Tuesday, 21 May 2013

Culture Through Cookery: Spanish Sunshine!

Al freir de los huevos lo verá
The proof of the pudding is in the tasting (literally translated: It will be seen in the frying of the eggs)

We made some Spanish classics - gazpacho and tortilla de patata. Both of these are simple dishes which maximise on flavour. Gazpacho is a brilliant summer soup - make it when it is warm and tomatoes are cheap! Tortilla de patata is a wonderful dish- a cheap crowd pleaser whether served as a main course, as we ate it, with a salad, or at a party cut into small cubes as a tapa or nibble.

We finished with the alarmingly more-ish and wow-ishly simple crema de limon. Three ingredients, and around three minutes work make this into a most delicious pudding. Serve in ramekins as individual portions and your guests will never guess how easy it was!

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Gazpacho
Like many classic recipes, each family will have a slightly different version. This recipe made plenty for 6, with most of us having second (and third) bowlfuls and more leftover.

Time: 20 minutes (+ time to cool- it is best if made the night before and cooled overnight, when the flavours can also intensify)

Around 1kg beef tomatoes (you can substitute for others) the riper the more flavoursome.
70g (6 slices) of baguette or similar
50ml white wine vinegar
1 large green pepper
2 small cloves of garlic, peeled
1l cold water
1/4 cucumber
pinch of salt

To serve:
1 small onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
chopped jamon
croutons

To make:

Put 1l of water into a large bowl with the vinegar and the slices of bread.
Chop the cucumber, tomatoes and pepper.
Put the vegetables and garlic into a large bowl and blend with a stick blender (or put into a blender).
Add the bread when it is soft as well and blend.
Blend as finely as possible.
Add salt to taste.
Refridgerate

When you serve, put the chopped onion, pepper, croutons and jamon into small bowls (separately). People can then add them onto their soup as desired.  

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Tortilla de Patatas

Ingredients:
(serves 6)
6 eggs
1.5 kg potatos
4 onions
salt
olive oil
Time: about 1 hour

To make:
Peel the onions, cut them in half and slice them in thin slices.

Put some olive oil in a large frying pan which is on a low heat. and when it is warm put the onion in.  Cover the pan with a lid.
While the onion is cooking (or before if you are well organised!) peel the potatoes and slice them into thin slices (about 2-4 mm thick).
After about 10 minutes the onion should be translucent and cooked. Remove the onion from the pan and place it aside in a large bowl.

Place the frying pan back on the low heat and add a generous quantity of olive oil to the pan. When the oil is warm add the sliced potatoes, once again covering the pan with a lid. Leave the potatoe in the pan at low heat for 30 minutes approx. They should not brown.
After 30 minutes they should be cooked. Remove them from the pan and place them with the onion in the bowl.
In another large bowl break the eggs and beat with a whisk until they have a uniform consistency.

Pour the mixture into the bowl with the potato and onion and stir and add salt (at your discretion).
Put more olive oil back into the frying pan and when warm, pour in the mixture, covering the pan with the lid. Leave to cook for 10 minutes, then turn the frying pan over using the lid (or a large plate) to flip the tortilla over (this can be tricky as the tortilla at this point weighs a bit...)
Place the tortilla back into the pan  and leave to cook for another 5-10 min.
Put on a plate and it will be ready or eating....Buen provecho :)


This can also be served cold - equally delicious!

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Crema de Limon
I lied. We actually used limes. Both are great and you could even (gasp!) use both together. Not healthy. At all. But delicious in moderation (and probably no less healthy than icecream!)
This makes enough for 6 (with leftovers!)

You need:
1 tin (400g) condensed milk
400ml double cream
4 limes (or 2 large lemons)

To make:
Pour the milk and cream into a large bowl.



Zest the limes and set the zest aside.
Juice the fruit.
Whisk until the mixture thickens.
Pour into the bowl that you will present it in at table and add zest to the top (as much as you like, or as little).
Cover the bowl with clingfilm.
Refrigerate for 2-3 hours (or put in the freezer for 20 minutes).






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