Farmersgirl Kitchen

Lamb Steaks with Adobo Seasoning

The theme for May's Sweet Heat Challenge is 'Mexican'. I love mexican food and have several Mexican cook books. I decided to try something different that I had never made before and chose an Adobo Seasoning which I adapted as a marinade for lamb steaks.

The Sweet Heat Challenge is hosted this month by Souperior, it's usual home being Lyndsey Fleenor's Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops.

Adobo Seasoning

Ingredients
3 cloves of garlic crushed
3 hot chillis, deseeded and chopped
1tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin seeds
6 cloves or 1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
120ml white wine vinegar
3 lamb steaks
1tbsp sunflower oil

1. Put the chillies and garlic in a blender or mortar. Add the oregano, cum seeds, cloves, coriander seeds cinnamon aand salt. Process or grind with a pestle to a rough powder, add the vinegar and blend again.

Cover the lamb steaks with the marinade cover with cling film and leave to marinade for 3- 4 hours.

Heat the oil in a pan and sear the steaks, then turn down the heat, add the rest of the marinade and cook for about 10 minutes until the lamb is cooked through.

Although hot, this wasn't overpowering and the flavours are totally delicious and a very different type of Mexican food from the standard chilli con carne, fajitas and other various tortilla based dishes.

Labels: chilli, garlic, lamb, mexican, Sweet Heat, Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops, white wine vinegar

Sweet Heat Round-up: Tapas

Another month of Sweet Heat Challenge is over and it 's time for the round up. I enjoyed seeing the different Tapas recipes and so many of them reminded me of places where I'd eaten similar dishes. I hope you enjoy them too.

Fiona, at London Unattached, made 'Gambas pil pil' as part of a Tapas menu for a special dinner. This takes me back to last family holiday I went on with my parents to Spain, where we had Gambas cooked in salt on a griddle, I can't hear the word Gambas without being taken back there!

At 41 Feasts, Nicola is offering round the nibbles with our drinks. Wow! I'd love to try these Sticky spicy almonds

Francesca from Checky's Kitchen made Calamari Fritos con Allioli (Crisp Deep-fried Squid with Garlic Mayonnaise) This glorious dish reminds me of California where we ate deep fried squid in Cambria with our friends.

This was my own entry of Pepper and Tomato Salsa which is covering the meatballs.

TangoLikeRaindrop went for the classic Patatas Bravas after being inspired by lunch at a local eatery, doesn't that look good?

Over at A Village Pantry, Sheelagh went for something less traditional by making a Mexican Tortilla Lasagne I'll certainly be bookmarking that recipe.

Sweet Heat Challenge owner, Lyndsey from Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops chose Patatas Bravas for her entry which she served as part of a Tapas Feast of chorizo with Red Wine; Mini Lamb Meatballs with Romesco Sauce; Prawns with Sherry & Garlic; Baked Mozzarella Mushrooms; Spiced Almonds and Marinated Olives

and last but not least Corina at Searching for Spice has prepared a dish of Pinchos Morunos or Spanish Pork Skewers, a dish bursting with chilli and other spices.

Many thanks to all the entrants to the Sweet Heat Challenge #6, it's been fun hosting. If you want to join in next month make sure to check Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops on the 1st of April for Sweet Heat #7.

Labels: almonds, calamari, challenge, chilli, lasagne, Patatas Bravas, pork skewers, prawns, salsa, spicy, squid, Sweet Heat, Tapas

Tapas - Part 2

In my last post I gave you the recipe for the Pepper and Tomato Salsa which I served with the meatballs. Also on the plate above there are Lamb Skewers with Lemon and Chickpeas and Chorizo so here are the recipes for these two dishes.

Lamb Skewers with Lemon & Chilli

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

2 tsp finely grated lemon rind

Juice of whole lemon

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tbsp sherry vinegar

125ml olive oil

1kg lamb steaks, cut into 2cm pieces

Mix together the garlic, onion, lemon rind, corainder cumin, vinegar and olive oil in a non-metallic dish.

Add the cubes of lamb to the dish cover with clingfilm and marinate for 2-6 hours, turning occasionally.

Thread the lamb onto skewers, put these on an oven tray and cook in a hot oven (220C) for 10 minutes until tender.

The Lamb Skewers with Lemon and Chilli, are my second entry for the Sweet Heat Tapas Challenge

I also made:

Chickpeas and Chorizo

250g Chorizo sausage, outer casing removed

4 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

400g canned or freshly cooked chickpeas

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

finely chopped parsley

Cut the chorizo into cubes, heat the oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic cooking until soft but not brown. Stir in the chorizo and chickpeas until heated through. Splash in some sherry vinegar and season to taste. Serve warm sprinkled with chopped parsley.

I only used a small quantity of the lamb to make the skewers so browned off the rest in a frying pan and added it to the left over Chickpeas and Chorizo and made it into another meal which we had today. I am entering this for Frugal Food Fridays, no photo, it doesn't look very different from the Chickpeas with Chorizo except with more bits in it!

This month FFF is hosted by Pigling Bland why not join in?

Labels: chickpeas, chilli, chorizo, Frugal Food Fridays, lamb kebabs, lemon, parsley, sherry vinegar, Sweet Heat, Tapas

Tapas for Sweet Heat Challenge

Tapas is the collective name for small, delicious mouthfuls of something savoury, served with a chilled white wine, beer or sherry. It comes from tapa, the Spanish word for lid - specifically, the lid created by th slice of bread that an innkeeper would place on top of a customer's wine glass to keep out the flies and dust between sips. Then the Andalucians decided to blanace a morsel fo something tasty on top of the bread to nibble on.

I'm hosting this month's Sweet Heat Challenge for Lyndsay at Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops and I have chosen Tapas as the theme. That means that the Tapas for the challenge has to include chilli in some form or other.

I decided to make my tapas into a meal, I added the sweetcorn after realising how meat based I had made my choice of dishes!

So, working from the front left in a clockwise direction: Chickpeas with Chorizo, Sweetcorn Bites roasted in butter, meatballs in Pepper and Tomato Salsa, Lamb Skewers with lemon and chilli.

My entry for Sweet Heat is Pepper and Tomato Salsa which was totally delicious and really lifted the basic ready made meatballs that I bought in the supermarket.

Pepper and Tomato Salsa

2 tbsp oilive oil

4 large cloves of garlic

2 large red peppers, deseeded and chopped

2 tins chopped tomatoes

2 strips of organge rind

pinch of chilli pepper flakes

salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a flameproof casserole dish. Add the garlic and peppers and cook for 10 minutes over a medium heat, stirring occasionally until the peppers are just soft. Add the tomatoes, orange rind and chilli pepper flakes, season to taste.

Simmer the sauce for about 45 minutes until the sauce thickens. Use a stick blender or liquidiser to puree the sauce.

I used ready made meatballs, I put them in an oven proof dish and cooked them in a hot oven (200C) for about 30 minutes until they were browned. Add to the sauce after it has been pureed, leave to absorb some of the flavour for an hour of so and reheat gently.

Serve the Meatballs warm, not hot. Would be good with couscous, rice, mash or chunks of crusty bread.

I'll post the recipes for the lamb and the chickpeas with chorizo another day.

I'd love you to take part in the Sweet Heat Challenge this month, the full details are available HERE

Labels: challenge, chickpeas, chilli, chorizo, lamb, meatballs, red pepper, Sweet Heat, sweetcorn, tomato

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

Chilli, Cheese and Bacon Muffins

It's time for the Sweet Heat Bloggers Challenge at Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops. Each month there is a different challenge involving the 'hot stuff'. Here is what Lyndsay says about this month's challenge:

"So since this month is the Super Bowl and the start of the 6 Nations Rugby Tournament (and of course the continuance of hockey and football (or soccer!) season!) I decided the theme for this month's Sweet Heat challenge is.....(cue cheer leading squad!)..... Game Food! That means anything you fancy eating whilst watching a big game will work as long as it is spicy!"

I really struggled with this one, as we are not a family who eat while watching TV, let alone while watching sport, we just don't watch sport! However, I had half a pack of streaky bacon left over from a previous recipe, so came up with the idea of making some savoury muffins. We ate them with soup, but they would be ideal for snacking on if you were inclined to watch 'a big game' on TV or even live as part of a picnic.

Chilli Cheese and Bacon Muffins

makes 12 muffins

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup veg oil

1 large egg

2 tbsp chilli sauce or relish (I used Maggi Chilli Sauce)

2 cups of plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

50g grated cheddar or other hard cheese

100g streaky bacon, cooked till crisp and crumbled or chopped into small pieces

1. Heat the oven to 200C. Line the muffin tin with paper cases.

2. Measure the chilli sauce or relish, milk, oil and egg into a bowl and whisk until mixed, add the flour, baking powder, salt, cheese and bacon pieces and stir until the flour is just mixed, the mix shoudl still be lumpy.

3. Divide evenly between the cases.

4. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown. When baked remove to a wire tray to cool.

These muffins keep very well and can be revived by reheating for 20 seconds in the microwave. The chilli heat was kind of sneaked up on you just when you thought it was a plain cheese and bacon muffin. If you wanted more heat, just add more sauce and reduce the milk slightly.

Labels: bacon, cheese, chilli, Maggi chilli sauce, Muffins, Sweet Heat

Chocolate Chilli Ice cream

This has been on my list of 'must makes' for about two years since I first tasted it at the Appleby Manor Hotel. I love the combination of the rich chocolate, the cold ice-cream and the sweet heat of the chillies. We ate this on Christmas Eve with homemade mini mince pies filled with my Chocolate Mincemeat and it proved very popular, although my son would have been up for even more chilli!
I am entering this for the Sweet Heat Challenge #3 'Christmas'

The recipe is adapted from a couple of different ones, so here is what I did:

Chocolate Chilli Ice Cream

600ml double cream (you can use 300ml milk and 300ml dbl cream)

200g Dark Chocolate

4 large egg yolks

100g caster sugar

3 red chillies

1/4 tsp chilli powder

Slice the chillies and add with the cream to a saucepan, include the chilli seeds.

Warm the cream until just below boiling point then leave to infuse for 30 minutes.

Strain the chillies and seeds from the cream, add the chilli powder and reheat the cream.

Mix the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and slowly pour the cream onto the eggs stirring all the time.

Return the egg mixture to the saucepan along with 150g of the dark chocolate broken up into small pieces, heat gently stirring until the mixture thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and let it cool in the fridge.

Chop the rest of the chocolate and stir this into the mixture once it is cool.

At this point it is ready for the ice cream maker (if you don't have one then you can freeze it in a shallow box but you will have to keep taking it out of the freezer and beating it every 30-40 minutes) once it has thickened and frozen in the ice cream maker, decant it into a box and freeze.

Homemade ice creams generally need around 30 minutes out of the freezer before serving.

Labels: Appleby Manor Hotel, chilli, chocolate, ice cream, Sweet Heat

Chickpea and smoked paprika soup

At this time of year I always have a pot of soup on at the weekend, so I was delighted when Lyndsay at Vanilla and Lemon Drops announced that 'Soup' was the theme for her November Sweet Heat challenge.

I had a few cookbooks lying around in the living room and one of them was 'Supper for a Song' by Tamasin Day Lewis. It was from this book that I was inspired to make the Tomato and Chilli Jam, Pineapple Chilli Jam and also the Chocolate Chilli Custards. Hmm bit of a theme here? Not all of that is Tamasin's idea as she didn't have chilli in her Chocolate Custard!

I liked the look of this soup because I knew I had half a bag of chickpeas and also two tins of Pimenton (smoked paprika), the sweet one and the hot one, that my foodie son bought me last Christmas. You can use tinned chickpeas if you don't have time to soak and cook the chickpeas before you make the soup.

print recipe

Chickpea and smoked paprika soup

by Tamasin Day Lewis November-8-2011

If you don't have both types of smoked paprika, just use one, but probably no more than 1/4 tsp of the hot stuff or it will overpower the soup.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 celery stalks, de-strung with a potato peeler and chopped small
2 tsp finely chopped rosemary needles
4 ladlefuls cooked chickpeas
1/4 tsp hot smoked paprika
1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp tomato puree
400g/14oz tin tin cherry tomatoes
8-10 ladlefuls vegetable stock
to taste sea salt and black pepper
a small handful of flat leaved parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan and add the onion, garlic, celery and rosemary.2. Fry for a few minutes until they begin to soften, then add the chickpeas, smoked paprika, bay leaves, tomato puree and tinned tomatoes.3. Bring to a simmer, then add the stock, season and bring back to the boil. 4. Lower the heat and heat and simmer for 10 minutes.5. Discard the bay leaves. Blitz about half the mixture in a blender, then re-introduce it to the chunky soup in the pan.6. Tsate and adjust the seaoning, stir in the parsley and reheat if you need to. Ladle into warm bowls and serve.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 25 mins Yield: serves 4

Labels: cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, chilli, paprika, pimenton, smoked paprika, Soup, Sweet Heat

Pineapple Chilli Jam

Last night, I commented on Lyndsey's blog, Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops, that I wasn't sure whether I would have time to take part in her Sweet Heat challenge. And here I am with my entry for the challenge!

The deciding factor was the pineapple which I had bought two weeks ago as part of a buy one, get one free offer. We ate the first pineapple, but I was away last weekend and the second pineapple just sat there looking more and more dodgy. When I cut the skin off there were actually only a few brown bits which I cut off, but I didn't fancy eating it raw, so in a flash of inspiration I decided that I could adapt the Tomato and Chilli Jam recipe I made in September to make Pineapple and Chilli Jam.

Pineapple & Chilli Jam

1 pineapple, skin and core removed

2 medium red chillis, with their seeds

4 fat garlic cloves

1 thumb of fresh ginger root, peeled and roughly chopped

20ml Thai fish sauce

175g unrefined golden caster sugar

50ml white wine vinegar

Chop half the pineapple into small pieces and set aside. Put the rest of the pineapple with the chillies and their seeds, garlic, ginger and fish sauce in a blender and blitz to a fine puree.

Spoon the puree into a deep, heavy-bottomed pan and add the sugar and wine vinegar. Bring to the boil slowly, stirring as you go. When it comes to the boil, turn down to a simmer and add the diced pineapple. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface and cook gently for up to 1 hour, stirring from time to time, to prevent the mixture catching and burning. Scrape the sides of the pot too so that everything cooks evenly. The mixture thickens as it cooks.

When the mixture seems thick to the stir of a wooden spoon, decant it into a warm sterilised jar and seal.

Store in a larder or cool place, not in the fridge, for up to 9 months. Once opened keep in fridge.

I had a little taste and I have to say, it was really good even without any time to mature. You could feel the heat of the chilli coming through the sweetness of the pineapple and the piquancy of the vinegar and fish sauce. I'm not sure what that fish sauce does exactly but it is definitely a must for chutneys and relishes.

Labels: chilli, chutney, fish sauce, jam, pineapple, relish, Sweet Heat, Tamasin Day Lewis, vinegar

This Page

Farmersgirl Kitchen

Thursday, 24 May 2012

Lamb Steaks with Adobo Seasoning

Adobo Seasoning

Friday, 30 March 2012

Sweet Heat Round-up: Tapas

Monday, 12 March 2012

Tapas - Part 2

Sunday, 11 March 2012

Tapas for Sweet Heat Challenge

Saturday, 3 March 2012

Tapas Tasting at La Tasca!

Friday, 17 February 2012

Chilli, Cheese and Bacon Muffins

Thursday, 29 December 2011

Chocolate Chilli Ice cream

Tuesday, 8 November 2011

Chickpea and smoked paprika soup

Saturday, 15 October 2011

Pineapple Chilli Jam

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