Category Archives: cooking

little salad dressing shaker thingy

09 Friday Aug 2019

Posted by in casa azahar, cooking, food & drink, home, homecooking

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Damn these summer sales! I once again find myself with another kitchen gadget that I didn’t know I needed until I saw it… and then also saw it was ON SALE. Not only cute but look how practical it is. The lid closes with an airtight snap while you shake up your favourite salad dressing, then easily opens for pouring. Also did I mention… SO CUTE!

I was actually looking for one of these simple squeeze bottles, like the (totally life-changing) one I bought for washing up liquid. Seriously, if you are not using one of these babies for your dish soap instead of a big clunky value-sized bottle of Fairy liquid, you do not know what you’re missing. It almost makes washing up a pleasure. Top tip: cut off the attached cap – not necessary.

So why was I looking for a squeeze bottle you ask? Well, I was remembering a time when I always had a pre-mixed “house dressing” ready to go that was not only perfect for drizzling over salads and other fresh veggies, but also was great on boiled potatoes, rice, even grilled fish and meats. I was reminded of this when I visited Finca Buenvino and watched the fabulous Jeannie whip out her bottle of “secret sauce” salad dressing and use it on almost everything, and it’s been on my mind ever since. So now I have the cutest bottle ever and just need to perfect my own secret sauce. Anyone want to share theirs?

toasted!

01 Thursday Aug 2019

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What can I say? It’s dangerous going to El Corte Inglés after getting a nice tip on a Sevilla Tapas Tour. Because all of a sudden I needed to buy a sandwich maker! Justifications: 1) I’ve never had one before and 2) it was on sale! Also, there was that crazy good sounding savoury waffle recipe I saw on Twitter a couple of months ago that left me wishing I had a waffle iron (and dammit, if I’d had one then I would’ve actually saved that recipe). Another cool thing is that until I looked online for photos of this bad boy I didn’t realise it was designed to store upright – bonus!

To be honest, I probably won’t use this a lot, and when I do it will likely just be for grilled cheese toasties, but it’s been awhile since I bought myself a kitchen gadget (the mandolina back in 2017 that has yet to leave its box) so what the heck. What was the last frivolous thing you bought for yourself?

the finca buenvino cookbook

01 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by in books, cooking, food & drink

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While I was at Finca Buenvino I also picked up my very own (signed!!) copy of their wonderful cookbook. An unpretentious gem of a book, you will fall in love not only with the homespun recipes, but also with the history behind this beautiful guest house and its charming and welcoming hosts.

You can get yours here…

The Buenvino Cookbook: Recipes from our farmhouse in Spain

new knives!

26 Thursday Jul 2018

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I have new knives! Kind of a “starter set”, which probably sounds silly for someone who cooks (and loves to cook) as much as I do, and has been doing so for about 45 years. You’d think by now that proper knives would be first and foremost in my kitchen. But it’s confession time.

When I first left home and first discovered the delights of fresh food and homecooking, I was a broke teenager putting herself through highschool. I’m sure there were a few crappy knives in my various kitchens back then, but I always made sure I had one good one. This turned out to be a Henkel paring knife, which was all I could afford. Why Henkel? Because this was the brand I always trusted for scissors (I was still keen on a career in the fashion biz back then). So my one Henkel paring knife served for everything. And I guess I just got used to that, and developed ways of using that one small knife while filleting meat and fish, chopping onions, smashing garlic, and even occasionally peeling vegetables.

But lately I’ve been thinking about this, now that I have a small but serviceable kitchen, with my own oven installed and a new induction cooker. How much easier, better, whatever, it would be to have a proper set of knives? I wanted to find out. But what to buy?

Thankfully my friends (and professional cooks) Anna & Jorge @GuitianMayer served as my advisors, in terms of what types of knives to get and what price range to look at. First off I was thrilled that they also recommended Zwilling-Henkel (I had made the right choice all those years ago!) but I still had to work out what I needed. In the end I went to El Corte Inglés as all the Z-H knives are 20% off right now. But you know, they could actually train people there – the woman I spoke to clearly knew nothing about knives. And so, after several whats-apps, sending questions and photos to Anna & Jorge, I made my choice.

With these four new knives I suddenly feel inspired to try making things that actually require more than a paring knife. I know I am going to have to adjust my technique, but that’s kind of exciting. Feeling a bit like Christmas here today.

atún encebollado

30 Saturday Jun 2018

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Saturday at the market is not usually my favourite place to be (too crowded), but I was in search of swordfish and ended up going to two of them. As it was late in the day none of the fish stalls at either Feria or Encarnación markets had any left, and so I bought some tuna instead. I asked for two pieces but didn’t expect them to be cut so thick, so Peter took one off my hands and we both headed to our respective homes to see what we could come up with. A couple of nights before we had tried this lovely atún encebollado (tuna with onions) at Bodeguita Romero, so I decided I’d like to try making it.

As usual, I looked on line and found several recipes, which I then adapted. Though apparently (as I was informed later on Instagram) I should not have left out the vinegar! In fact, I used manzanilla sherry instead of vinegar, which was delicious, but next time I’ll try it the more traditional way.

Season tuna with salt & pepper and brown in a pan with a good amount of olive oil. Then set tuna aside and add sliced onion and crushed (or sliced) garlic to the oil, sauté slowly until nicely browned, then turn up the heat and slosh in some manzanilla (or vinegar!). Let bubble for a bit, the turn heat down and return tuna to pan.

Peter opted to make fish and chips (with non-mushy peas). Which also looked tasty.