Seafood Paella
After having a really good paella at Taxidermista in Barcelona last week, we bought a paella pan and brought it back with us. Tonight we tried our own. We had a seafood paella with langoustines, prawns, mussels and squid.
The raw ingredients:
In the paella pan:
Served up:
And with it we drank a really nice Cava and a white Rioja:
We followed this recipe but left out the monkfish because we added various other bits like langoustines and squid. It tasted really good, but lacked a bit of sweetness that we’d had before. Next time we’ll use fresh red pepper with the onions and garlic, rather than the jar version added later in the process that the recipe specified.
The Cava we’d brought back from Barcelona because it was one that we’d had there. It tasted “light but mature” which is an interesting combination that I’ve not found in Champagnes or other sparkling wines before. Because we’d brought back about five bottles of Cava, we only had one bottle of still wine and drank it a few days ago. So we went with whatever we could find with the paella today. Cune Monopole white Rioja – quite oaky and a little off-dry. No ideal, but good enough.
Bocadillos
While in Barcelona we ate some brilliant baguettes that were rubbed with tomato and garlic, filled with jamon and drizzled with olive oil. We decided to recreate them for lunch today with some Spanish ham we bought from our local deli. They were really good but the weather could have made more of an effort.
Broad Bean and Pancetta Salad
Broad beans are so good when they are in season and we bought a load of them this evening. We both had big lunches so felt something light tonight would be enough. Broad beans and pancetta salad with rocket, served with a simple vinaigrette and some toasted olive ciabatta. It was good, but the rocket was a bit too strong and overpowered the broad beans unless you ate them separately. The tasty little nuggets of pancetta were brilliant. Next time we’ll use milder leaves and maybe add some feta.
We drank a Premier Cru Rully with it, which was good. And good that it was good, since we still have eleven bottles of it.
Chocolate Brownies
I was quite flattered today to be asked to bake something for a colleague who is leaving on Friday. Flattered but frightened because I’m not much of a baker. Something about the preciseness of the measuring and the weighing and the mixing and the folding. I like to taste as I go along and add whatever I think is missing, you can’t really do that with baking.
Anyway, the colleague in question likes chocolate so I thought brownies would be appropriate, and I’ve heard that they’re quite well behaved. So brownies it was, using this recipe.
Stephen assisted me with the measuring and the weighing and the mixing and the folding and I crossed my fingers as they went in to the oven. We checked them along the way and, when we thought they felt right, we took them out and left them to cool. They smelt good and the texture seemed right. I just had a small taste and I think they actually taste good too. Chocolatey and gooey and nutty, which is how brownies are supposed to be. I think. Guess I’ll find out tomorrow.
Stir Fried Fish
Continuing our quest to ear healthily, we chose stir fry for dinner this evening. Stephen took control of the wok, while I chopped and made marinades. We used a random recipe we found online which involved the usual soy and oyster sauces, ginger, garlic, onion etc. The haddock marinated for a short while, then was quickly woked and removed while the vegetables (mushrooms, baby corn and some past-their-best spring greens) cooked and the second marinade was added.
We served it with jasmine rice. It was good but lacked something; salt maybe, possibly chilli.
Paprika Pork Chops with Roasted Vegetables
Tonight, we roasted a mountain of vegetables (peppers, onions, sweet potato, aubergine, courgette, carrot, mushroom) with garlic and rosemary and served them with paprika pork chops. The flavours complimented each other well but overall there was a lack of crunch. We had added some sesame seeds to the vegetables but not a mountain-sized amount, so they got a bit lost.
Spaghetti Bolognaise
Stephen and I read the same novel while on holiday (Mark Haddon’s “A Spot of Bother”, very funny) and there were a couple of mentions of spaghetti bolognaise which led us both to crave it. This used to be something I ate on an almost weekly basis, particularly when I was a student, but neither Stephen nor I have had it for ages.
I spent most of Sunday afternoon cooking the sauce, which we ate tonight. I added some milk which I’ve done the last couple of times I’ve made it, and let it simmer for two hours. I think this really makes a difference to the texture of the sauce. It becomes softer and almost melty. The other ingredients are pretty standard, onion, garlic, celery, bacon, minced beef, red wine, passata (I don’t like the chunky pieces of tomato or the skin in tinned tomatoes), sundried tomato paste, loads of herbs, salt and pepper, nutmeg and some worcester sauce.
We served it in the non-traditional way, a pile of spaghetti with a heap of sauce on the top, but as Stephen pointed out most Italian recipe books say this doesn’t exist in Italy so I don’t think it matters too much.
G
Chicken Salad
Continuing the healthy theme and to use up some of yesterday’s roast chicken, I made a chicken salad for lunch which I livened up with a honey and mustard dressing. Honey, wholegrain mustard, salt, lemon juice and oil, all shaken up and drizzled on the mixed salad. Really tasty.
Afterwards, I had a Bottlegreen Push Up. I would recommend them.
Roast Chicken
We’ve eaten lots of great food over the last few days but a lot of it was very rich, and we were slightly greedy too. We decided on a simple roast chicken for dinner this evening, with crushed Jersey Royals rather than roast potatoes.
Stephen stuffed the chicken with a selection of herbs from the garden (sage, rosemary and thyme), lemon and onion and roasted in the oven. We served it with some spring greens (shouldn’t they be called summer greens now?), peas, broad beans and a gem squash for Stephen. There was also some excellent Stephen’s Gravy. It was delicous and, for the first time in ages, we didn’t over-eat.
Salad
After the excesses of the last few days, we opted for a healthy lunch of salad today. Stephen made the salad and then had his with tuna. I had smoked trout. Simple but tasty.
