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.

Barbeque Mustard Chicken

This simple recipe for barbequed mustard chicken is quick and easy to make and works perfectly on the barbeque. We cooked this recipe after being given a rather large jar of hot Dijon mustard from a French neighbour in Orce village. The chicken pieces are marinated in the mustard for a few hours before being thrown straight onto the grill, the end result is an almost nutty flavour from the mustard together with the smoky flavours of barbequed chicken pieces.

Preparation time: 3 hours.  Cooking time: 20 minutes.

You will need: (serves 4 - 5)

1 Full chicken, parted

5 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

Method:

1.    Place the chicken pieces into a terracotta cazuela, cut the breasts in half if they are large. Skin can be left on.

2.    Spoon over the mustard then mix well ensuring all the chicken is covered.

3.    Cover and marinade in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

4.    Grill the chicken over the barbeque for 10 minutes each side or until cooked.

5.    Serve with mixed salad or boiled potatoes.

Pan Fried Lamb Steaks with Rosemary

Very quick and easy recipe for lamb steaks with rosemary. Have your butcher cut a rear leg of lamb into inch thick steaks, the meat can then be marinated, pan fried or barbequed. This recipe is for a quick lamb lunch and only takes a few minutes once the marinade has worked its flavours into the steaks.

Ingredients: (serves 2)

2 Thick lamb steaks

2 Sprigs fresh rosemary

2 Garlic cloves

Sea salt

Cracked black pepper

Olive oil

How to cook:

1. Crush the garlic cloves and remove the leaves from the rosemary, add to a pestle with the salt, pepper and a good slug of olive oil. Bash and mix well.

2. Place the lamb steaks into a cazuela and pour over the marinade making sure the lamb is covered on both sides. Marinade for 30 minutes (or up to 4 hours)

3. Place the lamb steaks into a hot frying pan and fry for 6 minutes each side or until lamb is cooked to your preference.

4. Serve with fresh salad and boiled potatoes.

Marinaded Dogfish

Marinaded dogfish. This recipe really came from making a simple marinade and then lightly frying the fish in olive oil, we used some ingredients from the kitchen to see what we could come up with so a bit of an experiment!

Luckily it worked really well.



Ingredients:

1kg Fresh Dogfish (cubed or in thick slices)
1 cup olive oil
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp dried oregano
Large bunch broadleaf parsley
Splash white wine vinegar



Method:

Dice the onion and garlic, roughly chop the parsley.

Place the fish into a large cazuela and mix in all of the ingredients - place in the fridge for 2-3 hours to marinade.

Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan, fry everything up on a moderate heat for about 10 minutes.

Serve with fresh veg.

Beef Chimichurri

Beef rib with 'chimichurri' Argentinian salsa is an exciting way to cook beef and is filling and satisfying.

You will need:

1 large beef rib cut into chunks

for the salsa marinade:

1/2 cup olive oil
2/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 medium onion chopped as finely as possible
2 cloves garlic finely chopped or minced
bunch fresh parsley finely chopped
tablespoon oregano
salt to season




How to cook:

1. Place the beef into a large cazuela or casserole dish
2. Place all the other ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix well
Pour the marinade over the beef and mix to ensure all the meat is covered then leave to marinade for at least two hours (you can prepare overnight to ensure the meat takes on all the flavour)
3. Cook in the oven at a medium heat for about 40-50 minutes until the beef is cooked and slightly crispy on the edges.
4. Serve with chips for a satisfying meal.

Pinchitos

Pinchitos are small spicy kebabs. First introduced by the Arabs, pinchitos were traditionally made from lamb although now its more common to have pork pinchitos kebabs - very very popular in tapas bars.



To make pinchitos you need the mix - a special blend of spices which truly transform a pork kebab. Cut your pork into cubes ready for the kebab and cover with the powder mix (you can also a little olive oil and rub the mixture over the meat)



Place onto your kebab sticks and BBQ for 10 minutes or until cooked. You know something is a little different with this mixture as the aroma whilst both prepping up and cooking is mouth watering! Enjoy the "Pinchitos"!



Although many of the recipes on this blog are cooked outdoors, much of the preparation is done in the cave kitchen. Of course when it comes to something like paella and the weather is a bit "unpredictable" the gas hob comes in very handy.. Sometimes even we forget how rustic the kitchen is - can't buy these units in B&Q!



Storage for bits and bobs can be an issue in a cave, the photo below shows some carved out shelving - just to keep those "regularly used" bottles easy to reach. (we never had this much olive oil or vinegar in England!) Anyway, easier to pick out a shelf than put one up, nice and rustic.



Pinchitos mix is available in 62g boxes, spice up some pork kebabs - a 62g box makes up 2 kilos of pork. 1.95gbp. Get the guests guessing..

Lomo de Orza Recipe

Lomo de Orza is a real delicassy, rivaling serrano ham even in the tapas stakes! You can buy Lomo de Orza (look out for a new range coming soon)or you can recipe up your own...Will it be as good as the traditional Spanish version? Lets give it a go!



Ingredients:

Half kilo pork tenderloin, preferably with the fat left on.
250ml olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
3-4 cloves garlic
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary
Salt and black pepper



How to cook:

1.Cut the pork into thick slices and then cut each slice in half lengthwise, place onto a plate and season both sides with salt and pepper.

2.Heat some oil in a frying pan and cook the pork over a high heat for a few minutes each side to colour and seal. When the pork is an ice golden colour, reduce the heat to low and cook for a further 10-15 minutes until cooked through but still moist.

3.Meanwhile prepare the marinade: Finely chop the rosemary needles and the thyme and place into a bowl with the lemon juice and olive oil. Peel and crush the garlic and add to the bowl, mix well and season with a little salt and black pepper.

4.When the pork is cooked through, transfer to a large cazuela or earthenware dish big enough so the pork covers the bottom in one layer.

5.Pour over the marinade and any juices from the pan add more olive oil if necessary to completely cover the pork. Cover with foil and leave overnight to marinade.

6.Serve the next day with baked potatoes and a generous drizzle of the lovely aromatic marinade.



Top class tapas... lomo de orza with tomatoes or piquillo peppers, drizzled with olive oil.



Visit the deli..

Spanish Barbeque

"Nothing like a barbeque in the summer..." The Spanish patio is often regarded as the "extra room" of the house - an outdoor cooking area heavily used from Spring through until Autumn.

A simple bbq lunch - Chicken marinaded in Mojo Sauce (Canary Island Salsa) the two most popular Mojo sauces are Mojo picon (spicy) and Mojo Canario which is milder and goes well with chicken and fish. Simply marinade for a few hours and put a whole new Spanish twist on your barbequed meat.



"La Brasa" the perfect brasa or layer of hot embers is created using wood. No charcoal in sight! The locals say that wood warms you up four times....



Once when you collect it,
Once when you unload it,
Once when you chop it up,
...and finally when you burn it...



If you go down to the woods today... Luckily we have a 4x4 which can get to those hard to reach places in the middle of the wood - every year the forestry guys tell us where the wood has been cut. It is beneficial to go and collect wood as it helps to clear the fire breaks on the mountainside - and makes a cracking BBQ too!



Lots of BBQ recipes coming up including tonights speciality - Swordfish kebabs.