Spanish Pintxo. What are Spanish Pintxos?

 If you love tapas then you will love these two videos made before lockdown about Pintxos in San Sebastian by our foodie friends James and Yolanda of Spain Revealed on YouTube.

Also if you love Spain, then do as we do. and subscribe to their Spain Revealed Community Facebook Page to get regular updates. So about those Pintxos. Venga. Let's go.

Ruddington Village Market. Adventures with smoked fish from Smith's Smokery of Linconshire.

 The Ruddington Village Market happens once a month at the beginning of the month and last weekend I had a mooch round and ended up buying some smoked fish items from a very pleasant guy running the Smith's Smokery Smoked Fish stall. He had come to our village all the way from Skegness and was doing a great trade. I purchased a whole smoked eel and a pack of two smoked salmon pieces that were close to their use by date of 9th Sept and on sale for a bargain £4 for the two. The eel cost me a fiver.

I filleted and skinned the Wild Smoked Eel and made myself a smoked eel salad on the day of purchase. Delicious.

The smoked salmon was refrigerated until the 8th when I decided to make a salmon and leek shortcut pastry pie. I did it all in stages by poaching the salmon and steaming the two big leaks. I made a pastry base and coddled together lid from a shop bought ready made pastry. The mushrooms were chopped up and gently fried  in butter. To add some more flavours I raided my cupboard for a few salty capers and opened a small tin of anchovies. These were all quite random 'I wonder what would go nice with it?' additions and to finish I sliced a tomato and added a home made cheese sauce. 

With the pastry lid in place and the sides trimmed I popped the pie in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 6 for an hour. I don't know if I put too much cheese sauce in but when i checked to cooked about 30 minutes in there was some spillage. I whipped the pie out and transferred to pie dish into a low ceramic dish and washed the oven tray once cooled. I gave some of the finished pie to my elderly neighbour Betty and ate a good slice of mine with some new potatoes. 

The next day I pigged out on the reheated remainder of the pie with some steamed and buttered asparagus. I can't wait to see what tempts me at the Ruddington Village Market in early October.