January in Northern Spain can be lovely!   This weekend it was so beautiful – yes, a little on the chilly side, but oh with a big and strong sun shining down on the whole garden, that we decided that a barbecue was in order, albeit we were definitely going to eat everything inside!!! Afterwards it occurred to me that you may like to share my recipes, so here goes – though they are not really for beginners as there is insufficient detail.

Well, that time is here again in Spain – Calçot time.   I have written in past blogs about the glorious Calçot – like a large spring onion, something like a leak – but different.   They are a feast in themselves, but onto the rest of the barbecue.   The men wanted rabbit – no, it is not for me, but here in Spain rabbit is very popular, low fat and thus a cholesterol friendly meat.   In addition, it is cheap, so I don’t usually grumble and always make something else for my meal.   For me – well, very young lamb which is in season here at the moment – a small leg and shoulder make enough for me and the men to share as well.

But back to the rabbit, which is so low in fat that it really does need well oiling – as well, I always stuff the tum with herbs – sometimes Rosemary – lots of it, still on the branch, or Sage – again lots of it.   Add half a dozen black peppercorns and a couple of good lumps of butter;  take a long pointed sate stick and seal the two sides of the stomach together with “stitches” – you may need two sticks – it depends really on the extent of the opening.

Now, take a mortar and throw in some mixed peppercorns, black, red and green, a good large teaspoonful of glorious Spanish Pimenton Dulce Ahumado (Smoked Sweet Pepper) some course salt, a scant teaspoon of Cumin and mix well together, stomping on the peppercorns with the pestle to break them down.   Add some Spanish Virgin Extra Olive Oil and then smother your rabbit in the luscious and colourful mixture.   If you have time, do leave it to “marinade” for an hour or so – if not, well, it isn’t the end of the world.

For the baby lamb – I use part of a super recipe Rick Stein has in his recent book of recipes on Spain –originally a recipe for cooking goat, Rick says he has done this with lamb in the UK, but did not mention whether the lamb was as young as that which we get in Spain.  A good handful of rosemary leaves, a good handful of parsley leaves, course salt, grated rind of a non-waxed lemon (sorry to boast but I cut one off my tree!), three cloves of garlic.   You need to “smunch” this for quite a while to achieve a really good gooey mass before adding some lovely Spanish Virgin Extra Olive Oil – not too much, just enough to make it maleable. Take a small roasting tin – add 250ml (or thereabouts) of dry white wine (I used Albariño as I was ready for a glass myself), pop the lamb on top and then smother the top of the lamb with the gloriously green mixture. Again, if you have time to let it marinade, do so, if not – it will still be great!

Turn your oven on to 180ºC. and when it is hot, pop your lamb in and the timing is up to you – half an hour for very pink, 40/45 minutes for not so pink – I am a heathen, like it well cooked and crispy on the outside, so leave it, albeit at a lower heat, for 1.5 hours -and then to see if the men have got the barbecue going well……it is time for the Calçots.

If you live here in Spain you will buy your Calçots in a large bundle.   No need to clean them, they will be well cleaned by the heat of the barbecue flames – because flame it must to cook the Calçots properly.   Place them in a row on the fire and turn them when they are blackened on one side – in fact turn them until they are black all over apart from the green stalk.   The Calçot is ready when a little juice starts to spurt from the side.   Whip them into your living room on a large platter – they are ready to eat.   Did you say sauce with them?   Yes, you need sauce – I am a frightful cheat and buy it in a glass as it is quite a bit of work to concoct, but if you feel adventurous, there are loads of recipes for Salsa Romesco on the internet and actually there is one on this blog too.

Now we hardly sit down to eat our Calçots as there is an urgency to the dish – I use thin rubber gloves, the men usually just wrap the root end of the delicacy in newspaper and pull – if the Calçot is cooked properly the root and the blackened outside of the onion will shed itself in one go and there you have it – a deliciously sweet white morsel – dip it in the sauce – raise it above your head like asparagus – open your mouth wide and pop it in…..words cannot describe……they are just gorgeous!

Towards the end of the cooking time of the Calçots your barbecue will be starting to whiten off beautifully and now is the time for your rabbit.   Keep an eye on it and turn it frequently – brushing with the oil left on its original platter.   It will need a good half an hour to 40 minutes – maybe even an hour, it really depends on the size, but you can tell when it is cooked through – push the legs apart, in the same way in which you might check a chicken to see if it is cooked – if they start to break apart it is done.

Back to the lamb and when it is ready to your liking, take it out of the oven and place it on a warmed plate.   Cover with silver foil and then a couple of thick tea towels and give it a good 20 minutes to half an hour to rest.

This meal is just great served with a vegetable rice – make it like a paella, but with no seafood, meat or chicken – it is the perfect accompaniment.

To drink?  What better than a bottle or two of Spanish DO Rias Baixas Albariño, fresh, lemony, crisp, I just love it to bits.

Enjoy!

Ingredients for Basque Chicken – typical Spanish recipe:

8 Chicken joints to include all parts of the chicken or Joint a 1.70 kg chicken yourself into 8 pieces

150 Spicey Chorizo Sausage, cut into 1cm slices and skinned

2 good sized Red Peppers

1 Large Onion

50g of Sundried Tomatoes in oil (or dried and soak for half an hour in hot water)

3 good sized Cloves of Garlic or more if you wish

1 Tablespoon of Tomato Puree

200 g Paella or preferably “Bomba” rice

50 g Black Olives – preferably stoned –  if you leave the stone in it adds to the flavour, but you have to watch your teeth!

275 ml of Chicken Stock, either fresh or made up from a cube

150 ml of dry White Wine

1 large tspn of freshly chopped thyme

1 tspn Pimenton (smoked Pimento)

To commence making your Basque Chicken, season the chicken well with salt and freshly milled black pepper. Then, slice the stalk end of the pepper off with the point of a sharp knife, which will remove the seeds.   Slice the pepper into good thick strips. Peel the onion and slice thickly. Cut your dried tomatoes, whether they be in oil or freshly re-hydrated, into small pieces.

Now heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a good sized casserole pot and add the chicken pieces, not all at once, but two or three first and brown them well on both sides. Have a plate lined with kitchen paper ready and as the chicken  pieces brown remove them and place them on the plate to drain.  Add the onion and peppers to your pot now and let them soften, moving them around for some minutes on a medium heat.

Then, add the garlic, chorizo and sun-dried tomatoes and stir well, turning the contents over and over until the chorizo has a little colour. Add the rice and and stir well turning and turning to ensure that the rice has a really good coating of oil.   Now add the tomato puree, pimenton, thyme, stock and wine.   Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and bring up to simmering point.  Add the olives and then place your chicken pieces on the top of everything.   Cover with foil and then a lid, as tightly as you can and cook on a really low heat for up to an hour – but check from time to time after about 45 minutes that the rice is cooked, but still al dente.    If you wish, you may place your casserole in the oven at 180C or 160C for a fan oven, for one hour, but do check at 45 minute stage that the rice is cooked.

Serve your Basque Chicken with a mixed green salad, baquette bread and a super Priorat wine!

Ingredients (4 servings)

>         24 green asparagus

>         sea salt

for the romesco sauce

>         40 gr of toasted hazelnuts

>         40 gr of toasted almonds

>         1 garlic bulb

>         5 ripe tomatoes

>         1 sweet onion

>         3 ñoras (sweet dried peppers)

>         1/2 slice of bread

>         extra virgin olive oil

>         vinegar

>         salt

Method

Season the onion and garlic bulb with salt and oil and bake them in the oven previously heated at 180ºC for un hour (the tray should be covered in foil paper). Do the same with the tomato, but leave without covering.

Soak the peppers in warm water for 10 minutes. Open them and get the pulp out with a knife.

Fry the bread slice in a pan with some oil, together with the almonds and hazelnuts. Set aside.

Put all ingredients in a vase and blend, adding the oil little by little to emulsify.

Taste for salt and vinegar.

Clean the asparagus and cut the end out with your hands. Cook them in a hot pan with a little oil. Season them with coarse sea salt.

Serve the asparagus with a little sauce.

With many thanks to Cook & Taste for this recipe

Ingredients to make Spanish Quince Alioli:

400g Stewed Quince or Quince Paste (Dulce de Membrillo in Spanish shops or Delicatessens)

4 Cloves of Garlic, very finely chopped or pushed through a Garlic Mill

½ Tspn of Salt

1 Tbspn of Lemon Juice if you are using the Quince Paste

75 – 100ml Virgin Olive Oil

Preparation of Spanish Quince Alioli:

Crush the Garlic and Salt with a Pestle and Mortar until it becomes a paste.   Ensure there are no lumps left.

Put the drained stewed Quinces into a blender with 2 tablespoons of their juice;  or the quince paste with lemonjuice and reduce to a puree.

Add the garlic and salt paste and blend, then introduce the Virgin Olive Oil, a very little at a time with the blender running until you have a mayonnaise type mixture.

Spanish Quince Alioli is perfect with roast lamb or chicken, cold meats and salads – please don´t worry about the garlic – it´s so good for you!

How many times have you visited Spain and sitting in a bar ordered Spanish tortilla (or potato omelette)?  No doubt, like I did years ago, you arrived home eager to prepare this wonderful potato omelette, but once made, it didn´t somehow taste the same – well with this tried and tested recipe it will!

Ingredients for Spanish Tortilla:

Half a kilo of very thinly sliced potatoes

Half a medium sized onion chopped finely

4 eggs

Virgin Olive Oil

Salt

Preparation of Spanish Tortilla:

Place your thinly sliced potatoes (slice them on a Mandolin if you have one) in a large bowl and sprinkle plenty of salt over them – turn and mix the potato slices until the salt is mixed throughout the bowl.

In a medium frying pan, preferably with a good thick bottom, heat about half a cm of Virgin Olive Oil and when it’s hot add the potatoes from the bowl and start to fry them.  Be sure to keep stirring them so that they don’t stick or start to brown.

After about 5 minutes add your finely chopped onion to the potatoes.   Stir the contents of the frying pan then cover it, but keep the heat down, not too high, so that the potatoes and onion do not brown.

Now break 4 large eggs into a bowl and beat them.

Keep an eye on your potatoes, stirring and turning them with a spatula or wooden spoon.As soon as the potatoes break easily they are ready.  Now add the potato/onion mix to the bowl of beaten eggs and away any excess oil that maybe left in the frying pan.

Mix the potato and egg mixtures together well whilst the frying pan gets hot with no extra oil in it.  Now add the mix to the frying pan and flatten it all over, keeping the heat at medium for several minutes. Put a plate over the tortilla and turn it over gently.  When you return it to the pan press down the sides which will create the classic shape of Spanish tortilla de patatas.

You will need to turn the tortilla several times and on each occasion it will get heavier.   Your Spanish Tortilla is ready when a skewer is inserted and comes out clean.

Ingredients for Iberian Suckling Pig with Caramelized Shallots, Orange and Cloves for 6 persons:

Suckling Pig:

• 1 (3.5 k) suckling pig
• Salt
• 6 vacuum bags
• Black peppercorns
• 2 dl olive oil

Sauce:

• 400 g shallots
• 2 oranges
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 dl Cabernet Sauvignon Wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation of Iberian Suckling Pig with Caramelized Shallots, Orange and Cloves:

For The Suckling Pig:
Preheat oven to 85ºC (185ºF). Cut the pig into six pieces (2 shoulders, 2 legs, 2 ribcages). Salt the meat and and then place them individually in the vacuum bags with peppercorns, more salt and olive oil. Cook for 5 hours, until the meat is 82ºC (180ºF) in the centre. Open the bags, reserving the juices and de-bone the pieces of pork.

For the Sauce:
Roast the shallots in the oven and then peel them. Juice the two oranges.

In a separate saucepan, make a caramel with the sugar, adding the orange juice, cloves, vinegar and pork juice. Reduce it by half and then strain the mixture through a seive.

Using a quarter of this sauce, caramelize the shallots in a pan over a low heat. Add the olive oil and the rest of the sauce. Emulsify it with a hand blender. In a nonstick pan with a little oil, place the pork pieces with the skin facing down. When the skin is crunchy, remove it from the heat.

To  Serve:
Place the shallots and sauce in the center of the plate and the pork slices on top of them with the skin facing up.

With grateful thanks to Chef Joan Roca of Cellar de Can Roca in Girona, for this recipe and to Starchefs for the beautiful photograph.

For the lemon curd
- 4 lemons
- 4 Eggs
- 250 g (1 1/4 cup) sugar
- 50 g (5 Tbsp.) cornstarch
- 1 liter (4 cups) water

For the sponge
- 8 eggs
- 200 g (7 oz.) flour (about 2 cups)
- 200 g (1 cup) sugar
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Soaking liquid
- 200 ml (3/4 cup) kirsch
- 200 ml (3/4 cup) simple syrup (100 ml water + 100 g sugar)
- 100 g (6 Tbsp.) lemon juice

Garnish
- Berries (raspberries, small strawberries, blackberries, red currants)
Preparation of Berry and Lemon Fruit Cup
Making the sponge
1.    Beat the eggs, sugar and lemon zest until thick and foamy.
2.    Gently fold in the flour. Spread the batter on a prepared baking sheet.
3.    Bake for 22 minutes in a preheated 190° C (380° F). Cool and cut into 3 x 3 cm (1 1/4″) squares.
Soaking liquid
1.    Bring the 100 ml (6 Tbsp.) water and 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar to a boil to make the syrup.
2.    Combine the syrup with the lemon juice and kirsch and moisten the sponge squares in the mixture.
Lemon curd
1.    Grate the zest from the lemons and squeeze the juice. Bring the water to a boil. Combine the eggs, sugar and cornstarch, add the lemon zest, juice and hot water.
2.    Heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Strain.
Use transparent dessert cups so that the ingredients can be seen and alternate layers of soaked sponge cake, berries and lemon curd.

Recipe Courtesy of ICEX, the Spanish Secretariat of State for Trade and Tourism, Ministry of the Economy

Ingredients for Spanish Trout with Romesco  (Piquant Almond Sauce) – Truchas con Salsa Romesco:

4 Large Trout, gutted and cleaned (remove the heads if you prefer to do so)

2 Dried Ñora peppers (usually available nowadays, but substitute a Jalapeño if not)

100ml Virgin Olive Oil

500g Tomatoes (whole or cut in half if very large)

25g skinned Almonds (blanched)

25g skinned Hazelnuts (blanched)

5 slices of stale Baquette bread or similar

1 bulb of Garlic – skin on

1 – 2 tablespoons of White Wine Vinegar

Salt to Taste

Preparation of Spanish Trout with Romesco  (Piquant Almond Sauce) – Truchas con Salsa Romesco

First make your Spanish Romesco Sauce:

• Soak the ñoras in cold water for approximately an hour, having removed stalks
• Meanwhile place the Olive Oil in a small roasting tin and place it into a cool oven.
• Pre-heat the oven to Gas 6/200C/400F, and once heated place all of the other ingredients into the tin apart from the Ñoras and Vinegar.
• After about 10 minutes turn the ingredients over and leave to roast for another 10 minutes. It is a good idea to check the oven regularly to prevent over-cooking or burning
• Drain the ingredients into a blender or food-processor, having peeled the tomatoes and garlic, but remember to reserve the oil. Blend the ingredients to a thick sauce.
• Add the Ñoras and vinegar to the sauce and blend well once again. Add the reserved oil, little by little until you have the required thickness. Season to taste and if necessary, add more oil.

Now, season your trout with salt and plenty of freshly ground black;  push a slice of lemon, a sprig of Dill and a knob of butter into the stomach opening.   Place in an oven proof dish and pour a little Olive Oil over the trout.   Place in hot oven (190ºC) for 20 minutes.  Check that your salmon are cooked through by lifting the stomach flap of one a little – if it is cooked to perfection you will see the bone lifting and separating from the fish a little.

Serve the Spanish Trout with Romesco  (Piquant Almond Sauce) – Truchas con Salsa Romesco immediately on heated plates and ladle a little sauce onto each plate at the side of the Trout.   This dish is perfect with freshly steamed Brocolli and perhaps new potatoes, if they are readily available.   Don´t forget your bottle of Spanish Wine!

Chef Joan Roca of El Celler de Can Roca – Girona, Spain

Ingredients for Smoked Sea Bass with Apple Acid and Vanilla Oil for 4 People

Sauce:

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 vanilla beans
• 2 apples (Granny Smith)
• 1 vacuum bag

For Sea Bass:

• 4 pieces sea bass
• Salt
• 2 Tablespoons smoked olive oil
• 1 vacuum bag

Preparation of Smoked Sea Bass with Apple Acid and Vanilla Oil:

For Sauce:
Seal the oil with the vanilla in a vacuum bag and cook  in a bain marie at 60ºC (140ºF) for an hour.

Peel the apples, ensuring the peel remains thick. Then pass the peel through a liquidizer. Dice the flesh into small uniform pieces. Reduce the juice and emulsify it, adding the vanilla oil little by little.

For Sea Bass:
Place the sea bass filets in a vacuum bag with salt and smoked oil and seal. Submerge in a bain marie at 50ºC (122ºF) for 12 minutes. Open the bag; sear the filets skin-side down in a sauté pan for two minutes,  to crisp the skin.

To Serve:
Place the sauce in the center of a deep plate. Place the sea bass on top, and sprinkle with the diced apple pieces.

Preparation of Spanish Churros:
Place the butter and water in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes or until butter melts and water just comes to the boil. Add flour and stir until well combined and mixture comes away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer and allow to cool slightly before adding the eggs, one at a time and  beating well between each addition, until mixture is smooth. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm star nozzle.

Heat enough oil in a deep frying pan to reach a level of about 4-5cm. (Oil is ready when a cube of bread browns in about 15 seconds.) Pipe 10cm lengths of the dough directly into the hot oil, using a knife to cut lengths;  do not try to do too many at once. Cook for 1 minute each side, then drain on paper towel.

Immediately place churros on a tray containing the combined sugar and cinnamon and toss gently to coat. Repeat with remaining dough.

Spanish Churros are historically eaten together with a large glass or mug of thick chocolate drink, into which they are dipped and then speedily popped into the mouth!