Cherry gazpacho - a perfect summer treat! (vegetarian, gluten-free, kosher)

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Cherries bring an unexpected twist to tapas classic gazpacho. Cherry gazpacho is a quick, easy and refreshing treat - perfect for lazy summer days!

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Cherries have arrived at the shops and I. Can't. Get. Enough. Of.  Them. 

Another thing I can't help is my thoughts drifting back to last summer and to the day, when I'd just schlepped back home. Armed with the first cherries of the summer I started to put together a photo which quickly became one of my all time favourites. 

And boy, am I glad it did, as that very photo turned out to be the first photo of first my book (yes, still only available in Finnish...) 

Full of excitement (and nerves) I sat down and tapped away a blog post in which I shared my big news with you all. 

Luckily there was more excitement than there were nerves as in case I had at this point had any idea just how much work would lie ahead, I would have probably paralyzed on the floor, stuffing my panic-stricken face with every single one of those cherries. 

Good job I didn't, as that day resulted in two cherry recipes for the book: this cherry gazpacho and a cherry and red wine compote I served with my no-churn, no-fuss cream cheese ice cream.

It was no mean feat for the test audience either. Their ungrateful job was to decide, which of my gazpachos would end up in the book: watermelon gazpacho or this cherry gazpacho.

In the end Cat Blogger's vote turned out to be the winning one.

"Cherry gazpacho - without a doubt. They're both delish, but this is just the right amount of... well, weird!"

My cherry gazpacho is inspired by the tapas bar streets of Malaga, where Dani Garcia's, one of the region's most renowed chefs' version has garnered a veritable cult following. 

So, in case you find yourself lost and hungry in Malaga, make sure to head over to his restaurant KGB!

As a tapas this serves 4, as a shot up to 12

Gazpacho de cerezas – cherry gazpacho:

500 g pitted cherries (appr. 700 g unpitted ones)

1 tomato

½ red bell pepper

½ red onion

½ jalapeño

1 dl olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar (or sherry vinegar)

1 tsp salt

To serve: crispy, roasted Serrano ham crisps and/or crumbled Feta cheese

Halve the tomato and remove the hard core.Do the same with the pepper. 

Measure the ingredients into a blender/ food processor and whizz until smooth. For the silkiest, smoothest finish, run the gazpacho through a sieve.

Chill for at least a couple of hours before serving (as this will also let the flavours develop).

Check the taste, add more salt and/ or vinegar if needed and serve. Ahhhhh.

And now over to you! What are your favourite gazpachos? 

The traditional take? Ajo Blanco; the white gazpacho? Cooling cucumber version? My fruity watermelon variety? 

Or hey - would you like to share your own recipe (please do!)

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SHARING IS CARING!

Pumpkin risotto

Ok. So if I absolutely had to come up with something good to say about autumn it is the fact that I finally get  to bring out the sturdier recipes, designed to keep one warm in the chilly weather. Such as risottos. 

Then there is the September issue of InStyle full of all those irresistible must haves for the new season. And the passion for thick cable knits and tartan that gets re-ignited at this time of the year, every year (yes, this year, too). As a result of the last two a new cape made its way into my wardrobe. Sure, a cape is just about the most practical piece of clothing one could possibly own in a country like Finland: twice a year there's a 2-hour window during which it's not yet too wintry but still manages to keep its wearer even somehow warm. See, fashion blogging is so not for me, so I'd better concentrate on food. And food blogging. And that risotto. 

Just look at those colours: so reminiscent of the flag of my favourite country... (no, not Macedonia)

Since pumpkin fever is far from over, I just had to have some risotto. And I think it just might have become my new pumpkin favourite. Yes, possibly even more comforting than pumpkin gnocchi. The gentle sweetness of the pumpkin can carry strong accompaniments like morcilla, too, so I served mine with Serrano ham, roasted on parchment-lined tray at 200º until crisp and then broken to shards. If you want to pay tribute to the Italian roots of risotto then certo you can use prosciutto. I just happen to like the depth Jamón Serrano has. Yes, bacon works too. And if you really want to impress your fellow diners, you can make the sort of spirals I served my salmorejo with. 

Serves 2 generously, 3 with some moderation and 4 as a starter

500 g pumpkin (for instance half of one 1,4 kg Hokkaido)

a couple of tbsp oil

1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2-1 tsp chilli flakes (or fresh red chilli)

salt, black pepper

1 shallot

butter

1,5 dl good risotto rice

1 dl white wine

0,5 - 0,75 l chicken or vegetable stock (preferably low-sodium)

handful of sage leaves

100 ricotta

(parmesan if you wish, as much as you wish)

Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds. Peel and cut into chunks. Heat the oil and add the spices. Cook for a moment to release the aromas and pour over the pumpkin. Season generously and roast at 200º until soft, 15-25- minutes depending on the size. While the pumpkin roasts, start preparing the risotto.

Once the pumpkin is done, purée half of it and cut the other half into smaller cubes. Roast the Serrano ham until crisp (about 10 minutes). Let cool on kitchen towel and break into chunks.

Finely chop the onion, sauté in some butter and then add rice, Let that too sweat a bit and get sort of translucent and then start adding the stock - a ladle full at a time. Keep the stock hot in another pan and don't add more until the previous batch has been absorbed. When the rice is almost cooked to creamy perfection (try not to stir too much at any point) stir in the finely chopped sage leaves, a little while later ricotta, pumpkin puree, pumpkin cubes and Parmesan (if using). Serve. Quickly. With crisp Serrano crisps or bacon. If you're on a pork-free diet, you can give the dish more texture with some dry roasted pumpkin seeds. 

Soave Classico would work with this dish though I decided to give Lindeman's Early Harvest Semillon Sauvignon Blanc a go. And you know what? Not bad. Not bad at all. Owing to early harvest the sugar content (and subsequently the alcohol and calorie content) remains lower. Yet, unlike the totally non-alcoholic Jacob's Creek Unvined Riesling that was tested on the blog earlier, this one does have more acidity and as such more body so it would work with light dishes though it is best drank on its own. Wine's acidity balanced the creaminess of the risotto and its herby notes worked well with sage. 

Oh, and get this: Henry John Lindeman, the founder of the eponymous winery was actually a doctor convinced of the health benefits of wine and firmly believed that "wine is meant to bring joy and happiness". 

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Spain on a plate

Last weekend's pilgrimage to Museokatu produced a bag of mussels. Big, meaty... and cheap - a kilo will set you back less than €7! It'd been a while since my last foray into the magnificent world of molluscs so I dived right in. I highly recommend you do too as though they might seem exotic and high maintenance, they're everything but. Serve them as tapas, have your friends over to share a pot or make them the centrepiece of a romantic dinner for two...! And no matter how you prepare them, they take practically no time at all - you'll have a steaming pot of delicious treats at your table in under 15 minutes!

Sherry is used for cooking in Spain especially around the regions of Cadiz and Jerez - that is the sherry country where this nectar is produced too. Much like with flan de naranja, idea for these came from Rick Stein's tour of Spain, though I did have something similar at the dinner at Goce.

But you've come to know me enough to guess I wouldn't stop there. I got a bit carried away and the result was my personal love letter to everything Spain is to me. Jamón Serrano, garlic, chili, saffron, sherry, orange... Just look at the list - could that even be bad?

The party we gathered around the pot to enjoy a leisurely Sunday lunch certainly didn't think so.

As tapas this is enough for 8-10, as a meal this feeds about 4-5

1 kg mussels

100 g Serrano ham

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

a pinch of saffron

1 chilli

finely grates zest of 1/2 large orange

1 dl (Olorosa) sherry

3 dl cream
black pepper, (salt)

to serve: spring onions/ parsley

Rinse and clean the mussels. Slice the ham into strips. Heat some oil or butter in a pan and let the ham crisp up a bit. Then add orange zest, finely sliced onion, garlic and half of the chilli. After a minute or so pour in sherry and saffron. 

Cook over high heat for a couple of minutes, add cream and keep cooking a little while longer. Season with pepper, but like always with mussels - hold the salt until after you've cooked them as they do add a fair bit of brininess. Add mussels and cook, covered for 3-5 minutes. Discard the ones that haven't opened. Scatter rest of the chilli on top along with parsley (if you remembered to buy any) or spring onions. Serve with good, chilled white wine, rustic bread and your loved ones. Happy Valentine's day everyone!

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Habas con jamón

This tapas classic shows just how simple they can be. The combination of beans and sausage or jamón constitute the basis for many of them. Chickpeas, or garbanzos as they're known in Spain and chorizo are another classic combination which you will soon find on the blog as well. Habas con jamón; fava beans with jamón Serrano is another. Quick, easy and muy delicioso. You have already bumped into this at lunches in Benalmadena.

This is traditionally made with taquitos, Serrano cubes used for cooking. Those are what I, too, used as I still had some from my last trip to Andalusian sun. They are leaner and have a stronger flavour than, say, bacon or pancetta cubes, but feel free to use them instead. If you're using Jamón Serrano, the best choice is the sort of darker and aged variety or paleta. 

At simplest this calls for nothing more than olive oil, taquitos, fava beans and salt but I've seen people add lemon juice and herbs (either parsley or mint) into it too. Some add onions and I can't imagine a bit of garlic ever making anything worse!

As the natural light is such a rare commodity (as anyone even attempting to photograph food in the winter is bound to discover) I used frozen, pre-cooked favas. Whether or not you peel yours is entirely up to you - people do it both ways. Personally (like with chickpeas) I like the texture better without the skin. Peeling them also makes justice to the wondefruylly vibrant green colour of these little babies. 

As a tapa this feeds 2-3 people

500 g fava beans (without the skins that's about 400 g) 

100 g taquitos (or bacon, pancetta or lardons)

Heat some oil in a pan. If you're using onoin, chop it finely and add now. Sauté but don't let it get any colour. Then add taquitos and cook until piping hot. Then add beans, stir and continue cooking until they too are hot all the way through. Season if needed.

Drizzle some lemon juice (optional) and scatter the herbs (equally so) on top and serve.

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For a little better morning

Weekends are great. That's when you can take your time and enjoy a nice breakfast. Though not so long ago in my history there was a time, when the fridge would be empty of any nutrients. So the breakfast/ brunch/ lunch would (embarrassingly) often consist of a pizza delivered to my door. That's one of the things that becoming a food blogger has changed: now after all the cooking during the week there's no shortage of treats to turn into a delicious weekend breakfast (in bed). 

I don't know why so many breakfast classics are built on eggs. But omelettes for one are perfect for minimizing food waste - you can recycle just about anything into them. Omelette itself I only learnt to eat in a small Bedouin-run B&B in Egypt where it was the only thing on the breakfast menu. Or, so I thought. The last morning I learnt that they would have brought me anything, had I only realized to ask for it. Including full English...

This omelette provided the final resting place for cream left over from egg custard, rucola leaves left over from pork pasta, cold smoked reindeer crumbs left over from those mini quiches, a red onion crying its loneliness at the back of my fridge and sun-dried tomatos that I think I always have in my fridge. And it was a very delicious morning indeed. Just try this weekend!

2 small or 1 large omelette

Omelette:

6 eggs

1 dl cream

salt, pepper

Filling:

1 red onion

1 generous dl cold smoked reindeer crumbs (or crumbs ofSerrano ham or bacon, fried crisp)

2 handfuls of rucola

5 sun-dried tomatos, finely sliced

Beat the eggs lightly. Whisk in cream and season.

Sauté thinly sliced onions in a little bit of oil (from the sun-dried tomatos). When they're soft, add reindeer and stir. After a couple of minutes remove from the pan. Wipe it clean and add some oil. Add the omelette- mixture and turn down the heat. Once the mixture starts setting a bit around the edges so you can lift them with a spatula lift it on all sides and let the unset mixture on top of the omelette drip to the bottom of the pan. This allows the omelette to cook evenly without the bottom drying. Once it's almost set and it won't stick to the bottom when shaking the pan, spoon the filling on one half, topping with rucola leaves and the sun-dried tomatos. Carefully fold the other half on top and serve. With some fresh herbs should you have some lying around. Add to the mix freshly squeezed orange juice, good company, sunshine peeking through the blinds, maybe a little Carla Bruni... and bonjour, world!

Omelettes don't make the prettiest of photos but they do make up for it in taste...!

Here's a little nugget of ground-breaking bizarre information by the way: Zaafran, my local kosher deli in Helsinki just announced a little while ago there'd been a successful trial and kosher reindeer(!) should soon be available!


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Mini quiches with cold smoked reindeer

A little while ago I asked the blog's Facebook followers what they'd like to see in the blog next time the baking mania takes over. Something "autumnal and mushroomy" was one of the wishes. And the wish did not go unnoticed - hope you'll like it!

Part of me is already getting ready for the wailing of the foreign readers after the get to the list of ingredients. It features reindeer. Yes, that cute little thing pulling Santa's sleigh. And yes, we cruel Northerners actually eat it - you see, it's an animal and therefore made of meat. But don't you go losing all your hope - with the prices they charge for the meat there'll be plenty more left for that Christmas duty as well! 

Unlike with pelmenis and reindeer sliders this time mine came from the shop. I'm afraid I just might have exhausted the reserves of our in-house reindeer herder. In case you can't stomach the idea of reindeer, you could substitute it with Serrano ham or bacon, chopped finely and fried in a pan until crisp.

Some time ago, high on baking-induced endorphins, I bought a muffin tin that's been waiting to be broken in. It wasn't quite time for cupcakes though and I used it to make these mini quiches instead. They provided the final resting place for the dried black trumpets left over from kale quiche. This time I soaked them in hot water to plump them up. The rehydration liquid didn't go to waste either - I let it cool and used it for the pie crust! Rest I saved and will use... perhaps for mushroom risotto? The liquid is just soooo full of flavour!

The base is the galette recipe, familiar from harvest pie and kale quiche as well. In order to make it more nutrient I substituted some of the flour with rye flour.

This recipe makes 9 mini quiches but naturally you can bake one regular sized one too - though in that case you might want to double the ingredients for the filling. The good thing about cold smoked reindeer is that thanks to its strong flavour a little goes a long way. You could also add some cheese into these - in that case less egg-cream mixture will do. 

Base:

3.75 dl flour (1,25 dl rye flour, 2,5 dl all purpose flour)

90 ml olive oil

1 tl salt

90-120 ml soaking liquid from the mushrooms

In case you are using dehydrated mushrooms, start the operation by soaking them first. Boil enough water to cover them, soak for about 15 minutes until they've plumped up and drain. Reserve the liquid and let cool.

Add oil into the flour and salt and rub to crumbly mixture. Then add the water (from the mushrooms) a little at a time until you've got a soft dough that sticks together. Roll (between two sheets of parchment) to a thin sheet and, using a cookie cutter or an appropriately sized glass or a bowl (the diameter in mine was appr. 13 cm) cut into discs. Place them into the holes in the muffin tin, smoothing over the bottom and the edges.  Or divide the dough into 9 portions and press directly into the holes. 

A tip that makes it easy to remove the quiches form the tin is to cut some parchment into strips and slip them under the dough before lining them with pastry (remember to cut them long enough to have the ends sticking out). Let rest in cold until you're ready to fill them.

Filling:

1 small red onion
2 dl cold smoked reindeer crumbs
1 dl mushrooms
1 generous tbsp thyme (or 1/2 tbsp dried variety)
1 generous tsp fennel seeds, roughly minced
salt (carefully), pepper

Peel the onion and cut it in half. Slice finely. Sauté in a pan until soft and then add mushrooms. Fry for a minute and then add reindeer and spices. Let cool.

Divide the filling (about 1,5 tbsp/ quiche) and pour the egg-cream- mixture on top.

Egg-cream-mixture:

2  dl cream
1/2 dl (full fat) milk
3 eggs

Beat the eggs lightly and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Pour into the quiches and bake at 200° until filling has set and the pastry shells have got a bit of colour on them (about 20 minutes). 


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Think pink!

Life with The Gentleman has not always been a bed of roses. And those darkest moments would have been impossible to get through without the help and support of my friends. Especially The Wine Merchant and The Chocolate Manufacturer with their occupational perks have proved invaluable. To a point there were times I found myself genuinely surprised my tear ducts were still producing tears instead of Riesling infused chocolate bars.

With any luck those moments are safely behind me now and me and my friends can focus on sharing happier moments. And that Riesling, of course!

Coordinating any kind of get-togethers has become challenging by each passing year though.  Not just because of the challenges that marriages, children, renovations, relocations to suburbs and other issues, apparently inextricably linked to growing up has posed, but also because of the way each one of us has spent time living in all sorts of foreign countries. But occasionally, like this particular night a little while back, things work out and we get to have a girls' night out/in.  Which would have been all the merrier, had The Eternal Student, another crucial part of our little group of friends from years and years back been in town too. 

And girls night calls for girly treats - something light and pink. See, we're part of a generation that was cheerfully oblivious to anything called gender-neutral socialization process - we poor creatures were happily conditioned to princess games, My Little Ponies and frilly pink dresses without a clue that was just another ploy by heteronormative macho-culture upheld by the (at the very least)  implicitly misogynistic market forces to oppress and objectify us (thankfully one of us went ahead and got herself a silly degree in Arts and farts and knows this now!).

The starting point for this salad came form all the hams I've been dragging back form Spain. Figs (a classic combination with ham!), red onion, mangold leaves, red cabbage and pomegranate seeds continued the theme. Instead of red cabbage you could also use radicchio, but in its bitterness it is a taste not for everybody. If you use it though, you could balance it with a creamily rich  mozzarella. For red cabbage version cheese lovers might want to add Manchego or Parmesan shavings.

Feeds four

Salad:

different leaves
1/2 small red cabbage OR 1 small radicchio
8 figs
200 g good Serrano ham or paleta, if you can get some
1 large red onion
the seeds of 1/2 pomegranate

2 mozzarellas OR Manchego or Parmesan shavings

Cut the figs in 4, chop and shred the rest of the ingredients and combine. 

The dressing:

oil
brown sugar
pomegranate molasses

Mix the ingredients according to your taste (and adjusting to the bitterness of your salad) and serve with the salad.


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Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara is, in all its simplicity, probably one of my all time favourites. In addition to my Dad's Spag Bol, that is. At its best it's rich and voluptious, without being smothered by a heavy cream sauce.

The most puristic recipes actually don't even use any cream, but the creaminess comes from the egg yolk- parmesan- mixture. If it does, however, look like it's not quite creamy enough, I wouldn't shoot anyone for adding a tiny splash of cream. Especially if the cook in question is still in the middle of her cheese aversion therapy. I can't vouch for the Italians though.

Sure I have been eating quite a bit a lot pasta of late, but on the menu in Hanko Carbonara was one of the dishes I simply couldn't stomach (literally). And I had to put that bucatini I bought from there to use one way or another, right?

Traditionally this is, of course, made with spaghetti, but I just love that plump chewiness of bucatini. Another key ingredient is black pepper, which needs to be freshly ground from the mill. I believe in that ready-made-powdered stuff even less than I believe in baby Jesus and will not abide by it at a restaurant table either. Freshly ground variety has more kick to it and inspired by Finnish Cacio e Pepe - blog I gently toasted mine on a pan, which really took the fragrance to a whole new level.

I admit: in authenticity stakes this has nothing on its Roman cousins - they would probably kick this one's arse for the use of garlic alone but I love it. Usually I make this out of bacon, but often I use Serrano ham - seeing how that's something I have lurking about most of the time. This time I used taquitos (those chunks of serrano ham used in cooking that the beans were cooked with in habas con jamón we had in Benalmadena).

In Tel Aviv I've even had Carbonara with duck (how decadent is that?) and seeing how last time in Spain I found some duck ham (so unbelievably rich and yummy - especially with cranberry jelly!) I just might have to give that a go too...!

The quantity of yolks needed depends of the type os pasta too - bucatini is quite a bit thicker than spaghetti, so you will probably need more of them to provide the kind of creamy coating this dish calls for.

For 2

2 portions of spahgetti/ bucatini (à 75-100g)

100 g bacon/ Pancetta/ lardons/ Parma ham/ Serrano ham/ taquitos
2 cloves of garlic

1 dl grated parmesan

3 -4 egg yolks

(depends on the size - if yours are really big, even 2 might do. Mine were small.)
butter

black pepper

Separate tolks from the whites. Whites can be used for meringues or macaroons. Beat the yolks lightly and mix in the cheese. Roast bacon/ ham in a pan until crunchy. Keep the heat fairly moderate, this way they don't burn, but crispen up nicely rendering the fat.

Lift the bacon/ham off the pan and if they are very fatty, drain on kitchen towel. Leave some aside for finishing the portions.

Depending on the amount of fat your meat has left behind (a couple of tablespoons would be ideal) add some butter in the pan (yikes! I know! I just find that butter adds the kind of richness that works better than oil with the salty edginess of bacon and parmesan) and sauté finely sliced garlic over gentle heat. Last thing you want it to fo is to get colour and burn - then it's just bitter. A.k.a. bad.

Once garlic and the residual fat have cooled a bit, add them into the yolk-cheese-mixture. Wipe the pan dry and toast some black pepper in it.

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Once it's a little but shy of al dente, lift it into the pan with the black pepper. No need to drain it first - a little bit of the starchy cooking liquid won't hurt. Toss in the bacon bits and cook for a while until cooked (add some more pasta water if needed). Remove from the heat and quickly fold in the yolks and cheese. If you do this while the heat is still on, the eggs start scrambling which we don't want. The heat of the pasta (and any residual cooking water) will make sure the final product will be cooked to creamy perfection.

Divide onto plates (preferably heated with some boiling water - feel free to use the pasta water) and sprinkle the remaining bacon bits on top. Grate some parmesan on top. And why not some more of that black pepper, too. Because of the cheese and bacon there shouldn't be need to add any salt at any point.

Soup Sunday: Salmorejo

So... I never did get around to learn that Spanish language. My defence is that my mental hard drive is overworked already as it is, having gotten around to learning Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic, Swedish, French... and Middle Kingdom hieroglyphs. It would be such a blow to have to admit that I'm actually just... lazy. So, at times the life in Spain has some very confusing moments in store. 

I often find myself wondering why suicide bombers would warrant that many parks dedicated to their memory. Until The Gentleman kindly reminds me that Parque de Bomberos is, in fact, something as undramatic as a fire station. 

Another thing I found puzzling during tapas bar crawls was salmorejo. My ethymological analysis kept telling me it must have something to do with salmon. But nope. It is cold tomato soup. The Andalusian, lesser known chunkier country cousin of the more famous gazpacho. You've already encountered it once in this blog - at that luxury tapas bar in Malaga. 

The soup originally hails from Cordoba. Much like with meatballs and other traditional dishes there are as many recipes as there are cooks, but one things they all have in common is the way they're served with boiled egg, Serrano ham and occasionally with chopped onions. 

Some recipes call for toasted almonds, onions or even green peppers. But as I find those are getting too close to the gazpacho territory, I kept mine puristic and only included bread, tomatos, olive oil, sherry vinegar and garlic. Though I did add some sundried tomatos to play up the tomatoey tones. 

Traditionally this is made with stale bread in which case you should soak it in water and then (with the excess liquid squeezed out) add it to the blender. Mine was relatively fresh, so I added it in straight away. Any white bread will do. I used sliced loaf with the crusts cut off. But don't you worry, they won't go to waste either. Along with the rest of the leftover bread they get turned to bread crumbs which in turn can be used for croquetas or poor man's mussels!

Usually this is served as a starter in which case this recipe serves 6. As a light lunch this would be enough for 3.

9 tomatos
1 large garlic clove
5 large slices of toast, crusts removed
1/4 dl sherry vinegar
1/2 dl olive oil
10 sun dried tomatos
salt, pepper

Cut the tomatos in half , remove the hard bits and scrape the seeds out. Place them in the blender with garlic, bread and sherry vinegar. Blizz until smooth and billowy. Then add the oil, either in one continuous stream through the hole in the lid or little by little, blizzing as you go along. Check the taste, season and add more oil, bread or vinegar to your liking, but remember that this is supposed to be quite thick. Chill before serving -at least 2 hours but preferably until the next day. Serve with the guarnicions of your choice. I find that the best ham for this is the more aged variety or paleta.

Note: The Cordoban variety has a lot more bread - those preferring that version can omit the sundried tomatos, double the amount of bread and add more oil.

Sangria and surf & turf

Sun is shining, birds are singing, it's safe to go outside without a parka, asparagus has  made its triumphant arrival at the shops and in the evenings seductive scent of meat sizzling on the barbecue wafts out of the restaurants. There's promise and headiness in the air: Summer is finally on its way!

But even that isn't enough for greedy yours truly: my thoughts are already under that Andalusian sun where I'll be in just a couple of weeks.

A little while back I celebrated my birthday and for the above mentioned reasons (as if I actually needed any...) the fiesta had some decicedly Spanish tones.

I might have gotten older, but I sure haven't gotten any wiser. Sure my brain keeps telling me that I should make sure to get that 5-a-day. But it also tells me that the best way to do that is with... SANGRIA!

But, in a sunny summer's day (something we didn't have...) it does rock.

Sangria

1 bottle red wine

1,5 l Sprite

4 cl vodka

4 cl Cointreau or Triple Sec

In addition fruits of your desired quantity and quality. Sliced oranges, strawberries and grapes are a classic choice, but I like to add some cucumber too.

Accompany with ice and good friends. For a finishing touch add a mint leaf into each compartment of the ice cube tray when making ice cubes.

And of course I had to make some food as well. Something small, stress-free and served in a stick. The chosen theme was surf & turf and the joyous marriage between meat and shellfish. Firts there was chorizo prawns. let's face it- there are very few things that chorizo wouldn't compliment... My prawns were uncooked, but in case you use cooked ones, you might want to let them marinate for 1/2 h -1 h anyway to infuse them with some flavour.

Chorizo prawns (makes 18)

appr. 150 g chorizo (mine was the cooked variety)

18 king prawns

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 garlic cloves

1 chilli, finely chopped

salt, pepper

Peel the prawns and. Mix the marinade and let the prawns marinate for half an hour. Pat dry, season and cook until done either in a grill or in a pan. Cut the chorizo to slices of about 1 cm thick and fry quickly in a pan or in the grill to get that lovely crust. Combine with a tooth pick and serve. 

And can you believe: there is shellfish I haven't yet dabbled with in this blog! Such as scallops, one of my all time favourites. These were so big, meaty, juicy and in their oceaniness downright sweet that all I did was to wrap them in serrano ham and grill them in the oven. Simple but so sublime... Another classic surf & turf combination for scallops would be morcilla - Spanish blood sausage, which apparently is particularly typical for Basque cuinsine.

Serrano-scallops (makes 18)

18 scallops

9 slices of Serrano ham (or prosciutto or parma or bacon)

lemon juice

salt, pepper

Pat the scallops dry. Cut the ham lenghthways in 2. Wrap each half around a scallop and secure with a toothpick. Sprinkle some lemon juice on top and season on both sides. Bake in the oven (225 °)  or in the grill until the scallops are cooked and the ham has crispened - depending on the size 5-10 minutes. Turn halfway through.