Category Archives: homecooking

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.

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…