Avocado and Shrimp Salad

Hello everyone!

I hope you like this delicious avocado salad I cooked today. 

This dish is great for a dinner or just as a starter. It only takes a few minutes to prepare it and it is full of colour and flavour.

In Spain avocados are mainly farmed in the South and at Cannary Islands.

They have become part of Spanish cuisine in the last decade. 

Avocados are delicious and a good source of potassium, vitamin K, vitamin E and fiber.

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

2 ripe avocados

150g cooked shrimps

Half a lemon

5 tablespoons mayonnaise

5 teaspoons tomato sauce or ketchup

Tabasco sauce

Salt

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy

15 minutes

Method:

Let’s start preparing the pink sauce. Put the mayonnaise in a small bowl. Add the tomato sauce and mix with a fork until smooth. Then add a splash of tabasco sauce and save it for later.

 

Make a small cut on every side of the avocados,

Halve the avocados, remove pulp using a spoon and save the shells for later.

Remove the pit, dice the pulp into thick pieces and drizzle with lemon juice to keep them from turning brown. 

 

Add the cooked shrimps and salt to taste. Finally add half of the pink sauce and mix carefully using a spoon. 

Fill the avocado shells with the mixture.

Top with pink sauce and decorate. I have used some shrimps here for the topping.

I hope you like it!

See you soon

María

Read more »

Squid Meatballs

Hi everyone! Yesterday I cooked this delicious and healthy dish for dinner.  This is a traditional recipe from Cadiz, in the South of Spain. My granny used to cook this during Lent. Squid or cuttlefish can be used to prepare this recipe. This can be frozen once cooked and it will keep all its flavour and properties. It takes a little time to prepare it, but it is very easy and the result is absolutely worthwhile. So don´t be scared of this long list of ingredients.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

For the meatballs:

400 g. fresh squid (cleaned)

20 g fresh parsley

2 cloves of garlic

200 g bread

1 egg

Salt and pepper to taste

100 g breadcrumbs

100 g flour

150 ml extra virgin olive oil

For the sauce:

1 onion

1 pinch of saffron

200 ml Spanish white wine

1 fish stock cube

500 ml water

1 bay leaf

 

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy

1 hour and a half

Preparation:

Clean the squid and rinse well under cold running water, then cut it into small pieces.

Put the squid pieces, the parsley and 2 cloves of garlic in a food processor and mix for 30 seconds.

Then add the bread, one egg, salt and pepper to taste and mix for 20 seconds.

Put the resulting mixture on a large bowl.

Add the breadcrumbs and mix thoroughly using a spoon.

Wet your hands, so the mixture won´t stick to them and make the meatballs.

Coat the meatballs in flour. Put the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook until golden brown.

Place the squid meatballs in a large pot.

Julienne the onion

Stir fry the onion in the olive oil you've used to fry the squid meatballs for 5 minutes. Then add the white wine.

Cook over a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Then add the pinch of saffron, stir well and pour the resulting sauce in the pot with the meatballs.

Dissolve the fish stock cube in half a litre of boiling water. Then add about 200 ml of this stock to the pot with the meatballs and stir well.

Add a leaf of bay, cover with lid and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Then our dish will be ready.

Decorate with chopped parsley and serve hot with homemade fries and salad.

I hope you like it!
See you soon,

María

Read more »

Stewed Cuttlefish in Hot Tomato Sauce

Hi everyone! Today I cooked this delicious dish for dinner. Cuttlefish is highly consumed in Spain. There are different ways of cooking cuttlefish. The secret to get a soft result and keep the natural flavour of cuttlefish is that it has to be cooked  for just a few seconds over a high heat, or for a long time over a low heat. I usually serve this dish with rice, however steamed potatoes or chips are great too with this spicy homemade sauce.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

800g fresh cuttlefish
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
250 ml Spanish white wine
200 ml passata (mashed) tomato
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of hot paprika
Salt to taste

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy
40 minutes

Method:

Clean the cuttlefish, removing guts, internal shell and rinsing well under cold running water.Keep the tentacles because they are very tasty. Then cut the cuttlefish tube into stripes like these.

Finely chop the garlic and onion. Peel and dice the tomato.

Stir- fry the garlic and onion until golden brown.

Add the cuttlefish, salt to taste, stir well and cook for a couple of minutes over a medium heat.

Then add the diced tomato and cook for 2 minutes.

Pour the passata tomato into the pot and mix all the ingredients thoroughly.

Then add the white wine, reduce heat, cover with lid and cook for 20 minutes stirring from time to time.

When the cuttlefish is done add 1 teaspoon of hot paprika and stir well.

Cook for a couple of minutes and our dish is ready.

Serve hot with rice.

I hope you like it!
See you soon,

María

Read more »

Galician Style Octopus

Hi again! We've been spending our holiday in Spain. Actually I cooked this delicious dish at my brother's kitchen. This is the way octopus is cooked  in the North West of Spain. The secret to get a soft result and keep the natural flavour of octopus is that it has to be cooked  for just a few time over a high heat, which is the case of grilled octopus,  or for a long time over a low heat, whenever we cook boiled octopus or stews. During our holiday we've been discovering new flavours and trying new and traditional recipes, so I'd like you all to enjoy them too.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

1 whole fresh octopus (about 1kg. cleaned and gutted)
500 g. potatoes
200 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of sweet paprika
1 tablespoon of hot paprika
Salt to taste

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy
1 hour

Method:

Rinse well the gutted octopus with cold water ( if you are using frozen octopus, defrost in the fridge until it's thawed)

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.

  Gently lower in the octopus.

Cook over a medium heat for 40 minutes.

In the meantime peel, wash and slice the potatoes.

Put the potatoes into the pan with the octopus, cook for 10 minutes and it'll be ready.

Cut the octopus arms using a pair of kitchen scissors.

Place the octopus pieces and the boiled potatoes on a dish, pour with extra virgin olive oil.

Serve hot sprinkled with hot and sweet paprika to taste.

In Galicia the octopus is traditionally served in a wooden dish like this.

I hope you like it!
See you soon,

María

Read more »

Mussel Pate on the Shell

Hi again! Today I cooked this recipe for you all. This dish is a delicious starter for a dinner and it is very easy to prepare. Galician seafood is worldwide known. The farming system for the production of mussel in Galicia is called "batea". This is a floating rectangular structure made of wood with several ropes attached, where mussels seeds grow. Mussel is highly consumed in Spain and it is a natural source of iron and B-group vitamins. Since I moved to the UK I have been using Scottish live mussels for my recipes and the result has been amazing too.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

500 g. live mussels

1 small onion

300 g. passata (mashed) tomato

100 ml. extra virgin olive oil

100 g. breadcrumbs

Salt

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy

45 minutes

Method:

Scrub and wash the mussels. Place them in a large pot with salt. Cover with lid and cook them over a high fire until they are done (about 3 minutes).

You don't need to add any water. The resulting steam is enough to cook the mussels.

Leave to cool for 5 minutes.

In the meantime chop the onion.

Remove mussels and place them on a dish, saving the shells for later.

Place the mussels, the mashed/ passata tomato and the chopped onion in a large bowl or jar.

Beat well using a blender.

Put the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the resulting mixture. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes.

Put the mussel pate on the shells using a spoon and place the shells on a baking tray.

Sprinkle with breadcrumbs, preheat the oven to 200ºC  and bake in the centre of the oven for 10 minutes using the grill too.

And now our dish is ready.

Place the mussel shells on a dish and serve hot.

I hope you like this recipe.

See you soon,

María

Read more »