triple grilled mac & cheese

Another fab recipe from guest contributor, fellow foodie & friend WeeRascal
(previous contribution was his angus beef & coriander casserole)

[click to enlarge]

What’s your favourite part of Mac and cheese? For me, a slightly burnt, crispy, extra cheesy top when it pops out of the oven is heaven. So I had an idea: why not make a Mac and cheese that has this sort of texture all the way through? The recipe is actually very similar to the way my grandmother used to make it. It’s not at all like the over-rich, creamy, liquid dish you’ll get from a tin, or from a restaurant – I find that a couple of mouthfuls of this “white lava” can be far too sickly.

On the other hand, because of the layering and grilling process used here, the cheese adheres to the pasta like iron filings to a magnet and it’s very addictive. From a culinary point of view, this is about as easy as it gets, but it’s not exactly healthy. It’s perfect for the odd comfort food fix and I will say from experience that it is a superb hangover cure – served cold. Incidentally, you may think that there’s far too much mustard power in this, but bear with me – it really does turbo charge the sharpness of the cheese.

Ingredients and instructions below…

Continue reading

kitchen sink curry

I haven’t done a curry here yet, so why not start with a whopper. This is all part of my flatmate Peter’s education in preparing hot meals for himself ahead of time, which can then be frozen in individual servings and reheated whenever desired. So food purists (like my friend WeeRascal) will probably object to the over-abundance of ingredients, and in self defense I have to say that I usually keep my curries much simpler.

But this was a bit of an experiment in making a whole whack of curry with lots of extra veg added to make it a healthy all-in-one meal option.

And it was actually quite delicious! Even though I “cheat” by using curry paste – in this case garam masala – which is a hot spicy curry with cinammon & ginger. Smells and tastes gorgeous. For the record, this curry turned out more “soupy/stewy” than my usual ones, which tend to be thicker and more like a sauce. But it was great served on rice or potatoes.

Recipe and instructions below…

Continue reading

paella

paella

Well, it had to happen sooner or later, that I would get around to posting about what is probably Spain’s most emblematic dish. Truth is, I only started making paella a couple of years ago, once again using Janet Mendel’s fabulous Cooking in Spain as a guide. Here I’ve made a few small changes from her original and the result was very satisfying.

Recipe and instructions below the links.

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to TwitterAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Yahoo BuzzAdd to Newsvine

Continue reading

bacony leek & potato bake


Yesterday I saw some lovely looking leeks at the market and bought them without any idea of what I’d end up doing with them. In the end this is what I came up with – something autumny that included bacon, garlic and cheese. It was very tasty and easy to make, and quite nice comfort food…

Recipe and instructions below the links.

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to TwitterAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Yahoo BuzzAdd to Newsvine

Continue reading

salmon a la ribereña

My buddy raincoaster was recently asking around for a simple yet delicious way of preparing salmon steaks and I immediately thought of this fabulous dish from Janet Mendel’s Cooking In Spain – though at the time I was in Málaga and so had to send Rain the recipe from memory. It’s a recipe I have used a lot, especially for special meals like birthdays or New Year’s eve at home. I’ve always assumed Janet meant cooked ham not jamón serrano… and I have no idea if my version turns out the way it is meant to. For example, Janet suggests adding some fish broth to thin out the sauce if necessary but, as I seldom have fish broth kicking around, I just add more cava. Works for me!

Recipe and instructions below the links.

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to TwitterAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Yahoo BuzzAdd to Newsvine

Continue reading

marinated potatoes

This dish is ridiculously simple but for years I could never make it as well as the marinated potatoes served at Bodeguita Romero. Then one day I happened to be sitting at the bar when Pedro Romero started mixing up the house potatoes for the day and I discovered that the secret ingredient was vinagre de jerez. I believe Pedro was using a Pedro Ximenez vinegar, but I’ve since made this with the Reserva (aged in oak) and the potatoes come out AMAZING. I usually use small new potatoes, but any semi-waxy potato will do. I also noticed that Pedro didn’t use any utensils to toss the potatoes. Instead he picked up the large pot he was using as a receptacle by the side handles and tossed the whole thing up in a smooth rotating motion several times until the ingredients were well mixed.

Instructions below the links.

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to TwitterAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Yahoo BuzzAdd to Newsvine

Continue reading

rice salad

This is a very simple dish that’s perfect for summer snacking as it will keep well in the fridge for at least 2-3 days. It’s also quite versatile, kind of like a risotto, in that the ingredients can be changed to suit personal tastes, including leaving out the tuna for a nice vegetarian option. This was originally made for me by a friend using only mayonnaise, but I find “salsa az” much lighter, though for this salad I leave out the garlic.

Instructions below the links.

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to TwitterAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Yahoo BuzzAdd to Newsvine

Continue reading

calamari croquettes

The other day I was enjoying a special lunch at Manolo León and was urged to try the new chipirone croquettes, and well, they were amazing! So much flavour and served with an ajoblanco sauce.

I loved them so much that last weekend I decided to try making them myself – so be forewarned that this recipe is totally off the top of my head. But in fact, it was quite an adventure and the croquetas turned out very nicely. Instead of ajoblanco I served a bit of salsa az on the side, and instead of chipirones I used smallish calamari (the only squid I could find on a Sunday), but what the heck.

Ingredients and instructions below the links.

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to TwitterAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Yahoo BuzzAdd to Newsvine

Continue reading

pescaíto frito

It all started on Twitter the other day when @OstreaEdulis asked me about the breading on some cazón en adobo that he was enjoying in Jerez. I said they were probably using harina para freír … and before I knew it I was in the market yesterday buying some fish and squid to fry. Then I stopped off at the supermarket to pick up some special flour for frying. I don’t fry much at home (prefer to let the tapas bars do it for me) so it had been a few years since I’d used this flour. I’d forgotten how perfect it was, giving a nice even coating and with a lovely “dry” finish – not greasy at all – as you can see in the two top pics (the bottom one is of pan-fried chiperones). Click to enlarge.

More photos and instructions below the links.

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to TwitterAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Yahoo BuzzAdd to Newsvine

Continue reading