Honey Glazed Turkey and Ceps Slice

So simple and sooooo tasty! Another one of those recipes where you can throw pretty much any meat or vegetables in, sprinkle on some cheese and bake, and voila! The choice of ingredients here is simply a result of what was hanging about in our fridge......

For this we want:

• 1 turkey breast 
• 1 tbsp honey
• a good handful of wild mushrooms
• grated mozzarella
• good glug of cream
• a few little knobs of butter
• fresh/dried green herbs
• 1 sheet puff pastry
• half an onion, sliced

 1. First griddle the turkey on a medium heat, with a good sprinkling of salt, pepper and a glug of honey to glaze it. When nice and golden brown, slice it into thin slivers.

2. Thoroughly wash the ceps and then slice into lengths. Sprinkle this over half the pastry, leaving a 2cm border to be able to close the pastry after. Top with the turkey slices and a good handful of grated mozzarella and sliced onion. Drizzle over around 3 tbsp cream and 3 or 4 little knobs of butter. Season and add some fresh/dried herbs- parsley, rosemary, basil.....

3. Fold the other half of the pastry over the top of the slice and twist the edges to bind, like a pasty. Brush with eggwash and place in a preheated oven at 200°C for 15- 20 mins or until golden brown.

4. Serve with a crisp green salad and fresh white wine. Mmmmm!!

Setitas Silvestres with Wild Rice

'Tis the season of wild mushrooms in Spain. And boy are they delish!! Packing a serious punch of flavour and texture, these babies also look awesome when added to any dish, and you can get a little box of them for 2 euros. The combo of garlic, mushrooms, butter and fresh parsley really can't go far wrong....

You'll be needing:

• a tray of wild mushrooms
• handful of fresh parsley
• a knob of butter
• a small onion
• pinch of sugar
• salt and pepper
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• olive oil
• wild rice 

1. First, fry the chopped onion and crushed garlic cloves in a knob of butter and a good glug of olive oil. When they start to sweat, sprinkle over a little sugar.

2. Roughly chop the mushrooms, not too much, you want them to still be chunky. Throw these in with the onions and garlic, fry on a medium heat for about 5 minutes before roughly chopping the parsley and sprinkling this over the top.

3. Whip up some wild rice, sprinkle over a little lemon juice then add a good ladle of the mushroom mix before sprinkling over a good pinch of sea salt and crack of pepper. A very quick and delicious packed lunch I made for myself and my housemate! Enjoy!

Seared Salmon with Caprese Salad

So simple, so good for you and man is it tasty! Gorgeous summer colours and flavours come together to make this one a real feast for the eyes as well as the palette. Serve with a crisp white wine for a lovely weekend treat....

You'll need....

• 2 salmon steaks
• sea salt and pepper
• a lemon
• dried herbs
• fresh mozzarella
• 2 juicy tomatoes
• lambs lettuce
• a baguette

1. So, first we need to prep the salad. Slice the mozzarella and tomatoes into 3mm slices and layer in rows, alternating the tomato with the cheese. Then toss over some lambs lettuce before drizzling some extra virgin olive oil, basil (fresh if possible), cracked black pepper and salt, before a drizzle of pesto and balsamic syrup. 

                 

2. Now for the salmon. On each steak sprinkle some dried herbs, black pepper and a good pinch of sea salt. Cook them in a griddle pan on a high/medium heat for a few minutes on each side until golden brown on the outside and pink in the middle. When you've fished out the salmon from the pan, deglaze with the juice of half a lemon and drizzle over the fish.

3. Serve with a lovely glass of crisp white wine and some griddled slices of bread. Deeeeeelish!

Spaghetti with Spicy Chorizo Meatballs

Another happy accident coming from this recipe: too many people to feed, not enough meat, some chorizo sausages chilling in the fridge......hey presto you've got some tasty chorizo meatballs! I'd also say it's quite nice to put some effort into the tomato sauce, ours is made with some wonderful winter veggies and a splash of red wine to give it that extra depth of flavour.

For the meatballs:

• 400g lean beef mince
• 2 chorizo sausages
• salt
• pepper
• dried herbs
• a red chilli, finely chopped (fresh or dried)
• 1 tsp paprika

For the tomato sauce:

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• half a courgette, diced
• half a red pepper, diced
• 3/4 tomatoes, diced
• glug of red wine
• 200 ml stock
• dried mixed herbs

1. Mix all the meatball ingredients together in a bowl, just using the meat from the sausages so make sure you peel off the skin, add a glug of olive oil and get your hands in there to really tenderise the meat well. Roll into small balls (3cm diameter) and place on a baking tray. Put them in the oven for 15-20 mins.

2. For the sauce, first fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil and butter until they become golden. Then add the tomato, courgette and red pepper and sprinkle over a pinch of sugar. After about 5 more minutes on a medium heat add in the wine and stock and let the sauce simmer on a low heat for 10-15 mins, adding salt, pepper and a sprinkle of dried herbs to taste.

3. While the sauce is simmering, cook up some spaghetti or whatever pasta you have decided to use until al dente. 

4. Serve a bowl of spaghetti with a few juicy meatballs on top, a generous ladle of the rich tomato sauce and a shaving of fresh parmesan with some crusty bread. Enjoy! (we sure did!)

A Day Off for the Chef: El Mercat de Mercats

So this weekend a gastronomer's dream hit Barcelona: the Mercat de Mercats! In a very picturesque little square in front of the cathedral, an eruption of wine and tapas stalls spilled out serving up an array of deliciosities for 2 euros a pop. Safe to say we were in our element! I've popped a few pics onto the blog because they just HAVE to be shared...........

Melons. Make Art.

Very ornate cookies, disguised as muffins.

Ohla Gastronomic Bar

A cheese-lover's dream

What an amazing Saturday night :p...

Wild ceps that absolutely burst with flavour. Awesome they were.

All the participating restaurants presented one signature dish

Cod and baked beans. In tins. What could be simpler!

Does this one even need a caption? (omg!)

The sun sets on the market...

I'll definitely be taking some inspiration from these incredible ingredients for a recipe coming soon to Barcelonenas. Might start with those tantalising wild mushrooms........

Handmade Burgers with Cebolla Caramelizada

Don't buy burgers. Make them!! Another recipe you can easily put your own personal twist on if you like, or keep it simple for a sumptuously juicy, tastylicious beef burger. The quality of the mince is important, always look at the fat content and keep it low. Or better still, buy it fresh from a butcher.

The burgers:

• 400g minced beef
• fresh green herbs (your choice)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 small dried chillies, finely chopped
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 egg, beaten
• salt and pepper

The caramelised onion:

• one onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp sugar

1. Throw mince, a good handful of green herbs (basil or mint a great one in this recipe), the crushed garlic, chillies and paprika in a bowl. Mix well with your hands, massaging the meat as you go to make it even more tender, before adding the egg, salt and pepper. Heat up some oil in a pan now if you plan on making homemade chips.

2. Slip the onion in a pan with the sugar and keep on a low heat to caramelise. Heat up a griddle pan and using your hands separate the meat into 3/4 balls and mould into chunky burgers. On a medium-high heat place the burgers on the griddle with a tiny glug of olive oil.

3. While the burgers are cooking, slice up a few potatoes into chunky chips and shallow fry (only when oil is very hot!). When they turn golden brown (after 4-5 mins) fish them out and place them on kitchen towel to drain off the excess fat. Sprinkle with sea salt.

4. When the burgers are cooked to your liking, toast a bun and place the juicy burger on top and dust with a dollop of caramelised onion and mayo. Serve with the crispy homemade chips and a fresh green salad. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!

ThaiFishFormas

This week we've got a lot of fresh coriander lurking about in the fridge, and this recipe was a last-ditch attempt to use it up before it withered away. So I looked for something to go with coriander, rather than the other way around! My guest sous-chef decided the best thing for the fishcakes would be geometric shapes, which at the time I doubted, but as you can see he was right, I was wrong, they look awesome.

We'll be needing...

• 3 large potatoes, peeled
• 1-2 salmon fillets
• cream cheese
• coriander (fresh and ground)
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
• dried parsley
• salt and pepper
• 1 egg
• breadcrumbs
• mayonnaise 
• 1 lemon

1. Cut the potatoes into quarters and boil for about 8 mins, or until you can see that they're cooked. While they're boiling bung the salmon in the oven to cook for around 6 mins at 200 degrees (do not overcook, its fine to still be pink inside!)

2. Place the cooked potatoes in a bowl and add a glug of good olive oil, a large tbsp of cream cheese, a handful of fresh and a tsp of ground coriander and parsley, the garlic, ginger, salt, pepper and an egg. When the fish is out of the oven peel off the skin and flake in the fish.

3. Whizz the mixture up with a hand blender/whisk/fork, whichever you have at your disposal! Then pour some breadcrumbs out on the work surface, throw on a large tbsp of the mixture onto it, and coat entirely with breadcrumbs before moulding it into whatever fun shape you like. 

4 If you want to oven bake them, make sure to brush on either some eggwash or olive oil so the fishcakes go golden and lovely in the oven, cook them for 10-15 mins at 200. If shallow or deep frying, fry until golden brown. Make a lovely lemon mayonnaise by mixing 3 tbsp of mayo with the juice and zest of half a lemon. Serve with a fresh green salad, a dollop of zingy mayonnaise, a wedge of lemon and a crisp white wine. Faaaaaaaaantabulous!