Farmersgirl Kitchen

Sunday, 30 December 2012

Your favourites and mine from 2012

It's traditional to have a round up of blog posts for the year and there are a lot to choose from in 2012. For each month I have chosen the recipe with the most page views, your favourite, and the one that I like best, my favourite. I've excluded those posts which had major giveaways as those do rather skew the page views! Many thanks to all who viewed and/or commented and to the hosts of all the challenges that I have entered.

January

Haddock Mornay Leek Bake

Flamiche - Flemish Leek Tart

February

Nigella's Sticky Chocolate Pudding

Slow Cooked Aromatic Pork

March

Tapas Tasting at La Tasca
My first restaurant review at La Tasca in Glasgow

Lemon Meringue Pie

April

Bulgar Wheat Salad

Turkey Saltimboca Piqante

May

Cupcake Decorating Masterclass

A fun day with Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes and Claire from A Kiss of Cookies

The Great Macaron Challenge

June

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam
This is the most viewed post of the year with 2612 page views

Diamond Jubilee - 'Elizabeth' Sandwich

We celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday and the Jubilee with a festive tea including this Victoria Sandwich filled with cream and lemon curd which I named an 'Elizabeth' Sandwich.

A visit to La Tasca in Glasgow for a demonstration of Paella making proved popular.

Pina Colada Cupcakes and that video!

October

La Tasca Paella de Carne Recipe

Sticky Toffee Pudding Cupcakes for Macmillan Cancer Research

November

How to Bake Paul Hollywood's Christmas Cake

Who says Vanilla isn't sexy? Salted Vanilla Chip Oatmeal Cookies

These unassuming cookies have been a huge hit with everyone who has tried them, I gave some to my sister at Christmas and she phoned me up after trying one to ask what was in them and tell me how good they were.

December

Choc-ful Christmas Muffins

Chocolate Orange Pudding

Let's raise a glass to the year gone by and salute the year to come Happy New Year

Labels: Chocolate Berry Pavlova, Chocolate Cake, Christmas Cake, cupcakes, fish, Jubilee, La Tasca, Lemon Meringue Pie, macarons, Review 2012, Rhubarb and Ginger Jam, Tapas, Turkey, Vanilla Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Monday, 15 October 2012

La Tasca Paella de Carne Recipe

A few weeks ago, I was invited to La Tasca in Renfield Street, Glasgow to watch Executive Chef Antonio Bennetto and Thomas, the La Tasca chef, demonstrate cooking paella, as well as tasting the delicious autumn menu for La Tasca. You can read about it in my blog post 'Paella People'

After the demonstration I wanted to make some Paella myself. As I wanted it to be as authentic to La Tasca as possible, I asked if they would be able to provide a recipe for me and was delighted when the answer was YES!


Paella de Carne ingredients

Frying the onion and peppers in garlic infused oil

Adding the chicken and chorizo

Adding the prawns and peas

Adding the rice in a cross

LA TASCA PAELLA DE CARNE

Serves 2 – 4 people

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 30-35 minutes

INGREDIENTS

200g of Spanish paella rice such as bomba or calasparra

2 tbs garlic infused olive oil

1 tsp pimenton de la vera dulce (smoked sweet paprika)

Pinch of saffron (or turmeric if you don’t have saffron)

675ml good quality chicken stock (475ml if using calasparra)

4 large ripe tomatoes

1 small white onion

2 medium sized fresh chicken breasts, diced into 25mm chunks

100g fresh chorizo sausage, sliced into rounds about ½ a cm in thickness

40g of fine beans, top, tailed and chopped into 1cm

30g of garden peas

Pinch of salt & pepper

1 roasted red pepper cut into quarters to garnish

1 lemon cut into wedges

CROCKERY

1 Paella Pan or a 30cm Large Heavy bottom frying pan

1 small pan for tomatoes

METHOD

1. Cut the onion and pepper into roughly 2cm cubes.

2. Score a small cross on the base of each tomato, then carefully place into a pan with boiling water, leave for 20 to 30 seconds, then remove using a slotted spoon. Drop the tomatoes into a bowl of ice cold water and leave to cool. Remove the tomatoes then peel away the skin. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, remove the seeds with a spoon, and then roughly chop the flesh. Set the chopped tomato aside.

3. Place a Paella pan or sauté pan over medium heat and when hot pour in the garlic infused olive oil. Add the onions and peppers and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened then move to one side of the pan.

4. Add the chicken and chorizo, stirring through and cook for 2-3 minutes until the chicken starts to brown and the chorizo begins to lightly caramelise before mixing back through with the peppers and onion.

5. Add the diced tomatoes, almost all of the chicken stock (leave 50 to 75ml back) and the pimenton, saffron/or turmeric. Mix in the green beans and peas, turn the heat up and once the broth is at a rolling boil and the chicken is cooked through, taste to make sure you are happy with the flavour (at this point you are looking for a strong flavour of Smokey paprika, saffron (if using) and a rich chicken stock kick) – season with salt and pepper if required.

6. Add the Paella rice making a cross in the pan with the rice from one side to the other.

7. Share the rice around the pan carefully using a spoon to distribute the rice into the 4 sections making sure the rice is even and in every part of the pan. Cook for 10 minutes on medium to high heat. Do not stir.

8. Turn the heat down to low, place the roasted red pepper quarters on top of the paella and cook for 10 minutes until the broth has been absorbed by the rice.

(Have the remaining chicken stock on hand to gently ladle over the rice if required at any point within these 10 minutes).

Once the broth has totally disappeared, check that the rice is al dente – cooked but with a slight bite, then turn off the heat and let it rest!

A Rest is so important: 15 minutes is the La Tasca golden rule, however if you have the luxury of waiting up to 45 minutes you will see a notable difference in texture and condensed taste. If you choose the 45 minute wait, make sure you cover the pan loosely with kitchen foil.

Great Paella should have a layer of rice caramelised on the bottom of the pan together with looking compact and caramelised on top; add the lemons just before serving!

Only fluff up the Paella when you are about to serve!

Please note: I added some prawns to the original recipe, as I am a big fan of seafood.


Finished Paella

The paella was delicious with a rich smoky flavour from the smoked paprika and chorizo, I would certainly make it again. Many thanks to Antiono for supplying the recipe and to Jade, Ella and Amy for being so accommodating.

Note: I found that I had to cover the pan with foil towards the end of cooking to get the rice on the top to cook properly. This is probably because my pan wasn't big enough to get a thin layer.

Labels: Chicken, chorizo, La Tasca, Paella de Carne, peas, pimenton, prawns, recipe, rice, smoked paprika, tomato

Saturday, 29 September 2012

Paella People!

I was so pleased to be invited back to La Tasca in Renfield Street Glasgow. I was last there in March and enjoyed tasting the tapas and meeting up with other Scottish food bloggers, you can read about it here. This time I was invited to a Paella evening and to try the new autumn menu dishes.

When we arrived there was the opportunity to try some of wines on offer at La Tasca, to accompany the wine we had jamon, anchovies and Manchego cheese. The cheese was particularly good.

Our host for the evening was Executive Chef Antiono Bennetto. Antiono started his career in restaurants and hotel kitchens, but soon moved to food development, working for food producers and supermarkets, he then moved into development for big brand restaurants. Antonio travels frequently to Spain to meet local chefs and find out as much as possible about the traditional dishes and techniques of Spanish cookery.

His most recent visits have been to Valencia to research paella. Paella from Valencia traditionally contains rabbit and snails, and the paella would also be cooked in a very thin layer without much fish or meat. However, Antonio's job is to take traditional dishes and adapt them for mainstream British tastes. It was interesting to hear that, while 'bone in' chicken thighs would have more taste, they are higher in fat, so chicken breast is used. La Tasca also have their own recipe chorizo which is made in Spain for them and contains less fat and less salt than the traditional recipe.

Digital Kit: Amy Stoffel, La Cucina

I had so many photographs of the paella making that I decided to make a digital layout of the process. It was interesting to see the way the paella was made, the chicken, squid and prawns were all added before the rice and yet they did not seem to suffer from a longer cooking. The correct type of rice is very important, La Tasca use Bomba rice, which absorbs three times the quantity of liquid as compared to twice the liquid for most other rice varieties.

I loved the way the rice was added to pan in a cross then Thomas, the chef, drew the rice into the stock evenly using the quadrants to guide him. This ensured that the rice was distributed evenly which is very important because we then learned that you do not stir paella!

While the paella was cooking it was time to taste the new dishes on the autumn menu. I'm hoping that I have got them right, apologies if I have mis-named them.

CHORIZO & MORCILLA (CASTILLA Y LEÓN) £4.95

Spanish black pudding and chorizo cooked with fire roast peppers, basil and onion.
This was probably my favourite of the new dishes, at first I thought 'what big olives'! However when I bit into the firm, slightly rubbery skin, I was delighted to find a soft and succulent mouthful of black pudding. A mild, rather than spicy mixture, much softer then the Scottish kind of black pudding. The combination with the chorizo, onions and peppers really worked well.

HOME-MADE BEEF BURGERS (CATALUÑA) £4.95

Two fresh mini home-made beef burgers with all the Spanish toppings.

The mini burgers really did taste homemade, no taste of fillers. The caramelised onions were soft and full of flavour and the little buns were reminiscent of brioche. I wouldn't have ordered burgers in a tapas bar but they were very good and a nice addition to the menu for conservative eaters and children.

SPICY ROASTED VEGETABLE CASSOLO WITH ALMOND (CASTILE LA MANCHA) £4.75

Butternut squash, red onion, chickpeas, celeriac and cannellini beans in a winter warming spicy tomato sauce topped with crushed almonds and parsley.

This is a new vegetarian option at La Tasca, I can't say that it jumped out at me as a highlight of the meal, it seemed to blend in with the other tomato based dishes.

CROQUETAS DE MANCHEGO (TOLEDO) £4.35

Hand-crumbed with three-month-aged-Manchego cheese and fresh spinach, served with roasted garlic mayonnaise.

The Croquetas de Manchego did not disappoint, lovely crunchy outside and soft cheesy inside, these are a must have on any tapas table.

HUEVOS CABREAOS (CATALUÑA) £3.25

Amazing Spanish take on egg and chips, needs to be cut before eating.

Somehow I missed this dish, so am not able to comment on it, I did see someone eating it and they seemed to be enjoying it!

Sadly my rural location (last train at 8.10pm) meant that I had to leave before the paella was ready to taste, so I have had to rely on my bloggie friends to tell me just how good it was!

Elaine (nearest) and Briony concentrating on the paella demonstration

It was good to meet Elaine from Fun as a Gran and Graham from A Scots Larder. Special thanks to Briony from The Glasgow Food Blog for sharing her photographs.

I was gutted that I didn't get to try the paella, I think I will have to make a trip to La Tasca just to have some, especially as the reports I got were that the flavour was incredible.

Many thanks to Ella for inviting me to La Tasca and also for the goodie bag.

Labels: Antiono Bennetto, bomba rice, Chicken, chorizo, Croquetas, Fun as a Gran, Glasgow, green beans, La Tasca, Morcilla, paella, peas, peppers, prawns, Scots Larder, squid, Tapas, The Glasgow Food Blog, Valencia

Saturday, 3 March 2012

Tapas Tasting at La Tasca!

This is part two of my review of La Tasca, Spanish Tapas Bar and Kitchen, if you haven't seen the first part you can find it HERE

La Tasca Spanish Tapas Bar & Kitchen

39-43 Renfield Street

Glasgow, G2 1JS

Tel: 0141 204 5188

Monday – Saturday : 09:30 – 23:00, Sunday: 09:30 – 22:00

We started with the Spanish Rustic Bread Board, freshly baked Spanish ciabatta, onion and olive and an really interesting torta (a crispy, rosemary and thyme bread biscit from Seville). This was served with an extra-virgin olive oil and sherry vinegar dip. The torta is the one wrapped in the waxed paper, it was a bit like really good rough puff pastry, with layers of crispiness. All the breads were good and 'Delisioso' dipped in the oil and vinegar.

These dishes are part of a new menu which has been developed for La Tasca by Executive Chef Antonio Bennetto using as many authentic ingredients as possible.

On this plate from left to right Croquetas de Manchego, hand crumbed Manchego cheese and fresh spinach; Croquetas de Pollo - hand-crumbed chicken breast both are served with garlic mayonnaise; Patas Bravas - fried potatoes with spicy tomato sauce. The Croquetas were crispy with tasty fillings, I wasn't so impressed with the Patas Bravas which was a bit soggy, the potatoes not fried enough, the sauce was just spicy enough but I've had better.

There were two Tapas dishes that I really loved, one was the Spanish Style Lemon Chicken shown in the little white dish above, it tasted divine with a lovely sticky lemon glaze on chicken and mediterranean vegetables. The other dish I loved was the Festival of Mushrooms, I don't have a photo but it would look like a dish of sauted mushrooms, but the taste - WOW! According to the menu it is afestival of chestnut, button and porcini mushrooms sauted in garlic butter and white wine. We all agreed that it was one of the stars of the night.

This dish is Pollo Marbella, chicken cooked with smoked paprika, chorizo, mixed peppers, onion and a white wine and cream sauce. It had a real depth of flavour and piquancy.

Vegetarians were not neglected, there are lots of dishes 'From the Vegetable Garden' and this goats cheese and tomato ciabata slices called Montadito 'La Tasca' was a real winner. As you can see all the food is also really well presented.

Now for a bit of a Spanish pronunciation lesson!

Tortilla tor-TEE-yah

Paella pie-eyya

Chorizo chor-REE-zo

Albondigas al-bon-dee-gas

Pollo POH-yoh

Queso KEH-so

Jamon am-ON

and finally, here are the select bunch of Scottish Food Bloggers who were invited to dine at La Tasca, many thanks to Becca, the PR, and to Suzanne the General Manager at La Tasca, Renfield Street, Glasgow. I would definitely return as I really enjoyed the food, the service and the general relaxed ambiance.

Jac, Emma, Mark, Graeme, Claire (Briony not in this picture)

If you've been inspired to make some Tapas yourself, remember to include some chillis and enter it in the Sweet Heat Challenge which I'm hosting this month. There are lots of recipes online but here is a link to get you started: BBC Good Food Tapas recipes

Labels: Bread, Chicken, Croquetas, Food Bloggers, Glasgow, goats cheese, La Tasca, Mangego, mushrooms, Patas Bravas, Spanish, Sweet Heat, Tapas

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Farmersgirl Kitchen

Sunday, 30 December 2012

Your favourites and mine from 2012

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Monday, 15 October 2012

La Tasca Paella de Carne Recipe

Saturday, 29 September 2012

Paella People!

CHORIZO & MORCILLA (CASTILLA Y LEÓN) £4.95

HOME-MADE BEEF BURGERS (CATALUÑA) £4.95

SPICY ROASTED VEGETABLE CASSOLO WITH ALMOND (CASTILE LA MANCHA) £4.75

Butternut squash, red onion, chickpeas, celeriac and cannellini beans in a winter warming spicy tomato sauce topped with crushed almonds and parsley.

HUEVOS CABREAOS (CATALUÑA) £3.25

Saturday, 3 March 2012

Tapas Tasting at La Tasca!

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