presa ibérica al palo cortado

Posted on January 6, 2021 by Shawn

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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carrillada al oloroso

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Shawn

carrillada oloroso (1)
Since the first time I made carrillada (stewed Ibérico pork cheeks) I have tried making them in different ways, but then recently created a killer version when preparing a dish for an Introduction to Sherry class that was so good I wanted to share it here. What could be better for a sherry class than cheeks slow-cooked in sherry? And the perfect sherry in my mind was oloroso. So as usual I had a look around and found several versions of carrillada al oloroso, tweaked them here and there, and came up with this one.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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spinach & garbanzos with fried eggs

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Shawn

The other day I had a bag of fresh baby spinach that needed using up so I had a quick look online for some “spinach and egg” inspiration and found this, which as it turns out is a typical Spanish dish. I hadn’t planned on making a stew, let alone something with garbanzos, but this looked interesting and so after a few adjustments to the recipe I’d found I decided this would make a nice meal. And it was! I used chicken broth but you can swap that for veggie broth if you want a vegetarian dish. Serves two but just double the recipe for more people or to have some tasty leftovers the next day.

Ingredients and instructions below…

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fabada asturiana

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Shawn

I’d had a kilo bag of alubias blancas in the cupboard for ages and so finally decided to do something with them. But what? Foodie friends on Twitter suggested a Fabada Asturiana. This is traditionally made with fabes de la granga and saffron, but since I had alubias blancas I just went with those, and substituted paprika for saffron. Turns out alubias and fabes are the same thing, basically meaning “large white bean” in different regions of Spain. I think my large white beans were either haricot or cannellini (?). I also picked up a “fabada prep” vacuum-package at the supermarket, containing 300 grams of very serious looking chorizo and morcilla (black pudding) along with a chunk of fatty salt pork, or tocina. Love that they do this here. There is also a “puchero prep” pack available. One day… maybe.

As usual, when trying something new, I checked out a few different recipes on the internet and then did a sort of mash up while adding a twist or two of my own. And the result was very tasty indeed. Rich smoky flavour from the spicy pimentón, a lovely thick beany sauce and lots of meaty goodness. Perfect eating on a chilly January day.

Ingredients and instructions below…

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carne con tomate

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Shawn

[click to enlarge]
Stewed pork in tomato sauce

This super-simple recipe I swiped from Janet Mendel’s Tapas: A Bite of Spain – just changed the spices a bit and used chopped tinned tomatoes instead of fresh. The result was yummy…

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lentils & sausages

Posted on March 28, 2010 by Shawn

My second attempt at cooking lentils and I really don’t know why I don’t make them more often, especially in winter. This is a variation of a recipe I found in Janet Mendel’s Cooking In Spain. Any kind of sausage can be used, or even left out for a vegetarian version, as lots of nice fresh veg also goes into this stew.

Photo of finished product and recipe below the links.

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carrillada de tenera (aka beef cheeks)

Posted on February 14, 2010 by Shawn

[click to enlarge]

Awhile ago I made my first ever pig’s cheeks and they turned out to be a resounding success that I have made several times since. Then I saw some beef cheeks at the supermarket the other day and, given some of the negative reports of them here, I wondered if I could make some delicious ones. And I totally did! Thanks to Carlos Riva for the recipe suggestions. I kind of put them all together and came up with this one. And quite tender and succulent darlings they turned out to be – even better eaten the day after…

Recipe below the links…

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angus beef & coriander casserole

Posted on February 7, 2010 by Shawn

Guest contributor, fellow foodie & friend WeeRascal, shares his
recipe (and pics!) for Angus beef & coriander casserole…

This is an adaptation of an Elizabeth David recipe I recently stumbled upon. It is quite simple and is quick to prepare, but it is essential that the beef is of the highest quality.

Ingredients & instructions below the links.

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carrillada (aka pig’s cheeks)

Posted on October 17, 2009 by Shawn

I wasn’t planning on making carrilladas today, and had never made them before. Though I’ve had them several times at tapas bars and especially love the ones they serve at Bodeguita Romero. Anyhow, there I was in the supermarket and I saw these rather plump pig’s cheeks and thought – what the heck. After I got home I scoured the internet looking for a recipe and I started to despair when I saw most of them called for a pressure cooker. So what I ended up doing was taking ideas from about four different recipes and incorporating them into one. And I must say they turned out amazing! Served here with mixed veg and a bit of potato purée.

Recipe and instructions below the links…