Tag Team Tapas (Part Two)

Part Two of the Tapas was not only inspired by the hot April Weather but also by a top-drawer tip to Birmingham the weekend after the Easter weekend. With the Dogg on a kind of holiday of her own for the preceding three weeks, in addition to the Birmingham Trip I had taken in some epic nights out, tea at new Pizza Restaurant, Curry, a frame or two of Snooker and the evening do of a wedding of two awesome people.

The Birmingham Trip saw me hook up with some close friends for a meal and plenty of pool as well as a night out that ended in the local branch of a Walkabout. The morning after that night out, April 9th I believe, one of my friends and I took in some Spanish Tapas at a bar in Grand Central by the Train Station. One Tapas dish contained meatballs and it was this dish that gave me the recipe idea on the blog today.

The ingredients were as follows:

Two New Potatoes sliced narrowly length ways.
Two Cloves of Garlic, topped, tailed and diced.
A tin of Chick Peas drained.
One Onion topped, tailed, peeled and finely sliced.
One Red Pepper de-cored, de-seeded and sliced into small squares.
Two Tomatoes cut into cubes.
A teaspoon of Paprika
A teaspoon of Dried Thyme.
A teaspoon of Dried Oregano.
A teaspoon of Tomato Puree.
A quarter of a pint of White Wine.
Eight Vegetarian, no this isn't a joke, Meatballs.
Four strips of Vegetarian Bacon.

On the player was another Captain Beefheart Record; this time "Trout Mask Replica". It is considered not only his best but one of the best albums ever and has even found itself subject to an order preserving it in the United States' National Archives. In truth it's an acquired taste but one that is worth taking time to acquire for the record to reveal its charms.

The first job was to shallow fry, in my Le Cresceut in Olive Oil, the New Potatoes, the Chickpeas and the Garlic. I did this on a medium heat for around fifteen minutes.

Then I added the Onion, Red Pepper, Tomatoes, Spices and Herbs and Tomato Puree, stirred them in and sweated them for another fifteen minutes.

After that I added the wine, which for those wine lovers among you was a light New Zealand number called Wairau Cove that was a Sauvingnon Blanc, the Meatballs and Vegetarian Bacon. I then stewed everything a further fifteen minutes.

The end result was a stew that was not overly runny and had plenty of richness with tangy spices. Although it was a stew it wasn't overly heavy, in light of the extremely hot weather, and evoked memories of old adventures to the Canary Islands and new and wonderful adventures to Birmingham nearly two weeks earlier.

Stew up- this Meatball Stew was a pretty fair approximation of the quality stew I had in Birmingham previously. 

Tag Team Tapas (Part One)

During the day on Friday the city and the provincial ex-mining town where I worked were transformed by temperatures akin to those you'd find in Benidorm or the Canary Islands. After hard work and a good chat with wonderful colleagues I signed off, bagged the weekly shop, got home and thought back to holidays in the Canary Islands. It was those holidays, coupled with a recent trip to a Tapas Restaurant in Birmingham, that inspired me to concoct a double-header of homemade Tapas during the weekend.

Part one of this project was to make some Olives with traditional Canary Island Mojo. The ingredients were as follows:

Two punnets of Green and Black Olives.
0.1 litre of Vinegar.
A quarter of a pint of White Wine.
Three medium-hot Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Half a head of Garlic.
A teaspoon of Dried Thyme.
A teaspoon of Paprika.
A teaspoon of Dried Oregano.

The first job on the Friday Night was to soak overnight the Olives in a small bowl with the Vinegar and White Wine.

On Saturday Afternoon the next job, after I had first negotiated the return of the Dogg following her three week hiatus at an outpost on the moors, was to make the Mojo. Captain Beefheart's challenging second album "Strictly Personal" had found itself onto the player. It is a record that finds the Captain at the crossroads between the relatively, for him at least, straight ahead blues with sixties pop hooks sound found on his first  rate debut album "Safe as Milk" and the seemingly disjointed, yet painstakingly rehearsed, far out blues of his early masterpiece "Trout Mask Replica". There's plenty of quality on the present record however as the Captain's strong voice, sounding like a blues man from the dawn of time, and searing, dirty bottleneck, bluesy guitars carry the day. Plum tracks include the pleading "Trust Us" and the filthy, commanding "Gimme Dat Harp Boy".

So to the Mojo; I removed the top and the seeds from the chili peppers and sliced them finely while wearing plastic gloves. This was very important as even so-called "medium" chillis can sting your hands quite badly if you risk preparing them without gloves.

Then I peeled and topped and tailed the Garlic. As I'm not middle-class enough to own a pestle and mortar I mashed the chili and garlic in a bowl with a potato masher and then added the herbs and oil. I then added this to the bowl with the olives in and stirred them together. I then put the bowl in the fridge until teatime.

At tea I served the Olive Tapas as a side with the Vegetarian Meatballs Tapas I had made for tea. The savoury taste of the Olives, Vinegar and White Wine mixed well with the fire and flavour of the Chili and Garlic which, although raw, was not overpowering.

Glowing Green- the Tapas Olives are lit up by the Spring Sunlight beaming onto the dining table. 

Green Belt

When it's throwing it down with rain, a common thing in this country, you have to be ready to change your plans. That's what happened on Easter Saturday and I made the most of the time by prepping a soup for the three-course dining extravaganza later in the day.

The record on the player was country music sensation Garth Brooks'  1992 effort "The Chase". As well as containing numerous catchy tunes, it deals with the universal issues of challenges in relationships between people. As this theme is something we can all relate to on some level it probably explains why the album sold by the bucket load on its release.

I plumped for a soup that contained lots of green vegetable ingredients and flavourings that evoked warm, sunny summer evenings. The soup was a Rocket, Chinese Cabbage and Potato Soup.

The ingredients were as follows:

A bag of pre-prepared Rocket.
Ten leaves from a Chinese Cabbage.
One Spunta Potato- peeled and then cubed.
Ten Ounces of Frozen Peas
A White Onion- topped, tailed and then diced.
The juice of a Lemon.
A tablespoon of dried Thyme.
A teaspoon of Black Pepper.
Three tablespoons of Olive Oil.
Two cloves of Garlic- topped,tailed, peeled and sliced finely.
Quarter of a pint of Vegetable Stock.

The ingredients to make this one was as follows:

1. Sweat the Cabbage, Garlic, Potatoes, Pepper and Thyme in Olive Oil in a sauce pan for thirty five minutes on a medium heat. Stir the ingredients constantly to stop them sticking to the pan.

2. Add the Rocket and Lemon Juice and sweat for a further twenty minutes.

3. Add the Vegetable Stock and simmer lightly for another twenty-five minutes until the Potato Pieces can be cut with the edge of a plastic spoon.

4. Leave the ingredients to cool and then blend.

5. Warm through on the hob for ten minutes and add some grated Parmesan for a richer taste.

The taste of this dish was rich but also sweet because of the Peas while the Potatoes gave it plenty of substance. The stodginess and wintry taste necessarily created by the Potatoes was also offset by the summery freshness of Lemon Juice.

Being Green- a refreshing and healthy soup ready to eat. 

Gratin Lite

The third part of the Easter Saturday "Come Dine With Me" style trilogy was to be a main course that was quite rich but healthy too. The dish in question I made was a Potato Gratin.

On the player was Garth Brooks' third effort from 1991 "Ropin' The Wind". It is perhaps his strongest album as it strikes well the balance between hardcore country, bluegrass, country-rock and rock power ballads without Brooks losing his ability make a focused and truly great record.

The ingredients for the dish were as follows:

Five Spunta Potatoes, sourced from the local greengrocer, peeled and sliced very finely into pieces the width and thickness of crisps.
Seven knobs of Unsalted Butter.
Three tablespoons of Nutmeg
A teaspoon of Black Pepper
Seven fluid ounces of Plain Greek Yoghurt.
Seven fluid ounces of Almond Milk
Three ounces of Breadcrumbs
Four ounces of Pine Nuts.
A teaspoon of Dried Parsley.
Two ounces of grated Parmesan Cheese.

The method to make this minimalist yet filling main course is:

1. Grease a medium-sized pie dish.
2. Layer the Potatoes evenly throughout the pie dish.
3. Spread the Nutmeg, Black Pepper and Unsalted Butter evenly over the Potatoes.
4. Stir the Almond Milk and Greek Yoghurt together in a measuring jug and then pour evenly over the Potatoes.
5. Bake in the oven on Gas Mark 5 for one hour.
6. While the dish is cooking, mix together the Breadcrumbs, Pine Nuts, Dried Parsley and Parmesan.
7. After an hour remove the dish from the oven and sprinkle the Breadcrumb, Pine Nuts, Dried Parsley and Parmesan evenly over the top of it. Bake for another half an hour again on Gas Mark 5.

After the dish was cooked I removed it from the oven and presented it in my dining room before serving it in three equal portions. The Potatoes added much needed body to the dish while the Nutmeg made it flavoursome and the Breadcrumbs added texture. The Pine Nuts meanwhile gave plenty of protein to this tasteful dish.

Pine Nut and Potato Crunch- safely out of the oven and ready to serve.

E is for Easter

Good Friday 2018 had arrived. It was time for a break. At work I had pushed myself hard and made some magic in doing so. However I was tired; not because of work, as I had found a new energy and focus in the three months after the Christmas Break, but because of the challenging ride I'd been on in my personal life since the start of February. Things had returned to an even keel though now and I wasn't down for long.

However taking note of what my body had told me over the preceding week, I decided to slow myself down and I didn't set the alarm on Thursday night. However I still woke up at a reasonable time on Good Friday Morning. I fired up the Panda and the Dogg and I headed for a walk over at large pond that sits next to the grounds of an old stately home, currently home to a dentist. The dentist in question probably wouldn't have approved of my choice of pudding for my parents' visit for tea on Easter Saturday.

When people think of sweet dishes at Easter Time the first thought is of course Easter Eggs, while another thought might be Simnel Cake, a recipe I have featured on this blog previously. Then you have Fancies and sponge cakes decorated with mini Easter Eggs. The latter was a recipe I chose to make as my Easter Cake of choice for this year.

The record of choice to listen to was Neil Young & Crazy Horse's 1990 cracker "Ragged Glory". The album features plenty of raw emotion, screaming guitars and a sound that makes one wonder if it was recorded in a garage. Whether it was or not, the primal sound of it makes it one of Young & Crazy Horse's best. It's the perfect record to listen to at full volume when making cake with the best part of a four day bank holiday in front of you.

The Ingredients of the Cake were as follows:

For the cake itself:

250 grams of Unsalted Butter
250 grams of Brown Sugar
250 grams of Flour
5 Eggs
A teaspoon of Almond Essence
The zest of two Oranges.
The juice of one One Orange.
A bag of Mini Eggs

For the topping

300 grams of Icing Sugar.
3 tablespoons of warm water
A bag of Mini Eggs

The way I made it was as follows:

1. I creamed the Butter and Brown Sugar together in a mixing bowl.
2. I beat the Eggs in a large measuring jug. Then I added them to the Butter and Brown Sugar with the Almond Essence and stirred them well.
3.I added the Orange Zest and stirred it in.
4. I added the flour and mixed it in thoroughly until I had a thick paste.
5. I added the cake mix to a greased cake tin.
6.I cooked the cake mix in the oven for 38 minutes on Gas Mark 4. I checked it was properly cooked by putting a skewer through the middle of it and seeing that it came out clean.
7. I then put the baked cake to one side to cool down.
8. When the cake was cooled I poked a hole through the middle of the cake and found it largely hollow. I filled the hole with the juice of the Orange and added one bag of Mini Eggs.
9. I made the topping by gradually mixing the Icing Sugar with the warm water in a mixing bowl.
10. I spread the freshly made icing over the top of the Cake with a butter knife and put a large amount of the icing in the middle to help fill the hole containing the Mini Eggs and Orange juice.
11. I decorated the topping by putting Mini Eggs round the side and using the remaining eggs to spell the letter E in the middle of the cake.
12. I put a paper towel over the top of the cake and left it to cool in the fridge over night.

The next day I served it for pudding when my parents arrived. The taste was rich but, surprisingly, not overindulgent. The sponge was light while the juice and zest of the Orange gave it a real freshness. In fact the cake went down so well that it barely lasted the night.

E is for Easter-straight outta the fridge and ready to serve.