I’m sure you all know Gazpacho, but have you ever tried Salmorejo? It’s from Spanish Andalusia as well, you eat it cold too but it has a thicker texture which makes it a cream rather than a liquid soup. You can eat it as a starter or as an appetizer. In Spain, people usually dip it with bread but it’s also pretty good with crude veggies (pepper, cucumber, Portobello mushrooms, zucchini etc.). Vegetarians can skip this part, the others will top it with a hard boiled egg and some cured ham.

Preparation time: 10 mn

Ingredients (for 6 servings)

Salmorejo

2.2 lbs (1 kg) ripe tomatoes
7 oz (200 g) of bread from the previous day
1 cup (250 ml) of olive oil (click here to buy online)
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons of vinegar
Salt

Topping

1 egg
3 slices of cured ham

Instructions

1/ Heat tomatoes in a pan filled with water until their skin gets easy to take away. Let them cool down a little off the water.

2/ Cut bread into pieces.

3/ Peel tomatoes and garlic clove.

4/ Mix bread, tomatoes, garlic, vinegar and olive oil in a blender.

5/ Season with salt and keep in the fridge.

6/ Before serving, get water to a boil in a small pan. Add egg thoroughly with a tablespoon and leave in boiling water for 9 minutes.

7/ Rinse egg with cold water, let it cool a little and shell.

8/ Dice cured ham and egg.

9/ Serve salmorejo in individual dishes or in a salad bowl for dipping and sharing. Top with egg, ham and a dash of olive oil.

Enjoy

My twitter followers might have been aware my Internet connection has been down for the last month and a half… Well, I’m back! And since we’ve been spending vacation in Andalusia with my Spanish family-in-law, I came back with a bunch of Spanish recipes in stock

Let’s start with this very easy to make garlic and parsley calamari recipe. If you have a great olive oil at home, use it. The better your olive oil tastes, the better this baby squid recipe will come out…

Preparation time: 5 mn – Cooking time: 15 mn

Ingredients (for 2 servings)

1.1 lbs (500 g) of baby squid (fresh or frozen)
3 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons of olive oil (click here to buy online)
3 tablespoons of parsley
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Clean baby squid or defrost them if you’re using frozen ones.

2/ Peel garlic cloves. Clean and chop parsley.

3/ Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Pour olive oil and add garlic.

4/ Move garlic around the pan so the oil gets garlic flavor.

5/ Pour baby squid into the pan.

6/ After 10 minutes, add parsley, salt and pepper to the calamari and cook them for 5 more minutes or until they’re firm.

7/ When they’re done, serve baby squid leaving the garlic cloves and all the oil you can in the pan.

You can serve these garlic and parsley baby squid alone, as a starter or with wild rice as a main dish.

I hadn’t had cuttlefish for so long I almost forgot how good it was! This recipe was made with a fresh cuttlefish, but if you’re a beginner you might rather use frozen pieces… I must admit that cleaning it was pretty disgusting although the result was totally worth it

Preparation time: 20 mn  Cooking time: 1 h

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

3,3 lbs (1.5 kg) of cuttlefish
3 garlic cloves
2 1/2 cups of white wine (dry)
2 onions
2 bay leaves
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of thyme
1/8 cup of Cognac
Saffron
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Clean and dice cuttlefish.

2/ Pour olive oil in a frying pan and heat it over medium heat. Add cuttlefish.

3/ Peel and chop garlic and onions.

4/ When all the water from the cuttlefish has evaporated, add garlic, onions, bay leaves, thyme and a small amount of saffron.

5/ Add Cognac. (If you’re an advanced cook, you can ‘flamber’ which means setting the alcohol on fire for a short amount of time. In this case you need to warm Cognac before adding it to the pan, take pan off heat, then lit it on fire).

6/ Pour diced tomatoes and wine into the pan. Add salt and pepper.

7/ Get to a smooth boil for approximately 5 minutes then reduce heat and leave covered for 1 hour.

8/ Serve with rice or tagliatelle pasta.

There are so many ingredients you can top baked potatoes with, it’s always difficult to choose! This baked potatoes recipe uses portobello mushrooms flavored with garlic and parsley. It’s really easy to make, the only thing you need to take into account being potatoes baking time. For medium sized potatoes, it should take around one hour. If your potatoes are bigger, it will take longer. If you don’t have enough time, don’t worry, you’re allowed to trick. You can boil potatoes instead of baking them, nobody has ever complained

Preparation time: 20 mn  Baking time: 1 h

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

8 medium sized potatoes
7 portobello mushrooms
4 tablespoons of parsley
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C/Th 6).

2/ Wash potatoes and dry them with a clean clothe. Pierce them using a fork (5 times should be enough; it allows steam to get out the potatoes when baking).

3/ Wrap potatoes in aluminum foil and bake them for 1 hour.

4/ Peel and chop mushrooms and garlic. (Peel mushrooms by taking off the white ’skin’ they have on top and cutting their bottom end)

5/ Pour olive oil in a frying pan and heat it over medium heat. Add garlic.

6/ Clean and chop parsley.

7/ Pour mushrooms and parsley in the frying pan. Cook until mushrooms have a nice brownish color. Add salt and pepper.

8/ When potatoes are tender, cut a line in the middle. Add a piece of butter, a pinch of salt  and the mix of parsley and garlic mushrooms.

9/ Serve them right away.

Perfect with a grilled meat or a lemon stuffed chicken.

I love mixing lime with salmon, it gives it a great original taste. This recipe includes Japanese wasabi, you can adjust the amount you put in it according to your own taste. Don’t hesitate to add half of it, try the sauce then add the rest if you like it more spicy. When everything is poured, it’s too late to go back In general, when cooking, you should always trust your taste buds. It’s the best way to avoid a bad surprise on the table!

Preparation time: 25 mn

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

4 salmon fillets
4 spring onions
2 garlic cloves
10 basil leaves
1 orange (8 tbsp of juice)
1/2 lime (3 tbsp of juice)
4 tablespoons of sour cream (creme fraiche)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 to 2 teaspoons of wasabi
3/2 fl oz (10 cl) of water
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Peel and clean onions. Slice them into circles.

2/ Peel and chop garlic.

3/ Clean and chop basil leaves. Keep 4 aside for decoration.

4/ Heat a pan over medium heat. Add oil and cook salmon for 3 mn on each side. Add salt and pepper.

5/ Mix sour cream with 2 tablespoons of orange juice. Add salt and pepper.

6/ Pour onion and garlic into the pan and leave for about 1 mn.

7/ Add lime juice and the orange juice you have left. Add water and take it to a boil. Then add sour cream mixture.

8/ Add wasabi and stir well.

9/ Add chopped basil, salt and pepper.

10/ Serve fillets with their sauce in 4 plates. Add a basil leaf on each salmon fillet and serve right away.

Perfect with: Rice, pasta, au gratin style potatoes, green asparagus…