The Family Cook Book

I hadn't spotted any thing written by this guy until yesterdays Times. I really like his very simple approach to Spanish food, its in the same groove as Sam and Sam Clark at Moro and Jose Pissaro. I have now discovered that he is the guy behind Tapas Revolution at Bluewater and Westfield ... I haven't eaten at either and I'm not sure I am likely to but I like the recipes nevertheless. Here's a couple more of his recipes, they are just basic Spanish tapas but all stuff that I really like. And talking of things that I like I love the old peppers di Padron ... if you haven't had them before remember that this is like culinary Russian roulette with one in fifteen of these little tinkers being a fiery little mother ... you have been warned! Peppers di Padron Serves 4-5 Preparation time: 1 minute Cooking time: 1 minute 50ml extra virgin olive oil 200g fresh Padrón peppers Sea salt flakes 1  Put the olive oil in a wide frying pan over a high heat a

Thought these  Spanish recipes in the Times today  were quite interesting  If you want to make a good paella, you need to follow a few basic rules: • Use Spanish ingredients – they are just too good not to be used in this case. If you can, use saffron from La Mancha (it’s the best in the world), Spanish olive oil and calasparra or bomba rice. • Get yourself a good paella pan – it should be wide and flat so that the rice cooks in a thin layer. Never use deep pans. • Never stir the rice. Ever! You will make the rice release starch and it will become too stodgy. At the end of the cooking time the rice should be soft, not sticky. • Let it rest for 5 minutes at the end of the cooking time. The rice should not be soupy so give it a chance to absorb any trapped steam. • Follow the recipe! Serves 6 1g saffron 1 tbsp salt 8 tbsp Spanish olive oil 400g chicken pieces (on the bone) 400g rabbit pieces (on the bone) 200g runner beans, trimmed and cut into 2.5cm pieces 100g bro

I'm in the office on a Saturday night going a bit stir crazy on a pitch. I saw this r ecipe by Omar Allibhoy in the Times today and I've just looked it up on my desktop  I love peppers di Padron and potatoes and egg. It also looks like theres a cheeky bit of a jamon on top which could be pretty bloody fab too. Hangover breakfast perhaps? Serves 2 200ml olive oil Half Spanish onion, thinly sliced 2 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced Handful of Padrón peppers 4 eggs Salt and freshly groundblack pepper 1  Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over a medium to high heat and add the onion and potatoes. Fry for about 10 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the pan and set aside. Drain the oil from the pan, leaving just enough to fry the garlic. Add the garlic and Padrón peppers and fry for 30 seconds before returning the potatoes and onions to the pan. 2  Break the eggs into the pan. Do this from a distance – at leas

We had this salad yesterday with the turkey burgers. Its a spin on an old favourite of ours the Turkish chopped salad Its perfect for a hot day and very easy to make Serves four. Ingredients 100g dried chickpeas 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda ( or if you're a cheat like me 1 tin of chickpeas) 2 small cucumbers (280g) 2 large tomatoes (300g) 1 small red onion, peeled 240g radishes 1 red pepper, seeds and pith removed 20g coriander leaves and stems, roughly chopped 15g flat-leaf parsley, picked and roughly chopped 120ml olive oil Grated zest of 2 lemons, plus 50ml lemon juice 30ml sherry vinegar 1 clove garlic, crushed  1 tsp sugar Salt and black pepper 1 tsp ground cardamom  1½ tsp ground allspice 1 tsp ground cumin Greek yoghurt (optional) Method If you are using dried chickpeas Soak the chickpeas overnight in a large bowl of cold water and the bicarb. Next day, drain, place in a large pan and cover with twice the volume of water. Bring to a boil and

We had this on a very very hot Sunday for lunch. We will definitely do it again. It tasted good and felt pretty virtuous to eat. I might try experimenting with chicken as an alternative and also I think the turkey we had was minced a little too finely which resulted in a slightly granular texture. In common with all turkey this really musn't be overcooked. Makes 4 servings (about 12 burgers) Ingredients For turkey burger 500g minced turkey (I think chicken would be good too) 1 large courgette, coarsely grated 1 spring onion, thinly sliced (I had to use a red onion but it worked ok) 1 medium free range egg 2 tbsp chopped mint 2 tbsp chopped coriander 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper sunflower oil For sour cream & sumac sauce 100g light sour cream 150g low fat Greek yogurt 1 tsp grated lemon zest 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 garlic clove, minced 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp sumac salt and pepp

Lets face it the little pungent devils aren't everybody's cup of tea.Take my daughter for example, she has a highly attuned anchovy sniffing gene that allows her to spot them even when they are buried somewhere in a sauce or a dressing! I have been told that it is cruel and wrong to fib about their inclusion in anything in an attempt to turn her .. this is of course correct. One day she'll come round! This dish (If you can call it a dish) is from Lucy Boyds Kitchen memories and definitely puts the anchovies up front and centre as the stars of the show. She talks about having this for breakfast. I prefer it as a light lunch or maybe even as a pre-dinner snack. It couldn't be simpler but I definitely think that this where you can justify paying a bit extra for some really good quality anchovies like Ortiz if you can get them We had this a couple of times whilst we were away in Ibiza .. it fitted the mood perfectly Ingredients 1 tin of anchovies or