Category Archives: food & drink

mission accomplished!

31 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by in azahars kitchen, casa azahar, food & drink, home, homecooking

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nye

New Year’s Eve dinner was AMAZING. Inspired by the wonderful presa al palo cortado that I’d had at Bodeguita Romero earlier in the week.  It was the first time I’d slow-cooked a whole piece of presa Ibérico de Bellota (pork shoulder) and so I got some cooking tips from my friends, the family at @bodeguitaromero and chef @jose_pizarro. It wasn’t that much different than making my (now famous!) carrillada al oloroso but this sauce was made with palo cortado sherry, LOTS of sweet onion, portobellos, garlic and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. I think I maybe overcooked it a bit as the sauce ended up VERY reduced and had a fair bit of meat in it, that had fallen off the shoulder. So I added more broth and sherry to it and wow, so tasty. Side dishes: roasted potatoes, courgette and spring onion, and Yorkshire puddings. What did you have?

nye dinner

christmas eve 2020

24 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by in christmas, food & drink, friends

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christmas eve 2020 (2)

This Christmas Eve was mostly about food. Because hey, what else was there to do? My Instagram “memories” have been trolling me this past week or so, showing me photos of happier Christmas times with friends, both here and in Málaga. But of course none of that was possible this year. So I decided to just enjoy making some great food and, since I am still not having people over to my house, share it with my friend Peter, who was happy to come over and pick up a take-away of everything, including some panattone, beer and palo cortado sherry (in the green salad dressing bottle). The menu was slow braised Ibérico pork cheeks in oloroso with sides of roasted potatoes, roasted veg (carrots, sweet onion, purple onion, whole garlic heads, endive) and my now EXPERT Yorkshire puddings. Simple and delicious. How was your Christmas Eve?

christmas eve 2020 (1)

reyes

03 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by in food & drink, friends, sevilla, sherry, tapas, tapas bars, wine

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reyes

So ever since Reyes Morales joined me at Casa Román to help me celebrate my 27th Sevilla Anniversary I’ve been promising to bring her a bottle of a nice mencía rosado to try. We both have a preference for crisp white wines and rosés over reds and I discovered this rosado while looking for more economical ways to still enjoy wine while being completely broke. Anyhow, yesterday was finally the day! I showed up at Casa Morales with my chilled bottle of wine and we sat at the table Reyes had reserved for us, in front of an open window (so lots of ventilation) and she proceeded to order food for us. Well, between the two of us and Reyes’ husband Juan Carlos (who stopped by for a quick glass) the bottle didn’t last that long, so then we were on to the sherries.

I’ve known Reyes for a long time, but it’s only been in the past year or so that we’ve started connecting on a more personal level. She is truly a warm and wonderful person and we always have a great time when we get together. Well this time rosé led to sherry, which led to more sherry and eventually a penúltima down the street at Bodeguita Romero. I’m telling you, that chica is a bad influence.  😉

the chicken sharing project

06 Friday Nov 2020

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chicken express

Well why not? I have an oven, my friend Peter doesn’t, and so this happened. An agreement whereby every couple of weeks or so during the winter months Peter will purchase a nice free-range chicken at the market and then I will prepare it in different ways using my oven and then we’ll split the bird. Did the first one today and, well, as you can see that IT WAS AMAZING.

It’s a good idea on many levels. We both get to enjoy a well-cooked bird, which of course I could do on my own (since I have an oven) but I mean, how much chicken can one girl eat in a week? This way is win-win. I also give Peter the carcass to make a soup or stew, so that’s a bonus for him, and because he buys the bird that goes towards what I spend on electricity. Looking forward to trying all kinds of new roasted chicken recipes too – I think spatchcocking is coming up next.

gitana tapas at T

30 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by in food & drink, friends, gastronomy

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So, remember chef John? Well, I introduced him to Ricardo & Javi at T by ConTenedor and it looks like they are going to be a good match. This evening John presented a five-course tasting menu for the four of us and it was spectacular. Works so well in the equally spectacular space too. If you live in Sevilla look for upcoming tasting menu pop-ups by John on his @gitana.tapas and T’s @T_espacio_gastronomico Instagram accounts.

You can see the pics below…

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