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!

 

CHIA SEED CRACKERS

I have finally found a way to use the chia seeds that I once bought in a moment of 'clean eating' inclination.  I am afraid I  do not get what people see in chia seeds  - that slimy texture when you mix them with yogurt or milk? definitely not good!

This is a recipe to get children to eat seeds. It has no flour, which is a plus.
The recipe (that we have edited) comes from  http://ohsheglows.com/2012/01/31/endurance-crackers/

Take any measurement (a glass or yogurt pot) and  mix:
- one measurement of sunflower seeds
- half a measurement of chia seeds
- a quarter of a measurement of flax seeds
- half a measurement of sesame seeds
- half a teaspoon of salt
-one measurement of water

Preheat the oven at 150 degrees. Mix all the seeds and water. Let them rest for 20 minutes. Extend the mixture over a baking tray covered with baking paper. Bake for 30 minutes, then turn around and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes.

The taste is actually Ok… but give me Ryvita any day.

ROAST CAULIFLOWER WITH YOGURT

You may be fed up - with reason - to see roast cauliflower everywhere. But it has to be recognised that it tastes good. And while most children despise boiled cauliflower they seem to enjoy it roasted.

You need:

- a cauliflower (broken into florets)

- 3 tablespoons of olive oil

- a handful of pumpkin seeds

- salt

- 5 tablespoons of greek style yogurt

- haft a teaspoon of turmeric

- a teaspoon of tahini

- a tablespoon of lemon juice

- half a clove of garlic- grated

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. Put the cauliflower florets on an oven tray, salt them  and coat them with the olive oil (just by tossing them with your hands). Put it in the oven and wait for 25-30 minutes.

As soon as the cauliflower is ready toast the pumpkin seeds on a frying pan over medium heat   it should take just a could of minutes, but be careful because some of them 'explode' when they get hot and the children can get burnt)

Mix the yogurt, turmeric, tahini, lemon juice and garlic. Taste the sauce as you may need a tiny bit of salt.

Serve the cauliflower with the seeds on top and the sauce on the side. 

SARDINES DIP

This is a very easy dip to make.

You need:
- two tins of sardines
- five tablespoons of Philadelphia
- a pinch of salt
- a small pinch of paprika
- a tablespoon of lemon juice

Just put all the ingredients in a food processor (including the bones of the sardines, which are meant to be very good as they are full of calcium) and blitz it all for a minute. Put the mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and serve.