Spanish Omelette Incident

On a recent Friday Night I sat quietly in the car as the early evening sun beat down. I was half-reading a slightly insipid Doctor Who Novel from 1996 and half nursing a headache, which was improving gradually thanks to a couple of tactical Paracetamols. I was wearing my best suit and bow tie as I was about to go to a black tie dinner with a colleague and her daughter. The dinner was a charity one featuring top professionals from the worlds of law and medicine. Despite being fully sober throughout the event and handicapped by nursing a possible chest infection, I entertained and spent quality time with many people. I also threw a few "innovative" shapes on the dance floor. It was a late finish to the evening but totally worth it.

The next day featured the arrival of some of my oldest friends from uni days. The lack of hangover also meant I was able to put on a buffet and some home cooking for us and we spent a very enjoyable day catching up, taking in a sun-shiny walk in the park and adjoining fields. It was a day of relaxation and self-care for us all, something we were all in need of for different reasons.

When Sunday teatime rolled round the weather had caused the temperature to rise to tropical levels and I decided I didn't want anything too heavy. That said I followed the route of many in the Mediterranean and made a Spanish Omelette.

The record on player was Miles Davis' early classic "Birth of the Cool", while not having the innovation and bit of some his later albums, there is still enough here to enjoy and even a track or two to boogie to.

The ingredients for the Omelette were as follows:

Two medium sized New Potatoes, scrubbed thoroughly and sliced very finely width-ways.
Two Shallots, topped, tailed, peeled and sliced finely.
About eight ounces of Fresh Basil, shredded into medium-sized pieces.
A teaspoon of Dried Oregano.
Two Eggs, beaten.
100 millelitres of Almond Milk.

The way I made this one was as follows:

1. Fry in Sunflower Oil in a frying pan the New Potatoes, Shallots, Basil and Oregano for twenty minutes on a low heat turning regularly to ensure the ingredients don't stick to bottom of the frying pan.

2. Meanwhile stir together the Eggs and Almond Milk in a measuring jug with a whisk. Then add them to the frying pan.

3. Fry the mixture on a lowish heat for the next fifteen minutes until it begins to solidify.

4. Keep the Omelette in the frying pan and put it under the grill under a low heat for five minutes to make it go solid on the top.

After I'd done all the above it was ready to serve. Potatoes in Omelettes is a common recipe used in Spanish Omelettes while Oregano and Basil are common ingredients in such Omelettes. This one was surprisingly filling and the Fresh Basil made it exceptionally flavoursome and light but effective meal on a hot day.

With the Omelette removed from the frying pan, there was still a further half to remove.

Bread of Wine

Another part of the Bank Holiday Sunday Cooking Project was to make some homemade bread. I was partly inspired by the tale of a former judge, which he told at a Rotary Meeting somewhere in the North. He had started his working life as a Master Baker,careful how you pronounce that, before studying law at night school as a mature student, qualifying as a solicitor and then blossoming into a judge. Apparently, although I never recall this when I was before him, he had his baking certificates displayed in his Court next to his legal qualifications.

On the player was Roy Orbison's final and best album "Mystery Girl" which has a host of star collaborations including production by Jeff Lynne and writing credits from Bono and the Edge on the hypnotic and wonderful title track. The album took me back to days playing cricket in the countryside for a local village team as a ten year old and listening to the album on a tape in my Dad's battered old Fiat Uno as he transported me to and from the cricket ground.

The Ingredients for this pleasant bread were as follows:

14 Ounces of Wholemeal Bread Flour.
1 Teaspoon of Yeast.
10 Fresh Rosemary Leaves.
A quarter of a pint of Bordeaux White Wine.
A teaspoon of Nigella Seeds.

The Method was as follows:

1. Stir the Flour, Yeast and Rosemary Leaves together in a mixing bowl.

2. Gradually add the White Wine stirring it in slowly and then combine all the ingredients together until they form a soft ball that can be easily manipulated.

3. Knead the dough together into a flat circle.

4. Leave to rise in a warm place for an hour.

5. Top with the Nigella Seeds and then bake in the oven for twenty-five minutes on Gas Mark 6.

I served this bread with some Unsalted Butter and it was a perfect adjunct to the Beetroot Soup my parents had for starters and the Provencial Stew that was the main course and the subject of last week's blog post. Would the retired judge and former baker have been proud of this bread? I have a feeling perhaps the answer would be yes.

Side of bread- some of the bread freshly out of the oven and festooned with Nigella Seeds. 

Stew You, Provence

The second Bank Holiday Sunday had rolled around quickly. I woke that morning by sitting bolt upright in my bed with a feeling that I'd just been teleport-ed there directly from the bar we'd ended up in the night before, but without the benefit of the eight hours' sleep i'd clearly had in the interim.

That evening my parents were to attend my rural and urban chateau for tea. In the summer of 1993 we ventured to Provence in Southern France. While there we stayed in a gite not for from Pablo Picasso's last house deep in the countryside. I didn't appreciate what a great part of the world it was at the time. Maybe I'll go back someday.

The extreme heat and the fact my parents were coming round had jogged my memory back to that holiday and I decided to use the memories as inspiration to make a Provencial Stew for our main meal that evening.

On the player was Suede's 1994 masterwork "Dog Man Star". It proved to be a watershed for the group; as it was the last with founder guitarist Bernard Butler. At the time the album was made he and lead singer Brett Anderson were at loggerheads and taking lots of drugs. Therefore the quality of record proves the old adage that great art rarely springs from contentment.

The album opens with the rousing "Introducing the Band" with Anderson's best 'David Bowie in a bad mood' voice in full cry. Other top tracks on this largely flawless album include the anti-anthem "We are the Pigs" and the nine minute "Asphalt World" where Butler's guitar work invokes the spirit of Jimmy Page on the peerless Led Zeppelin track "No Quarter".

The ingredients of this stew were as follows:

2 Fennel Bulbs, topped, tailed and peeled then sliced thinly.
1 Red Pepper, de-cored, de-seeded and sliced into small squares.
1 Red Onion, topped, tailed, peeled and then diced.
4 Cloves of Garlic,topped, tailed, peeled and then sliced thinly.
20 Vine Tomatoes cut in half.
15 Fresh Broadbeans.
1 Teaspoon of Dried Coriander.
2 Teaspoons of Dried Parsley.
10 ounces of Black and Green Olives.
A quarter of a pint of Bordeaux White Wine.
A bunch of Fresh Basil Leaves.
A quarter of a pint of Vegetable Stock.

The method was as follows:

1. I shallow-fried the vegetables, save the Olives, herbs and half the Basil in my Le Cresceut in Olive Oil on a medium heat for around thirty minutes. I stirred the ingredients regularly to stop them sticking to the pan and when I wasn't stirring them I put the lid on the Le Cresceut to keep the heat in.

2. After thirty minutes were up I added the rest of the Basil, the Olives and the Tomatoes. I continued  to stir the ingredients and found the tomatoes released lots of juice that helped the dish stew with added flavour without going dry. I carried on this process for fifteen minutes.

3. I then added the Vegetable Stock and simmered everything for a further fifteen minutes prior to serving it.

I served the stew with a side of white wine bread, which you will see on the blog soon. The dish proved to be a light yet filling one that on a hot night was just what was needed. If we had all closed our eyes we could probably have imagined ourselves being back in Provence nearly twenty-five years ago.

Bubbling in the pot and ready to serve

Out and about with plenty of Fennel, Fresh Basil and Olives