Category Archives: homecooking

my cheesy apron!

13 Tuesday Apr 2021

Posted by in casa azahar, cooking, home, homecooking, sevilla

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I have bought an apron! It’s not my first apron to be sure, but it’s the first one I’ve ever used. Or even bought. Over the years I’ve been given aprons by friends, by event organisers in their swag bags, by cooking schools… and they have all been politely folded in a kitchen drawer and forgotten. Because… well I don’t know! It just always seemed like that ONE EXTRA THING to have to deal with. And frankly, I’ve always been quite a tidy cook and don’t end up getting splashed with sauces, grease, etc. That is, UNTIL…

Yep. Lockdown. During the past year I’ve been cooking up a storm, as many you who follow my personal @azahar Instagram will have seen. Just home style cooking stuff, often using up leftovers, fridge foraging, and sometimes trying out dishes for the very first time. Much of which also gets posted on Azahar’s Kitchen.
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frying pans galore!

16 Tuesday Feb 2021

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frying pans (1)

So I didn’t see this coming but a couple days ago I washed my (almost 4 year old) small teflon frying pan and suddenly the coating came off in shreds. YIKES. For the record, I hate teflon and the filthy company that runs it and ruins people’s lives, but hey they’re cheap and they do the job. And yes, I have been stupid and lazy about this. Because they’re not actually cheap if you have to keep replacing them every few years, plus they are simply awful for the environment. I have a small set of stainless steel pots and saucepans that I bought over 15 years ago and they are still going strong (AND I can put them in the dishwasher). But of course plain stainless steel frying pans are more of a cooking challenge because, yes, stuff sticks to them.

Anyhow, I went on Twitter to ask advice about what sort of frying pan upgrade I should be looking at, and there were a few interesting options suggested, the most interesting being stainless steel with a ceramic non-stick coating. But I couldn’t find anything like that here, or even on Spanish Amazon. So after a bit more online research and some comparison shopping today I settled on those two you see above by Infinity Chefs. And then I realised that I should probably get a simple stainless steel pan just for “deep frying” (I actually shallow fry, obviously, but you know what I mean) as hot oil can’t be good for any kind of non-stick surface. So I got that one below (slightly larger size). And I am done! Hopefully for many years to come.

Best news of all? We are in the second month of winter sales here so everything was 40% off!  🙂

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food ADD

09 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by in food & drink, home, homecooking, tapas

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food add

Over the years I have come to realise that, as much as I love good food, I can only take so much of it. First of all it’s a physical thing. I mean, aside from when I eat the wrong food (for me), I honestly cannot eat very much at one sitting, which I think is due to the post-op adhesions. I’ve never really been a big eater, but now I can fill up after just a few bites (yes I know, I am massively FAT, and much of that is to do post-chemo and other health issues, but I’m not here to talk about that today).

And so! It’s become important for me to get in as much flavour and variety within those few bites. Which is why tapas are so perfect for me. You can order as many (or few) of these small dishes as you want, and it’s even better when I can share the tapas. In fact, I almost never eat a whole tapa on my own. And this, aside from the physical factor, leads to my belief that I have developed a kind of  “food ADD” over the years. By which I mean that I can only concentrate on one dish for maybe one or two bites before I want to move on to something else. It’s always like “okay, that was great, what’s next?”.
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the kitchen

26 Tuesday Jan 2021

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espinacas 2 (1)

If you haven’t been to Azahar’s Kitchen for a while, go check it out. New recipes have been added and #homecooking photos are also posted on my azahar Instagram account (along with cats and city pics).  I was actually quite excited about this new spinach with garbanzos version. A bit like making it up as I went along, but it turned out great. Honestly, making lunch has become the highlight of my day.

mission accomplished!

31 Thursday Dec 2020

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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