Tapas Series: Ham & Cheese Croquetas

I had never tried tapas until I went to Nerja, Spain in June this year.

I am 33 and I have missed out BIG time!! Why have I never tried tapas until recently?? I now have an urge to eat as much as I can to make up for lost time!!

What I love about it is, you order lots of different dishes and you just dip in and sample everything. It's a social meal as you share it with your fellow diners and really get stuck in.

There are so many dishes to choose from so there is a high chance you'll order too much, or that could just be a problem my friends and I have!

I have a friend coming over for dinner for a long overdue catch up and what better food to cook than tapas?

This recipe is slightly time consuming but can be frozen so make ahead if you know you will be short on time.

These are just a little piece of heaven in your mouth....honestly, trust me!! These are pure bliss, forget the party....this is a full on rave in your mouth with each bite you take!!

The smoked ham and melted cheese against the crunch of the breadcrumbed coating......oh my god!!! I'm craving more of these as I am typing this!!!

The tomato and chilli jam really brings this dish to a new dimension. The jam is so full of flavour, isn't too spicy and has a nice sweet element to it. This jam would be amazing served alongside a cheeseboard also!

Makes 24.

Ingredients:

• 25g butter
• 1/2 small onion,. finely chopped
• 50g plain flour
• 250ml milk
• 140g sliced smoked ham, diced
• 50g mature cheddar, grated
• 50g Gruyere, finely grated
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp. double cream

For the coating:

• 2 large eggs
• 50g plain flour
• 140g fine dried breadcrumbs
• sunflower oil, for deep frying

For the tomato & chilli jam:

• 300g ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 100g Demerara sugar
• 100ml red wine vinegar

To make the croquetas, melt the butter in a medium saucepan and gently fry the onion for 3 minutes or until lightly coloured. Stir in the flour and cook for 30 seconds. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly, and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes until thick and glossy. Stir in the ham, cheese, mustard and cream, and season to taste. Cook for 1 minute more until the cheese has melted, stirring constantly.


Pour into a bowl and cover with cling film to stop a skin from forming. Leave to cool, then chill overnight. The mixture needs to be very stiff to form the croquetas. Take heaped teaspoons of the mixture and, with wet hands, roll into 24 small oval shapes and put on a tray. Beat the eggs in a bowl, put the flour on a plate and half of the breadcrumbs in a bowl.

The croquetas rolled and ready to coat

Roll each of the croquetas lightly in flour, then in the egg before coating in breadcrumbs. Place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Use the remaining breadcrumbs to top up the bowl half way through the coating process. Chill for 30 minutes.

All coated & chilling in the fridge

Meanwhile, make the tomato & chilli jam. Put all of the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover loosely with a lid, and cook for an hour, stirring occasionally, until thick and glossy. Leave to cool before serving.

My tomato & chilli jam

Fill a large saucepan one-third full with sunflower oil and heat to 180C (or use an electric deep-fat fryer). Using a metal slotted spoon, lower 6 croquetas into the oil and cook for 1.5 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a baking tray lined with kitchen paper to absorb excess oil, and continue cooking the rest. Serve with the chilli jam for dipping.

All ready to eat....nom nom nom!

Look at all that gooey goodness!!

Clotted Cream & Strawberry Ice Cream

I have the biggest sweet tooth and am a huge lover of ice cream. Not just any kind, as the cheap stuff doesn't do it for me....Ben & Jerry's, Carte D'Or (the praline one tastes just like Nutella!!!!) and real handmade Italian gelato!!


There's nothing I like more than going on a stroll with an ice cream cone with 2 or 3 scoops....be rude not to try several flavours, and just enjoying the taste and company I'm with.


I love Cornish ice cream with fresh strawberries and wanted to make an ice cream that conjures up my love of this.....and boy have I hit the jackpot with this bad boy of an ice cream!!


It's so rich and creamy, but not sickly and the strawberry swirl compliments it perfectly.


You could add some crumbled shortbread biscuits into the mix before freezing so make it a strawberry shortcake ice cream!


Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 125g caster sugar
• 2x 227g tubs of clotted cream
• 250ml full fat milk
• 1 pallet strawberries

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar and whisk for several minutes until well combined. Add the clotted cream and milk and whisk well.


Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine, according to the manufactures instructions.


Hull and halve the strawberries, then blitz to a lumpy purée. Once the cream is almost frozen but not solid, add the purée mixture in slowly whilst swirling to create a ripple effect.


Transfer to a freezer proof container and freeze until solid.


Take out of the freezer 5-10 minutes prior to serving to ensure it is soft enough to scoop.

Caribbean Series: Macaroni Pie

To me, you can't have any kind of Caribbean chicken dish without macaroni pie!! It's a cardinal sin, the entire world would come to a halt....ok, maybe not, but I would sulk if I didn't get any and nobody wants a stroppy Julia!

Why is it called macaroni pie, you ask?? Good question! Unfortunately, I can't answer it so if you really want to know the answer then you'll just have to Google it! I'm content enough with just eating the mighty fine stuff and couldn't care less whether you call it macaroni pie or macaroni cheese, as to me, they are both pretty much the same!

I have used 4 different kinds of cheese, it may seem a lot but trust me on this, this bad boy is the stuff dreams are made of!! I bought some in to work for a colleague to try and she literally hounds me on a daily basis to make some more!

Ingredients:

• 37sg macaroni
• 20g butter
• 2 tbsp. plain flour
• 2 1/2 cups of milk
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 packet of grated mature Cheddar
• 1 packet of grated mozzarella
• 250g grated Red Leicester
• 1 packed grated parmesan

Cook the macaroni on a pan of salted water. Once cooked (you don't want to over cook this as it will cook further in the oven) drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat until melted. Add the flour and whisk for 1 minute until the mixture is just bubbling.

Gradually whisk in the milk, stirring rapidly to avoid any lumps from forming. Stir until the sauce boils and begins to thicken. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered.

Stir in the mustard, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste, stir occasionally for 5 minutes or until thickened, remove from the heat.

Stir in half the packet of grated Cheddar and mix well until all the cheese has melted and is smooth. Add the macaroni and stir well until combined.

Pour half the mixture into a 2L glass or ceramic dish. Sprinkle half the remaining Cheddar, half the mozzarella and half of the Red Leicester.

Pour the remaining macaroni on top and finish off with the rest of the cheese then add half the packet of parmesan cheese on top.

Bake in the oven at 350F/180C for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Et voila!! Your little piece of heaven is ready to serve! You can thank me later!!

Ready to eat with my jerk chicken & rice and peas...yum!

Devilish Chocolate Brownies

So I recently purchased the Chocolate recipe book by Eric Lanlard and it is utterly amazing! I literally want to dive into the recipe book and devour every single recipe in it!


I decided to make his devilish chocolate brownies first, as who doesn't love brownies??


These are just so chocolately and moist, and every bite literally takes me to chocolate heaven and I never ever want to return.....EVER!!!


If you, like myself, are an avid chocoholic or you know someone who is, then I beg you try out this recipe!! You shall not be disappointed!


The recipe calls for dark chocolate chips but I had used milk chocolate to make it a little less rich.

Makes 16

Ingredients:

• 200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 150g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 2 tsp vanilla paste
• 150g golden caster sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 75g plain flour
• 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 100g milk chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/gas mark 4. Grease a 19cm square shallow baking tin and line the base with baking paper.


Melt the chopped chocolate, butter and vanilla together in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the surface of the water does not touch the bowl. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, then leave to cool for a few minutes.


Beat in the eggs, then sift in the flour, cocoa and salt and fold in until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Stir in the chocolate chips.


Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the top starts to crack but the centre remains goey. Turn off the oven and leave the brownies inside for a further 5 minutes before removing. Leave to cool completely in the tin.


Cut the brownies into 16 small squares and remove from the tin. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Caribbean Series: Rice & Peas

Rice and peas is in fact rice and kidney beans, and not peas of the green kind. It's delicious and nutritious and complements jerk chicken (or any other Caribbean dish) perfectly.

Now, you can use a few other beans but today we shall be using the kidney kind.

Ingredients:

• 1 can kidney beans, including the liquid
• 1 can coconut milk
• 100ml water
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 scallions, finely chopped. Including the green part
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 cups white long grained rice (rinsed and drained)

Drain the liquid from the kidney beans into a measuring jug. Add the coconut milk and 100ml of water.

Add the liquid, beans, garlic, chopped scallion and thyme to a large pot. Add the salt & pepper and bring to the boil.

Add the rice and add more water if needed. Bring to the boil on high for 2 minutes. Turn the heat to low, and simmer covered until the liquid is absorbed (this will take around 15-20 minutes).

Fluff with a fork before serving.

Caribbean Series: Jerk Chicken Rub

I love Caribbean food...the taste, smell and look of the dishes conjures up pure happiness for me. There is just so much flavour in all their dishes and it takes me to a very happy place!

I've been on a quest to find a good jerk recipe and my boyfriend bought a recipe book for me which I love. There are 3 different jerk recipes and this post is using the "rub technique".

I'm going to write up individual posts for each of the dishes so it enables you to reference with ease.

My first attempt at cooking, I made jerk chicken (using the rub), rice and peas, fried plantain and macaroni pie. I was nervous as my boyfriend is Jamaican and his mum was an exceptional cook, so I had a lot of pressure to get this right!! I was more than happy with the end result and so was Darren. We decided to use some guava jam as a glaze when there was about 10 minutes left of cooking time. You don't have to do this, but it does add a nice fruity element to the dish.

Look out for my dry jerk rub recipe which I will be attempting soon and will add to the blog. I want to try the different jerk varieties so I can work out which I prefer and turn out the most authentic to what you would get from a Caribbean shop/carnival food stall.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 finely chopped scallions, including the green parts
• 2 tsp fresh thyme
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground Jamaican allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 to 6 scotch bonnet, finely minced
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pack of chicken thighs

Using a food processor, combine all of the ingredients and grind to a paste.
Smooth over your chicken thighs ensuring all the meat is covered. Cover and leave to marinate overnight.


Once ready to cook, heat some olive oil in a Dutch pot or a heavy casserole dish and sear the chicken until nicely browned. Cook in the oven until the chicken has cooked through.


Serve with rice & peas, plantain, macaroni pie and coleslaw......all of which will be coming to my blog soon!


Any leftover paste can be stored in the fridge in a tightly closed jar for up to 1 month.


Chicken marinating in the jerk rub

All the food I had cooked, ready to serve!