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.

Roasted garlic soup

Ingredients

1 large whole head of garlic
4 medium potatoes, diced
1.75 litres of vegetable stock
parsley to garnish

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Place the unpeeled garlic bulb in a small roasting pan and bake for 30 minutes until soft in the centre.

Parboil the potatoes in a large pan of boiling water for 10 minutes.

Simmer the stock in another pan for 5 minutes. Drain the potatoes and add them to the stock. Squeeze the garlic pulp into the soup, reserving a few whole cloves and stir. Simmer for 15 minutes and serve topped with whole garlic cloves and parsley.


I was watching this programme on Spanish cuisine and I remembered the Spanish guy adding an egg to each bowl of roasted garlic soup. It actually works quite well with the soup as it helps to balance the sharp taste of the garlic. If you look hard at the picture you can make out the yolk and the white patch on the soup isn't cream, its the whites of the egg.

Chinese roast pork belly

Ingredients

2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sichuan pepper
1 tbsp five spice
1 kg pork belly
2 tbsp good quality red wine vinegar

Fry salt, sichuan pepper and five spice without oil at low heat for a few minutes.

Put the pork belly on a chopping board and score the fat in a criss cross manner. Rub the meat all over with oil, then rub the marinate into the meat. Cover the pork up and put it to one side in a roasting tray (preferably, kept in the fridge for a day)



Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Put the pork in the oven and roast for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 160 degrees and roast for 1 hour. Bast the pork with the red wine vinegar and continue roasting for 20 minutes at 220 degrees or until the skin is nice and crispy.



Serve with a dollop of dijon mustard

Well the cooking method is exactly the same as the roast pork recipe below, as you can see, the difference is in the seasoning.
It's good that pork belly isn't readily accessible in London or else it may be a frequent item on my table which is not exactly that beneficial for my health...

Baked rosemary chicken with homemade croutons

From Jamie at Home

Ingredients
4 whole free-range or organic chicken legs, skin on
1 loaf ciabatta bread (about 9 ounces), torn into thumb-sized pieces
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked and roughly chopped
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 thin slices pancetta or bacon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the chicken legs in a snug-fitting roasting pan with the pieces of torn-up bread. Sprinkle with the chopped rosemary, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix with your hands to make sure everything is well coated, then lift the chicken legs up to the top, so they sit above the bread. This way, the bread will soak up all the lovely juices from the chicken, giving you the best croutons! Pop the pan into the preheated oven.

After 45 minutes the chicken should be nicely cooked. Take the pan out of the oven, drape the pancetta or bacon over the chicken and croutons, and put back for another 15 to 20 minutes for everything to crisp up.


When they're cooked, remove the pan from the oven and set it aside for the chicken to cool down slightly.

Serve with a salad on the side



This JO recipe is actually for a Caesar salad, the chicken was to be shredded and the croutons added to the salad but I thought that they were just too tasty to be mixed in with vegetables.

Pasta alla Norma

From Jamie's Italy

Ingredients:

2 large firm aubergines
extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
optional: 1 dried red chilli, crumbled
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
a large bunch of fresh basil, stalks finely chopped, leaves reserved
1 teaspoon good herb or white wine vinegar
2 x 400g tins of good-quality chopped plum tomatoes, or 565ml/1 pint passata
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
455g/1lb dried spaghetti
150g/5½oz salted ricotta, pecorino or Parmesan cheese, grated

1. First of all, get your nice firm aubergines and cut them into quarters lengthways. If they've got seedy fluffy centres, remove them and chuck them away. Then cut the aubergines across the length, into finger-sized pieces. Get a large non-stick pan nice and hot and add a little oil. Fry the aubergines in two batches, adding a little extra oil if you need to (but you don't want to make it too greasy). Give the aubergines a toss so the oil coats every single piece and then sprinkle with some of the dried oregano - this will make them taste fantastic. Using a pair of tongs, turn the pieces of aubergine until golden on all sides. Once you've done the first batch, remove to a plate and do the same with the second batch.

2. When the aubergines are all cooked, add the first batch back to the pan - at this point I sometimes add a sneaky dried red chilli, but that's my addiction coming through so feel free to ignore this! Turn the heat down to medium and add a little oil, the garlic and the basil stalks. Stir so everything gets evenly cooked, then add a swig of herb vinegar and the tins of tomatoes, which you can chop or whiz up so they're not too chunky. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, then taste and correct the seasoning with salt and pepper. Tear up half the basil leaves, add to the sauce and toss around.

3. Get your spaghetti into a pan of salted boiling water and cook according to the packet instructions. When it's al dente, drain it in a colander, reserving a little of the cooking water, and put it back into the pan. Add the Norma sauce and a little of the reserved cooking water and toss together back on the heat. Taste the pasta and adjust the seasoning, then divide between your plates by twizzling the pasta into a ladle for each portion. Any sauce left in the pan can be spooned over the top. Sprinkle with the remaining basil leaves and the grated cheese and drizzle with olive oil.

I used to hate aubergines especially after I had this piece of grilled aubergine at Rhodes Island, Greece; it was tasteless, gooey and just downright disgusting. However, through the years I realised that there is one way of cooking aubergines that I am alright with, which is to cook it with tomatoes until it has partially dissolved into the sauce. I first tried something like that in the Beeston Charcoal Grill. This recipe is something like that except that it's of course a pasta sauce.

Croque Monsieur/Madame

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/004393croque_monsieur_ham_and_cheese_sandwich.php

This recipe is taken from Elise.com so just go straight through the link for her recipe. I know it requires a bit of work for a "mere" sandwich but the result is fantastic.

Baked Mackerel with cherry tomatoes

Season mackerels generously with sea salt and pepper. Put on tin foil and add cherry tomatoes. Drizzle olive oil and bake for 30 minutes on 375 Fahrenheit.

Simple and delicious!