Category Archives: Foodie

Mar23

They’re full up !

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After many years of water shortages in Andalucia, and a few summers up in the mountains, of no water for 3 weeks, in temperatures of 42 degrees, it is such a welcoming sight to see our reservoirs full. A dramatic sight, of water that changes colour to suit the weather, ranging from the deepest greys, to the most astonishing turquoises . Many of the regions reservoirs are full to capacity, some even have to release water from their overflowing reserves to avoid flooding !! Lets hope , our pipe work and the water board, can deliver their end now, and keep our supplies freely flowing.


Learning to live with no water or very little water, is a great lesson learnt for all the family, turning the tap off whilst cleaning teeth, In the shower, wet, water off, Soap, water on, Rinse, and ‘if its yellow let it mellow, and if its brown flush it down’ ;), are all now normal routines in the La Rosilla house hold. A commodity I’m proud to say we don’t take for granted.

Full reservoirs, obviously means we’ve had lots of rain, so our mountain, is alive with wild life ,eager for Spring, with beauty comes the beast and to me that is the weeds. I leave most to grow wild on the mount, until they die down in summer, then we’ll have the land ploughed by a brave Campo soul who I believe takes his life in his hands, as he ascends and descends in his tractor on a hillside of great degrees. The weeds around my chosen planting, i.e my garden have to be tackled with gusto, often a task I procrastinate.

I have tried to re-create a cottage style garden, with a little Mediterranean flare, or should I say influence.  Some of my Cottage plants haven’t sur vived, and mountain living in full heat is not for them, but many have.  I planted seeds from my old blighty garden, along with bulbs for spring too.  So my garden, is a medley, it’s Spanglish in its full glory in Spring.  So flowering together we have, Daisy, and Birds of Paradise, with giant hollyhocks, filling out ready to shoot their long stalks with blooms of baby pink.

The La Rosilla veggie patch, is coming along nicely, and with a warm Saturday lunchtime looming, we picked our first fresh, mixed Salad leaves, and baby pea shoots, to enjoy with a baked Mozzarella, pesto and sundried tomato tart, and a simple, lemon, olive oil , and garlic dressing.

Today the winds have changed, and a cold front is blowing through, so as quickly as we have a tease of summer and all things light, fresh and tasty, I am loomed back into hearty, wholesome dishes to fulfill the families appetites…So vegetable Korma will be on the menu for supper , flexibility is the key, a skill, I am still learning.

Simple Salad Dressing – 100ml Finest Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Juice of a lemon, Crushed Clove of Garlic, a pinch of Maldon Salt, and grinding of Black pepper, Pop in a empty jam jar, and give a good shake.  Drizzle over leaves and dress, just before serving.  The rest can keep happily on the fridge.


Mar15

One Pot Mediterranean Marvel

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I’m starting to feel rusty !

I never really get quite prepared for the weather in Spain.  It always seems to take me by surprise, even though I religiously check the forecast each morning.  I suppose it’s because we live IN the weather at La Rosilla.  Up in the mountains, be it in the clouds, nearer the sun, closer to the lightening, secluded for the frost, the route for the rainfall we are IN it.

Each year the weather changes, in the 7 years that I’ve lived here, no two winters have been the same.  We experienced the first snow, in 80 years !,  The hardest Frost, that killed our plants, the wettest one, that turned us and everything mouldy ! This year has been mild, Thank goodness ! So we havent had too many moments of seeing our own breath in the house, and we have had chances to eat Alfresco, and we’ve even had a day on the beach and applied SPF, so we’re not complaining.  But as I said never prepared.

So when the rains fell this week, my washing was on the line, and it’s stayed there since ssshhh don’t tell my Mother !  My logs weren’t covered, and my arroyo’s that help the water flow around my house not through it, had not been cleared!!

So as a family we were feeling soggy, along with our two damp, muddy dogs, who love to snuffle, and dig in the fresh wet mud…oh how I wish there were truffles on this mount !  Their air in our little ‘Finca’ was not the sweetest.

That needing changing.  We needed the aromas of summer…

Only one thing for it . Freshly baked bread and my one pot Mediterranean marvel.

Nothing beats putting a large rustic earthenware dish full of Mediterranean goodness on the table, for one and all to enjoy, taking big spoonfuls, tasting Summer, washed down with a ‘Big fat Rioja’, And some Mosto for the kids .

 

ONE POT MEDITERRANEN MARVEL

Chop each ingredient to a similar size.

Serves 6.

2 x Onions

2 x Green Peppers

3 x large tomatoes

2 x Handfuls of Mushrooms

2 x handfuls of Small potatoes

1 x Chorizo

1 x Courgette
Place everything in a large dish suitable for the oven.

  • Add 4 cloves of garlic peeled.
  • 1 x handful of chopped rosemary
  • Add Olive oil, to coat ingredients and mix with hands.
  • Season generously with good sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  • Cook for 40 Mins, until everything is golden and softened.
  • Then Sprinkle the dish with tasty grated cheese.
  • Make 6 ‘wells’ in the cheese and crack in 6 eggs.
  • Put back in oven for 5 / 10 mins until eggs are set to your liking.

Enjoy with Chopped salad  with fresh herbs, and Home baked bread.

I baked Olive tapenande foccacia, to enjoy with our flavours of the med…you cant beat it.

 

 

 

Mar10

Alfresco can’t wait !

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Eating Alfresco, is enjoyed at every opportunity we have in Winter and Early Spring, so when dry, and temperatures mild, outside we go. Cooking over wood, gives off the wonderful aroma, of outside dining, a few rosemary sprigs, thrown onto the fire, adds to the heady scent, and perfumes the food delicately too.

A favourite for us are racks of ribs, basted in a rich sweet and sticky sauce, finger lickin good.

Accompaniments, of salad leaves picked from the veggie patch, and creamy Potato and Onion gratin give a rich indulgent comforting twist. Together with tomatoes roasted with herbs, and topped with grated cured goats cheese, baked on the side with Morcilla, (Spanish black pudding) .

Delicious dreaming on a cold wet day in Spain, but a dream, we’re lucky enough to know will soon come true once more.

Mar10

Peas in a pot !

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Very trendy,  also delicious and soo helathy for you Pea shoots at the moment are gracing a many styled plate of food.

Well never one not to keep up on trend 😉 I thought I’ll have a go. Each year in the La Rosilla veggie patch, we nuture our peas, carefully sowing them and covering with Twiggy pea sticks and fine net, to keep off the pesky birds and scurrying mice.

But this year, I thought I would sew some in a pot, to keep on the terrace sowly for the use in fresh salads, and I’m happy to say they are growing nicely, and look great too.

 

Of course you cant beat the spring day, when you pick your first peas in their pods, fresh from the plant. This job is always bagsied by the children, and more often then not their bounty, is rather less when it reaches the kitchen, then it was in the patch !!! Always with excuses, “Honest Mum, that’s all there was”

 

 

Mar10

Who ate all the Pies ?

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I love celebrating food in all it’s glory, and any excuse to research a dish, or prepare a dish is good for me. So with the U.K celebrating ‘National Pie Week’ I thought well I maybe up a mountain, at La Rosilla in the deepest Axarquia of Andalucia, but I have roots man 😉 and you can’t deny your roots. And who can’t love a Pie, sweet or savory, that home baked smell of goodness has to tempt even the die hard no Carb, low cal enthusiast – and pull them off their wagon.

I opted for my Gran’s ‘Herb and mince pie’, a dish that we were served in a traditional manner, sat around the large dining table, hands in lap, waiting for our slice of warm comforting pie, that my Grandad would masterfully cut, portions decided on age, not appetite. Impatiently sat waiting for the silent nod, we could start. Always served with minted peas fresh from her garden, and a rich gravy. Yum.

I also have a cherished pie plate – a Le Creuset Heart , I’m crazy about hearts. I just knew this would be the perfect plate for my Pie – I also decorated it with 5  hearts one for each member of the Family – Aaahhh bless !

For Shortcrust Pie pastry.

500 grams of Plain Flour
250 grams of fat – I used marg.
Large pinch of Salt.

Easiest way, is to whiz up the ingredients in a Food processor, or if not mix Flour and fat until it resembles breadcrumbs. Then add ice cold water, until it forms a ball of pastry dough.

Then cut into 2, wrap in film, and place in fridge for 20 mins to chill and rest.

For the filling.

800 grams of good quality mince beef.
1 large onion, chopped
2 sticks celery chopped
3 carrots chopped
1 tbsp of mixed dried herbs – or I used Hierbabuena in Spain.
Plenty of Salt of pepper.
1 beef stock cube.
A small glass of water.
A slug of Worcestershire sauce.

Saute the veg, in a little hot oil in a large frying pan, to soften for a bout 5 mins.

Add the beef to brown.

Crumble in the stock cube, and add the water.

Add the herbs and stir.

Add the Worc. Sauce and stir.

Season well, and let simmer away stirring occasionally. For about 25 mins.

Roll out the tow balls of pastry to about ½ cm thickness.

Line a cake tin, pie plate or baking dish, that has been buttered to prevent sticking, with one of the rounds of pastry. Then pile in the filling. Then cover with the remaining rolled out pastry.

Pinch around the edges, and decorate the top, with any left over pastry.

Then brush with a beaten egg to give the pie a deep golden brown.

Bake in the oven, for 25 mins at 180 degrees.

Serve with peas, fluffy mash and gravy…..Filling, delicious & comforting.

Feb27

Stuffing !

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Nothing beats the smell, of a roast cooking, it sort of clarifies it is Sunday to me, lets me breathe a sigh of relief, a day of rest and recuperation. A day I don’t need to feel guilty, if I read, sit, stare and look.  Don’t get me wrong, there are still jobs I must attend to..but for some reason on a Sunday they don’t feel like chores.

Preparing the veggies, and accompaniments is a family affair.  my OH peeling potatoes.  I DON’T DO potatoes, well I dislike peeling them.  Little Nell, slices the Runner Beans, with our handy slicer.  No 1 son, whisks up the Yorkshire Pudding batter, nobody makes Yorkshires like him…of course I’ve taught him all he knows.  No 1 daughter isn’t to keen to come into the kitchen, well when I’m in there anyway…not that I’m controlling or anything…but it is MY domain.  So she uses her creative talents, to lay the table, picking flowers from the our mountain and garden at La Rosilla, and setting place names…even though we always sit in the same space, but these little touches, always gives us our Sunday sense of occasion.  Family togetherness, memories and traditions.

 

One thing we do like to make for our lunch, is home-made stuffing, just some much tastier, healthier and delicious, than the packet type, of dried unrecognisable contents.  It’s so easy too, and all with ingredients we often have at home.  There is no hard and fast recipe to stick too, but this one I’ve made up is fab.

LEMON & HERB STUFFING.

  • 2 Good handfulls of fresh breadcrumbs,
  • mixed with the zest of 1 lemon ,
  • a handfull of fresh chopped herbs from the garden –  I used Thyme, Oregano, Parsley, Sage & rosemary.
  • Add 1 finely chopped onion and garlic that has been sauteed in a little butter until softened.
  • Add a few chopped walnuts.
  • Mix in one egg to bind slightly.  then season generously.
  • Pop in  a oven proof dish , and bake for 20 mins.

Enjoy with any roast meat, and also great eaten cold, for lunch the next day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feb2

Mi Casa es tu Casa !

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Creating and hosting events, is one of my favourite pastimes, all the little extras, the finishing touches, I believe help create the perfect setting.  I was fortunate this week to be asked to plan and host a ‘Special’ dinner at La Rosilla, for a clients 50th Birthday, 10 guests were to arrive, and be treated to an evening full of fine food and wine, in the intimate setting of the cosy lounge, this was a true

‘Mi Casa es Tu Casa’ event.

I decorated the room with the most fragrant Mimosa, picked from the mountain, like luminous plumes of the most exotic bird, Place settings were garnished with Lavender, and Almond Blossom adorned the table, the air was perfumed with the natural aromas, of a Spanish Spring.  The entrance was lit by flickering candle light, leading the way to a night of revelry and indulgence.  The roaring fire, created the glow and warmth for a wonderful welcome.

A menu of comforting dishes was served, after canapés of Spiced Roasted red pepper dip ,and Thai Galloping Horses were enjoyed with chilled Bollinger champagne.  The finest Spanish Wines were quaffed, deep ruby reds of Ribera del Duero & Rioja, and White Albariño from Rías Baixas the colour of honey.

After deserts of  “To die for bannoffi pudding “and “Vegan Chocolate Orange cake”  Cheeses of every style, along with figs, apricots, passion fruits, walnuts and cape gooseberries, were presented to groans of “I can’t possibly eat anymore” but were eaten with delight, whilst sipping the obligatory port passed from the left.

A night of merriment and memories was had by all, and dreams of more wonderful La Rosilla evenings to come.

Thai Galloping Horses

A refreshing and piquant canapé , that looks impressive to be served with Pre-dinner drinks.

  • Pan fry 1 onion finely sliced, until dark brown in a little oil
  • add 1 tbsp of dark brown sugar, 1 tbsp of peanut butter, 1 tbsp of Soy Sauce,
  • heat until thick and glossy, then leave to cool.
  • Cut a fresh pineapple into dice of about 1 inch, and top with a tsp of the cooled onion mixture.
  • top with a sliver of red chilli, a coriander leaf and a squeeze of lime.
Jan24

How long does getting thin take ?

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“How long does getting thin take ?” asked Pooh anxiously ……

A question I know I ask myself often, especially after the 1st week on a new healthy eating regime…Note the non use of the D word !!!  Well I suppose it takes as long as it takes, everybody’s different, but as long as you know you’ve done your best most of the time, the getting thin bit will happen, but the health benefits, will happen almost instantly.

My emotions, and mood, have certainly peaked and troughed, moments of euphoria, moments of weakness & exhaustion, but one the desire to succeed has stayed with me. Being in the right frame of mind, is the most important factor of any new plan, it falters and wanes at some point, but re-focusing on your goal, stopping and thinking, taking 5 is all sometimes it needs to get back on track.

And don’t forget,changes should be for the better and for ever (note to self *take note*), they are not a punishment for your past, but for a brighter healthier future, indulgences of the food and drink kind, can be enjoyed, just make sure you enjoy them, don’t beat yourself up about them,make the conscious choice that is right for you.

O.K enough of the sermon…some tasty tips for you now, and some small changes that can make the world of difference to your wasitline, mood and overall well beingness ( Not really a word, but you know what I mean)

Eat 3 meals a day and 2 small snacks- This will keep you fully charged, without any dips in energy and willpower.
Try starting the day with Hot water and a slice of Lemon before your normal, Cup of tea or coffee, this will just help the cleansing process of the day for you.

BREAKFAST IDEAS

  • Scrambled egg, with grilled tomatoes and dry fried mushrooms, with oregano.
  • Ruby Grapefruit with a teaspoon of Cane Honey.
  • Bran flakes, with chopped banana and skimmed milk.
  • Natural Yogurt with a handful of dried fruit, and a sprinkle of omega seed mix.
SNACKS

Now some foods for instance like nuts, avocado etc are avoided as people are aware their calorie content are high, well this is the case but their health benefits, far out way this, and your body uses their nutrients for your well being, so enjoyed in small amounts they are vital as part of a healthy D !

  • Crudites with homemade healthy hummus
  • 5 dried Apricots.
  • 5 Brazil nuts.
  • Piece of fruit – best to eat whole fruit as it will have less calories that a glass of Fruit Juice, and the fibre in the fruit helps with the digestive process.
  • 2 small squares of dark chocolate – A least 70% cocoa solids.
Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries).

This is a fascinating report on how to taste and appreciate chocolate, why not have a go. Click here for the details.

Depending whether you enjoy your largest meal of the day at lunchtime or evening, they are interchangeable.  If you do eat your main meal at night, try and enjoy it at least 3 hours before bed, to give you body chance, to digest it.  This will aid restful sleep, and avoid gaining pounds from unused calories.

Lunch and Main Meals.

Here the key is to let your imagination flow,  be adventurous, and create a variety of dishes, we all know “Variety is the spice of life“, if you get bored of the same old food, you may look to snacking, or feeding your cravings with not such good options.
The main key here should be fresh, in season and tasty and filling.  Options are endless.
Find a plate that is of average size, (25cms) and only fill it 3/4 full, this then will keep your portion sizes under control.  Fill the majority of the plate with vegetables or salad, and then the rest with either Protein (Meat, eggs, beans etc) or Carbs ( Rice, Pasta, Potatoes etc)
See you if can go meat free every other day, on two counts, it will make you look for other proteins to satisfy you, and will help your Purse strings too .
Season, with fresh herbs where possible, make lively salsas, and stir in coriander and parsley, refreshing and vibrant on the taste buds too.  When using dry herbs and spices, dry fry them in a pan first to release their heady aromas.
Make your own herb garden, and keep handy to the kitchen so you have herbs on tap !

Use vinegars and lemon juice to dress salads, and Fab Friend to salads is a reduced Balsamic vinegar, which adds a hint of sweetness.

Make homemade soups, with any vegetable that is in season, and keep a pot in the fridge, ideal as a snack for a healthy cup of soup.

Try and include sustainable fish into your plan, Langostinos and dipping sauce, can be a luxurious treat, and grilled Sardines at the Chiringuito no problema,enjoy with pleasure.  Oily fish is very important in your plan.

IDEAS
Don’t think I’ve forgotten, the taste of sweetness, sometimes that’s all we want… their are many puds you can enjoy….Homemade jellies, using fresh juice, Meringues (fat free), sorbet, ice lollies. dried fruit.
There are many excellent recipes, to suit all diet types on The BBC Good Food Site
So in a nutshell ;
  • With small changes you can see big results.
  • No D word in sight !
  • Embrace celebrations with gusto, and indulge with what you choose, without regret.
  • Eat calmly, and thoughtfully, acknowledge what you are eating and enjoy.
  • If hunger is not the problem, than eating is not the answer.
  • Drink lots of water.
  • There will be times in the month, hormonal, stressful & testing.  Breath deeply, take stock, talk it over with someone, or take 5 me time minutes, before comfort eating.  If you choose to comfort eat, enjoy it, then move on.
REMEMBER TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY ITS THE ONLY PLACE YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN
So happy eating, enjoy your road to a new you, and don’t forget its
good to talk be it virtually 😉 or face to face.
Lynsey x