Cod with Italian Salsiccia & tomatoes #176

Cod is an amazing fish, especially if you can get your hand on a big one, or at least a piece of a big one. This one is a small piece of the loin or back of the cod. The price is usually higher for the bigger ones but so is the quality so if you want the best you´ll need to spend a bit extra. 

I think cod is a great fish to serve with a bit more meatier sides like bacon, red wine sauces or like in this recipe a quick ragu with Italian Sasiccia and chopped tomatoes. It´s a bit rustic dish that suites the cod perfect.I pre-salted the cod a few hours before, this will make the fish a bit firmer. 

The ragu is simply diced raw Italian Salsiccia that is fried in a pan and then cooked with some fresh chopped tomatoes into a ragu. The Salsiccia was seasoned with fennel and garlic so if you can´t find a Salsiccia with that flavor you could add some crushed fennel seeds and a clove of garlic. 

The recipe can also be varied in many ways and of course served as a main course. Why not replace the fish for halibut, pork loin or maybe the Salsiccia for Spanish Chorizo.

Cod with Italian Salsiccia & tomatoes

fresh loin of cod

tomatoes

raw Italian Salsiccia

olive oil

parsley

salt, pepper

Cut the cod in serving size pieces, salt them and leave in the fridge for about two hours. Dice the Salsicca and tomatoes. Add the Salsiccia to a pan and add a little bit of olive oil and cook until they are done, about 5-10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and lower the heat to low and let it cook for about 15 minutes. Add a bit of water if it gets to dry, season with salt and pepper. Chop the parsley and add to the ragu.

Take the cod and pad dry with paper and then cook skin side first in olive oil. Once they have a golden colour on the skin remove and finish cooking in the oven on medium heat. Serve. Good luck.

Iberico ham with Jerusalem artichoke and olive oil mayonnaise #175

Iberico ham is the luxurious type of Spanish Serrano ham. It is made from a special breed of pigs called Iberico that is also known as the black Iberico. The ham or Jamon as it is called in Spain is therefore called Jamon Iberico but is also known as Pata Negra. 

I have used the standard version of the ham, if you want the best one you need to get an Jamon Iberico de Bellota, then the pigs are free-range and fed loads of acorn that flavors the meat. Usually the ham is cured for a longer time as well. If you want to know more about the different variations of Spanish ham then Wikipedia has a short but good post on Iberico ham. 

Now for some cooking, as long as the ham go you should use a Iberico one since it has more fat that is one of the key elements in this dish. I serve the ham at room temperature with deep fried Jerusalem artichokes and a olive oil mayonnaise. The Jerusalem artichokes gives a little bit of texture as well as paring really good with the intense ham flavor. 

The olive oil mayonnaise make the dish a bit more moist and the taste of olive oil mayonnaise i great in a small dish like this. Use a mild olive oil, if it is to intense it will be to powerful, if the oil you have is to intense you can replace half of the amount of oil with a neutral vegetable oil. As the dish is quite fatty you won´t need to serve very much, that will be a relief when it´s time to pay for the ham, on slice or two for each serving is enough.

Iberico ham with Jerusalem artichoke and olive oil mayonnaise

Iberico ham

egg yolk

Dijon mustard

red wine vinegar

salt, pepper

olive oil

Jerusalem artichokes

vegetable oil for deep frying

Whisk the egg yolk with the vinegar and egg yolk, start adding the oil during whisking until it starts to thicken. Add salt and pepper and then the rest of the oil until you are satisfied with the thickness. I use about half a teaspoon of mustard and about 1dl / 0,4 cups of oil for one egg yolk.

Wash and slice the Jerusalem artichoke as thin as you can, a potato peeler works good unless the artichokes are too big. Rinse the slices in cold water and the pad dry with kitchen paper. Deep fry on medium heat until crisp, season with salt.

Add the Iberico ham to a plate and add the mayonnaise and fried artichokes, add a little bit of salt if necessary, serve. Good luck.

Asparagus with poached egg & serrano ham #162

Simple as usual but since asparagus, ham and eggs go together like.. well asparagus, ham and eggs why not try this recipe. It more or less is exactly what it looks like, grilled fresh asparagus, a slice of Spanish serrano ham and a poached organic egg, a little bit of salt, pepper and olive oil and it´s time to eat.

Only tricky thing about this is probably to poach the egg, what I do is i carefully crack the egg into some white wine vinegar and a little bit of water and let it sit there for about ten minutes, this will make the egg hold together a little bit better, use a tea mug or small soup bowl to crack the egg in. Then the egg will have a round bottom to rest on. Then I carefully add the egg to salted almost boiling water and then turn off the heat. Using a spoon carefully make sure the egg doesn´t stick to the bottom. After about five minutes carefully lift out the egg and trim it on the sides if necessary. Serve.

Asparagus with poached egg & serrano ham

fresh green asparagus

organic eggs

serrano ham

salt, pepper

olive oil

white wine vinegar (for preparing the egg)

Trim the asparagus and brush it with olive oil and then grill it until almost cooked through. Add a slice of serrano ham to a plate and then poach the egg as instructed above. Add the egg and asparagus to the ham and season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Serve.

Lomo with roasted pepper and herbs #156

Lomo is Spanish pork tenderloin that is dried in a similar way like salami, it´s very lean and is great if you like charcuterie but are not a fan of the fat that usually comes with it. Sometimes the Lomo is also flavoured with spices like paprika or herbs. To the lomo I simply added a piece of roasted red pepper that is marinated with some chives and parsley. A very simple tapas that is packed with flavor.

Lomo with roasted pepper and herbs

sliced Lomo
red peppers
vegetable oil
chives
parsley
salt, pepper
olive oil

Turn on your oven on maximum heat, coat the peppers with a little bit of vegetable oil and roast in the oven for 8-10 minutes, remove from the oven and set aside to cool down. Peel the peppers and cut them i large squares. Marinate the peppers in the olive oil with chopped chives, parsley, salt and pepper. Add a piece of pepper for each slice of Lomo. Serve.

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

Chicken skewers with smoked paprika and mint yoghurt #108

What makes this taste really good is the Spanish smoked paprika powder I picked up during vacation, with a little luck you can find it in a good grocery store otherwise search online because the taste is great and can be used for all lot of stuff.

Chicken skewers with smoked paprika and mint yoghurt

wooden skewers
chicken breast
dried Provencal herbs
smoked paprika powder
Greek yoghurt
olive oil
fresh mint
lemon juice
salt, pepper

Soak the wooden skewers in water, this will keep the skewers from burning and it won´t split a easily. Cut the chicken breast in stripes, about 3-5 pieces for each breast is usually a good size. Combine the chicken with olive oil, smoked paprika powder and the dried Provencal herbs and let marinate for an hour.

Meanwhile chop the mint and combine with the yoghurt and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Then thread the chicken on the skewers and grill or fry in a pan. If the skewers are to long to fit in the pan you can fry them without the skewers and add them after frying. Fry until cooked through and serve immediately.

Green gazpacho with cream cheese crostini #88

The classic Spanish Gazpacho soup is a must for me at least once a week throughout the summer, this version is made using only green vegetables except for the tomatoes which are yellow. The flavor gets a bit different but equally good and fresh. 

Green gazpacho with cream cheese crostini

cucumber

green pepper

green chili

yellow or green tomatoes

white wine vinegar

olive oil

white bread

salt, black pepper

garlic

cream cheese

Cut all vegetables into pieces, add a few pieces of white bread and splash over some vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Let sit out for half an hour to let the vegetables marinate. 

Blend the vegetables into an soup, season with vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. Cut bread into thin slices and toast, spread on some cream cheese. Serve the soup ice cold.