Chicken wings Spanish style.

Having purchased some chicken wings on a reduction from my local Co-Op store I decided to cook them enhanced with a mix of paprika and two fresh de-seeded tomatoes, chorizo slices and finely chopped ginger. Yep, that easy. They cooked on a medium heat of gas mark seven (160 degrees in an electric oven) for seventy-five minutes with a small baste in between.

 

 

Earlier in the day I cleared some space in my herb garden and got rid of a whole big green bag of garden rubbish down the local municipal tip.

cooking a spanish style lamb stew

I managed to get a half price whole shoulder of lamb (from Tesco) and boned the joint out myself removing some of the fat (not all) and roughly cut the meat into bite sized chunks. The intention was to make a big lamb stew that would last me two or three meals. As the October nights get darker some comfort food that just needs warming through is needed as I come home from work and settle down for the evening.

The ingredients were the chopped up lamb, a big bunch of coriander, two hot chillis, sweet and new potatoes, chopped tomatoes, carrots, chorizo, garlic, cayenne pepper, and olive oil. I also used up a piece of saucisson sec I happened to have residing at the back of the fridge. Actually I bought very little produce as the garlic and herbs and tomatoes I already had in my kitchen. Same for the chorizo and saucisson sec.

Before making this short video below I prepped the potatoes and carrots and boiled them until al dente and I made a paste with olive oil, the chopped up coriander stalks, the de - seeded peppers and the garlic.

Once I had the vegetables done I put on the large cooking pot and added a small amount of olive oil, heated it up slightly then added the paste. A couple of stirs and a lovely waft of garlic cooking, and I then spooned in the lamb and browned this in the paste. Incidentally I didn't use the whole shoulder, probably about two thirds and the rest got frozen for a curry another time. You can see the rest of the operation on my video. The actual cooking time once the meat was tender was about three quarters of an hour. The video shows the highlights. I had some for my evening meal last night and again for lunch today as I am going out to review a play in Derby this evening. Overnight the gravy has thickened and become richer in taste, bringing out all the delicious flavours of the chilli, garlic, paprika and cayenne peppers. The lamb is very tender and melts in the mouth. There is a comforting heat behind the gravy. No stock was added by the way. This is mainly because I forgot and then found it didn't really need it anyway.

Happy eating!

Spanish style chicken stew and trimming my bush.

I've had a few days off work on holiday this weekend and as money is very tight at the mo I have just been enjoying being at home and doing a few bits and bobs that I normally wouldn't have the time to do. Most of this has been in the kitchen including concocting a Spanish chicken stew from a few ingrediants from the cupboard and some bought in. First of all I marinated chicken pieces in garlic and cayenne pepper and left it overnight in the fridge, to blend. With the bones from the original whole chicken I made a proper chicken stock, again left in the fridge to use the following day. I was surprised to find that it had turned into a sort of chicken stock jelly and when I got round to making the stew I had to blitz it in the food mixer to get it more liquid.

 

 

The Spanish style stew was made from celery, carrots, butter beans, chorizo, the cooked chicken and the chicken stock with a little added paprika and black pepper. To accompany this I made some of my fave hot potatoes, patatas bravas. I make this simply by making small roast potatoes, pouring away the oil and briefly warming through with the patatas bravas sauce.

 

 

I make the sauce from two tins of chopped tomatoes reduced down on the stove top and I add plenty of garlic and a sprinkling of hot ground paprika and stir well. The sauce gets added to the now roast potatoes and left in the oven for about fifteen minutes to cook through. Too much longer and it can dry out.

 

 

Some fresh figs and some delicious mint leaves and chocolate ice cream made a cooling and tasty dessert.

 



 

 

I only have a small garden, most of which is covered in lavender bushes and around this time of the year it becomes time to harvest the already drying flowers and to generally trim my bushes so that they can grow and bloom again in nine months time and fill the air with their fragrance on hot days.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

My friend Rebecca (mentioned in the last blogpost) recently gave me some plums which smelt wonderfully alcoholic as I  took them from their bag and shortly afterwards I made them into a super plum crumble. I love the Summer for such fruits and such nice gestures. Thank you again Rebecca. As a return 'thank you' I intend to give her the dried lavender when it is completely dry from hanging in my kitchen window.

 

Lastly, I purchased (very cheaply) Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall's book, 'Three Good Things on a plate', recently and hope to get some inspiration from this for some tasty, nutritious dishes at low cost and maybe set me off in a new creative direction.

 



Patatas Bravas - my own - easy to make sauce.

Fiery potatoes - Spanish dish.

Take six cloves of garlic, one small red onion and two tins of chopped tomatoes. Chop garlic and onions. Set aside. Open cans of tomatoes and put in saucepan.  Gently fry onions and latterly the garlic and drain off surplus oil. Add into tomatoes and add one heaped teaspoonful of hot smoky paprika or as the Spanish say - pimenton. Mix well. If the mix appears too watery might well be worth reducing it until less so. Put into a food mixer and blitz until pulpy.  Ideally leave to strengthen in fridge overnight but if in a rush you can use it  straight away.


For other great Spanish dishes I recommend Rick Stein's fabulously tempting Spanish book and accompanying DVD also available at Amazon.co.uk.

Patatas Bravas with spicy chicken.

Par boil as many potatoes as you feel you need  ( I did two large potatoes for one serving) then roast in oven until crispy and brown. Empty oil out of roasting tin and set potatoes aside. Time the rest of the meal around putting sauce mixture liberally over the roast potatoes and warm through in a medium oven for half an hour. Delish!

home made tapas selection