Birthday Tapas

It was one of my good friend’s birthday the other day and I thought we could celebrate it with some home made tapas, though unfortunately for her she got a little touch of ‘alcohol’ poisioning-aka a hangover so couldn’t really fully enjoy it. Alas not a problem, all the more for us.

Tapas is a great thing to do at home for guests, it can be really impressive but needn’t be difficult if you pick the right dishes and ingredients and plan carefully.

Here is a photo of our delightful dinner including, spicy meatballs, sticky bbq chicken wings, patas bravas, calamaris, chili king prawns, anchovies, chorizo, roasted red peppers, green beans and spinach.

I will publish some of the recipes at a later date but for the moment feast your eyes…

Blueberry breakfast pancakes

Blueberry pancakes make a perfect breakfast for a lazy Sunday morning made even better with some crispy smoked bacon on top!

This recipe will make about six to eight pancakes.

Sift about 200g of plain flour into a large bowl. 

Add a heaped teaspoon of baking powder and a teaspoon of cinnamon powder.

In another bowl separate two large eggs, place the yolks in the bowl with the flour and mix with the flour to make a thick batter. Gradually add a little milk at a time until the batter loosens to the consistency  of thick yogurt.

Add 200g of fresh blueberries.

In a large bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff. Fold the egg whites into the batter carefully so as not to lose the air you so carefully added. 

In a large saucepan heat some oil until almost smoking hot-it needs to be this hot so that the raising agents start working as soon as the batter hits the pan, resulting in light fluffy pancakes not flat solid, ones-add a ladle full of batter per pancake. You can normally fit about three pancakes in a pan, be careful they don’t touch.

These pancakes normally only need a couple of minutes of cooking on each side. Serve straight away slathered in butter, maple syrup and a couple of rashers of crispy bacon on top.

Go on indulge.

Spicy, sticky chicken wings.

These are a great summer dish, served with a tasty salad. You can do them on a BBQ or bake them in an oven, either way they work fine. 

For the marinade;

1 tablespoon of honey

1 teaspoon of tomato puree

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

2 finely chopped cloves of garlic

a teaspoon of  ginger powder, cumin powder, cinnamon, paprika

a pinch of chili powder.

Ideally marinade the chicken over night, then simply bake in a hot oven, say 200 degrees for about twenty minutes or until crispy on the outside and succulent inside and the juices run clear.

Delicious served with rice, potato salad, avocado and tomato salad, well almost anything really it’s a very versatile dish.

Fairy Cakes

After those savoury recipes I thought I would let you see my indulgent obsession with over the top cake decoration and jumping at any opportunity to use a piping bag!

These fairy cakes are gorgeous and perfect for any tea party, kids party or just a Tuesday afternoon!

The recipe is very easy, it’s a basic sponge recipe;

125g of soft brown sugar

125g of butter

125g of flour

2 eggs

1 vanilla pod

1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder

This quantity will make about twelve large fairy cakes or as I did about twenty five mini ones.

Firstly cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, then slowly add the whisked egg little by little until it is all blended into the sugar and butter.

Now add the innards of 1 vanilla pod, score it down the middle and open it out, then using a sharp knife scrape out the seeds from inside the pod and add them to the cake mix.

Sift the flour and baking powder and gently fold into the mixture. Divide the mixture between the fairy cake cases and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for around fifteen/twenty minutes or until they are golden brown and firm to touch.

For the butter icing I mix equal quantities of icing sugar and butter with a dash of warm water to losen it down and whatever food colouring you fancy. Using a piping bag creates a lovely over the top and professional finish that I just love! You can really decorate it anyway you like the more excessive the better!

Red pepper, chorizo and kale risotto.

Last night’s supper was one of those times when you’re under pressure to create a delicious, interesting dish in a limited period of time with whatever happens to be in the fridge and cupboards. Normally I resort to pasta in this situation, it’s quick and tasty, yesterday evening however I made risotto instead.

Risotto is very simple to make and very delicious, you just have to remember a few key points; Always use arborio rice, homemade chicken stock (which is so easy to do, see further on in this recipe), parmesan and butter. The parmesan and butter may seem like excessive calories and you might feel like not adding these when you feel like you’re having a fat day, but believe me this would be catastrophic and you might as well not eat the risotto at all and have some brown rice a lentils!

Serves two

To start with gently sweat off a small finely diced onion in some olive oil. When it has sweated down and starting to look soft at half a diced red pepper and cook it down with the onion for a few minutes until it starts to soften. Making sure the pan is not to hot, so as not to burn the garlic, add the garlic to the pan and sweat it of for a minute or so.

Remove the onion, pepper and garlic from the frying pan and leave on the side whilst you fry the chorizo and bacon. Turn the heat up high o the pan and add a little more oil then add the finely sliced chorizo and bacon and flash fry it quickly to brown it and to release the oils.

Once the meat is brown, add the onion, pepper and garlic back to the pan and about 200g of arborio rice. Coat the rice in oil and allow it to fry of gently for a minute or so to allow the starch to begin to release. Stir constantly. Season with salt and pepper.

Now add the hot chicken stock to the pan one ladle at a time, allowing the rice to gently absorb the chicken stock, stirring it through the whole time. Stirring releases all the starch in the rice creating that rich creamy sauce so synonymous with risotto. The pan should be gently bubbling but not boiling away too fast because that would mean that the stock evaporates off to quickly and the rice won’t cook properly.

You can tell when the risotto is ready because the rice will be soft on the outside but still have a bit of a bite. When the rice has almost reached this point add a small tin of barlotti beans and a hand full of fresh kale stir through. Then at the last minute just before serving add about 150g of fresh grated parmesan and a generous knob of butter. 

Risotto should be served immediately and be like lava on the plate, it shouldn’t be dry.

How to make chicken stock; 

I always make chicken stock after having a roast. 

In a large sauce pan fry of a roughly chopped carrot, leek, celery stick, and a couple of cloves of garlic.  Then add the carcass of the chicken and cover with hot water. Add a couple of bay leaves and leave to simmer for as long as possible. Ideally it should start to become thick and gelatinous. Once you’ve simmered it for at least three hours, drain the liquid through a sieve and discard the carcass and vegetables.

Spaghetti Vongole

Mmm…spaghetti vongole! This dish always reminds me of holidays in Italy, where they cook it so effortlessly but it tastes so good. Rarely a disappointment. Since staying in southern Italy and experiencing this dish with slow roasted tomatoes in the sauce as well, I really prefer it this way and would definitely recommend it. It’s something that for some reason you can rarely get in so called ‘Italian’ restaurants in Britain, and if you do it ain’t always that great.

So the other day I went into my excellent local fishmongers and bought a 500g bag of fresh clams aka vongole and set about preparing this dish for myself for the first time. Here’s how…(serves 2)

Start by placing a twelve or so cherry tomatoes on a baking tray with a couple of smashed garlic cloves still in their skins and a covering of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. Place this in the oven on a low heat, say 150 degrees for about twenty minutes, or until the tomatoes have begun to roast and melt down but, not burn.

Finely dice a small onion and cook in a generous glug of olive oil on a low heat to soften. I find it helps the onions to soften if I add a little salt and the lid on, this helps to release the juices and keep the moisture in so the onions don’t dry out and burn.

When the onion is nearly done add some finely chopped garlic to the pan and sweat it off keeping the pan on a low heat so as not to burn the garlic. Then add a sprinkling of sage, fresh is best but dried will do.

Whilst the onion and garlic is cooking, add some boiling water to a large pan, bring to the boil again and then add about 250 g of spaghetti to the water. Cook until aldente, or almost soft but still with a bite. Drain and add half a bag of spinach, olive oil and sea salt. Leave to stand with the lid on until the clams are cooked.

Once the onion and garlic is cooked down the tomatoes should be roasted. Add the tomatoes to the onion pan and turn the heat right up. Finally just before serving add the fresh, washed clams and a dash of white wine then put the lid on the pan and leave it on until the clams open. At this point it’s the steam that really cooks the clams. 

Finally when the clams are cooked and open add the spaghetti to the pan and stir through coating it with this delicious sauce. 

Serve straight away with a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper and some good wine and enjoy.

A great autumn warmer, chili con carne.

Chili con carne is such a satisfying dish to eat and once you’ve got your spice mix down a really easy one to cook too.

I prefer to use lamb mince because it’s a bit lighter but traditionally it would be beef. 500g of mince should easily serve 4-6 people.

You will need:

500g mince beef/lamb

2 tins of kidney beans,

1 tin of chopped tomatoes 

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 green pepper

1 copped fresh chili

1 teaspoon of medium chili powder

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

1 teaspoon of ginger powder

1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder

sprinkling of sage

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

 

Firstly slowly saute off the onions on a low heat until they are soft and smell sweet, then add the garlic and green pepper. Allow them all to sweat off for a couple of minutes in the pan then remove them from the pan onto a plate and leave them on the side whilst you fry the mince in a very hot pan.

Whilst the mince is frying off make sure the pan is very hot and that you drain away any excess fat, and make your spice mix.

Once the mince is fried add the onion, garlic and green pepper back to the pan and then add all of the spice mix and coat the mince in the spices and allow them to cook off for a few minutes. Then add the tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and kidney beans. Sometimes I add some frozen sweet corn but this is entirely up to you. At this point I add some home made chicken stock but water will suffice.

On a low heat allow this to simmer for at least 40 minutes.

Delicious served with home made guacamole, rice, green salad and a dash of sour cream and a sprinkling of grated cheese.

Enjoy

Surprisingly delicious lunch…

Today I had a gorgeous lunch that was one of those very satisfying concoctions of all the little tit bits left over in the fridge.

Starting with spaghetti, always good for a satisfying lunch, then a little chorizo, finely sliced courgette, roasted tomatoes and kale.

I roasted a handful of baby tomatoes with a good dash of olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and a couple of whole crushed garlic cloves in the oven for about twenty minutes on a low heat, say gas mark 3. Whilst this is roasting heat some olive oil in a frying pan and add a some finely sliced chorizo, maybe a inch worths or so. Make sure the chorizo doesn’t burn but the oil is hot enough to crisp up the chorizo and release it’s gorgeous paprika oil. Once the chorizo is crisping add one small courgette finely sliced on a madarin and a quater of a red onion, alow these to brown at quite a rapid heat, stirring to stop burning. 

Whilst doing this put about 120g of spaghetti on to boil. Once the spaghetti is cooked drain and sprinkle with olive oil. Add the roasted tomatoes to the chorizo and courgette and a sprinkle of one of my favourite ingredients smoked paprika, salt and pepper and maybe a dash of water. Finally add the kale and spaghetti to the sauce mix and combine. Serve hot with plenty of black pepper and fresh parmesan. Mmmm! Lovely.