Cazuela Rice with Pork Ribs & Morcilla

Cazuela rice is a popular recipe in Spain all year round, in the winter however this dish can be a real warmer depending on the ingredients chosen. For this cazuela rice recipe we have used pork ribs and spicy black pudding (morcilla 'picante') to make this a deliciously filling meal. The terracotta cazuela used for this recipe was a large 30cm dish which offers just the right depth similar to a paella pan to make great rice based dishes.

Ingredients:
400g paella rice
500g pork ribs, cut into small pieces
3 Spanish black puddings, cut in half
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 bulb of garlic, cut in half
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1 litre chicken stock
olive oil
salt

How to make:
1. In a large cazuela, heat about 1/2 cup of olive oil and fry the pork ribs along with the garlic until the ribs are browned all over.
2. Add the potatoes and the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes more.
3. Add the black pudding, cook for five more minutes and then add the rice, stirring well to fully mix together, then add the paprika and the stock. Season and stir.
4. Place the cazuela in a preheated oven to 200 degrees and cook for 20-30 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven, leave to rest for 5 minutes covered with foil and then serve.
  

Oven Baked Pork Steaks

This recipe for oven baked pork steaks involves a whole bunch of fresh flavours - particularly from the garden. Pork (particularly a cut with a little fat running through the meat) works very well with bold flavours and the locals in our village always 'herb up' their cuts of pork to add some character to whatever they are making.

The longer your pork is marinated the better - overnight results in a very tender meat and a stronger flavour.


Ingredients:

1.5kg Pork steaks
2 Sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed and chopped
2 Sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves removed.
4 Garlic cloves, skinned and sliced
1/2 tps ground black pepper
1 tps hot smoked paprika
300ml Extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt

How to make:

1. Lay the pork in a cazuela, mixing bowl or plastic bag

2. Mix all of the ingredients well and rub all over the pork.

3. Marinade for a minimum of 3 hours.

4. Slow bake at 140 degrees  in a terracotta tray for 1 1/2 hours or until done.

Tip: For an additional hint of flavour from the garden place sliced onion under each steak.

Great with seasonal veg and loveley winter warmer.

Campo Roast Pork

Spanish roast pork comes in many guises, pork is very popular in Spain, particularly in Andalucia. There are so many pork recipes handed down through the generations it is hard to keep up! Many, like this one are very simple and require only a few ingredients but with flavour being the most important aspect of food even a basic roast can deliver. 

Here we have a sweet campo pork roast using vegetables, plenty of seasonings and the secret ingredient – amoroso sherry.

You will need: (Serves 5 - 6)

1.5kg Boneless pork joint

3 Large carrots, halved lengthways

1 Large onion, thinly sliced

2 Sprigs fresh thyme

4 Bay leaves

Cracked black pepper

25cl Amoroso sherry

Sea salt

Olive oil

Method:

1.    Preheat the oven to 140 degrees.

2.    Halve the carrots lengthways, leave the skins on and lay in the bottom of a terracotta cazuela.

3.    Peel and slice the onion laying the slices on top of the carrots, add two bay leaves.

4.    Place the pork on top and drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper then rub in all over the top of the joint.

5.    Pour in the amoroso sherry around the pork.

6.    Place the remaining two bay leaves and the thyme on top of the pork, cover with kitchen foil and roast for 2 hours.

7.    Remove the kitchen foil, turn up the oven to 180 degrees and roast for a further 45 – 60 minutes.

8.    When cooked remove the pork and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

9.    Meanwhile place the cazuela on the hob and reduce the liquid by half.

10. Slice the joint and pour over the juices, serve with seasonal vegetables.

More Recipes

Cuttlefish and Red Pepper Pinchos

Barbequed Cuttlefish Tapas

Cuttlefish or 'sepia' as its known in Spain is available from our local fishmonger every Tuesday and Friday, you buy the rings but we think the full cuttlefish is far better as you get the whole head - tentacles the lot which, when cooked look great in any dish.

Last weekend saw us come home with four big cuttlefish so it was time to light the barbeque and get cooking some tapas. The big late lunch was a Fideua, a paella with pasta instead of rice of which cuttlefish was going to be an ingredient but given the size of the monsters we had bought there was quite a bit left over so out came the kebab skewers and a red pepper.

Cuttlefish doesn't take very long to cook, perhaps a little more than squid but over hot brasa it takes no time at all, keeping things simple the cuttlefish was paired with red pepper and was seasoned before getting a grilling. The whole process from prep to plate - less than 10 minutes.

To add additional flavour to the kebabs a few splashes of 50 year old sherry vinegar were added and we have to say it did work very well indeed and an easy way to create some typically Spanish tapas before a main meal. a sherry vinegar balsamic glaze was also used to perk up the squid, both add a pleasant sharpness and compliment the good old molluscs very well indeed.

Rosemary Stick Kebabs

Rosemary is one of those herbs that adds a unique flavour to many dishes, strong on flavour and influence it is not uncommon to find rosemary being bashed around with the pestle and mortar to help kick start marinades, or dress the odd Spanish pork chop or two.

Rosemary does however lend itself well to the humble kebab, not in the way you might expect either as for this recipe we are using just the sticks.... If you have a big rosemary bush somewhere in your garden and would like to knock up some unusual kebabs then these easy tapas may well impress the guests...

Rosemary kebabs - Delicious!

get the clippers to that rosemary plant and what you will need is the older stems but not too thick, for this kebab recipe a thin stalk is required but a mature one - think bamboo kebab skewers. Once you have your rosemary 'sticks' remove most of the leaves but leave the ends on as per photo above.

Next thread over your vegetables and meat - small pieces, remember these are tapas! then throw on the BBQ, the kebabs should be ready in under 5 minutes and the rosemary will have infused some real flavour into the meat. The sticks will not burn as they are full of moisture, acting as kebab skewers with a herby flavour hit.

Ingredients for these kebabs were chicken, serrano ham and red pepper.

Enjoy.


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Spanish Recipes

Discovering the art of Spanish cooking need not be a daunting task, Spanish cuisine by its very nature is both versatile and very simple. Spanish recipes let the flavours of the ingredients do the talking so when it comes to the simplest of tapas to the more in depth asado or other regional dishes then the slightest sprinkle of smoked paprika or addition of the humble olive an make all the difference. For the cook, Spanish cooking is the perfect way to get started and there is of course the complete tapas culture to learn and experiment with, after all cooking is about experimenting and blending flavours. We believe that pushing the boundries is a necessity!

Since 2005 we have been nurturing and adding to on a regular basis a bank of Spanish recipes. The list includes some of the more popular Spanish recipes such as paella, gambas al pil pil, bacalao fritters etc to the more unusual ideas which are normally offered by either Spanish neighbours, originally from Madrid and Barcelona or from the local bar owners in Orce and other surrounding villages.

It is worth saying at this point that the recipes on the Orce Serrano Hams website were originally designed to be a point of reference to the Spanish food enthusiast, a few authentic Spanish favourites bundled into one page… however as we kept cooking the list kept growing! After catching the Mediterranean cooking bug shortly after moving to Andalucia the recipe bank has grown into something of a passion which now has (at the time of writing) nearly 300 recipes published. Ideas are always forthcoming from the locals, the resident butcher or fishmonger which all makes for good cooking and the chance to make and publish the more unusual – something special from the butchers grandmother is always a real treat!

Many (if not most) of the ideas given use local produce, as a small village Orce is like its own little economy. You can quite often see bar owners visit the pescaderia, perhaps on a Tuesday or more commonly Friday to purchase a large bag of anchovies which will then be marinaded or fried for tapas over the weekend, or the restaurant owners buying the famous “Cordero Segureno” for a lunchtime special or “Menu del Dia”. There is no buying in fresh meats or fish or getting up at 3.00am to be the early bird at the traders market, this rural village just seems to manage with businesses supporting each other in what must seem an pre industrial environment to urban areas, the noticeable thing is – it works and it works very well.

Your Spanish recipes have been split up into categories:

Tapas

Meat

Fish

Poultry

Vegetarian

Spanish vegetarian recipes may seem like an unusual category to have and indeed the list is shorter but with the likes of Catalan Calcots in Romesco salsa, char grilled escalivada, stuffed mushrooms, tortilla and poor man’s potatoes  to name but a few your Spanish veg section certainly deserves its own status.

The Spanish also love to cook outdoors, especially over the barbeque so if you are a fan of outdoor summer cooking there are plenty of ideas to browse through. You will also find emphasis on “rustic” cooking, in a what you see is what you get type of format many of the recipes on this website have been traditionally prepared over naked flame and adapted to being cooked over the open fire. One typical example would be “escalivada” (char grilled onions, pepper and tomato) a super recipe that is cooked on the fire then wrapped in newspaper before the vegetable are skinned, chopped and served with extra virgin olive oil either as a salad or side dish with barbequed meats – the bits of black are crucial to the rustic outdoor flavour!

Keep an eye on your recipe section over the coming months as new recipes are added on a regular basis, some of which are quite unique, others traditionally rustic and all with a great Spanish flavour!


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Spanish Paella & Outdoor Spanish Cooking

Why Orce Serrano Hams is going rustic and taking inside, outside... Spain has over 300 days of sunshine annualy and good weather is the cooks best friend when cooking outdoors whether it be the traditional barbeque, the paella or a simply a table spread of tasty Spanish tapas.

Now we understand that our customers in the UK don't get as much sunshine as Spain, however when the sun does decide to get his hat on and the Spanish food enthusiasts among you decide to cook outdoors then thats when some rustic cooking comes in... The good old paella was traditionaly cooked over an open fire and still can be, forget that bag of charcoal from the supermarket, DIY store or local garage and go find yourself a few kindling sticks...

Cooking over a naked flame is how its done in rural Andalucia, the smoke adds a real rustic "campo" flavour as well as a fire being a focal point for outdoor eating. Gas burners are good, metal tripods do the job but the problem is its all a bit too modern. For a real paella it needs to be cooked over a fire. We are not talking about November the 5th here either, that tin barbeque sitting in the back of the garage or at the end of the garden will do quite nicely, a metal tripod that sits over the flame actually "in" the fire will support your paella pan leaving you to simply add a few kindling sticks to generate some heat when required.

There is no need for a layer of hot coals, using kindling sticks is actually a very good way of regulating the heat, add more or take them away, what the paella needs is flame under the pan, hot coals are simply too hot. Other dishes that can be cooked in the same way are Spanish "migas" and also anything that can be cooked in a terracotta cazuela - the versitile clay dish that is perfectly at home over a fire (gambas al pil pil is delicious over flame)

Our aim here is to get back to good old fashioned rustic Spanish cooking and as such we have created a very different paella and bbq page on the online deli. Catering for the adventurous cook you can now discover a range of outdoor cooking utensils including paella pans, tripods, terracotta cookware, migas pans and few other, typically Spanish table top accessories designed to complete your outdoor summer dining experience in real Spanish style. Designed for paella lovers and barbeque enthusiasts everywhere we hope that the new and ever growing "rustic range" may tempt the authentic Spanish cook among you. Afterall, when its outdoor eating weather why not do it the Andalucian way?

Visit the new page

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