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Pollo a la Espanola

Ingredients
1 tsp paprika
4 chicken portions
olive oil
150g smoked bacon lardons
1 large onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
400g canned tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley



Rub paprika and salt into the chicken. Heat 2 tbsp oil in large frying pan. Put in the chicken portions, skin side down, and fry gently.



Heat 1 tbsp oil in a flameproof casserole and add the bacon.

When the bacon starts to give off fat, add the chopped onion and garlic, frying very gently until soft.



Remove and discard the stalks and seeds from the peppers and roughly chop the flesh. Spoon off a little fat from the chicken pan, then add the peppers fitting them into the spaces between the chicken portions, and cook gently.



When the onions are soft, stir in the tomatoes and season. Arrange the chicken pieces in the sauce, and stir in the cooked peppers.

Cover the casserole tightly and simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes. Check the seasoning, stir in the chopped parsley.




If I am not wrong, Pollo a la Espanola translates to Spanish chicken. Anyway, I have been thinking of this dish for ages. My mom or I made it a couple of years back but I completely forgot where the recipe is from. For the longest time, I thought it was in my Chicken cookbook, but I just couldn't find it anywhere. Finally, the mystery has been solved; the spanish cookbook

Of all the tomato based chicken casseroles I have tried, Chicken chasseur (French), Hunter's chicken (Italian) and a number of other (probably not orthodox) variations of the same theme, this is my favourite.

Simmered Mackeral in Miso Sauce (Saba no miso ni)

I used the same recipe that nietize used here. Except that I added shitake mushrooms and used mirin instead of sugar and sake. I love this dish, it is heartwarming, delicious and easy to cook.

Whole Lemon Tart

I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I have a crazy craze going on with lemons, so this was great for me, using the whole lemon got the nice zesty tang. I actually cut the sugar to 1 1/4 cups but it was still too sweet (for me and some friends, other friends with more of a sweet tooth liked it). I would use 1 cup of sugar the next time round.

Roasted Acorn Squash

Mushroom Tartine

The Cao sisters and I made it one fine saturday evening. Comté, cremini, lemon zest, coriander leaves. It's simply delicious.

Sherried onion soup with saffron

Ingredients
3 tbsp butter
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
pinch of saffron threads
50g blanched almonds, toasted and finely ground
750ml chicken stock
3 tbsp sherry
1/2 tsp paprika

To garnish
2 tbsp flaked, toasted
chopped fresh parsley

Melt the butter in a heavy pan over a low heat. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to ensure that they are thoroughly coated in the melted butter, then cover the pan and cook very gently, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes, or until the onions are soft and golden yellow.

Add the saffron threads to the pan and cook, uncovered, for 3-4 minutes, then add the finely ground almonds and cook, stirring the ingredients constantly, for a further 2-3 minutes.

Pour in the chicken stock and sherry into the pan and stir in 1 tsp salt and the paprika. Season with plenty of black pepper. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for about 10 minutes.

Pour the soup into a food processor and process until smooth, then return it to the rinsed pan. Reheat slowly, without allowing the soup to boil, stirring occasionally. Taste for seasoning.

Ladle the soup into heated bowls, garnish with the toasted flaked or slivered almonds and a chopped fresh parsley and serve immediately.

Potato tortilla

Ingredients

450g small waxy potatoes, peeled
1 onion
vegetable oil
4 large eggs
salt and ground black pepper
fresh flat leaf parsley or tomato wedges, to garnish

Using a sharp knife, cut the potatoes into thin slices and slice the onion into thin rings. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a frying pan.

Add the potatoes and the onions to the pan and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes, or until the potato slices are just tender. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs with a little salt and pepper. Stir in the cooked potatoes and onion.



Clean the frying pan with kitchen paper then heat the remaining oil and pour in the potato mixture. Cook very gently for 5-8 minutes until set underneath. During cooking, lift the edges of the tortilla with a spatula, and allow any uncooked egg to run underneath. Shake the pan from side to side, to prevent sticking.

Place a large heatproof plate upside down over the pan, invert the tortilla on to the plate and then slide it back into the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes more, until the underside of the tortilla is golden brown.


Serve, garnished with fresh flat leaf parsley or tomato wedges.