Serrano Ham & White Bean Tapas

Spanish white beans are prime candidates for making tasty tapas, they can be served cold or warmed up depending on your choice and served many different ways. Here is a simple tapa with a big flavour, accompanied with some thin slices of Spanish ham.



Take a 400g jar of white beans and empty into a bowl. Mash the beans with a fork and add half a small red onion. Once mashed together add half a teaspoon of smoked paprika and mix well. Meanwhile slice up some thin strips of ham.

Place a table spoon of the mash onto toast, add the ham on top and garnish with fresh parsley. Can be served hot or cold on toast, bread or savoury biscuits.



Spice up your tapas with pimenton de la vera!

Ponche Caballero

*"Ponche Caballero" is one of those liquors that has been around for decades. It has been made in the same way for nearly one hundred years, the production process is very time consuming... The liquor is actually made from Spanish brandy, this is blended with fresh oranges from Southern Spain as well as grapes, plums and a hint of cinnamon.

Adds a lovely twist to a cup of coffee!



Not so sure on the marketing video though...



*Available February 2009

Serrano Ham & Pistachio Nuts

Serrano ham always goes well with nuts, usually it is served up with salted almonds. In this case we have used pistachio nuts as we had a few left over from a pasta and ham recipe.

Quick tapas, the good thing about pistachio nuts is that they keep your hands busy cracking open all those shells! The reward at the end though is great flavour combination.



Serve up with fresh vine tomatoes, the type above are home grown and are very very sweet so ideal to go with a little olive oil along side the serrano ham.

Serrano Ham and Turkey Hash.

As part of our "make a turkey last" recipe month we have created this simple hash and added some serrano ham for that flavour combo. A fantastic winter warmer recipe this needs no introduction as a good Hash is a simple Hash! Packed with flavour and easy to make.

Ingredients:

3 Large potatoes (cubed)

1 Large onion (sliced)

2 Small leeks (sliced)

1 Red bell pepper (chopped)

300g Shredded turkey or chicken

200g Diced serrano ham bodega

250mls Double cream

1 small knob of butter






How to Cook:

Boil the potatoes.

Meanwhile, in a frying pan/cazuela cook the sliced onion, pepper and leeks with the butter (add a little olive oil if required) until transparent, season with crushed black pepper.

Once boiled, cut the potatoes and place in a large bowl or cazuela. Mix in the vegetables with the turkey, serrano ham and cream.

Fry the mixture for 10 - 12 minutes before oven cooking for a further 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with cheese and serve piping hot.

Spanish Food Glossary

Spanish cooking...Sometimes there are words or terms in recipes that not everyone will know, some Spanish terms have no direct translation or on occasion the obvious may not be so! ie: Melacaton - sounds like it could be melon but is actually peach.

In order to clarify this and create something that will assist our customers and blogger readers we have published a comprehensive Spanish food/cooking glossary, it is relevant to "Andalucia" so terms may not be "correct" ie in Northern regions but it does give a comprehensive guide from English to Spanish in general.



So, if you need to know your "gambas" from your "guisantes" CLICK HERE for the guide.


 Learn Spanish Today 

Stocking Up

Its not every day we buy a turkey, usually at Christmas like everyone else but when we discovered that Julian our local butcher could get turkey all year round we decided to buy one and make it stretch as far as we could. At the moment we are up to 9 meals (family of three) including a traditional turkey roast, serrano ham and turkey hash and a rather large pie! The rest is in the freezer awaiting to be made into paella and all manner of tapas.



As with a chicken, turkey makes a fantastic stock - the foundation of any good paella. All you need is a pan big enough to put the carcase in.

For this stock:

Turkey
2 large skinned onions quartered
4 unpeeled broken carrots
4 Bay leaves
Pepper.

Boiled up for a couple of hours this turkey with odds and ends of leftover veg has made roughly 18 litres of stock. Straight in the freezer ready for the next paella.

Whiting Tapas Recipe

Whiting - or "Boquerones" make a very nice starter or racione (big tapa) If you are always unsure what to do with some of those small fish you see at the market try this simple recipe, you can also use sardines, sprats, anchovies etc



Ingredients: Serves 3

9 fresh whiting

Spanish Harina de Trigo Fritos y Rebozados for frying
(this is a course wheat flour and is nearly yellow in colour and when used for frying fish, the results are tremendous)

Olive oil for frying



Cooking:

1.Clean the fish and remove the heads and innards but otherwise leave whole.

2.Coat each fish in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess.

3.In batches of two or three fry the fish in very hot olive oil for 2 - 3 minutes either side until golden. (it is a good idea to use a small pan so as not to use too much oil, as the fish need to be covered by the oil)

4.Drain on kitchen towel and serve with a fresh tomato salad.

More Seafood Recipes...

Paprika de La Vera

Smoked paprika as an ingredient in Spanish cooking is very popular and used in a variety of main meals and tapas. Smoked paprika generally comes from the "La Vera" region which carries the D.O stamp or Denominacion de Origen - the recognised sign of quality.

Smoked paprika has a unique flavour and adds a real earthy, smoked aroma and flavour to dishes such as fish soups, casseroles and an abundance of tapas.



Pimenton Dulce sweet
the most common variety is sweet paprika or Pimenton Dulce this paprika is made from round or bell peppers and is quite sweet on the palate.

Pimenton Agridulce bittersweet
The second is a bitter - sweet paprika known as Pimenton Agridulce not a common paprika and only recently introduced to outside Spain this variety is made using a mixture of round peppers and the more fiery longer shaped pepper resulting in a bittersweet blend and flavour.

Pimenton Picante Hot
Lastly there is hot paprika or Pimenton Picante this paprika is made from long almost burgundy in colour hot red peppers, almost always used in the production of hot Spanish chorizos this paprika boasts a deep ruby red colour and that extra bite required for hotter dishes.




Want to know more on Spanish Paprika?

"Spanish smoked paprika or Pimenton is another of Spain's finest products which carries the "DO" (Denominacion de Origin) Paprika is widely used in all types of Spanish cooking and is of course what gives the world famous chorizo its deep red colour.

The peppers are harvested from September through until early December....." READ MORE..

Spanish "Omelette"

Serrano ham and chinese fan mushroom omelette, sounds very classy but is an incredibly simple dish to make. Unlike the Spanish "Tortilla" (recipe) a simple omelette is much thinner and not so much of a main meal like the tremendous tortilla which, it has to said takes a great deal more culinary skill to get right!



Ingredients: (serves 4)
6 large eggs
200g Serrano ham sliced into small thin pieces
100g fan mushrooms
2 spring onions
50 - 60g grated cheese
Milk
Pepper to taste

How to Cook:
1. Wipe the mushrooms clean and chop into small pieces, slice the spring onions.

2. Using a fork, beat the eggs together with a little milk and season with black pepper, add the grated cheese.

3. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and add the ham and mushrooms, cook for a few minutes until the mushrooms are tender.

4. Add the eggs and the spring onions.

5. Cook over a high heat, and using a spatula pull the edges of the omelette into the middle tilting the pan as you go so the liquid eggs run into the space. Do this for a few minutes until only a tiny bit of liquid is left in the centre. Remove from the pan and allow to rest for a few minutes (the remaining runny bit of egg will finish off cooking)

6. Serve immediately.