Roasted Garlic

Roasted garlic has a much sweeter taste than raw garlic, if you are a garlic fan then roasting it is probably something you do often, half and hour in the oven and those garlic cloves turn lovely and soft ready to squeeze out and be spread or used as an ingredient.

Roasting garlic is very easy:

1. Peel the bulb removing any excess skin.

2. Using a sharp knife cut off the top of the bulb to expose the cloves

3. Place in tinfoil and drizzle with olive oil.

4. Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees for 35 minutes.

5. Once cooled simply squeeze the soft garlic from its skin.

Great to use in making garlic butter or spread on toast, drizzle with a good olive oil and sprinkle of salt, delicious!

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.

Chicken and Serrano Ham Kebab

This recipe for chicken kebabs combines the flavour of cured Spanish ham, which when cooked delivers a mild saltiness to this dish. Chicken is more famously accompanied by mildly cured Spanish chorizo but for this barbeque recipe a few slices of serrano ham cut slightly thicker than usual work just as well and deliver a true flavour of southern Spain. Enjoy!

You will need: (makes 8 kebabs)

2 Chicken breasts, skinned

2 Broad, thick slices of freshly carved Serrano ham

2 Medium onions

1 Red bell pepper

8 Rosemary sticks (optional)

Olive oil

Method:

1.    Prepare the kebab sticks by cutting 8 thin mature rosemary stalks and remove the leaves.

2.    Cut up the chicken breasts into inch square cubes.

3.    Chop the pepper and onion into inch squares.

4.    Cut the slices of ham into inch squares.

5.    If using rosemary, make a hole in the chicken pieces first with a conventional kebab stick to make threading the meat easier.

6.    Alternate the ingredients over the rosemary ensuring ham goes next to chicken.

7.    Barbeque for 4 – 5 minutes turning regularly or until chicken is cooked through.

8.    Drizzle with olive oil for simple tapas or serve with fresh salad.

Braised Liver in Asturian Cider

This braised liver recipe serves at least six people and is packed full of Spanish flavour. Cured pancetta is used to add that bacon flavour and when braised in Asturian cider and herbs produces a lovely rustic dish ready for any table.

You will need:

1kg Whole pigs liver

250g Cured Spanish pancetta, sliced 

6 Baby carrots

1 Onion

Bouquet garni

Salt

Cracked black pepper

50cl Asturian cider

Chicken stock

Method:

1.    Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

2.    Clean the liver by removing the skin and inner tubes.

3.    Place half of the pancetta in the bottom of a cazuela or casserole.

4.    Slice the carrots and onion; add to the liver then place the tied herbs on top.

5.    Pour the cider over the liver then top up with chicken stock so the ingredients are just nearly covered.

6.    Place the remaining pancetta over the top of the liver and cook in the oven for 40 minutes until liver is cooked through.

7.    Remove from the oven and transfer the liver onto hot plate to keep warm (or place back in oven for 5 minutes.

8.    Strain the sauce into a pan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce by half.

9.    Divide the liver into the required portions and pour over the sauce, serve piping hot with seasonal vegetables and mashed potatoes.

Pan fried mackerel with thyme

Pan fried mackerel is an exceptionally easy dish to make, get your fishmonger to fillet the mackerel for you and you have the basic ingredient for a delicious Spanish summer dish. If you are lucky enough to be able to buy from a fish quay or even catch your own then this dish can also be 

*cooked outdoors with ease. Great seafood flavours!

You will need: (serves 4)

  

4 Large mackerel fillets

1 Lemon

Handful fresh thyme

Knob of butter

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Method:

1. Place the mackerel fillets skin side down onto baking tray.

2. Season with the thyme, salt, pepper and grate over with lemon zest then drizzle with olive oil.

3. Leave to marinade for at least 10 minutes.

4. Squeeze over the juice from the lemon then oven bake on a high heat for 10 minutes.

*For outdoor cooking simply prepare the mackerel in the same way described but marinade for 30 minutes. Lightly fry in olive oil or butter for 5 minutes skin side down.

Pork joint with white wine and garlic

Cooking a joint of pork in garlic and white wine is a real favourite of ours, the local butcher has some exceptional cuts of fresh pork including 'magra' and 'lomo' both of which are good for this recipe.

Cooking pork this way is also a good way of using up those tired peppers at the back of the fridge, in fact any veg hanging around the kitchen makes a nice contribution to what is simply a pork roast. To cook the pork we are using a terracotta roasting tray or 'bandeja' which is ideal as it allows a full bottle of wine plus plenty of ingredients.

Ingredients: (serves 4 - 5)

1.5kg pork joint
2 Bulbs of garlic
1 Red bell pepper
3 Onions
Cracked black pepper
Salt
Thyme
Olive oil
70cl White wine

Method:

1. Peel and slice the onions and red pepper and place in the bottom of the roasting tray.

2. Take each garlic clove and crush (use the thick end of a large kitchen knife) then scatter around the tray.

3. Clean the pork joint, pat dry and place on top of the vegetables then smear with a little olive oil, season with salt/pepper/thyme and rub in well.

4. Pour the white wine around the pork and cook slowly in the oven at 120 degrees for 3 hours.

5. Serve with mashed potatoes and green beans.

Serrano Ham and Cuttlefish Tapas

Serrano ham could be described as the king of all Spanish tapas, along with the humble olive it is probably the most widely enjoyed tapa in Andalucian homes, handy in the fact that if you have a full leg (usually seen on top of the fridge in Spanish kitchens) you can simply carve a few slices at your leisure and when the ham is nearing the end of its life you can get a small knife in all those hard to reach places and carve out thicker strips or 'tacos' (small pieces) which are great for frying or adding to recipes.

Having such a ham is always good to have as sliced ham from the leg also makes a great ingredient and can add some well needed flavour to various dishes. Take the recipe below for example - during the making of some cuttlefish and vegetable kebabs we had too much cuttlefish so in order to enjoy it fresh we quickly whipped up an easy tapa of cuttlefish and serrano ham fried with bay.

As probably one of the easiest recipes on this blog the cooking time is literally under a minute. Put a splash of olive oil in a frying pan and heat, meanwhile cut some serrano ham (quite thick around 3mm) and slice into strips. Cut up the cuttlefish and grab a bay leaf out of the garden. Fry together for a minute and serve in tapas bowls with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Easy as well, tapas! and a lovely flavour from the bay.

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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Simple Fish Fillet Tapas

Spanish seafood tapas are very popular in Andalucia, the famous chili garlic prawns or "Gambas al Pil Pil" probabaly spring to mind first followed by salt cod "bacalao" al Pil Pil or perhaps even seafood croquettes...

Fresh fish in Spain is a pure delight to go out and buy, an array of fish and shellfish are always on display in the pescaderia, a mind boggling selection thats sometimes, even with the best intentions you end up buying more than you anticipated - a kilo of in season mussels for lunch would be a good example! for this very simply yet delicious and extremly healthy tapas dish you need to be looking for those oily fish, the ones packed full of Omega3 like mackerel or sardines. Either will do for this recipe although if you decide on sardines get the biggest ones on the counter.

These tapas can be cooked and enjoyed straight away but we find its always best to prep the dish then leave it for a few hours to let the herbs work on infusing the olive oil. The dish will also keep refrigerated for 48 hours so if you make too much there will be some left for later! Also great as a starter served in terracotta cazuelas with a seperate side salad and of course, fresh crusty bread for mopping up the olive oil. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

2 Medium fresh mackerel, filleted
500ml Extra virgin olive oil
4 Garlic cloves, peeled
1 Bay leaf
1 Small chili pepper
6 Black peppercorns

How to Cook: (6 - 8 tapas)

1. Wash the mackerel fillets and slice in half.

2. Add a splash of olive oil to a frying pan and fry the fillet pieces gently for 3 minutes each side.

3. Meanwhile halve the garlic cloves and slice the chili thinly.

4. Pour the olive oil into a dish or cazuela and add all the ingredients except the fish.

5. Once the fish is cooked lay on kitchen towel and leave to cool.

6. Once cool, add the fish to the rest of ingredients and turn the fillet pieces gently to ensure a good coating of oil.

7. Leave for 4 hours to let the oil infuse.

8. Serve with fresh bread.


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Stuffed Chicken Legs with Mushrooms and Garlic

This recipe for stuffed chicken legs was given to us by a restaurant owner in Orce village, the recipe itself is very simple and is good served up as a racione or "Big Tapa" between four people, the dish can also be served as a main meal with the usual potatoes and green veg for a delicious winter warmer.

Spanish chicken dishes tend to be less popular than pork, chicken being used widely in Spanish paella or barbeque cooking and pork used more given the choice of cuts available (including trotters, ribs, ears etc etc) For this recipe the best choice is the chicken leg which will need to be de-boned either in the kitchen or by your local butcher. The flavour of the brown meat makes a nice change to the usual stuffed chicken breast and offers a multitude of options in the stuffing department! For this recipe we stuffed the chicken with diced mushrooms, butter and garlic then added a garden herb twist before cooking. Enjoy.

Ingredients: (serves 4 as main meal)

4 Chicken legs, boned
6 Mushrooms, diced (mixed varieties add even more flavour)
4 Garlic cloves, peeled and diced
Knob of butter
4 Sprigs fresh thyme
Olive oil
Ground black pepper

Additional equipment: Cocktail sticks

How to cook:

1. Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees.

2. Roll out the boneless chicken leg and place a small handfull of diced mushrooms and garlic in the middle.

3. Add a small knob of butter on top of the mushrooms and garlic.

4. Season with a sprinkle of ground pepper

5. Roll up the chicken and secure with cocktails stick

6. Season with more pepper and lay over the sprigs of thyme (dried thyme also works)

7. Drizzle some olive oil in the bottom of a baking tray or large terracotta cazuela, place the chicken and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

8. Serve with seasonal veg and potatoes.



Turn your chicken leftovers into Spanish tapas - try chicken and Spanish ham salad


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Marinated Pork with Herbs and Paprika

Spanish recipe for marinated pork using a blend of herbs and sweet smoked paprika. A delicious winter warmer this recipe needs a few hours to marinade but is well worth the wait for a very rustic roasted flavour. Once in the oven the aromas from this pork joint will fill the kitchen, accompany with roasted vegetables and potatoes in manteca de cerdo Iberico for a thoroughly enjoyable Spanish Sunday roast.

You will need:
1kg Pork loin (boned)
8 Garlic cloves, skins left on
1 Teaspoon oregano
1 Sprig rosemary
12 Black peppercorns
1 Teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
3 Strands of saffron
100ml White wine/cider vinegar
1 Teaspoon salt
Olive oil

Method:

1. Using a pestle and mortar mix and crush all the herbs, spices, salt, pepper and saffron with a good splash of olive oil to create a paste.

2. Once you have a paste add the vinegar and mix well.

3. Place the pork joint in a terracotta cazuela and pour over the marinade, turn the pork and ensure all of the meat is covered.

4. Cover and marinade in the fridge for at least 4 hours (or overnight)

5. Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees

6. Pour 1 cm of water in the bottom of the cazuela and cover the joint with kitchen foil, place in the oven and roast for 1 hour.

7. Remove the kitchen foil and continue to roast for a further 40 minutes.

8. Serve with roasted vegetables.


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Spanish Tostada - Whats your Topping?

The Spanish tostada, Spain's most famous breakfast perhaps? It may get overtaken in the popularity stakes by churros during the winter months but for the rest of the year the humble tostada is favoured by most Spaniards as their preferred quick breakfast in the mornings.

Walk into any Spanish bar before lunchtime and you can order "tostada de tomate", this is the most popular version consisting of a French stick cut in half then half again lengthways, toasted then spread with tomato frito. To serve you allways receive the customary olive oil and some salt. For the braver you request a tostada de tomate "con ajo", this puts a whole different twist on your toast with the addition of raw garlic cloves being rubbed to within an inch of their life over the toast before the tomato is spread on top, a nice combination but maybe not if your on your way to the next board meeting.

Tostada (like pizza) is open to all kinds of ideas and toppings so it is allways tasty to deviate from the norm and try something different. Plain old vine ripened tomatoes, sliced and peppered work a treat as does thinly sliced serrano ham or you could try devilled mushrooms, kidneys, spinach, manchego, sobrasada, chorizo or lightly fried pancetta. The key is variation and with tostada's being so versitile you can choose almost any topping you like.

For tapas, if you are going to serve them as a starter immediatly cut the bread into cross sections to make "mini tostadas" (pic above), with a selection of ingredients and toppings handy you can create a plate of real Spanish flavour and present something both colourful and delicious for the guests.

Just don't forget the olive oil...


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Spanish Rosemary Barbeque

Barbequing in Spain is almost a national hobby, buy a chicken from any local Spanish butcher during the summer months and you will be asked "para la brasa?" meaning is it for the barbeque? If it is then the chicken will be boned and spread out ready to throw on the grill.

Home made marinades are popular with the usual garlic, olive oil, vinegar and herb blends working their way into meat well before the barbeque is lit or even overnight, one such popular herb is rosemary which can be found in most Spanish gardens as an enourmous bush tied with string in many cases as they can get a little out of control.

Besides from removing the leaves from a sprig of rosemary and giving them a good bashing in the pestle and mortar for your marinade the remaining stalks can be used as a kebab sticks or "palillos". A novel way of cooking kebabs which offers a good degree more rosemary flavour. You will need quite mature rosemary to make your palillos but the end result is well worth it.

Easy Andalucian Kebabs:

1. Marinate your chicken or pork in your chosen mixture.

2. Cut the required amount of rosemary - use the older more woody stalks, you need stalks around 8 inches in length.

3. Remove the rosemary leaves but the leave the tips.

4. Thread mushrooms, peppers etc with the meat over the stalks, for the meat use a conventional kebab skewer to make the hole first.

5. Barbeque and enjoy.


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Fried Chorizo in Garlic

Thankfully the sun is out which has made a change from all the rain Andalucia has been experiencing recently. Sunshine means tapas and tapas means chorizo. So for our first outdoor "finger food" this year we whipped up something so incredibly simple it takes under two minutes to make. Just enough time to pour yourself a glass of chilled fino to go with it, just the job.

Chorizo's lend themsleves to frying very well, even a chorizo "duro" (hard chorizo) works well and because they are already cured take no time at all to fry up. The addition of a simple splash of extra virgin olive oil and a clove of chopped garlic creates a real Spanish combination ~ just slice up that chorizo into thin segments and fry for 2 minutes.

Save that olive oil which is now infused with juices from the chorizo and the garlic (it will turn into paprika colour) and use it for dipping fresh crusty bread into. Quick easy and very tasty! For the more adventurous you can also use chili flakes to add some heat into mix.

Now where's that glass of fino...

Small is the new tasty...

The Friday lunchtime dilema...Pop into a tapas bar for a swift beer and a few titbits or pop into the fish shop, see whats in among the spread and go home to cook. Cooking it was - but something easy, it was just one of those days when you fancy something different but didn't have a tremendous amount of time to make it.

We opted for anchovies...an easy dish with no complication, in true style the guy serving removed the head and pulled out the innards showing us what to do just in case we hadn't quite got to grips with it after last time (or the time before that) give him his due though, he is nothing but thorough and very knowledgable if you buying something different. With another fishmongers open just around the corner you get the feeling that customer service is a top priority, stiff competition especially considering Orce village only has 1200 inhabitants its quite amazing how it can support two fishmongers - a bit like 1950's Britain, a flashback to traditional family run fishmongers, butchers and covenience stores.

A few handfulls of anchovies and two whole cuttlefish later for good measure not forgetting a huge bunch of broad leaf parsley the cleaning began. Pulling heads off three dozen fish no matter how small they are is something my better half just won't do so prepping was up to yours truly...

Seasoning the flour is the trick before deep frying, get a sprinkle of salt, a good pinch of freshly ground pepper and some paprika to build up those flavours, dust the fish thoroughly and fry a dozen at a time in olive for 3 - 4 minutes. Garnish with lots of torn up parsley and squeeze over with a little lemon juice, a great plate of tapas.

Fresh anchovies are, well fresh! Entirely different from what you get in a tin - not salty at all and of course they are very healthy full of the usual omega 3 etc. We kept this lunch about as simple as it gets serving only with fresh bread and extra virgin olive oil accompanied with a "tubo" (tall beer).

Simple and easy tapas.

Cazuela Beef Rib Asado

Beef rib "Asado" or "roast" is one of those versatile recipes that you can enjoy a good degree of experimentation with. Using beef rib, red wine and plenty of herbs along with some good old veg you can create a large dish for friends and family.

It has been quite a few years since our first Spanish "asado" - a dish for which the village of Orce is famous. Orce asado is always made with lamb or the local Cordero Segureno, bar Salero in the village baked their recipe not even in situ but in the neighbours bread oven a few doors down. Such is the preperation surrounding the dish and the slow cooking you have to order the day before.

Our very first Asado was ordered for 6 people and arrived in a oven baking tray that almost didn't fit the table, from there you simply dig in. Asado can be made from beef and pork as well although any Spaniard will tell you that the "traditional" dish is always made with prime lamb. Slow cooking is the key to this dish so the meat literally falls away from the bone.

Ingredients: (Serves 6)

1 large rib of beef cut into 2 inch pieces
2 large onions, peeled and chopped into large chunks
8 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
4 carrots, broken into thirds
3 potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 large glasses red wine
olive oil
salt and pepper
4 bay leaves

How to cook

1. Pour a little olive oil into a large cazuela
2. Add all of the ingredients and mix
3. Season with salt and pepper and mix again
4. Cook in a low oven for about 4 hours until the beef is very tender

A great way to eat this is to put the cazuela in the middle of the table and everyone just dig in. Serve with fresh bread to mop up the lovely wine juices.

Skate Wings in Parsely Butter

If you had asked me about skate wings 6 years ago before we moved to Spain it would be fair to say that I would have been delving into the nearest recipe book to find out what to do with them.

Now though is a slightly different story, Skate is available every Tuesday and Friday from the Orce fish shop and finding a recipe is simply a case of ditching the cook book and asking the local fishmonger. Skate wings are lovely and meaty when cooked and this easy butter sauce adds lovely flavour.

This is a great lunch dish served with new potatoes and fresh greens.

You will need (serves 2):

2 small skate wings
Plain flour
75g butter
Handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Wash the wings well and pat dry with kitchen paper, then dust with seasoned flour, shaking off the excess.

2. Melt a little of the butter in a large frying pan and fry the wings on a medium heat for 5 minutes or so on each side until golden. Remove and place on serving plates.

3. Add the rest of the butter to the frying pan and cook until it turns brown, taking care not to burn it, you could add a little olive oil to prevent burning. Take the pan off the heat, add the parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.

4. Pour the sauce over the skate and serve.

More seafood recipes >>>

Morcilla, fried egg & garlic potatoes

Morcilla or "black pudding" is made in both hot and sweet varieties, the hot or "picante" version has quite a kick and served with a fried egg and crispy garlic potatoes it makes a great wake up breakfast - sure to blow the cobwebs out and get you functioning after a cerveza too many the night before!

You will need: (serves 2)

4 Morcilla sausages
2 Eggs
2 Medium potatoes
Fresh parsley
1 Clove garlic
Olive oil

Method:

1. Peel the potatoes and cut into inch square cubes, rinse and par boil for 6 - 8 minutes.


2. Meanwhile, cut the morcilla sausages into inch long segments and gently fry in olive oil.

3. Peel and dice the clove of garlic.

4. Remove the morcilla from the pan and throw the potato into the same oil and fry for 5 minutes with the crushed garlic until crispy.

5. Fry, poach or scramble the eggs, garnish with roughly chopped parsley and serve with toast and torrefacto coffee.

Delicious!

Cazuela Eggs

Terracotta cazuelas, the essential tool found in every Spanish kitchen. A cazuela is a clay dish which is fired and then glazed. Tremendously useful and very hard wearing cazuelas also come in a multitude of sizes from 8cm to almost three feet! Read more on the Spanish cazuela >>>

Cazuela eggs, this recipe is one of those spur of the moment things where you just fancy doing something different. I remember years ago as a child having baked eggs topped with cheese so with that in mind out came the cazuelas, it was either standard egg and chips or an experiment!



Ingredients: (serves 2)

4 eggs
8 slices, hand carved serrano ham
1 tomato
50g grated manchego cheese
Dried thyme
Smoked paprika
Tabasco sauce

How to Cook:

Crack 2 eggs into each cazuela.

Slice the tomato and lay the slices on top of the egg.

Lay the serrano ham slices over the tomato

Season well using the thyme and paprika, splash of Tabasco.

Grate the cheese over the top and bake at 200 degrees for 15 minutes.

Delicious!

Stuffed Chicken Legs with Catalan Sausage

This is a great Spanish chicken recipe which can be adapted to use any sausage at all - the bigger the better! Take a Cumberland sausage for example, very much at home stuffed inside a rolled chicken leg, pick your herbs, season and enjoy a fantastic versatile dish.

Ingredients: (4 persons)

4 Chicken legs (de-boned)
2 Catalan sausages
Thyme
Sage
Black pepper
Salt
Cocktail sticks
Tinfoil




How to Cook:

1. De-bone your chicken legs and roll out flat ready to be rolled and stuffed.

2. Slice the Catalan sausage down its length and squeeze out the meat into a bowl, add the sage and thyme and mix.

3. Place the sausage stuffing onto each chicken leg and roll up tightly – secure with cocktail sticks.

4. Season the meat well with salt and pepper.

5. Loosely wrap with tinfoil and bake in the oven for 35 minutes on 180 degrees or until chicken is done.

6. Great served with boiled potatoes, green beans or broccoli.

More chicken recipes at Orce Serrano Hams