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Chorizo Frito al Vino




I do like this dish which is simply the spicy Spanish sausage, sautéed in red wine.

I have started using Tesco’s Cooking Chorizo which is not as hard (or as chewy) as the traditional dried chorizo which you can buy from most supermarkets.

Just a note you are buying the whole sausage and not the thinly salami style sliced version.

Chorizo

My method is to cut the chorizo into slices about quarter of an inch thick. Fry in a large frying pan until sealed on both sides and just starting to go a little crispy. At this point I add the red wine (Spanish red wine is best, but I am sure you can use any good red wine).

Cook the chorizo for a few more minutes.

Serve as part of a tapas or with salad. The red wine with the chorizo makes a wonderfully spicy sauce which you can dunk warm soft bread into.

Photo source.

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Hot Stuff

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in his weekly Guardian column plays with hot stuff and does stuff with chillies.

There’s a lot more to chillies than how hot they are – the range and complexity of flavour from pepper to pepper really has to be tried to be believed.

Great article which shows that there is more to chillies then the mouth burning Friday night curry or the green ones available at the supermarket.

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Yo Sushi

Wanted a small supper this evening, to eat on the train.

Thought about getting a sandwich, but in the end decided to get some sushi to take away from Yo Sushi.

To be honest I have no idea what I had, but it wasn’t bad, very nice.

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Final word on nutrition and health

After an exhaustive review of the research literature, here’s the final word on nutrition and health.

  1. Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
  2. Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
  3. Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
  4. Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
  5. Germans drink beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
  6. The French eat foie-gras, full fat cheese and drink red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

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Fish Supper

One thing that I cook quite often and enjoy during the summer months (though not that we have had much of a summer) is a fish supper.

Fish Supper

This photo is from a recent version and included baked cod, griddled scallops, griddled squid and prawns cooked in olive oil.

The cod was drizzled with olive oil and baked in the oven for ten to fifteen minutes.

The scallops were scored with a checked pattern on one side and griddled on a hot pan.

The squid “pockets” were sliced on one side and opened out. On the inside I scored a checked pattern. These were then griddled inside face down. When cooked on one side, turn them over and cook the outside; at this point they will curl into rolls. Serve with the tentacles cooked as well.

The prawns were simply cooked with a little olive oil and black pepper.

Served with lemon wedges, salad and crusty bread.

Delicious.

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Risotto

Risotto

In a large frying pan, place some olive oil and butter. Then add some finely chopped onion, red pepper, courgette and pancetta.

Soften the onions.

Bring up the heat.

Add the risotto rice and ensure that the rice is coated in the oil and butter.

Add a splash of white wine.

Now add some chicken stock.

Keep topping up with stock to ensure that the rice doesn’t dry out.

Once the rice is virtually cooked, add a large handful of grated parmesan, some chopped parsley and some freshly ground black pepper.

Serve, garnish with a few slices of lemon.

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Squid, nicely done

Squid

The Guardian has some really nice squid recipes on their website.

Preparing and cooking squid is easier than most fish. The only thing to remember is not to cook it for too long. If grilling, the pan must be extra-hot so the squid cooks in only a minute or two. Otherwise, it goes tough.

If you have read the blog, you will know that I am a fan of squid. There are three very nice recipes in the article.

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Noisy popcorn to be banned!

The cinema is suppose to be one place which needs to be quiet so that everyone can enjoy the film.

You are asked to not chat, turn your mobile phone off.

And then….

So why do cinemas spoil it all by serving one of the noisest snacks around, popcorn?

Popcorn

Luckily, sense has come to some of then and they will ban popcorn!

According to a BBC report

It’s been a cinema staple for a century, but now popcorn is being banned by Britain’s biggest chain of arthouse screens.

Can’t wait until others follow suit, can’t stand popcorn, it’s not just the noise, but also the smell!

Photo source.

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What a load of crepe!

One of the issues I have with a lot of department store restaurants (and visitor attraction restaurants) is that they cook the food in advance and then keep it warm for hours on end… Now that is possible with some dishes, but with others it just means dried out food.

One of the dishes that you can get at my local John Lewis is freshly cooked to order crepes. They make them as and when needed, rather than make them at 9am in the morning and keep them warm till 6pm in the evening!

We had crepes the last time we were there, one with chilli beef and one with mushroom stroganoff; both were served with salad.

The beef chilli was well cooked and nice and spicy. A little too hot for my tastes, but not excessively so.

Crepes

The mushroom stroganoff was really nice and went well with the crepes.

Crepe

The salad though was disappointing, I have had much better salads before at John Lewis, this was in the main lettuce with a tiny bit of red onion and pepper.

Overall for a department store restaurant they were really nice and probably one of the better items available. The fact you can buy wine and beer to go with the crepes makes the place even more attractive as a place to go out and get a quick bite to eat whilst shopping.