Granada

One of the reasons for my recent absence was a holiday to Spain. Many moons ago, I studied Spanish and had the joy of living in Granada in Andalucia for a year. During this time, I became fluent in Spanish, learnt to dance Sevillanas, visited the Alhambra on a weekly basis, became obsessed with Spanish food (tapas in particular), developed more than a liking for vino tinto and hence managed to put on at least a stone before coming home to finish my degree...

I hadn't been back to Granada for over 20 years and unfortunately had no imminent plans to, until getting back in touch with a very good friend last year. Suzanne and I went to the same school and college, and spent our year in Granada together. After nearly 20 years of no contact, last year we discovered we were living in the same town and a revisit to Granada was one of the first things we talked about. The holiday became a bit of a road trip, with six like-minded girls driving from Alicante to Granada for Las Cruces festival. Suzanne had booked fantastic apartments in the Albaicin, which had views of the Alhambra and the snow-capped Sierra Nevada. We revisited old haunts, enjoyed delicious tapas, danced Sevillanas and decided that we would definitely be back next year.

Whilst much of the juerga* has moved on, one of the mainstays of the traditional tapas scene is the Trastienda. This gorgeous place looks like typical shop from the front, with legs of ham hanging in front of the counter, but behind the scenes is the cutest little tapas bar with tiled walls and low tables. Nice to see it mentioned here. We enjoyed a plate of aged pata negra ham and some tapas, before heading here for lunch, where we had traditional Moroccan food and the most beautiful views of the Alhambra.

Photos to follow...

* juerga = the good time (ir de juerga = to go out on the town)

Eldertini

Firstly, i must apologise for another absence. I have so much i want to mention, i don't really know where to start... so, i thought i would put together a little cocktail while i think.

I picked up a gorgeous looking bottle of St Germain elderflower liqueur from Waitrose recently (currently on introductory offer) so here goes my version of an elderflower martini:

Eldertini - serves 1 (in a martini glass with enough for a second helping)

50ml vodka
15ml elderflower liqueur
10ml extra dry martini
100ml organic apple juice

Half fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes.
Add above ingredients and shake.
Strain into a martini glass and enjoy.

leek & potato soup

Quite frequently i discover that i have a fridge full of vegetables that are almost past their best. This stems from over-zealous shopping trips to the supermarket when i want to be healthy and stock up on seasonal fruit and veg. I then find that life takes over and i'm not at home long enough to use it all up. Combined with an organic fruit and veg box delivery, i discovered that i had leek, potatoes, aubergine, sweet potato, celeriac, peppers, celery... oops. Poor neglected vegetables.

Anyway, back to those in a bit. An indulgent weekend started off with a chinese takeaway on friday with old school friends - a fab night as always.

On saturday, i had a great pub lunch here with old college friends and house-mates, Suze, Fi and Marianna. It's been 19 years since we were all together and this meet-up was long overdue. Great food accompanied a really good catch up on each others lives and we promised not to leave it so long until next time (which would take us to an age i don't even want to think about for a long while yet).

The girly chat continued into saturday evening and then the early hours of sunday morning, aided by champagne, wine and Suze's homemade sloe gin.

Needless to say by sunday, it was time to make amends with my liver and i made a vat-full of this delicious creamy soup from Tessa Kiros' Apples for Jam.

This book has been on my wishlist for quite some time but as i have a self-imposed ban on buying any new cookery books this month, i decided to order it from my local library instead. The theory here is that if i really love it (and i already do), i can reward myself after payday.

This is the first recipe i have tried from the book and it produced the most velvety smooth soup i have ever tasted, let alone made for myself.

leek & potato soup - serves 6
6 leeks
40g butter
2 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
2 tsp brandy
600g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
freshly grated nutmeg
100ml single cream
grated parmesan, to serve

here's how:
Trim and thoroughly clean the leeks - you'll need about 400g of trimmed leek. Slice the leeks quite finely and put them in a sink with cold water, then drain and wash them again if they are still sandy.
Melt the butter in a large pan. Add the leeks and garlic and saute over medium-low heat until all the water has evaporated and the leeks are soft and faintly golden. Add the brandyand carry on cooking until it has evaporated. Add the potatoes and season well with salt. Add 1.5 litres of hot water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down slightly, cover with a lid and simmer for abour 45 minutes, or until the leeks and potatoes are very soft. Grate in a little nutmeg.
Puree the soup until it is totally smooth. If it is too thick, add a little hot. If it is too thin, return it to the pan and cook uncovered until it is has thickened a bit. Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary. Add the cream, heat through and serve immediately, with a good tablespoon of parmesan sprinkled over each serving. Top with freshly ground black pepper, and ideally, some very fine slices of truffle. I made do with a few drops of white truffle oil - heavenly!

recipe keeper part 2

It's here! My fantastic hand-made recipe keeper book arrived all the way from New Zealand last week! It took me completely by surprise as it only took about a week in the post - things take that long being sent from one side of London to the other using Royal Mail!!!

So a huge *thank you* to Rachel of Books by Rachel for making this especially for me! I will now be able to organise my random clippings and scribbled notes, and I won't need to borrow cookery books from friends and family anymore (which is always a nightmare as you don't actually want to risk cooking from them in case they get splattered!).

I also love the receipt book i ordered, which again will help me get organised (i so need to).

Rachel also sent a lovely letter and a gorgeous little gift of a "matchbook" book, perfect for keeping in your purse and for writing down reminders or possibly even phone numbers... well, you never know... ;)

banana bread

Another useful recipe from Bill Granger's Feed Me Now... delicious for breakfast, but also nice with a cup of tea in the afternoon.

melt & mix banana bread - makes 2 loaves
45g soft light brown sugar
30g almonds, chopped
255ml sour cream
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g unsalted butter, melted
230g caster sugar
2 medium eggs, lightly beaten
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
250g mashed ripe banana (2-3 bananas)

here's how:
Preheat oven to 180C/gas 4.
Grease and line two 10 x 18cm loaf tins (i used 1 large loaf tin) with baking paper.
In a bowl mix together the brown sugar and almonds and set aside (this will be sprinkled on the loaf before baking).
In a large bowl, mix together the sour cream and bicarb, leave to stand for 5 mins, then stir in the melted butter, caster sugar and beaten eggs.
Sift flower, baking powder and cinnamon into another bowl. Gradually fold in the sour cream mixture, followed by the mashed banana.
Divide the mixture equally between the prepared tins and sprinkle the brown sugar mixture on top. Bake for 1-1.5 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre of each loaf comes out clean.
Cool in the tins for 20 mins then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Nice on its own and can also be toasted and spread with butter or honey (just make sure you don't slice too thinly or it may fall apart and your toaster will never be the same again...). I've put some individually wrapped slices in the freezer so i can have a quick fix before i make it again.

easy chicken dish

Having not had a proper cooked meal for quite some time now, i was craving roast chicken... here's a simple one-pot chicken dish adapted from Feed Me Now that hit the spot last night.

baked chicken with lemon, potato & green olives - serves 2

500g roasting potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1 small red onion, peeled and cut into wedges

handful of green olives

1/2 lemon, sliced

30g diced pancetta

1 x bay leaf

generous teaspoon of tomato puree

generous teaspoon balsamic vinegar

60ml chicken stock

4 x chicken pieces (with bone and skin)

extra virgin olive oil

4 x chicken thighs (or any chicken pieces)

1 small red onion

extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

here's how:

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.

Place potatoes in a roasting tin or ovenproof dish.

Scatter over the onion, olives, lemon, pancetta and bay leaves.

Stir the tomato paste and balsamic vinegar into the chicken stock and pour over the potatoes.

Lay the chicken pieces on top, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast for 45-50 minutes or until the chicken is golden and cooked through.

Transfer the chicken to a warm plate, cover with foil and set aside to rest in a warm place.

Increase the oven setting to 220C/Gas 7 and return the roasting pan to the oven for 10 minutes or until the potatoes etc are well coloured (you may wish to drain off some of the cooking juices).

Place the chicken pieces back on top of the potatoes, scatter over some fresh herbs if you havew some, and serve.

This was delicious on its own but could easily be served with extra veg, however you like it.

Yum!

healthy brownies

I decided on Bill Granger's new book, Feed Me Now, for my recipe book of the week as it is the newest addition to my collection and there are quite a few recipes i want to try.
At the weekend i made "healthy" chocolate brownies to give as Easter gifts, and packaged them up in cellophane parcels with some Cadbury's mini eggs for a touch of colour. You'll have to trust me that they looked pretty cute, as i forgot to take any photos. Bad food blogger...
Anyway, here's the recipe when you need a virtuous chocolate fix.

healthier chocolate & date brownie - makes about 15-20
140g unsalted butter
140g pitted dried dates, finely chopped
60g good quality cocoa powder (i use Green & Black's)
90g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
95g soft light brown sugar
3 medium eggs
1 tsp natural vanilla extract

here's how:
Preheat oven to 160C/gas 3.
Lightly grease a 20cm square baking tin and line the base with baking paper.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the chopped dates, take off the heat and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
Sift the cocoa powder, flour and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar and stir to combine.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla together, then stir in the dates and butter.
Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 20 minutes or until set.
Turn out and cool on a wire rack (i always wait for 10-15 mins to allow the mixture to set a little) and then cut into squares and enjoy without feeling too guilty.