CHORIZO PINWHEELES

This is a very quick snack for the children.

You need:

- one sheet of puff pastry
- 150 gr chorizo cut into small cubes (some supermarkets sell this already cubed)
- 3 handfuls of grated cheese

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees.  Extend the puff pastry. Sprinkle half of the chorizo and half of the cheese on top. Fold the pastry once and pass the rolling pin overity so that the cubes of the chorizo stick to the pastry.  Sprinkle the rest of the chorizo and cheese, fold it again and press again with the rolling pin. Then roll the pastry so that you end up with a cylinder. Put in into the fridge for 15 minutes. Cut it in slices (1 cm thick more or less) and put them on a tray covered with baking paper pressing them down gently. You may paint them with egg yoke if you wish but it is not really necessary. Bake for 20 minutes until golden.

Children love this, especially if you serve them warm.

SAILORS' CLAMS

The real name of these clams in Spanish is 'almejas a la marinera'. Good clams are difficult to get (and also expensive) so it is a pity to ruin them with a creamy sauce (chowder and alike) This sauce is subtle and not too tick. Many Spanish people eat this dish for Christmas or New Year's eve.

You need:
- 300 gr clams (clean)
- an onion chopped very finely
- a table spoon of parsley (also chopped very finely)
- half a glass of white wine
- 1 -1.5 glass of water
- a bay leave
- half a lemon
- salt ( not too much as the clams are naturally salty)
- 1 table spoon of thin breadcrumbs

You are meant to cook the sauce first and then the clams on it. However, if you are, like me, paranoid about rotten seafood do this first: heat a pan until it is rather hot. Put the clams in it with two tablespoons of water and wait for a couple of minutes until they open up. Discard those that remain closed. Do not throw away the liquid at the bottom of the pan (sieve it as sometimes there is a tiny bit of sand in the clams)

In a different pan fry the onion very slowly until it gets soft and a little bit golden. Increase the heat and add the wine. Wait while it bubbles away and add the juice of the lemon, the water, the liquid from the clams, the breadcrumbs, parsley and the bay leave (and the salt if you think it is needed) Let it all boil for 4-5 minutes.

When you are about to eat heat the sauce until you see bubbles coming up, add the clams and take them off the heat almost immediately (otherwise they will get rubbery). Serve it immediately with plenty of bread.

The children enjoyed seeing the clams opening up. They initially looked at me weirdly as they thought the clams were alive. The sauce is so good though that they forgot all their worries about the clams as soon as they tasted it.

CHICKEN WITH APPLE

This is another recipe from my grandmother and it is always a success with the children. You can serve it with rice or with cous-cous though my grandma always served it with crusty bread.
You need:

- 4 chicken thighs
- 1 onion (chopped into in moon-like slices)
- 1 clove of garlic (also in slices)
- 1/2 a red pepper (chopped thinly)
- 2 carrots (chopped into small squares)
- 2 apples
- 2 table spoons of vinegar
- 1 glass of water
- 1 bay leaf
- salt
- oil

Put the oil (2-3- table spoons) in a pan and heat it under medium heat. Salt the chicken and fry it on all sides until if becomes golden. Take it out of the pan and reserve it for later.
In the same oil fry the onions, red pepper, garlic and carrots (first over high heat but then lower it) Add a little bit of salt to the vegetables. When the veg become soft add the chicken back to the pan. Wait for 3 minutes and add the vinegar. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes and add the water and bay leaf. Then cover the pan and let it all simmer for 20 minutes.
Peal and core the apples and cut them into quarters. Add them to the pan, cover the pan once again and let it all simmer for another 15 minutes until the apples are soft.
This dish tastes even better the following day.

PLUM CAKE

You need:
- 225 gr self raising flour
- 100 gr butter cut into cubes
- 70 gr brown sugar
- 4 tablespoon golden syrup
- 2 eggs
- 300 gr of plums cut into cubes.

Preheat the oven at 175 degrees.
Mix the butter and flour with your hands until you get a breadcrumbs consistency. Add the sugar. Separately mix the golden syrup and the eggs. Mix them with the flour. Last, add the plums and mix well. Put it all into a greased and lined tin and bake for 45 minutes.

FOCACCIA

This tastes very good though supermarket breads are so good these days that it is hardly worth it. The children learned about the bread making process, but in truth it is a bit of a bore to make (this applies to anything with yeast!)

You need:
500 gr bread flour
10 gr yeast
10 gr salt
340 ml water
50 ml olive oil plus half a glass.

Mix the flour, salt and yeast. Add the 50 ml of olive oil and the water in little bits while you mix it all together with your hands. The result should be a very wet mixture. Knead it for five minutes over an oiled surface until the mixture is bound together and becomes elastic. Then put it into an oiled container and let it rest of an hour so that it doubles in size. Put the dough over a lined and oiled baking tray and extend it with your fingers until it cover the whole tray. Cover with cling film and let it rest for another hour - it should double in size again.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Make dimples with your fingers into the dough (this is the nicest bit) and sprinkle it all with oil. We added salt and oregano but you can also add: basil and tomatos; rosemary and flaky salt;  or cheese and oregano. Black olives and sun dried tomatoes are also good.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

PLUM AND DAMSON JAM

Holidays definitely over...back to the blog.

We picked some plums and damson this weekend and decided to try to make jam with them. The children helped cleaning and cutting the fruit but I did most of the rest on my own as I was far too worried about possible burns. Still it is fun for the kids to see the change in texture, though they just could not believe the enormous amount of sugar that is needed for jam.

Plum jam:
1 Kg plums
1 Kg sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
100 ml water

Wash and cut the plums and put them in a heavy bottom pan. Add the water and lemon juice. Boil the plums, water and lemon juice for around 30-40 minutes (first over high heat, but then as soon as there are bubbles lower the heat to minimum) Add the sugar and boil for another 20 minutes or so until it reaches set point. It you have a candy thermometer (try Lakeland) this just mean waiting until the mixture reaches 220 degrees - no rocket science. Put the mixture aside and spoon it into sterilised jars. Cover the jars with a circle of waxed paper ( or alternatively baking paper dipped in oil) Close the jars and store. They last for months.

To sterilise the jars wash them in the dishwasher at its highest temperature and then get them into the oven ( open side down) for 20 minutes at 120 degrees.

For the damsons follow the same procedure with the following proportions:
- 1 Kg damsons
- 780 gr sugar
- 115 ml orange juice
- half and orange zest

The main difference is that you need to boil the damsons whole and take the stones out after the damsons are soft. Easiest way to do this is with your hands but put some plastic gloves on as otherwise you will burn yourself.

MERINGUES

You need:
- 3 egg whites
- 175 gr sugar
- frozen strawberry or raspberry powder ( 1.5 table spoons)
- cocoa powder: .5 tablespoons

Preheat the oven at 150 degrees.

Whisk the egg whites (until they reach hard peak stage)Add the  sugar in tablespoons while you continue whisking. Once the mixture becomes heavy and glossy put little amounts of the mixture on an oven tray lined with silicone or baking parchment (you can do this with a piping bag or just with a spoon) Sprinkle cocoa on top of half of the meringues ( do not sprinkle the strawberry until they come out of the oven or the strawberry powder will turn out black) As soon as you get the meringues into the oven reduce the temperature to 140 degrees and cook for 30 minutes. Leave them in the oven without opening the door for a few hours or preferably overnight. Sprinkle the strawberry powder on top of the other half of the meringues. That is all.