Assignment 4.4: This week...more "beautifying" of our Web page
using what we've learned in the debugger and the CSS box model to figure
out where and what we need to change to tighten things up a bit and add
a little more flair...settings of margins, padding and
borders, to figure out what needs to change to eliminate some of the gaps
between elements and the side of the window and frame the images.
Some of these recipes have been taken/adapted from P Aris',
Spanish, Hermes House, 2005.
Chicken Chilindrón
Photo: Chicken Chilindrón
This famous chicken dish from Navarre has a spicy red pepper
sauce. In the past, the dried Choricero Pepper - the one that gives
Chorizos their color and spice - was used alone, but nowadays the dish
is often made with fresh red peppers, spiced with chilli. The name
Chilindrón refers to a game of cards.The last should not be taken as an
invitation to gamble with, or over, your meal.
SERVES FOUR
INGREDIENTS
675g/1½lb
red/bell peppers
4 free-range chicken portions
10ml/2tsp paprika
30ml/2tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
200g/7oz Serrano or other ham, in one piece, or a gammon chop
200g/7oz can chopped tomatoes
1 dried Guindilla or other hot dried chilli, chopped, or
2.5ml/½tsp chilli powder, to taste
salt and ground black pepper
chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
small new potatoes to serve
METHOD
Preheat the grill/broiler to high. Put the peppers on a baking sheet and grill/broil for 8~12 minutes, turning occasionally, until the skins have blistered and blackened. Place the blackened peppers in a bowl, cover with clear film/plastic wrap and leave to cool.
Rub salt and paprika into the chicken portions. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the chicken portions, skin-side down. Fry over a medium-low heat, turning until golden on all sides.
Meanwhile, select a casserole into which the chicken will fit comfortably. Spoon in 45ml/3 tbsp fat from the other pan. Fry the onion and garlic until soft. Dice the ham or gammon and add, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes to the casserole, with the chopped dried chilli or chilli powder. Cook for 4~5 minutes, letting the sauce reduce.
Peel the skins off the peppers and discard these and the stalks. Put the peppers into a blender and strain in the juices, discarding the seeds. Process, then add the purée to the casserole and stir in. Heat through.
Add the chicken pieces to the casserole, bedding them down in the sauce. Cook, covered, for 15 minutes and check the seasonings, adding more if necessary. Garnish with a little parsley and serve with small new potatoes.
Patatas a lo Pobre and Patatas Bravas
Photo: Patatas Bravas
These two recipes bear similarities and seem to form the
basis of many other dishes - as mentioned below, including the famous
(potato) tortilla. Reproducing both here will give an opportunity to
the reader to mix-and-match ideas; just as I vary what to cook,
according to which ingredients currently stock the pantry...
Patatas a lo Pobre could roughly be translated as "Poor man's
potatoes" and
is a simple dish of slowly fried potatoes, green peppers and onions. A
more substantial version is called "Plato Alpujarraño" (named after the
Alpujarra mountains just south of Grenada where it is traditionally
served) Pieces of Spanish spicy chorizo sausage and black pudding are
added at the end along with a couple of fried eggs. The recipe below is
for the simple version: Here in Andalucia this is a typical dish which
is served in a "venta". A venta is a small simple restaurant in the
country where city dwellers go out with their family or friends to eat
in the country usually on a Sunday and normally in the open air.
Patatas Bravas comes in many variations of a chilli and potato dish but
the most important thing is the spicing, which is made hotter still by
adding vinegar. The classic version is made with fresh tomato sauce
flavoured with garlic and chilli. The name Bravas
implies that the potatoes are so hot that it is manly to eat them.
SERVES TWO
INGREDIENTS
4 large potatoes, thinly sliced (leave in water for about 20
mnutes to get rid of the starch and then drain)
1 green pepper, either roughly chopped or cut into thick strips
1 onion, roughly chopped
about ½litre olive oil
METHOD
Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan.
Add the potatoes and season with salt.
Fry on a high heat for five minutes, turning the potatoes over,
and then turn the heat right down. Put a lid on the pan and gently
fry for 10 minutes.
Add the green pepper and onion and give everything a good stir.
Cover the pan and leave to fry gently for another 10 minutes.
Check from time to time to make sure that they are not sticking
too much to the bottom of the pan.
At the end of this time look to see whether the potatoes are
cooked and taset for salt, adding more if necessary. The idea is
for the potatoes to be soft but with some of them a bit crispier to
add to the falvour. If the potatoes are not cooked, put the lid
back on a leave for another 5 minutes or so. Remove the potatoes
from the pan with a slotted spoon and serve.
SERVES FOUR
INGREDIENTS
675g/1½lb
small new potatoes
75ml/5tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced
3 dried chillies, seeded and chopped
2.5ml/½tsp ground cumin
10ml/2tsp paprika
30ml/2tbsp red or white wine vinegar
1 red or green (bell) pepper, seeded and sliced
coarse sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)
METHOD
Scrub the potatoes and put them into a pan of salted water. Bring
to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, or until almost tender. Drain
and leave to cool slightly. Peel, if you like, then cut into
chunks.
Heat the oil in a large frying or sauté pan and fry the
potatoes, turning them frequently until golden.
Meanwhile, crush together the garlic, chillies, and cumin using
a mortar and pestle. Mix the paste with the paprika and wine
vinegar, then add to the potatoes with the sliced pepper and
cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Scatter with salt, if using, and
serve hot as a tapas dish or cold as a side dish.
Pinchitos Moruños
Photo: Pinchitos Moruños
The Moors introduced both skewers and marinated
meat to Spain. These little yellow kebabs are a favourite in
Andalusia, where many butchers sell the meat ready marinated.
The Arab versions used lamb, but pork is used now, because
the spicing fits so perfectly.
SERVES FOUR
INGREDIENTS
2.5ml/½tsp cumin seeds
2.5ml/½tsp coriander seeds
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5ml/1tsp paprika
2.5ml/½tsp dried oregano
15ml/1
tbsp lemon juice
45ml/3tbsp olive oil
500g/1¼lb
lean cubed pork
salt and ground black pepper
METHOD
Starting a couple of hours in advance, grind the cumin and
coriander seeds in a mortar and work in the garlic with a pinch
of salt. Add paprika and oregano and mix in the lemon juice. Stir
in the oil.
Cut the pork into small cubes, then skewer them, three or four
at a time, on to cocktail sticks (toothpicks). Put the skewered
meat in a shallow dish, and pour over the marinade. Spoon the
marinade back over the meat to ensure it is well coated. Leave to
marinate in a cool place for two hours.
Preheat the grill (broiler) to high, and line the grill pan
with foil. Spread the kebabs out in a row and place under the
grill, close to the heat. Cook for about three minutes on each
side, spooning the juices over when you turn them, until cooked
through. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve at once
