Baked potatoes with sour cream, chives & bacon #164

Baked potatoes is a classic side for all grilled meats but why always serve one big potato for each guest, using small tasty potatoes is more fun, looks better and each guest can eat as much or little as they like. This recipe can of course also be served on it´s own like a tapas. 

Baked potatoes with sour cream, chives & bacon

small potatoes

sour cream 

vegetable oil

chives

red onion

bacon

salt, pepper

Dice the red onion, slice the chives and dice and fry the bacon until crispy, leave to cool. Clean the potatoes if necessary, toss them in vegetable oil, salt and pepper and then roast them on high heat in the oven until golden. Remove and leave to cool for a few seconds and then cut them half way through and carefully break them open. Fill each potato with sour cream, chives, bacon and red onion, serve.

Caesar salad #157

It´s time for a classic, few salads can beat a classic Caesar salad and it´s it works really good served as a starter or tapas dish. Usually I do it as a side dish to grilled meats during the summer but now it was time to let this classic get all the attention. Instead of croutons I used a fresh white bread and sliced it a thin as I could using a normal kitchen knife, then roasting it in a pan with a little bit of butter. This make the croutons a little less hard to chew on and I prefer them that way for this dish. Besides that just make the bacon crispy, get great cheese and romaine lettuce. I got my hands on some really small ones that was perfect for this serving size, if you can´t find small ones then get normal size and just cut them up in smaller pieces.

Caesar salad

romaine lettuce

Parmesan cheese

bacon

white bread

butter

Dressing

2 anchovy fillets

1 egg yolk

1 clove of garlic

1/2 cup neutral oil, I use rapeseed oil

lemon juice, salt, pepper

water

2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese 

Using a blender mix egg yolk, anchovy and garlic, then slowly add the oil until the dressing thickens. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice, then add the Parmesan cheese. If the dressing gets to thick then thin it with a few drops of water.

Wash and cut the lettuce if necessary, slice the bread thin and roast until golden in a frying pan. Fry the bacon until it´s crisp. Combine the lettuce with the dressing and then arrange lettuce, crouton slices, bacon and some extra Parmesan cheese on a plate, serve. Good luck.

New Years recipe ideas for meat lovers

New Years Eve is coming up and if you haven´t decided on what to serve I have picked some of my own favorite recipes from Delicious Tapas and have some great suggestions for you!

This is part five in this series and for this post I will focus on all you meatlovers out there.

All recipes can be found in their original post that I have linked for each dish. I haven´t suggested any dessert but since I´m not that much into desserts. But if I have to recommend something I would go for any great ice cream, because who doesn´t love ice-cream?

New Years menu for meat lovers

Appetizers - for the appetizer we have some seared beef, duck breast, bacon with potatoes and Italian breasola, all to get your hands on a lot of different great tasting meats.

Duck breast with apples and mustard

Potatoes with bacon and sour cream
Breasola with Parmesan cheese, arugula and pumpkin seeds
Beef with dijon mustard and red onion

Starter

Whipped ricotta cheese with proscuitto, figs and truffle honey

After indulging in a few different meats as appetizers it´s time to move on to some Italian ham with figs, honey and truffles. The ricotta is actually the star of this dish but it would be nothing without the ham.

Main course

Slow cooked leg of lamb with potato cream
Onion rings

The main course is a bit heavier, but slow cooked meats are great tasting and always appreciated plus you´ll get a great chance to open up that old heavy red wine that´s been sitting in the cellar for a while. Some onion rings on the side completes it.

New Years recipe ideas on a budget

New Years Eve is coming up and if you haven´t decided on what to serve I have picked some of my own favorite recipes from Delicious Tapas and have some great suggestions for you!

This is part three in this series and for this post I will focus on when you want to have a great celebration but you´re budget is limited. All of these recipes are really cheap to make but still taste great.

All recipes can be found in their original post that I have linked for each dish. I haven´t suggested any dessert but since I´m not that much into desserts. But if I have to recommend something I would go for any great ice cream, because who doesn´t love ice-cream?

New Years menu when you´re on a budget

Appetizers - we are starting off with some simple and great tasting appetizers, pimientos de padrons, a simple hummus on toast and some nachos with an avocado mayonnaise. This actually goes really good with beer but also with some cold white wine or something sparkling.

Nachos with pepper and avocado mayonnaise
Pimientos de padron
Hummus on toast

Starter

After some great tasting appetizers I suggest a potato soup with bacon and lemon oil, this is really simple yet refined and can be prepared way ahead of time and will give you time to spend with your guests.

Potato soup with bacon and lemon oil

Main course

For the main course I´m serving lamb skewers with a tomato salsa and yoghurt, since my original recipe is served as a tapas you can add some roasted potatoes and vegetables to make a complete dish. And why not a glass of red wine on the side?

Lamb skewers with tomato salsa and lemon yoghurt

Potato soup with bacon & lemon oil #114

Potato soup can be one of the most boring things you can serve but if you add some love, bacon and lemon olive oil it will make a huge difference. Use any good tasting potato, be generous with the olive oil, cream and bacon and it will make a boring potato soup turn into a great tapas dish.

Potato soup with bacon & lemon oil

potatoes

cream

water

onion

garlic

thyme

olive oil

lemon flavored olive oil

parsley

bacon

salt, pepper

Peel and dice the potato, garlic and onion, save some onion and garlic for the bacon and add the rest to a pan with some olive oil and gently let it cook for a few minutes, add some thyme and cover with water. Let the potatoes simmer until cooked through and then add a little bit of cream. Blend the soup until smooth, you may need to thin it with some more water and cream. Season to taste and the bring it to the boil before serving.

Finely dice the bacon and fry until almost crispy in a pan, add the onion, garlic and some chopped parsley and season with some pepper. Pour the soup into cups and add the bacon and onions. Top of with a little bit of lemon oil and a few drops of cream.

Potatoes with bacon & sourcream # 52

Potatoes with bacon & sourcream

Potatoes, firm and small
Bacon
Sourcream
Red onion
Chives or Parsley

Roast the potatoes whole in an oven until done. Leave to cool and fry the bacon until crisp. Cut the potatoes in half and put a piece of bacon on each half. Put a spoonful of sourcream on top of the bacon, add finely diced onion and chives.

Egg, bacon, tabasco, parsley # 15

Egg, bacon, tabasco, parsley

Eggs
Bacon
Tabasco
Parsley
Mayonnaise
Salt, pepper

Boil the eggs the way you like them, fry the bacon until crisp. Half the eggs and add mayonnaise, bacon and some roughly chopped leafs of parsley, season with salt and pepper.