Category Archives: homecooking

not quite pesto

07 Monday May 2018

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This past weekend I decided to finally break in my lovely mortar & pestle (that I bought two and a half years ago!!!) by making some pesto using basil from my new kitchen window herb garden As you can see… it didn’t quite turn out to be pesto. First of all I didn’t have any pine nuts, so I substituted cashews. And that would have been fine except my little basil plant didn’t have quite enough on it for the amount of nuts, garlic and parmesan I’d prepared. So it ended up being a sort of basil alioli, which was actually very tasty, but not quite pesto. Am now impatiently waiting for basil plant to grow…

nailed it! (well, almost)

21 Wednesday Mar 2018

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For as long as I’ve been going to Eslava (basically as long as I’ve lived here) I have loved THOSE honey pork ribs. The flavour, the texture, the wonderful comfort food aspect of that dish. And so I decided to try making a “home kitchen” version of it. After a small glitch when my newly-installed oven refused to cooperate the other day (my landlord quickly had the problem fixed – best landlord ever!) it was time to give it a go. And well… I almost nailed it!

I had been given some tips by the owner of Eslava, my friend Sixto. But of course trying to recreate something made in a professional kitchen at home is always tricky. But the result was pretty damn fine. The flavour was perfect, just like at Eslava, but I didn’t quite get the “fall off the bone” texture of the meat. I think I know why but, again, I will have to tweak the recipe so that it works at home. Which means I’m going to have to make these babies again sometime! Not a bad prospect at all. Who wants to come over next time?

Since there is no garlic in this recipe, I decided to add some on the side, and made my first ever whole-baked garlic (delicious!). I also made some “smashed” pan-fried potatoes. Then Peter @SVQconcierge and I watched a couple episodes of David Chang’s Ugly Delicious on Netflix while we ate… food obsessed much?

almost…

17 Saturday Mar 2018

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So this ALMOST happened. Given the forecast of a crazy-rainy weekend I made plans to do some extra stay-at-home activities, including finally trying my hand at making the famous Eslava honey pork ribs. Everything was ready, meat prepped, sauce ready to go, and then I turned on the oven and – BANG – all the lights went out. Damn. This is something I thought had been fixed when I got a new cooker last month and my new/old oven was installed here. But apparently not.

A quick call to my landlord met with a quick response, and things should be sorted out on Monday. Meanwhile, the ribs have been put in the freezer and the sauce should hold up in the fridge for a few days. I am so looking forward to having a fully functioning kitchen again. I’m also going to set up my small balcony herb garden. Just in time for spring…

winter sherry chicken

12 Monday Feb 2018

Posted by in cooking, homecooking, sherry, spain

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You can tell it’s winter because I don’t normally cook like this for myself. Though in fact this made about three meals, the best being a garlicky chicken sandwich on a crusty roll, with a bit of soy mayo and crispy greens on top. And of course a generous glass of fino sherry was added to the sauce while cooking. Maybe I should start writing my own sherry cookbook?

shortest shelf life ever

22 Friday Dec 2017

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I absolutely adore roasted piquillo peppers and use them in all kinds of dishes, even just tossed into salads. I usually use a different (superior) brand to this, but as these come pre-sliced (and are way cheaper) they also serve their purpose. Anyhow, I went to make a quick tomato sauce the other day and was about to add some of these when I thought to look at the use-by date, since I had been away in Málaga and actually couldn’t remember when I’d opened this jar. Well, the expiry date was about a year away but then something else caught my eye… in small print on the back label it said that once opened the peppers must be kept refridgerated. No problem there. But then it said “for a maximum of 48 hours”. Whaaat??

I’ve been eating these things for years and I am quite sure I have used them even after having been in the fridge for a couple of weeks, or even longer. The only time I wisely decide not to use them is when I see they’ve gone all furry (obvs). But they seem to last a long time, and fellow foodie pal Lynsey @larosillacomida tells me that as long as they are still under the brine in the jar then they are fine. Which these were. And they hadn’t gone furry. But I still ended up tossing them. Dammit.

But honestly… 48 hours??? I’ve never heard of any preserved food spoiling IN THE FRIDGE after such a short time. What is the point of preserving them if you have to eat the whole damn jar once it’s been opened? This can’t be right.

rainy day lunch

29 Wednesday Nov 2017

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It’s been RAINING here in Sevilla the past two days, something that we are all quite grateful for. Well, except for getting the laundry dry. But it also means that it feels like “stay at home” weather. So after going to see my GP today (nope, still no clue as to what THE PAIN is about) and doing some shopping, I came home and made a totally comfort food rainy day lunch. Garlicky pan-grilled swordfish, stir-fried courgetti and twice-fried chips with soy mayo. And well, have been home ever since. Doing this and that. A bit of work stuff (as always). Netflixing with cats. In PJs.

Sun will be back with us tomorrow.

pasta lover?

16 Tuesday May 2017

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Ever since I discovered the joys of online grocery shopping I also discovered that El Corte Inglés tends to throw in a couple of “gift items” with each purchase. This time it seems we hit the “jackpot” with some B&J cookie dough ice cream, a package of sugar-laden chocolate granola, a DULCE caffé latte thing and… Pasta Lover Pasta!

I have no intention of going anywhere near the first three items mentioned. But in the interest of gastronomy and science, today Peter and I decided to give the pasta thing a go, if only to find out why it was somehow better to cook spaguetti in a microwave for 5 minutes and smear some packaged sauce on it, rather than boiling it for 9 minutes and then adding something nice on top. Here we take you through the steps…

For those of you who think it is FAR TOO MUCH WORK to boil some water in a pot, with Pasta Lover all you have to do is add water to the plastic pasta tub and pop it in the microwave for five minutes. Then you shake out the excess liquid using the lid, which also functions as a strainer, and which would be a great idea if half the pasta didn’t slide out into the sink in the process. So after scooping the pasta out of the sink and adding it to what was left in the plastic container, you then open an extra-large “ketchup packet” of Pasta Lover Sauce made with 100% Natural Ingredients, plop it on top of your oddly textured pasta and there you go.

Trust me, if you are actually a pasta lover – or any sort of food lover – you will NEVER want to eat this. In fact I can’t understand why anyone at all would want to eat this. At the most it shaves off maybe 4 minutes of prep time. And the price – 2.25€ single serving – is NOT cheap. WTF?

leftovers

21 Tuesday Mar 2017

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So you know, been trying to stick to (mostly) low-carb options recently, and decided to make one of my favourite salads: wilted spinach, feta, garlicky bacon, chopped hard-boiled egg. Then I ended up with too much so turned the “leftovers” into an amazing omelette for flatmate Peter. Now and then, living with me has its advantages.  😉

friday night … fun?

23 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by in christmas, gastronomy, home, homecooking, sevilla

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friday-night-fun-2I was so excited to find the recipe for chef Shaun Searley’s amazing confit potatoes (pictured below at the amazing Quality Chop House in London) and decided to include them in my Christmas Eve dinner. Well, they ended up taking all of Friday evening to prepare, with slicing and layering and slow baking for three hours (!!). The final frying happens just before serving. I hope they turn out, but just in case I’ll have some back-up roasties. What are you making for Christmas dinner?

friday-night-fun-1