SERBIAN RED PEPPER RELISH - AJVAR

I was in Serbia this week to start the Inspiring Girls campaign there.  Seriously impressive (and strong!) women and girls. Great discussion with MPs, leading civil society groups, top business women, actresses, former ministers, diplomats… You can see some pictures in the campaign’s website www.inspiring-girls.com

By the way, apparently Boris Johnson was in Serbia that day too (though not at the Inspiring Girls event!) despite it was the day after Trump was elected, when the new US President was failing to call the UK Prime Minister first and with Brexit falling down the list of EU priorities by the minute. An outstanding display of wisdom on foreign policy priorities... 

This is a traditional Serbian recipe. You need:

- 3 red peppers
- an aubergine

- 1 large onion

- a clove of garlic(grated)

- 2 tablespoons of olive oil

- salt

- half a chilli pepper
- a tablespoon of red vinegar
- a pinch of paprika 

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. Put the peppers and aubergine on a roasting tray and roast them for 30-40 minutes, until they are charred. Take them off the oven and when they are cold, peel the peppers and take out the pulp of the aubergine. Put it all in a food processor with the chilli pepper and pulse it a few times.

In a pan heat the olive oil. Add the vegetables mixture,  the garlic, paprika, vinegar and salt and let it all simmer under very low heat for 20 minutes (stir it every now and then)

We ate it with bread but you can have it as  a sauce with meat or with chicken too. The children approved.

BEETROOT AND SARDINES DIP

I know I am boring you with beetroot, but I still have some in the fridge. The recipe for this dip was given to me many months ago by my brother in law, but I may have altered it as I could not remember all the ingredients by heart. The children liked-ish it, though they would have liked it even more if it did not look so pink.

You need:
 - 2 small beetroots or a big one.
- a tin of sardines
- a pinch of paprika
- an onion (diced very thinly)
- two table spoons of sour cream
- a table spoon of chopped dill
- a pinch of salt
- a pinch of pepper
- juice of half a lemon

Start by peeling the beetroots and boiling them in water (for a good 5 minutes or until tender). When the beetroots are cooled down, chop them very thinly, i.e. once you think you are there, keep chopping for another couple of minutes. Then cut the sardines in really small chunks and add them to the beetroot. Add  all the other ingredients and put them in into the fridge for at least 20 minutes so that it thickens up.

If you like dips with a kick you may want to add a teaspoon of horseradish sauce.

And you can do this all in a  food processor but then you will loose the texture of the ingredients.

The mess that children can make with beetroot is indescribable, so best if they just look rather than help…

BEETROOT STRUDEL

I came up with this recipe in an attempt to deal with a surplus of beetroot in our house. My children said it was 'nice' which is a real compliment when applied to beetroot, as it is not one of their favourite vegetables or even remotely close to it. It also also very easy to make. 

You need:

- a big beetroot (or three small ones)

- a tablespoons of olive oil - plus more to 'paint' the pastry

- 8 sheets of filo pastry

- a packet of feta cheese

- a handful of pine nuts

- two teaspoons of parsley - chopped 

Peel and grate the beetroot (best is to wear latex gloves for this or you will end up with pinky fingers for a couple of days) In a frying pan heat the oil, add the beetroot and let it all fry for 10-12 minutes until the beetroot is soft (there are many varieties of beetroot so the only way to do this properly is to taste a bit to see whether it is  soft or not). When the beetroot is cooked, take it off the heat, crumble the feta and add it to the pan. Then add the pine nuts and parsley. I did not add any salt, but you may want to check whether this is salty enough for you. 

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. 

Lay a sheet of filo on top of a clean tea towel. Paint it with a tiny bit of olive oil. Put another filo sheet on top and paint it again with the oil. Keep going until you have used all the filo sheets. 

Pile up the beetroot mixture along the length of the pastry on the closest side to you. Roll it up so that you enclose the mixture in the pastry. Tuck the ends in and bake for 18-20 minutes until it becomes golden. 

As anything with filo, very delicious.

NISCALOS WITH POTATOES

This is a very typical dish from my region: 'niscalos con patatas'. Niscalos are saffron milk mushrooms. They are delicious orange mushrooms that grow up in pine tree forests, especially amongst the 'pino albar' variety. The village close to mine, Pedrajas de San Esteban, produces most of the pine nuts for the country - or at least the non imported ones... - to the point that the whole area is called 'Land of Pineforests'  or 'Tierra de Pinares". During the months of late October and early November that is how we spend our afternoons; wondering in the 'pinares' picking up 'niscalos'.  If you get big ones you can just grill them ('a la plancha') with a touch of garlic. But if you get little ones the best way to eat them is with potatoes in a thick soup.

I bought the niscalos for this dish in the Fruteria Vazquez of Madrid as I was rushing to the airport from a meeting there. You can see the picture of the wonderful fruteria in our Instagram account (miriam-gonzalez-durantez). It is one of those traditional shops where (if it wasn't for the price) you could just buy it all in one go.

For this recipe you need:
- three tablespoons of olive oil
- half a green pepper (diced very thinly)
- a leek (chopped very thinly)
- 4 medium size potatoes (in bite-size chunks)
- a bay leaf
- a quarter of a teaspoon of parsley (chopped thinly)
- two cloves of garlic (chopped very thinly)
- 80 gr of ham  (serrano of a similar variety chopped into small cubes)
- niscalos (as many as you can get, but around 500 gr for 5 people)
- water (around 700 ml)
- half a glass of white wine

The most important thing is to clean the niscalos really well as any bit of sand will just ruin the dish (and your teeth!)

In a deep pan heat the oil. Add the garlic, leek and free pepper and wait for 3-4- minutes (over medium heat) until the vegetables get soft. Then add the niscalos (if they are big just cut them into bite size chunks). Wait for another 2-3- minutes and add the potatoes. Let it all fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the paprika, parsley and ham. Then the bay leaf and after 2 minutes add the water (it should just barely cover the niscalos). When the water is boiling (you should see the bubbles) add the wine. Let it all simmer for 20 minutes and serve. This dish is better the day after you have cooked it.

and these are the niscalos:

GARLIC STUFFED MUSHROOMS WITH MAYO

This is a dish that comes from my favourite tapas place 'La Criolla' in Valladolid, my home town ( you can see the picture of the main 'plaza' there below). During 'tapas time' you often have to battle your way to the counter to sample their outstanding 'tostaditas', 'calamares' and their delicious ham, - but their 'champi rellenos' (stuffed mushrooms) are their signature dish. They serve it as a 'racion' (to be shared) and make it with button mushrooms - but we have made it with portobello mushrooms so that it can be served on its own for lunch.

This is one of those recipes where you have to use shop bought mayonnaise as the home made version simply does not work when you put it in the oven.

You need:

- a portobello mushroom per person.
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- two cloves of garlic
- a handful of parsley
- 80 gr of serrano or iberico ham (diced) - you can also use parma ham
- 4 tablespoons of shop-bought mayonnaise
- a handful of fine breadcrumbs
- 1.5 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
- salt

Heat a frying pan or skillet (over high heat) Put the mushrooms on the pan, lower the heat and fry them on both sides (for 3-4- minutes on each side). Add some salt. Take them off the pan and put them on a baking tray.

Separately grind the garlic and parsley with a pester and mortar. When they become a paste, add the  olive oil and vinegar and mix it all well (you can also do this with a food processor, but in my humble  opinion grinding the garlic and parsley provides a better texture)

Finally heat the ham in a frying pan for 2-3- mints (without adding any oil)

Set the grill on its highest setting. Put a tablespoon and a half of the oil, garlic, vinegar and parsley mixture on top of each mushroom. Then sprinkle a little bit of the ham on top. Cover it all with a teaspoon of mayonnaise and sprinkle a tiny bit of breadcrumbs on top. Grill for 2-3- minutes until the mayo gets golden. Unbeatable!

QUINCE SYRUP

This is not really a recipe but the leftovers of making 'membrillo' or quince paste (see our recipe http://www.mumandsons.com/2011/10/quince-paste-membrillo.html) which we made last week. The membrillo came out so well this year that I  decided to buy a quince tree (which I am yet to plant)

Do not through away the liquid from boiling the quinces. Just mix it with water (2 parts of quince liquid for 1 of water) add a tablespoon of honey for each litre of liquid (or to taste) and the juice of half a lemon. Boil it all together and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Let it cool down and add some  mint leaves before you drink it. Really nice.

FISH SOUP WITH MAYONNAISE

This soup is divine. I had never cooked it before this summer, but it has become a regular at my home.  The recipe is from Concha in Malaga, who kindly shared it with me after the Daily Mail made a fuss about my Made in Spain book and my recipe for mayonnaise there  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Made-Spain-Recipes-stories-country/dp/147363900X ) I have actually received a recipe for a chocolate cake with mayonnaise as well - but I had not had the courage to test it yet!

Anyway, back to the soup, it is a really basic, almost humble, fish soup - the kind soup that fishermen would cook in Spanish fishing villages, with a really wholesome taste. You can make it with any white fish. We did it with monkfish, that works particularly well. But you can also try with hake, haddock or cod. My children love it.

You need:

- 2 large potatoes.
- 300 gr white fish (either monkfish or cod, hake, haddock…)
- 2 white fish bones (just ask the fishmonger for these - they will normally give them to you for free)
- a bay leaf
- an onion
- 300 gr prawns (this is optional but it gives a nice variety of textures to the soup)
- 1 egg (room temperature)
- 180 ml olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
- salt
- 1.5 l water

Boil the potatoes (peeled and cut in half), onion (cut in half), fish bones and bay leaf in the 1.5 l of water with salt for around 25 minutes. Seven or eight minutes before you are going to take this fish stock off the heat add the white fish. And after a couple of minutes add the prawns. As soon as the fish and prawns are cooked (it really is a matter of a few minutes only) take the stock off the heat. Take the potatoes, white fish and prawns out and reserve them (after cutting them in mouth bite chunks). Discard the onion and bay leaf, get rid of any foam at the top of the stock and pass it all through a sieve.

White the stock is boiling, make a mayonnaise with the egg and the olive oil. The easiest is to make this with a hand blender following our recipe for two minutes mayonnaise (i.e put the egg and olive oil in a tall beaker, put the hand blender into the beaker and blend for a minute without moving it at all, then move it up slowly). As soon as the mayo is ready add the lemon juice and a bit of salt.

Let the fish stock cool down a little. Then take half a glass of the fish stock and pour it over the mayo (in the beaker), mix it well with a balloon whisk. The pour this mixture over the fish stock and mix well again.  You can use as much or as little mayo as you wish - the more mayo, the ticker the soup. If you like a thiner soup (as we do) use only half of the mayo.

When you are going to serve the soup put some potato and fish chunks as well as a couple of prawns on each plate. Then pour the liquid on top.

This soup is best warm but not hot. The only rule to remember is that once you mix the mayo with the fish stock you should never-ever boil the soup. If you boil it, the mayo will split and you will end up with scrambled soup - not good!