Tag Archives: home cooking

trial run

09 Friday Nov 2018

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So this morning I did a trial run – going to the supermarket and back – to see how The Leg is doing. Because after a couple of housebound days it was actually feeling better, though of course shuffling from room to room isn’t the same as actually WALKING. Anyhow, after about ten minutes the pain was back, but more localized, basically in the AAAAARRRGH area that the doc found on Tuesday, rather than random shooting pain all over the place.

Luckily Peter did my Triana Tour today, so I didn’t have to cancel it. Because it was clear that there was no way I could have (or should have) spent five hours walking around town. And I got so sad because DAMN it felt good to be outside again.

Anyhow, I picked up a few things to make a nice comfort food lunch. It started off as pollo al ajillo, but then I added some baby spinach leaves and made some peppercorn basmati to go with it, and then topped it all off with some chopped toasted almonds. Bit of a mash-up, but a delicious one.

What did you do today?

oops…

30 Monday Jul 2018

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I know. It was bound to happen. But I didn’t think it would happen the first time I used my new knives… or that it would happen when I wasn’t even using them! Instead I sliced a big whack of skin off my finger while drying the blade with a paper towel. Duh. It’s quite deep… been gushing blood like crazy. And it really hurts! So now I am totally afraid of my knives. Eep.

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.

new hob, old oven

28 Monday May 2018

Posted by in casa azahar, home, sevilla

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When I moved into the new Casa Azahar last summer one thing was immediately clear – that I have a great landlord. He’s a very practical no-nonsense “get things done” kinda guy and doesn’t try to shirk responsibility. Case in point, shortly after moving in the entire central heating/cooling system died. And no problem – it was replaced and up and running within a few days. He also sent someone to install all the new ceiling lights I had bought, though this wasn’t really his responsibility. And whenever there has been any other issue he is always quick to send someone over to fix things. For my part, I take care of things I know are my responsibility and never bother him about “tonterías”.

BUT… one thing I’ve wanted to remedy was to replace the hob and oven that came with the place. They were both just very old and didn’t actually work well. In fact, the old oven didn’t really work at all, and ended up almost spoiling NYE dinner. So after a chat with my landlord we agreed that I would install my old oven from the old place, and he would buy a new hob. I cheekily asked if it could be an induction cooker, and he said okay! Yay!

To cut a longish story short… there was a problem with the first hob, but hey no problem, because I have a fabulous landlord. We met up last week and he asked me to choose the induction hob I wanted, and then today everything was installed. And I couldn’t be happier. Because even though there were issues with the first hob, it became very clear that if you can’t cook with gas, the very best next thing is induction. And now I have my new hob and old oven all properly installed. Very happy.

asparagus season 2018

15 Tuesday May 2018

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They’re heeeeere…. lovely locally grown asparagus. Probably my favourite vegetable (if I had to choose). I’ve been reading about asparagus steamers lately, long tall pots especially made to perfectly cook your long tall asparagus. Seriously? Imagine having enough cupboard space for this sort of thing. I have always lightly steamed my asparagus lying down in a frying pan, with just a bit of water and a perforated lid. And of course char-grilled asparagus is also fab.

Then recently I saw a couple of recipes mentioned about braising asparagus, which seemed to me like the best of both worlds. You get the freshness of steaming with the extra added flavour of the braising liquids. So I decided to give it a try. Here you see asparagus tossed with a 50-50 blend of butter and olive oil and cooked with garlic, salt and a bit of crushed chilis. Heaven. I ended up with a bit too much butter/oil but will know better next time.

The only drawback with this delicious dish is that it’s too rich for the cats, who also happen to ADORE fresh asparagus (the same as Azar did). When they smell it cooking they start going into a very vocal frenzy, so while I was braising my asparagus in garlic and whatnot, I had to steam a few stalks in water just for the cats.

What’s your favourite vegetable?