Annie B's Spanish Kitchen

Kumquats

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:26:55 +0000

Kumquats are not a typical fruit of Vejer but when Roger and Sara appeared with armfuls of them the other day I realised that maybe they are, or ar least could be. After initial enthusiasm and excitement, scratching the skins and eating a few (YUM) – what was I going to do with so many Kumquats? Having recently returned from UK, where I was a guest of The Cranges over Hogmanay, I felt inspired. The Cranges (Chris & Angela) mix just about anything with vodka, gin, rum & Sherry. So here we have it. 1 litre of dark rum and 1 bag of Kumquats. Nada mas. No idea what I’m doing so any tips on Kumquat Rum would be very welcome

Sunkissed Spanish Strawberries

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:05:47 +0000

Sunkissed Spanish Strawberries

It’s always such a pleasure to return to Vejer when the winter sunshine has encouraged red and juicy strawberries to glow with a shimmery and dewy EAT ME appearance. In Spanish there is a wonderful saying ”Que Buena Pinta” which means ”what a great look” !

Paco my butcher will use the same expression when slicing marbleized Presa from the Iberian pig – muttering ”que buena pinta” as he slices he way through this sought after lump of exquisite meat. ”Que buena pinta” can also be a perfect remark when a delicious looking creation is placed in front of you by an eager to please waiter or harassed hostess. So at €8 per kilo, a mere 250 grams of these EAT ME strawberries, found their way onto my kitchen table.

They were so divine that I had to restrain myself from popping them into the blender so that the blended sweet juciness might make it’s way into a glass to be topped up with chilled Cava……….a missed opportunity for another ‘Que Buena Pinta!’.

If the strawberries from Conil are divine at the beginning of January, they will only get better with each sunkissed day until mid June, when the season is normally all but over. Come drink ‘Fizz a las Fresas’ when cooking at Annie B’s Spanish Kitchen

Annie B in February’s edition of Country Living Magazine

admin — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:16:06 +0000

A wonderful article in February’s Country Living written by Ruth Chandler. Ruth spent four happy days staying at El Califa and chopping at Annie B’s Spanish Kitchen in September 2011. Cooking wasn’t all that was on the menu – lunch on the beach at El Palmar, fabulous flamenco on Annie’s terrace, umpteen copas of Sherry, tapas tours of Vejer – and of course, the shopping. Take a group of girls anywhere and shopping is a must. We were buying up Moroccan dishes, dried wild oregano, locally woven sun hats, colourful fans, rare Sherry and smoked paprika. A happy time had by all and a great girls holiday!

Read full article here

Cooking for One

admin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:16:59 +0000

Blissful lunch for ONE! Yummy green beans and pinenuts bought in Tangiers yesterday with BBQ Moroccan Spiced Chicken and Sunday’s Baba Ganouj (which tastes even better today). Plus a fab chilled Mahou. Don’t ever think that cooking for one can’t be fun

PX Monday

admin — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:36:45 +0000

An amazing Oasis Tart was made in class today. First we made the pastry shell and then after baking it blind, we filled it with a divine concoction of dried figs, moscatel raisins & dates, all soaked in PX Sherry, mixed with a creme friache & flaked almond custard. Served warm with even more creme fraiche, a sprinkling of cinnamon and several glasses of chilled PX. Sooooooooooooo incredibly yummy.

A Stunning Salad I’ve Just Discovered…

admin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:47:42 +0000

This yummy salad of Fresh Figs, Cabrales Blue Cheese, Walnuts & Bacon, fried and then pan de-glazed with PX Sherry, was the first thing I served to guests on a recent course. When at the end of the course we were discussing favourite dishes of the week – guests kept refering back to this spectacular salad.

For years I’ve been assembling a salad combo of Avocado, Bacon, Mango & Walnut with Roquefort. Not because I don’t want to use a Spanish blue cheese, it’s just that the much sought after blue cheese of Spain’s dairy herds in Asturias, Cabrales, has been impossible to find here. That was until recently when Palomita (the best deli in town) started stocking it. It was one of those real jump up & down for joy moments when I saw it winking at me from Mari-Paz’s deli counter. In the past I’ve mixed brevas with Roquefort and even had the opportunity to use mango with Cabrales, but – WOW – Brevas with Cabrales!! It was incredible. I’m not one for keeping left over salad because lettuce looks really unappealing when it’s been ‘cooked’ by vinegar but the salad combo was so delicious that the tiny bit leftover was popped into the fridge and the following day – the flavours were still sensational.

This is what you need - one salad bowl and the following ingredients assembled to make this scrummy salad of total divineness.

Fresh Green Fig Salad with Cabrales Blue Cheese, Toasted Walnuts and Fried Bacon de-glazed with PX Sherry – serves 4

8 x large Brevas or fresh figs, peeled & quartered
1 x pkt of chopped bacon bits (approx 120gms)
100mls PX Sherry to de glaze
Huge handful of peeled Walnuts, toasted lightly in dry fry pan
100gms of Cabrales or Roquefort or Stilton – crumbled
The best sweet lettuce you can find – Romaine, lettuce hearts etc

Instructions

Begin by washing and drying the lettuce and put in bowl.
Toast walnuts in dry fry pan and decant onto a plate after toasting.
Wipe fry pan clean of any walnut skins with a dry cloth and return pan to a high heat.
Cut figs into quarter, peel & scatter over lettuce along with crumbled Cabrales and walnuts.
Grind some Black Pepper on top.
Add bacon to burning hot fry pan then patiently leave to sizzle and brown for maybe a minute before you start to toss/stir. When browned you may want to wipe away excess fat with paper towel.
Turn the heat down and add PX.
Bubble until slightly reduced.
Scatter over salad with a good slug of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a generous splash of Sherry Vinegar.
Toss gently.

Buen Provecho!