SAN FRANCICO

This is cocktail that we sometimes drank in Spain before we were allowed to drink alcohol. It feels a bit vintage, but it is still very nice. My younger children and their friends love it because though it is just a mixture of juices it looks as party time to them. You need ( for two or three people):

- the juice of an orange
- the juice of half a lemon
- a glass of pineapple juice (if you are in Spain, France or Italy use half a glass of pineapple and half a glass of peach juice, but for some weird reason peach juice is sometimes difficult to find in the UK)
- a quarter of a glass of grenadine
- a teaspoon of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of sugar for decorating the glasses
- ice (optional)
- a slice of orange and a paper umbrella for decoration

Mix the decorating sugar with a couple of teaspoons of grenadine on a flat plate. Dip the rim of the  glasses on it and rotate a little so that the rims get coated with the red sugar (you can replace the grenadine with any food colorant if you prefer other colours for the decoration)

Separately mix all the juices and the sugar. Pour the juice mixture on the glasses. Add the ice if using it. Then add the grenadine and mix a little but not thoroughly so that the colours do not mix completely and you get a bit of a 'degrade' effect. Decorate with the orange (just cut an indentation and put it on the side of the grass) and the umbrella.

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AGUA DE VALENCIA (VALENCIA'S WATER)

This is for you, not for your children. It is called Agua de Valencia and it is a very typical cocktail from the beautiful city of Valencia, made with the gorgeous oranges that they produce there ( if you have the chance try the oranges 'Lola' - outstanding!) and cava (i.e. a sort of champagne from Cataluna).

I was in Valencia a week ago to participate in an event to promote female conductors organised by Berkelee at the initiative of 'the one and only' Placido Domingo and the great British conductor Alice Farham. It was wonderful to see such an iconic man launching an initiative to promote and unlock female talent.  In the middle of the current backlash on women rights, here is a source optimism: the amount of men who are now speaking up for women and girls. You can see pictures of the event at our instagram miriamgonzalezdurantez

Agua de Valencia is what you drink on a Saturday night when you go out in Valencia. You have to be pretty careful as it is an alcoholic bomb. Last time I drank this at a party, a foreign friend was flabbergasted that she felt drunk when, according to herself, all she had drunk was orange juice!

You need:
- one part of fresh orange juice ( you can do this with normal orange juice if it is for a big party of course)
- one part of cava
- a quarter of a part of vodka
- a quarter of a part of gin
- a spoonful of sugar per bottle of cava

Just stir it all, add a couple of ice cubes and serve.

PARTRIDGES ESCABECHADAS

This is a really great way to cook partridges. I was recently served this at a dinner and decided to try gain this recipe with the help of my mother.

You need:
- 3 partridges
- 2 carrots - cut in big chunks
- 2 onions - cut in half moons
- 4 bay leaves
- 5 garlic cloves
- 80 ml olive oil
- 150 ml white wine
- 50 ml water
- 2 springs of thyme
- 10 black peppercorns

Put half of the olive oil in a frying pan. Salt the partridges and fry them in the olive oil for a few minutes on all sides (they should not get golden).

Take the partridges out. Add the rest of the oil and fry the onions for 5-6- minutes over medium heat until soft. Then add the garlic, carrot, thyme and peppercorns. Add the water and wine. Put back the partridges in the pan. Cover with a lid and let them bubble oven low heat for 35 minutes. Put the partridges, vegetables and sauce in a glass jar and let it rest for one or two days before eating them.

Before you serve the partridges just heat them a little (not too much) . In the summer you can also eat them cold with a salad.

PHILO APPLE PIE

This is one of the easiest recipes of this blog and also one of the most delicious ones. All you need is:
- philo pastry: 10 sheets
- 6 apples (the trick of this pie is to use cooking apples, so that they become really soft and creamy and you end up with a kind of apple compote encased in crispy buttery philo)
- 125 gr butter
- 4 tablespoons of brown sugar

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees.
Peel the apples and cut them into cubes. Heat 80g of butter in a pan, add the apples and the sugar and cook it all over medium heat for 8 minutes.
Melt the rest of the butter. Paint all the philo sheets with it and layer them over a round tin (the philo will be bigger than the tin which is fine, just keep overlapping the buttered philo sheets one over the other) Pour the apples over the philo. Cover the top of the apples with the excess philo tucking it all well so that you get a pie case. Paint it with some melted butter (see the picture) and just bake it for 20 minutes or until golden.

CHISTORRA

Chistorra is a great Spanish product. Similar to chorizo but thinner (because it was normally made with the tripes of lambs) It comes from the North of Spain and it is difficult to find it in the UK, but Brindisa is now selling it (as well as 'presa iberica' which is truly delicious iberico pork meat). All you need to do is to heat a pan (with no oil), cut the chistorra in 2 cms chuncks and fry it for 2-3 minutes until it is crispy on all sides. Just eat it with bread (crusty is best). Serve it as a snack or as an appetiser with drinks or on the side of fried eggs. It is always a success.
 

PATATAS BRAVAS

This is a very typical Spanish tapa. The name means 'brave potatoes' and it consists of fried potatoes with a hot sauce. Children normally like this because it is hot but not outrageously so. It is meant to be eaten at around 13.00 or so with a cold little beer  ('un cortito' ) just to stretch yourself until lunch at around 14.00… or 14.30… or even 15.00… Crazy, I know: when Spanish people finish lunch some British people start their tea.

 

Whether you add tomato sauce or not to the 'bravas' is a matter for national debate in Spain -  half Spain does and half does not. Just as half adds onion to the 'tortilla' and half does not; half prefer Cola-Cao and half Nesquik, half of us were brought up with Nocilla, and the other half with Tulicrem…people in a country disagreeing about trivial things is part of life - and it is also very healthy indeed! 

You need:

- half a potato per person

- lots of olive oil

- salt

- an onion ( dice thinly)

- a teaspoon of sweet paprika

- a teaspoon of hot paprika

- 2  tablespoons of plain flour

-  500 ml of chicken, beef or vegetable stock

- I normally add 5 tablespoons of tomato sauce,just because in my view tomato sauce with any simple carbohydrate is one of the very best pleasures in life. But try the sauce with and without the tomato and make up your own mind…

Cut the potatoes in chunks. Put them on a dish  in the microwave for 3 minutes. Then add a bit of salt.

Separately fry the onion over low heat on a couple to tablespoons of olive oil. Wait for 8 minutes until the onion is soft. Increase the heat, Add the paprika (both sweet and hot), then add the flour, stir well for a minute or so and add the stock. Let it all simmer for 8 to 10 minutes (over medium heat). Add the salt and the tomato sauce (if using it) and blend it all (with a hand blender is best)

Heat well a very generous amount of olive oil in a deep pan. Fry the microwaved potatoes for two to three minutes so that they get crispy. Pour over the sauce - or serve it separately as a dip. And enjoy.

 

 

TARTA DE SANTIAGO - SANTIAGOS' TART

This is one of the most popular tarts in Spain and it is decorated with the cross of the Order of Santiago.  It comes from the spectacularly beautiful region of Galicia and it is a truly simple tart made with very few ingredients.

The tart takes its name from the patron of Galicia, the Apostle Santiago, who came to Spain from Jerusalem to spread the Gospel in the Iberian peninsula. The route that Santiago took is now the famous 'Camino de Santiago', a popular pilgrimage path that crosses the north of Spain from Roncesvalles, in the border with France, to Santiago de Compostela, around 35 Kms beside the Atlantic Ocean. The Camino is open to people of every age and physical condition - it is also open to those who are not catholic - and it is meant to be one of those occasions where you can 'find yourself'. If you are catholic it also has an added incentive as doing the Camino means that when you arrive at the stunning Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela all your sins - all!-   will be forgiven. Doing the Camino is indeed one of the outstanding points of my personal 'to do' list before I die - though I will probably need more than one Camino to be forgiven for all the swearing I am doing lately when I see some Prime Ministers and Presidents on television!

You need:
- 250 gr sugar
- 250 gr ground almonds
- 5 eggs
- zest of half a lemon
- a (small) pinch of cinnamon
- icing sugar
- a greased and lined tart mold

Preheat the oven at 174 degrees. Put the ground almonds on a tray and let them roast for 5 to 10 minutes until they get a bit golden. Then separately mix the eggs and sugar (with a fork) add the almonds and then the zest and cinnamon. Put it all into the greased and lined mould and bake for  50 minutes (still at 175 degrees)

When you take it out of the oven let it cool down. Then put the shape of the Cross of Santiago on top of the cake (I have an old metal shape, but you can just draw it on paper or simply print it from the many pictures on the internet) and dust the tart very generously with icing sugar. I do not know anybody who does not like this.