“Chuletas de cerdo a la Madrilena,” as the name implies is from Madrid, Spain. It is an easy recipe to prepare and is quick, too. Served with mashed potatoes, it is a delicious Spanish dish, especially in fall or winter.

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic
4 sprigs parsley
1 medium onion
1 tbsp. Spanish sweet paprika
5 tbsp. olive oil
4 pork loin chops (5-6 oz. each)
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

Note: If you do not have pork chops or wish to use a boneless cut, try cutting a large pork loin into slices about 1/2 inch thick.

Prepare the Topping:
Finely chop the garlic, parley and onion. Mix Together in a medium mixing bowl. Season with the paprika, pepper and salt. Moisten the mixture with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Don’t add too much oil - it should be a fairly thick consistency.

Prepare the Pork:
Grease the roasting pan with oil or line it with aluminum foil. Season the chops, covering them with the herb mixture and place in roasting pan.

Roast the Pork:
Roast in a hot oven at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes. Turn chops over and roast another 10 minutes. Serve Chuletas de cerdo a la madrilena, spooning the herb sauce on top. Try mashed potatoes on the side for a wonderful Spanish dinner. Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pound broiler-fryer, cut in pieces
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 green or red pepper, seeded and chopped
3 tomatoes, diced
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup rice
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoon salt
Pinch saffron

Garnish:
3/4 cup cooked tiny peas
1 pimiento, cut into strips

Procedure:

In a large skillet, heat one tablespoon oil and brown the chicken well on all sides. Remove from pan and add the garlic, onion, and pepper and saute until the onion is golden. Return the chicken to the skillet, add remaining oil, and saute for 15 minutes. Add tomatoes and broth, bring to a boil. Add rice and seasonings. Cover and simmer over low heat until the chicken and rice are tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Garnish with peas and pimiento.

Ingredients:

16 fresh sardines
1 cup flour
1 cup olive oil
1 onion, chopped
5 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1/8 cup parsley, chopped
salt to taste

Procedure:

Clean the sardines, removing heads and innards. Rinse thoroughly under cold water. Pour olive oil into large, heavy frying pan and place on stove on medium high heat. Place the flour on a plate. Coat each sardine with flour and fry in pan. When done, remove them and place on a plate for later. Add the onion, garlic, parsley to the frying pan and sauté in the remaining oil. Add tomatoes and sauté 5-10 minutes further. Add the sardines back into the frying pan with the other ingredients and cook another 5-10 minutes. Add salt to taste. Serve with bread. Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

pint Fresh, Ripe Strawberries
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1 can (14 oz) can Condensed Milk
6 Eggs
Caramelized Sugar Topping
1/2 cups Granulated Sugar
Mint for Garnish

Procedure:

Optional: Reserve about 4-5 diced fresh strawberries for garnish.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Caramelize the Sugar for Topping:
Put a heavy skillet or saucepan over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar. With the back of a wooden spoon, keep sugar moving constantly in skillet until sugar is completely melted, and of a rich medium brown color (caramelized). Pour caramelized sugar into each of the ramekins. Set

Prepare Flan:
Wash the strawberries and remove the stem. Place the strawberries, sugar eggs and condensed milk in to a food processor or blender and blend until strawberries are minced and all ingredients are mixed thoroughly. Ladle the strawberry mixture into each ramekin. Cover each ramekin with aluminum foil.

Place Ramekins in a Water Bath:
Place each ramekin into a large open, oven-proof pan, such as a broiler pan. Add very hot water to the pan. The ramekins should be submerged approximately 3/4 in the water. In Spanish, a “water bath” is called a “bano Maria.”Carefully place the pan on to the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, carefully remove each ramekin from the water, uncover and to allow to cool.

Plate, Garnish and Serve:
Once cool, place in refrigerator to chill. When you are ready to serve, run a paring knife around the outside of each ramekin to loosen the flan. Then, place the serving plate on top of each one and flip it over. It may be necessary to tap the ramekin to force the flan to fall out onto the plate. Garnish with fresh strawberries and mint. Serve.

Ingredients:

4 large round tomatoes
2 - 6 oz. cans tuna (water or oil packed)
1 small cucumber (5 inches)
2-3 tbsp. red onion, finely chopped
6-8 pieces black olives
dash of sherry vinegar
drizzle of olive oil
4 tsp. shredded cheese (parmesan or a dry sheep cheese)
1 boiled egg - optional

Procedure:

Open cans of tuna and drain them, squeezing excess water or oil from the tuna. Flake tuna into a bowl. Chop Cucumber and black olives into small bits. Chop red onion finely. Add to tuna and mix. Splash a bit of sherry vinegar on the tuna mixture and drizzle olive oil over top. Mix thoroughly. Add salt if needed. Rinse and dry tomatoes. Cut off the tops of the tomatoes, then cut out the flesh, leaving a cavity large enough to fill with tuna mixture. Spoon mixture into tomatoes, allowing it to mound on top. If you want, you can boil an egg, cool and chop and add to mixture. Sprinkle tops of each tomato with cheese and place under broiler until cheese melts. Serve immediately with toasted French-style bread.

Ingredients:

2 medium-sized eggplants
4 tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. butter
2 onions, finely chopped
2 pounds ground lamb (or beef)
3 tbsp. tomato paste
½ cup red wine
½ cup chopped parsley
¼ tsp. cinnamon
salt
black pepper
4 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour
2 cups milk
2 eggs, beaten
dash of fresh nutmeg
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Procedure:

Peel the eggplants and cut them into ½ inch thick slices. Brown the slices in 4 tbsp. butter. Drain on paper towels. Set aside. Heat 4 tbsp. butter in a skillet and cook the onions until brown. Add the ground meat and cook 10 minutes. Combine the tomato paste with the wine, parsley, cinnamon, salt and pepper (to taste). Stir this mixture into the meat and simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 30 minutes. Make a béchamel sauce by melting 4 tbsp. butter and blending in the flour, stirring with a wire whisk. Bring the milk almost to a boil and add it gradually to the butter-flour mixture, stirring constantly. When the mixture is thickened and smooth, remove it from the heat. Cool slightly and stir in the beaten eggs, nutmeg and ricotta cheese. Grease a 13” x 9” x 2” pan and sprinkle the bottom lightly with bread crumbs. Arrange alternate layers of eggplant and meat in the pan, sprinkling each layer with Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Pour the béchamel sauce over the top and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown. Cut into squares to serve. This recipe can be made in advance. Freeze before baking.

Ingredients:

4 table spoons of olive oil
1.5kg chicken (3½lb) chicken chopped into small pieces - alternatively use chicken portions - in the photos below you can see that I used the whole leg and thigh
3-4 cloves of garlic crushed
1 onion chopped
75g (3oz) serrano ham diced
2-3 red peppers sliced into 1.25cm (½ inch) wide strips
450 g (1lb) tomatoes peeled, seeded and chopped (or use a 14oz can of chopped tomatoes)
2 teaspoons of paprika
1 dried hot chilli (guindilla) or 1 fresh chilli
1 bay leaf
salt
freshly ground black pepper
chopped fresh parsley or coriander to garnish

Procedure:

Heat the oil in a large, heavy based frying pan that has a lid, or a shallow casserole or if like me you don’t have a large enough frying pan use 2. Fry together the chicken pieces, garlic and onion for about 3-5 minutes until they begin to go golden, then depending on what you have used in the way of frying pans you could push them to one side of the pan, put them in one of the two pans or remove them from the pan. I used a frying pan and a Wok so once the chicken was golden I moved all of the portions into the Wok.Add the ham and peppers to the frying pan and fry these for 1 or 2 minutes until the peppers soften a little. Then stir everything in the pot together. The tomatoes should be skinned and seeded but I find seeding tomatoes a drag. I am very much a believer in trying to make recipes as simple as possible. You can peel and seed them if you want to or be like me and only peel them or alternatively use a 14 oz. tin of chopped tomatoes. Stir in the tomatoes, the chopped chilli, the paprika and the bay leaf, put the lid on the casserole or pan and simmer over a low heat for about 1½ hours when the chicken should be lovely and tender. Quite a lot of juice comes out of both the tomatoes and the red peppers so it is a good idea to remove the lid towards the end of cooking to allow the sauce to reduce. Add salt and pepper to your taste and remove the bay leaf.

Ingredients:

500g dried white beans soaked overnight
250g morcilla (spanish black pudding)
250g chorizo
250g pancetta (bacon) in one piece
saffron
bay leaf

Procedure :

Drain the beans, add fresh water to just cover and bring to the boil. Add the saffron, morcilla, chorizo and bacon to the pot along with the bay leaf. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, skim off any froth then turn down the heat and simmer gently for 2 - 3 hours until the beans are tender. Shake the pan occasionally and add a little water if necessary to keep the beans just covered or they will split. When the beans are tender, turn off the heat and leave them to rest for 10 minutes. Makes 4 servings.
For a much faster version use frozen or pre-cooked beans and leave to simmer
for only 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

2 cups olive oil
1 red bell pepper, cut in strips
3/4 chicken, cut into pieces
1/2 rabbit, cut into pieces
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 1/2 pounds green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 pounds broad beans, shelled
1/2 tomato, chopped
4 1/2 cups water, paella pan to the height of the handles 2 times
2 cups snails, cleaned, fresh or frozen
1 1/4 pounds plus 1-ounce rice (3.5 ounces per person)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pinch saffron, for coloring
Sprigs rosemary, as garnish

Special equipment: large shallow pan

Procedure:

Heat 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the oil in a pan. Add the strips of pepper and fry until they start to soften. Remove and reserve for garnish. Fry the chicken and rabbit at medium heat until golden brown, adding more oil, as necessary. Add the paprika half way through to add color to meat. Push the meat out to the edges of the pan and add the beans and tomatoes in the center, mixing them well. Add 1/2 the water making sure to cover the pan until it is 1/2 full. Simmer for approximately 30 minutes until most of the water has evaporated. Add the snails and cook for 5 or 10 minutes. Add the rice, distributing it evenly over the pan and fry for a few minutes, moving it around in the pan. Add the rest of the water and cook for about 20 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add a pinch of saffron for colour. Once this is done the paella should not be stirred anymore.For the last 1 to 2 minutes increase the heat to medium-high, until the bottom layer of rice starts to caramelize, creating what Valencians call the “socarrat”. If the rice starts to burn remove the pan from the heat immediately. Garnish the paella with the strips of red pepper and the sprigs of rosemary. Cover the pan and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Ingredients:

1/2 k. beef shank (bias)
1 k. soup bones
1 chicken (about 1 k.)
1/2 k. lean pork (pigue)
1 tsp. peppercorn
3 pc. tomatoes, quartered
3 stalks leeks (about 200 grams.)
3 onions, quartered
1 head garlic, crushed
3 tbsp. olive oil
200 grams. slab bacon, cut in chunks
3 pcs. chorizo de bilbao
1 morcilla or Spanish blood sausage
1/4 kg. potatoes
1/4 kg. cabbage
1/4 kg. Baguio pechay or Chinese cabbage
2 pcs. carrots
1/4 kg. strings beans

Procedure:

Boil beef and soup bones with, 1 stalk leek, 1 tsp. peppercorn, tomato and onion. When beef is tender, remove and cut into serving pieces. Set broth aside. Boil chicken and pork separately with the same ingredients. When tender, remove and set broth aside. Prepare Spanish Tomato Sauce. Heat olive oil. Brown bacon slightly. Pour Spanish Tomato Sauce, combined beef, chicken and pork broth. Let boil. In another pan, cook vagetables until half done in beef and chicken broth. Add to meats, cook until done. Arrange on a platter. Serve with broth and Spanish Tomato Sauce.

Spanish Tomato Sauce:

1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crush
4 large onions, chopped
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup broth
Salt and pepper
Monosodium glutamate

Saute garlic, onions and tomatoes in olive oil. Cook till tender. Add tomato sauce and simmer for ten minutes. Add broth and seasonings. Cook slowly for one hour in a covered container.