Oven Roasted Ham and Potatoes

Hi everyone! Today I cooked this delicious recipe for dinner. This is the way ham is usually roasted in north west Spain. The tip for a tasty result is to marinate the ham and leave it in the fridge overnight. This is the way ham has been cooked in my family for generations. This is a very easy recipe and it is ideal for special days. My son loves this dish, specially those roasted small potatoes.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

1 kg fresh ham or unsmoked gammon joint
1 and a half kg small potatoes
200 ml Spanish white wine
500 ml extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground garlic
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
Salt to taste

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy
1 hour

Method:

Place the ham in a roaster and pour the wine on it.

Salt to taste. Then add the ground garlic, oregano, hot and sweet paprika and pour 2 tablespoons of  the extra virgin olive oil on it. Leave in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 180º C and place the ham in the centre of the oven using the grill too. Cook for 30 minutes, then turn over and cook the other side for about 15 minutes.

Once you have turned the ham over peel and wash the potatoes, then salt to taste.

Put the extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat and fry the potatoes for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. (Save this oil to cook other recipes.Olive oil can be used several times keeping all its flavour and properties)

When the ham is done set aside to rest.

Then remove the skin and carve into thick slices.

Place the fried small potatoes in the roaster with the sauce resulting from cooking the ham, bake in the oven for about 8 minutes and our dish will be ready.

Serve hot with salad or roasted peppers.

I hope you like it!
See you soon,

María

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Meat Galician Pie

Hello everyone! Today I'm going to cook this traditional pie for you all. This is probably one of most famous recipes from Galicia. This dish is well known all over Spain. The Spanish word for this dish is "empanada". This delicious pie can be filled with meat, fish or seafood and it has been cooked in my family for generations. My son loves cooking this dish and he usually helps me to make the dough, this is easier than you might think. Once ready, he always makes shapes with dough leftovers to bake in the oven together with the pie. This dish can be served either hot or cold. It can be cooked the day before and it is perfect to take away. In Galicia there's no picnic without this traditional pie!

Ingredients:

(Serves 6)

1 kg self raising wheat flour
(50 g yeast if plain flour is used instead)
200 ml warm water
220 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of sweet paprika
5 onions
500 g pork loin steaks
Salt to taste

Difficulty and cooking time:

Medium
2 hours

Method:

Peel, wash and chop the onions. Then dice the loin steaks.

Put the extra virgin olive oil on a large frying pan, add the chopped onion, a little salt, and stir fry until golden brown.

Then add the diced steaks, salt to taste and cook just for 3 minutes over a medium heat. (Do not cook meat for too long because we're baking this pie in the oven later)

Reduce heat and add a teaspoonful of sweet paprika (a pinch of saffron could be used instead). Stir thoroughly and save for later.

Strain 150 ml of the olive oil we have used to cook the meat and save for later. (This is going to be used to make the dough)

Put 700 g of self raising flour into a large bowl, add a teaspoon of salt. Make a well in the middle and add 1 egg. Then pour the warm water (about 50ºC) into the bowl.

Then add the olive oil we had saved before.

Swirl all the ingredients thoroughly, using your hands or a spoon until they have a consistency.

Put this mixture on a clean and floured surface, add additional flour and mix all the ingredients thoroughly using your hands until you get a non sticky and elastic dough.

Knead the dough using your hands until it comes together in a smooth, firm ball (About 10 minutes)

Place the dough ball in a warm place on a floured surface, so the dough won´t stick.

Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for an hour. The dough will raise becoming double size.

When the dough is ready divide it into 2 parts. Then roll out each piece of dough (about 1/2 cm thick)

Place the dough on an oiled baking tray.

Then add the filling.

Top with the other piece of dough and seal the rims.

Spear the dough with a fork, so the steam from cooking won't swell up the pie.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC, then brush the surface with beaten egg to get a shiny and golden brown result.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes and this delicious pie will be ready.

Serve it either hot or cold.

I'm sure you are going to love it!
Hopefully see you soon,

María

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Cabbage Stew

Hi everyone! As it seems summer's definitely gone in Scotland I cooked this cabbage stew for lunch today. This dish is usually served in Spain in autumn and winter. This traditional dish combines legumes, vegetables and meat. All these ingredients have different cooking times, so the secret for a perfect result is simple, just add them gradually depending on how long they have to be cooked. I've used chorizo and pork belly slices to cook this dish, however chicken or beef shank can also be used following the same steps.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

250g dried chickpeas
500g pork belly slices
400g Spanish chorizo ring
12 small potatoes
1 cabbage
Salt to taste

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy
1 hour and a half

Method:

Soak the chickpeas in cold water for about 10 hours or overnight.

Rinse the soaked chickpeas, place in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add salt to taste and bring to the boil. Remove the resulting froth and simmer for an hour.

In the meantime, rinse the belly slices and the chorizo ring with cold water and save them for later.

Peel and wash the potatoes. Wash thoroughly the cabbage (halve it and remove stalk)

 Increase heat and put the belly slices into the pot together with the chickpeas.

Then add the cabbage and boil for 5 minutes, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Finally add the potatoes and the chorizo ring and cook for about 15 minutes over a medium heat.

And this delicious stew is ready.

Serve very hot.

I hope you like it!
See you soon,

María

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Homemade Chicken Sandwich

Hello everyone! Today I cooked this scrumptious sandwich for dinner. I really love it! Whenever I cook roast chicken I always save some pieces to make this sandwich. I generally use Spanish serrano ham because it gives a special touch of flavour to this recipe. Alternatively cooked ham is a good choice too. All you need is a grill or a frying pan and in just 15 minutes this delicious dinner will be ready.

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

200 g roast chicken
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
30 g lettuce leaves
2 eggs
2  slices of serrano ham
6 slices of bread

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy
15 minutes

Method:

Wash the lettuce and cut the chicken breast into small pieces.

Finely chop the lettuce.

Put the chicken pieces and the chopped lettuce in a jug or bowl and add the mayonnaise.

Stir thoroughly to mix all the ingredients.

Spread the resulting mixture on a slice of bread and cover with another slice.

Cook on the grill for 2 minutes, then turn the sandwich and cook the other side for 2 more minutes.

Put a slice of serrano ham on top.

Cook the egg on the grill until it's well done and place it on the ham, then top with a slice of bread.

Cook on the grill until the bread is golden and crusty.

Serve hot with salad or french fries.

I hope you like it!
See you soon,

Maria

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