sunday song – brass in pocket
12 Sunday Sep 2021
Posted in music, sunday song, video
12 Sunday Sep 2021
Posted in music, sunday song, video
11 Saturday Sep 2021
Posted in casa azahar, cats, caturday, home
Tags

Rewatching The Wire with my big dude on my lap.
10 Friday Sep 2021
Posted in casa azahar, homecooking

This is seriously taking hasselbacks to another level. I don’t remember where I first saw this but I knew straight away I had to try making deep-friend baby hasselback potatoes. Basically you take some baby potatoes and parboil them for about 8 minutes, then strain them and let them cool. Then do the hasselback thing to them (I used a spoon so I didn’t cut straight through) and deep fry them, again for about 8 minutes (oil temp about 185ºC).
I normally use a large frying pan for “deep frying” so the oil isn’t actually that deep and you have to flip the whatever (fish, chicken, chips) but it seemed like these babies had to be submerged, so I used a small saucepan instead. Same amount of oil, just less space, so I did these in three batches. Oh, and I always use extra virgin olive oil for frying.
Anyhow… they turned out well but I would have liked them to be crispier. I think next time I should spread the sliced potatoes open a bit more before I pop them in the hot oil. Tricky when they’re so small as there’s more risk of them just breaking apart. Apparently you can also roast them or use an air fryer, but of course then you’d have to slather them in herby butter first. Good for making ahead of time too, then just quickly reheat in the oven.
I had mine as a side dish with a greek-ish salad (and salsa az for dipping). I think because they’re so small they could also be great as an appetiser or a party/movie snack with dips. So if you try making them and manage to get them extra crispy, please let me know how you did that.
09 Thursday Sep 2021
Posted in food & drink, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars
Tags

I was so pleased when chef Danny Cárdenes sent me a message inviting me to the opening party – or reopening party – following the expansion of his lovely Lima Street Food. This is a little sister to Danny’s fabulous Raices, but now she is not so little. Over the summer they expanded into a next door location and have now tripled the indoor seating (previously just 15) with another dining room that opens onto a side street.
Anyhow, got there early to discover that the many of the usual suspects (local “influencers”) were already there having beers out on the patio. So we got a couple of beers and waited to be invited inside for the actual party. About an hour later we were still waiting, which wasn’t a problem, these things sometimes take awhile to get going. The problem (for me) was that during that hour the number of guests had more than doubled and there was no way I was going to go inside with such a large group of people, unmasked because eating and drinking, and so we headed home, stopping off for a couple of tapitas at a place I hadn’t been to for a few years, La Monumental. It still ended up quite a nice evening, just not the one I’d been expecting. Also, got 8500 steps in (!!) and was in bed by midnight.
08 Wednesday Sep 2021
Posted in birthdays, friends, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars

Spent a fab afternoon yesterday celebrating my friend Tania‘s birthday. We started off at Casa Moreno for a quick cold beer (and also to introduce Tania to one of my favourite places) then went to Casa Morales for a proper birthday lunch. Much wine and many tapas later we made our way to Bodeguita Romero for La Penúltima and instead of birthday cake Tania opted for a hot toasted pringá (that’s my girl!). Then closer to home we stopped at Bodega La Hermandad (our new “local” we both love it) for another penúltima, this time lovely chilled cava. Had a great time.
