Pickled Carrots

Pickled Carrots

For the pickling brine:
1 cup water

2.5 cups vinegar

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp sea salt

4 bay leaves 

1 tbsp turmeric 

15 pepper corns

1 tbsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp fennel seeds

4 cloves garlic

2 tbsp chilli flakes or 2 dried chillies - more if you dare

6 cloves

2 shallots thinly sliced into rings
About 6 large carrots, thinly sliced lengthways

Method:
Put all the ingredients for the pickling brine into a pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Make sure the sugar is fully dissolved. 
In a large jar place the carrots and shallots. Pour over the brine and make sure the vegetables are covered - yo can top up with more vinegar/water as required. Seal the jar, refrigerate once cool and try to resist eating them for at least 3 days!

This brine will work well with most garden vegetables.

Tandoori Chicken on the grill

A whole chicken, quartered and skinned.

For the marinade:

4 heaped tbsp Greek yoghurt

Juice of a lemon

2 tbsp vegetable oil

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

A large finger of fresh ginger, peeled and pureed

4 tbsp Tandoori masala spice blend 

Hot chilli powder/cayenne as desired

Optional: A few drops of red food colour or raw beetroot juice (without vinegar)

Season well

Method

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl.

Slash the flesh of the chicken in a few places to allow the marinade to penetrate.

Marinade ideally 4hrs to overnight

For best results cook indirectly on a hot grill/BBQ

Serve with a squeeze of lemon

Lobster Spaghetti

2 small cooked lobsters

1 tin tomatoes blitzed

15 baby plum tomatoes quartered

3 cloves garlic crushed

1/2 cup evoo 

1tbsp sugar

1/2 cup chopped parsley

2 bay leaves

splash white wine

cooked linguine pasta 

Gazpacho Andaluz

Gazpacho is all about the freshness and quality of the ingredients.  So here goes...

Traditional Gazpacho Andaluz

Like all European classic dishes, there are 1,001 versions of this wonderfully refreshing cold summer soup that comes from the Andalusian part of Southern Spain.  I will stick to a very traditional recipe and would remark that the process for making the soup is probably more important than defining strict ratios between the different ingredients.   The vinegar features in the soup and will impart a distinct characteristic, so whether you opt for red, white or sherry vinegar, use a good quality one.  The exact quantities of salt, vinegar and oil will vary with the quality, flavour and water content of your vegetables, so adjustments will be required.  The origins of the soup can be traced back to Roman times when a more basic version of bread, water, oil and garlic was made.  Christopher Columbus brought tomatoes and bell peppers back from the New World which subsequently got added to the soup. Incidentally, in the days before stick blenders, the bread and vegetables were pounded to a paste in a very large mortar, before being passed through a sieve.

Kitchen equipment required:

A stick blender

A conical sieve and conical wooden pestle

Ingredients:

1 kg ripe flavourful tomatoes

1 small cucumber, skinned

1 medium Spanish sweet onion

1 or 2 cloves garlic, to taste

1 red or green pepper, seeded

2 slices stale bread. Stick or sourdough would be ideal.

75ml vinegar, or more to taste

200 ml extra virgin olive oil (or more to taste)

250 ml Water

Salt & pepper

Method:

Roughly chop the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, garlic and peppers and place in a large bowl on top of the stale bread. Generously salt the vegetables (but don’t overdo it as the salt can’t be removed later), and add a couple of teaspoons of vinegar. Leave to macerate in the fridge, ideally for a few hours.

After the maceration, add the cold water to the bowl and stick blend until the mixture is smooth.  Now pass the liquid through the conical sieve, which will remove skin, pips etc. and leave you with a pleasant consistency.

Into the mixture add the extra virgin olive oil and once again stick blend to emulsify the oil. The more oil you add, the creamier the soup will become.

Refrigerate the soup until required.  Adjust the seasoning and vinegar before serving as the refrigeration make alter the levels.

Traditionally, the soup is served with a garnish of finely chopped red pepper, tomato, onion, cucumber and croutons, which are spooned individually into the bowls at table side, and a small swirl of fine extra virgin olive oil on the surface of the soup.  Enjoy!

Broad bean hummus

350g blanched (2 - 3mins) shelled broad beans
1 crushed clove of garlic
juice of half a lemon
1tbsp tahini
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients into a mini blender and blitz until smooth.

Move over chickpeas.

Croziflette

Croziflette

This is a variation on the famous Alpine Tartiflette recipe, a real Winter treat.

400g Crozets

250g Smoked bacon or lardons

3/4 Shallots finely chopped

250ml single or double cream

50g butter, 1cm cubed

100g Compte or Gruyere, grated

1 whole Roblechon cut into half to make 2 discs

Put the crozets into plenty of boiling water and simmer for 15mins (or according to instructions).

In the meantime cut the bacon into small pieces and render in a frying for a few minutes, the add the shallots and some water and cover to soften.

In a baking dish, put the butter cubes, cream and grated Compte. Add the drained crozets and bacon & shallot mix. Combine together well and season but remember the bacon will be salty. Place the Roblechon pieces cut side down on the top and put in a hot oven for 15/20 mins, until the Roblechon has melted and its skin started to soufflé.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes and serve.  A green salad goes well, and I have used this as an accompaniment to Fondue Bourguignonne.

Pinchitos Morunos - Andalusian pork skewers

These fabulous pork skewers are from the Andalusian region of Spain, and are themselves inspired by the flavours of the African Moorish invaders brought with them centuries ago.  A pinchito is a thorn or small skewer, and Moruno is the Spanish word for Moor.  Ironically, the Moors would not have been using Spain's beloved pork in this dish.

They can be served simply as tapas with some chilli sauce (the Quinta d'Avo Piri Piri sauces work well here), or combined in a wrap with Greek yoghurt and salad vegetables for a very satisfying informal meal.

Will comfortably feed 6.

You will need:
1 kg Pork fillet, cut into regular 2cm cubes

For the marinade:
1 tbsp. ground coriander
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. ground turmeric
1 tbsp. Pimenton (Spanish paprika)
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. Cayenne pepper
Half cup of olive oil
Salt and fresh ground Pepper
4 decent cloves of garlic, crushed
Juice of 2 lemons

Combine all the ingredients in a small pan with the exception of the lemon juice and garlic. Gently heat it for 2/3 minutes to release the flavours of the spices in the oil. Take off the heat and leave to cool for 10 minutes, before combining with the garlic and lemon juice.

Poor the marinade onto the pork cubes, combine well and leave to stand for at least an hour, but a few hours will give even better results in the fridge.

If using bamboo skewers, soak them for 30 minutes so they don't scorch.  Thread the meat onto your skewers. I tend the place the completed ones over an oven dish turned sideways whilst I do the rest, to minimise the mess.

Cook them on a barbecue or under a grill, turning regularly. Timing will depend on the heat of your grill/barbecue, but should take no longer than 10 minutes.  Try not to overcook them as pork fillet has a tendency to dry out.

Incidentally, this marinade works equally well with chicken and lamb, but I have stuck with pork for Spanish authenticity.