted.

Put the egg yolks into another bowl and beat until pale, creamy and thickened.

Once the chocolate has melted thoroughly, remove the bowl from the hot water. Fold in the egg yolks, and then the amaretto.

Add the chocolate mix to the fruit, nuts and biscuits and mix to blend.

Line your loaf tins with cling film and divide the chocolate mix between them tamping down lightly so that you don’t have air gaps but not compacting the mix too much.

Cover and put in the fridge to cool. The Chocolate Heaven will keep well in the fridge up to four weeks.

To serve, unmold and unwrap a loaf and cut into thin slices. As it is very rich , one slice per person is enough.

Autumn Red Salad

29 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by in salads, Starters, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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I made this to have with the Potato and Chickpea Cakes in the previous post using ingredients that are currently in season here. Fragrant green peppers from the huerta, this years almonds which I love dry toasted in their skins, big winter radishes and plum tomatoes from the local market.

You will need –

Several leaves of red oak leaved lettuce

2 medium tomatoes – chopped into chunks

2 samall or 1 large green pepper

about 20 whole almonds – either with skins or if you prefer without

1 large cooked beetroot – cut into smallish cubes

Winter radish – about 20 thin slices

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablesoons water

1 teaspoon honey or agave syrup

2 tablespoons extra virgen olive oil

Start by steeping the radishes. The large winter radishes can be quite peppery, so a sweet marinade will make them less so. Mix the vinegar water and honey or syrup in small bowl, then add the radishes. Leave to marinate for at least ten minutes.

Meanwhile dry toast the almonds in a thick based pan over a low heat. Stir regularly to ensure that they are evenly toasted and a little browned. Remove from the heat and put to one side.

Rip up the lettuce leaves and arrange them on a large plate, then add the chopped tomatoes.

slice the green peppers and arrange on the salad.

Remove the radish slices from their marinade and arrange them over the salad.

Put the beetroot in the marinade and stir to cover all the cubes.

Spoon the cubes and vinegar over the salad, then sprinkle on the almonds.

Finally drizzle over the olive oil.

Enjoy!

Grilled Vegetables with Romesco Sauce

20 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by in Food for One, Main Courses, Sauces, Starters, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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I love grilled vegetables, especially grilled broccoli. This method of cooking seems to concentrate the flavour of each vegetable. I crush a clove of garlic with some coarse salt with a pestle and mortar, and then add olive oil to make a garlicky oil with which to paint the vegetables.

Romesco Sauce originated in Tarragona, Cataluña and traditionally is served with fish, but can make a great dipping sauce for vegetables. It is slightly spicy, garlicky and almondy.

Per person

  • 35 grams almonds
  • 1 clove garlic
  • olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon sweet and sour smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon chilli jam
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons vegetable stock or water

Lightly toast the almonds in a thick bottomed pan on a low heat, stirring from time to time until light golden. Remove to the bowl of a small food processor.

Finely chop the garlic and fry in olive oil until golden brown. Add to the almonds.

Whizz these until the almonds are finely chopped

Add the rest of the ingredients except the stock or water, only add a tablespoon of this and whizz the mix again until a thick mayonnaise consistency.

Add a little more stock or water if the consistency is too thick.

Sopa De Ajo Blanco – Chilled Almond and Garlic Soup

05 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by in Starters

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Here in southern Spain, those of us with almond trees make this soup with the first of the new harvest nuts. Cool and creamy, with a hint of garlic and the fruitiness of olive oil it is delightfully refreshing in the heat of summer and making it has become one of those traditions that one looks forward to each August.
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Making this soup used to be a labour of love involving much pounding of garlic and nuts with a pestle in a large mortar, nowadays with the aid of a liquidiser it is a much less labour intensive task to make. Having said that, it is only when the almonds are fresh that the graininess will disappear with blending. It is possible to make the soup with drier almonds, but you will have to strain it after blending to make sure that the texture is smooth and creamy.

Of course for us locals we still have to pick the almonds in the heat, shell them and them remove the inner brown skin, so this is not the dish for those in a hurry.

SOPA DE AJO BLANCO
FOR 4-6 People
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1 small clove garlic
Half a teaspoon of salt
100 grams fresh almonds
50 ml fresh fruity olive oil
1 litre cold water
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
50 grams fresh white bread without crusts
2 tablespoons small yellow raisins
Half a sweet eating apple cut into small dice

Peel the garlic clove and with the salt pound to a paste with a pestle and mortar. Add some of the oil and water and pound to mix. Put into the goblet of your liquidiser.

If you are starting with fresh off the tree almonds then weigh the kernels after cracking the shells and removing them.

To remove the brown skins, put the nuts into a plastic container and pour boiling water over them. Leave to soak for two to three minutes, then drain them and put them into cold water. The skins will peel off easily.
Add the nuts to the garlic in the liquidiser and whizz to grind them.

Add the rest of the olive oil, the bread cut into cubes, the vinegar and enough of the water that the mixture can make a thick sauce. Whizz for a couple of minutes until all is smooth.

Add the rest of the water and whizz again until very smooth and all graininess of the almonds has gone.
Check for seasoning. The soup may need more salt or vinegar.

Put the soup into a container that will fit into the fridge. Add the raisins and apple cubes, then leave the soup to chill for several hours before serving.

The soup may separate out a bit with the solids coming to the top of the mix, but don’t worry simply stir it back to an emulsion again.

Sweet,Salty & Spicy Almonds

29 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by in Snacks and Tapas

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This years almond crop is being harvested and the creamy fresh nuts always make me think of Ajo Blanco, a cooling and delicious soup that is a speciality of the area around Cordoba. The best one that I was served there was in the restaurant Casa De La Judia in the old town. Pale and smooth with no one flavour dominating and the consistency of a light cream, it was garnished with tiny cubes of sweet apple and halves of white grapes which added to the balance of the flavours.
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Of course once I got home I had to perfect my own recipe – but you are going to have to wait until the next post for that, firstly I want to use up the few remaining almonds from last year.

At some time in the dim and distant past I remember making sugared almonds but with a difference – they had spices mixed into the caramel. They were delicious and I may well make them again, but this time I wanted to include the spices but cut down drastically the amount of sugar used, and I like the mixture of salt and sweet, so I added some salt. Here is the resulting recipe.

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SWEET, SALTY AND SPICY ALMONDS
200 grams almonds – with or without the brown skin
Half teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
3 cloves
6-8 allspice berries
Half a teaspoon coriander seeds
The contents of 3 green cardamom pods
Quarter of a teaspoon hot chilli powder

Firstly we need to toast the spices before grinding them. Put the cloves, allspice berries, coriander seeds and cardamom seeds in a thick based pan and toast them on a low heat shaking from time to time until you can smell the aromas of them starting to be released.

Put them in a mortar and grind to a powder.

Add the chilli powder, salt and pepper, and mix.

Warm a thick based shallow pan on a low heat and add the almonds. Toast slowly moving the almonds around for even browning.

After a couple of minutes add the spice mix and continue toasting and stirring.

Once the almonds are browned add about a tablespoon or so of water and stir to mix well.
This will help the spice and seasonings stick to the almonds.

The water may disappear quite quickly, or you may need to continue on the heat until the almonds are dry again.

Let cool and serve as an aperitif……. and try not to sample too many before your guests arrive!

Almond & Garlic Sauce

11 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by in Food for One, Main Courses

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IMG_0520The almond crop is in for this year, and of course I want to eat some straight away. It has me thinking of dishes using almonds. There are several Spanish sauces that use almonds as one of their main ingredients. Romesco Sauce is a blend of red peppers, both sweet and picante and garlic, thickened with almonds and balanced with red wine vinegar. It is served with fish or grilled vegetables.

I went off to the market to buy fish, but the rabbit looked so plump and tender that I ended up coming home with one instead of the fish. Rabbit with Almond and Garlic Sauce is what I am planning to prepare. this richly flavoured sauce is super simple to make.

RABBIT WITH GARLIC & ALMOND SAUCE

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Per person

1 rabbit leg

20-25 grams almonds

6 cloves garlic

olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Generously season the rabbit on all sides.

Heat some oil in a shallow pan and when hot add the rabbit leg.

Fry until golden and then turn to fry the other side.

Meanwhile peel the cloves of garlic and add to the pan.

Next the almonds, these can be blanched or left with the brown inner skins on. Add these to the pan.

When the rabbit is nicely browned on both sides add about two tablespoons of water, cover the pan and turn the heat very low. Leave to cook for 20 minutes.

Turn the rabbit over and cook twenty minutes this side.

Remove the rabbit from the pan and keep warm. Put the juices from the pan together with the almonds and garlic into a food  processor and whizz until smoothish. I like to leave a few bigger bits of almond in the sauce rather than have it super smooth, but it is up to you how smooth you want to make  the sauce.

Return the sauce to the pan and reheat.

Serve poured over the rabbit leg.

Catalan Fish Stew – Suquet

27 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Fish, Food for One, Main Courses

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I thought while I was thinking of fish stew that I ought to share with you the recipe for one that originates from much closer to my home. This is a dish that is quintessentially Spanish. Garlicy Mediterranean fish in a tomato sauce, thickened and flavoured with toasted almonds and saffron, spiced with pimenton picante and served up with chunks of crusty country bread and green salad fresh from the huerta. And just as easy to cook for one or ten.

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For 4

Selection of fish and shellfish.

Monkfish is traditional, but now that it is endangered I choose other white meaty fish –Cod, Hake, Swordfish, Shark, Grey Mullet. Haddock and Conger Eel we don’t get in this part of the Med but would be suitable. Squid – if you are buying squid in a Mediterranean country be aware that there are several varieties of encephalopods and not all of them a tender.  Make sure that it is Calamar that you buy and not Poton which is tasty but requires a long slow cooking. If in doubt the calamares are usually a bit pricier and smaller in size than the poton.

For the shellfish

3-4 largish prawns per person – if they still have their heads and shells they will add more flavour to the stew.

3-4 mussels per person – in their shells

Clams – in their shells

Olive oil for frying

Half a head of garlic – peeled and finely chopped

1 medium onion – finely chopped

50 grams whole almonds

2 pinches saffron strands

1 heaped teaspoon pimenton picante / spicy paprika

3 large tomatoes – peeled, de seeded and chopped or 5 tablespoons passata

Fish stock

Flat leaved parsley – chopped

Prepare the fish. Remove any skin and bones and cut into large chunks. In some restaurants here they leave everything on and also use small fish like Red Mullet, but I find that Suquet is messy enough to eat with getting the shellfish out of their shells and peeling the prawns without having to try to skin and bone fish as you eat the dish as well. Also some fish skin has quite a different and stronger flavour than the flesh and this can ruin a dish.

Clean the mussels and clams and steam them open. Just put them in a frying pan, cover and put on a low heat. Turn them from time to time until they are all open. Put to one side until needed.

Put the saffron in a thick based pan over a low heat and toast to dry the strands and bring out the flavour. Be careful with this as the expensive strands can easily burn.

Put the strands in a mortar with a pinch of salt and grind up.

Put the almonds in the same pan as where the saffron was and toast moving from time to time until they are a light golden brown.

Add to the mortar and grind to a rough powder. You still want some bigger bits in the powder for texture. Put to one side until needed.

Heat the oil in a pan large enough to take all the ingredients for the stew. Add the garlic and fry over a low heat until golden.

Add the onions and fry until translucent.

Add the tomatoes and fry down for 5 minutes, or add the passata.

Put in the fish pieces, the prawns and the almond and saffron from the mortar. Season with the pimenton. Add the strained liquid from the mussels and clams.

Stir all to mix in the ingredients.

The liquid wants to just cover the fish, if it looks a bit dry add some fish stock, or chicken if you don’t have fish.

Cook slowly for 5-10 minutes until the fish is almost cooked.

Add the mussels and clams and chopped parsley.

Heat to warm through.

Check the seasonings and add salt and freshly ground black pepper as required. This is done at the very end as some shellfish can be quite salty and so until it and its stock are added you won’t know how salty the dish is.

Serve with crusty bread and a green salad.

The leftovers with extra clams added make a great sauce for pasta the next day……..

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