Author Archives: Shawn

manchego cheese croquetas

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It seemed like a good idea to make croquetas on a rainy afternoon, as they are a bit labour intensive and I wasn’t going anywhere. Plus, it had been a long while since I’ve made croquetas, so wanted to be sure I still knew how. I should say that I have a different idea of croquetas than the average Sevillano (and many Spaniards in general) in that I like mine to taste of something other than bechamel. There are many points of view about what constitutes the “perfect croqueta” and I actually don’t care that much. The ones I like best are full of flavour, soft and creamy on the inside and with a good solid crunchy outside. Anyhow, today I opted for cheese croquetas, which in the end is like making a thick cheese sauce, breading and frying it. Which is amazing! My recipe has maybe three times the cheese as I’ve seen elsewhere – you can decide how cheesy you want them.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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hoisin pork ribs

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I love hoisin sauce and don’t use it often enough, so when I thought of making ribs the other day I remembered the two jars of hoisin in the pantry I’d recently stocked up on. This sauce was delicious but I think I’ll try adding some ginger and maybe a few chilli flakes next time. Also most of the recipes I came across online included 5 spice powder, which I have yet to come across here. I think with a base of hoisin, soy and rice wine vinegar – I added the white wine just to thin it out a bit – you can easily play around and adapt it with whatever else you like (or happen to have in the kitchen). Very sticky, super tasty.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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espinacas con garbanzos 2

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I’ve already posted a nice recipe for espinacas con garbanzos here, a very traditional version, and it’s delicious. But it turns out that I almost never make this dish the same way twice and the other day I looked up a few more recipes, got confounded by some that add tomato (wut) and then made this version, which is kind of what I’ve been doing for a while, except this time with added ground almonds (game changer!). So here it is. Oh, and as I didn’t have any bread in the house I used some olive oil regañas (kind of a cracker, and as they were already baked with olive oil I didn’t have to fry them). I like using the baby spinach because then you don’t have to boil anything and the spinach comes out much brighter and tender, and (I think) has more flavour.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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presa ibérica al palo cortado

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This was inspired by a delicious tapa of presa al palo cortado that I had at the fabulous Bodeguita Romero a few days before NYE. I decided then and there that I wanted to try and make it myself, even though I’d only ever cooked presa “a la plancha” before. Presa is an upper shoulder cut (see diagram below, pluma is a lower cut and a bit fattier, both are delicious) and the piece I found for this meal was 600 grams.

What I didn’t expect was that it would shrink so much but, to be honest, I think I overcooked it a bit (full disclosure: fell asleep watching netflix while it was on low heat). Later I discovered that some of the “shrinkage” was due to a fair bit of meat shredding off and ending up in the sauce, which was QUITE reduced by the time I woke up again. But hey, no problem. I removed the presa and slowly added more broth and sherry, whisking madly until I got a nicely textured sauce again. In fact, this might be what I do in future, because then you end up with MEAT SAUCE, which frankly was totally yum. But I digress.

Many thanks to my friends, the family at @bodeguitaromero and chef @jose_pizarro who helped out with cooking tips while I was making this. With sides, serves four.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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yorkshire pudding

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I am new to the whole Yorkshire Pudding thing, partly because I was a bit intimidated by the idea of having to bake something light, airy and crispy (and I’m no baker). I shouldn’t have worried – these are so easy to make and pretty much fool proof. Best tip came from my friend Pam who said she mixes hers up ahead of time in the blender and just keeps whizzing the batter up every 20 minutes or so while she’s preparing the rest of the meal. I used a stick blender with a whisk attachment.

I usually play around a bit with recipes I find online, but this one by Mary Berry is perfect. And why mess with perfection? The BBC recipe link comes with a video too.

Mary Berry’s Yorkshire Pudding

Ingredients and instructions below…
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honey-garlic-mustard Ibérico pork ribs

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Not super accurate measurements for this one. With the marinade you can obviously play around a bit. Just make sure there’s enough acid (wine, vinegar), seasoning (s&p) and whatever other flavours you like. Fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme or sage also work well. I usually like to marinate these babies overnight in the fridge, but just a couple of hours at room temperature is also fine.

I also like to use a glass roasting dish I have with a handy plastic lid because then I can use the same marinating dish for cooking (the lid is also good if you’re keeping it in the fridge overnight, plus it’s extra easy to occasionally shake it up and slosh the marinade around, getting it all over the ribs). Otherwise, just marinate the ribs in a large bowl, turning often to keep them coated on all sides. Then transfer them to a baking dish to cook, draining off most of the marinade (but keep it to one side in case you want it for basting). Anyhow, really tasty comfort food, made even better if you take advantage of the oven being on to roast some veg on the side.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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baked chicken wings

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This recipe is from my friend Lizzie Mabbott (aka @Hollow_Legs). To be honest, I’ve never been much of a wings fan because I usually find them too greasy, so this baked version was a revelation. Lizzie has put up a couple of different versions of these on her Instagram, using either a spicy, sweet and tangy Korean sauce, or a rich sweet Hoisin sauce. I have made them a few times now and really just use whatever sweet-spicy sauce happens to be around. The important part is baking the wings and the great part is that they are super easy to make. Here’s how.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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baking powder biscuits

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I don’t know what’s got into me lately. First of all, there I was baking A CAKE for the first time in 35 years. Then the other day I got a hankering for the hot flaky baking powder biscuits of my childhood and faster than you can say GOOGLE I was in the kitchen whipping some up. This recipe is from the King Arthur Baking website, though I’ve made a change or two.

The important thing about biscuit dough is not to overwork it. I find that cutting them into triangles, rather than cutting into round shapes, helps with this. They don’t take long at all, and they are so satisfying, hot out of the oven with cold salted butter, with or without honey on top. Also perfect for mopping up sauces. The original recipe called for 1 tablespoon of sugar – I found 1 teaspoon was plenty.

Instructions and ingredients below…
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lemony yoghurt poppy seed cake

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My first cake in probably 35 years! Don’t ask what got into me. I just remember scrolling through Twitter one night (when I should have been asleep) and this caught my eye because I had recently, and inexplicably, bought some poppy seeds. I don’t know what I was thinking (re: poppy seed purchase). Perhaps that I would try some kind of savoury biscuit with them? Anyhow, this recipe also appealed because LEMONS. And it also looked like something nice to have for breakfast.

Full disclosure. I don’t really like cake. Or sweet things in general. I mean, I don’t hate them, I just don’t seek them out, let alone make them at home. I think I stopped baking sweet things back in Toronto, where my Christmas shortbread was legendary. If you were lucky enough to be my friend back then, you know exactly what I mean. But even many many years before that, when I would bake this or that, I always cut down the sugar, often as much as by half. And guess what? The finished product was always perfectly sweet, at least for my taste.

Off piste ramble… I also remember back then that diet soft drinks were the same drinks with half the sugar. And they tasted way better to me. Then they came up the cancer-inducing artificial sweeteners that made the drinks taste way too sweet. That was also when I stopped drinking soft drinks (late 1980s?).

Anyhow, in this case I cut the sugar by a third, from 225 grams to 150 grams. I also used greek yoghurt instead of regular plain yoghurt. I suppose sour cream would also work well. And can I tell you? I was so thrilled with the result. My plan was to make it as a “breakfast cake” option and it was perfect. Tasty, lemony, not too sweet, lovely and moist with a bit of a crust. Also POPPY SEEDS. So hell yeah, will be making this a lot now.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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honey & co inspired bouikos

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I kept hearing about the famous Honey & Co bouikos, and seeing photos of them posted on Instagram by my London friends, and it was driving me crazy, so at last I had to try them.  I came across a couple of recipes online and adapted them somewhat. For example, I left out nigella seeds since it’s unlikely I will find them in Sevilla, swapped chives for spring onion for the same reason, and then doubled the recipe, using slightly more feta and cheddar than the original. This will give you between 24-30 bite-sized triangles. Best eaten the same day, but you can also quickly crisp them back up again in the oven the next day.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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