SPANISH cooking class recipes
RECIPES
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(Serves 4px- or 8px as tapas serving)
Ingredients:
1kg Maris Piper potato
1 big brown onion
3 large eggs
½ Lt Extra virgin olive oil + ½ Lt vegetable oil
Sea salt
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• Thinly julienne the onions (strips) and add to a pan with both oils (you can also use 100% olive oil). Let caramelize slowly, on medium heat, turning every now and then, to avoid burning in the bottom.
• Peel and then wash the potatoes. Cut in half, lengthwise, and then thinly slice.
• Once the onions start taking some color, add the potatoes and cook for about 20 minutes or until soft. It should be simmering, not boiling. There should be enough oil to almost cover the potatoes (don’t worry, there’s no waste, this oil can be kept to use again)
• When the potatoes are cooked, drain using a thin sieve, over a clean bowl, to leave the excess oil to chill.
• In a large bowl whisk the eggs with salt, and add the onions and the potatoes, while still warm. Mix well and let sit for about 10 minutes before cooking which will thicken the mixture. Also be very generous with salt seasoning.
• Heat a teaspoon of the potato oil in a nonstick pan over high heat. When hot, add the potato/egg mixture and turn the heat to medium-low. Let cook for 2-3 minutes and make sure it’s not sticking to the pan, using a rubber spatula.
• Place a large plate, face down over the pan and flip the pan in one quick motion to transfer the omelette to the plate.
• Return the pan to the heat and slide the omelet back into the hot pan and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
• Slide the omelette onto a serving plate and let rest for a couple of minutes before cutting.
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Important when making the thick Bechamel to cook the flour in the butter for about 5-10minutes on low heat before adding the milk rather than just mixing it as this will get rid of the flavour of flour.
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(makes 50 mini or 25 regular sized croquetas)
Ingredients:
500ml whole-fat milk
100gr flour
75gr butter
1 bay leaf
200gr Iberico ham
200gr Manchego cheese
¼ tsp nutmeg
Salt & pepper
100gr panko, or any other breadcrumbs
100gr flour
2 eggs
Vegetable oil, for frying
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•Add the flour and butter to a saucepan over medium heat to cook a roux. Let it cook for at least 10 minutes, stirring every now and then until the ingredients come together - thicker than a paste and that the flour has been cooked a bit to get rid of that floury taste.
•After this time has passed, mix in the finely chopped ham and start adding the milk slowly, to make a thick bechamel: add ⅓ of the milk first and mix well with the flour this will create a very thick paste. Then add another ⅓ of the milk and keep stirring until all is mixed with the paste. Then mix the remaining ⅓ and continue mixing until all looks homogenous and that there are no lumps.
•Add the bay leaf, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste and let cook for another 5 minutes.
• Turn the heat off and spread the mixture on a plate or tray, to help it cool down faster. It needs to be completely set to be able to shape the croquetas easily.
• Shaping the croquetas: Once the bechamel mixture is completely set, prepare the ‘croqueta station’: 1 bowl with flour, 1 bowl with eggs, 1 bowl with panko, a tray to keep them once they’re ready.
• Make balls of the bechamel mixture using your hands or two spoons, and place them in the bowl with flour. Coat them lightly with the flour and transfer them to the bowl with eggs. Coat them lightly with egg and then transfer them to the bowl with panko. Try to get as much panko attached to the croqueta as possible.
• Keep them in the fridge until ready to cook.
• Deep frying the croquetas: heat the vegetable oil in a deep saucepan- enough to cover at least ½ of the croquetas.
• Try the oil by adding just one croqueta and if it sizzles lightly, you can add some more - be careful not to overcrowd the oil.
• Take them out on a plate with kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.
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Ingredients for Seafood Stock for the Paella
Ingredients:
1 brown onion
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 celery stick
1 medium carrot
1/2 Leek
1 handful of parsley
1 bay leaf
Heads of prawns
Optional: 500gr white fish bones
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 pinch of saffron
200ml white wine
2Lt Water
Olive oil
Salt
Ingredients for the Paella:
2 ripe vine tomatoes, or roma tomatoes
½ brown onion
6 cloves garlic
½ red bell pepper
1 tin good quality chopped tomatoes
8-12 prawns
1 med cuttlefish, about 350gr (or calamari)
500gr mussels (or clams)
1 tbsp Smoked paprika
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
400gr bomba rice (or calasparra)
1.5Lt Fish stock
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Ingredients for the Stock:
• Roughly chop the leek, onion, celery and carrots and caramelize in a pot with some oil, on med-high heat. Also add the whole garlic with peel on, to prevent burning. This will take around 10-15 minutes.
• While the vegetables are caramelizing, prepare the prawns by peeling and removing the heads. Clean them, taking the top dark vein out with a skewer or a knife.
We’re using the heads and the shells for the stock. Reserve the prawns to cook later on the paella.
*If using fish bones, soak it in cold water to release any excess blood. For at least 10 minutes
*Once the Vegetables are golden brown, add the shells and heads of the prawns to caramelize with the vegetables on medium-high heat. Press the heads down with a wooden spoon to let all the flavor come out. Remember color if flavor.
• When the mixture looks well caramelized, add 1tbp paprika, and cook for about 30 secs. Add the white wine to deglaze, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot, to remove all that got stocked while caramelizing. This is where the flavor is.
• When the wine has reduced, in about 5 minutes boiling, add the water and the fish bones. Simmer for 25 minutes.
• Strain and a good pinch of saffron add salt to taste.
Recipe for the Paella:
Start by making the sofrito: Start with the onion, as it takes longer to cook. Dice as finely as possible and cook in the paella with about 2tbs of olive oil, at medium-low heat.
Meanwhile, dice the pepper and garlic just as thin and add it to the onions straight away. Leave them to cook, stirring every now and then so it cooks evenly and making sure it doesn't burn in the bottom. This should take about 10 minutes.
Note: The reason we add the vegetables in stages is so that the water doesn’t come out all at once and boil the veg rather than slowly frying them. This affects the flavour.
Dice the fresh tomatoes as thin as possible or grate them on the large side of a grater. When the onions look translucent and soft, add the grated tomatoes as well as the tinned tomatoes and let cook for about 10-12 minutes, on medium-low heat. Again we’re looking to evaporate all the water that the tomatoes bring.
Note: We let this cook, slowly, for a long time so that we evaporate all of the liquid. If not, it will affect the cooking of our rice. We’re looking for the sofrito to become a kind of a paste consistency.
Once the tomatoes have reduced, add 1tbp of paprika mix well and cook for one more minute. And the sofrito is ready to go.
Note: For a Valencian-style sofrito, omit the onions and peppers, and add double tomatoes ;)
Note: The sofrito can be made in big batches and kept in the fridge for a week and frozen for a couple of months.
Making the paella:
Cut the cuttlefish into medium size cubes, and clean the mussels by pulling the beard off and rinsing with cold water. Keep in the mussels in the fridge until ready to use.
If using clams, cover with very cold water and lots of salt at least 30 minutes before cooking (it will spit out the sand it has inside). But remember to rinse them well, as it will be very salty.
• Heat the sofrito over medium-high heat and add the calamari. Let it cook without stirring for about 1 minute, then give them a turn and let cook for another minute before adding the rice. Mix all well but do not continue to mix the rice because if not it will release too much starch and the rice will not get that nice crunchy texture.
Note: At this point, you can stop the cooking and wait until 20 minutes before lunch/dinner time. This can be saved in the fridge for a couple of days.
• When you are ready to cook your Paella, make sure the rice mixture is hot and over high heat before adding the fish stock, Approx 1.2Lt. Start with only just covering the rice as you do not want to risk making your paella soggy. The rest you can add later if needed after tasting.
• Let boil for 5 minutes, then reduce to a low simmer for 10 more minutes. Always making sure that it's simmering all around.
Note: If the paella doesn't fit the hob very well, transfer it to the preheated oven at 240°C. It should be directly on the bottom of the oven (not on a rail, but on the 'floor')
• When those 15 minutes of cooking have passed, place the prawns, mussels and clams on top and keep cooking for another 5 minutes. This is a good moment to try the rice and add more stock if it needs it.
• Turn the heat off and let the paella rest for 5 minutes before serving, covered with a tea towel (don’t cover with a lid, it needs to be able to ‘breathe’ )
• Serve with lemon wedges
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Serves 4- or 6 tapas serving
400gr raw chorizo
2 garlic cloves
1 shallots
1 bay leaf
200ml red wine
1 handful of parsley
25ml Extra Virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
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• Slice the chorizo into 1-inch pieces. Add to a pan and bring to medium-high
heat with the garlic, wine and bay leaf and leave on a simmer for 5 mins.
• Meanwhile, peel and cut the shallot in quarters and add to the chorizo. Cook for another 10 minutes.
• Place the chorizo and onions into a serving dish and reduce the wine until a syrupy consistency and finish with a splash of honey before serving on top of the chorizo.
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Serves 12
750gr Cream Cheese
250gr Granulated Sugar
A pinch of sea salt
4 large Eggs
300ml Thick Double Cream
20gr Plain flour (optional)
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Preheat oven to 200c
• Prepare the cheesecake pan with parchment paper and make sure that it’s at least 2cm higher than the pan, as the cheesecake will rise in the oven
• Mix the cream cheese, sugar and salt until it becomes smooth and the sugar completely dissolves.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, waiting for each to incorporate before adding the next.
This will help to avoid lumps. Also, remember to stop the machine and scrape the bottom of the bowl a few times to mix in the batter that stays in the bottom (you won’t have to do this if you're mixing by hand. Once all the eggs have been mixed in, add the double cream.
. • Lastly, slowly mix in the flour, if using any, the less you stir the better, you don’t wait to incorporate a lot of it in it.
. • Pour all the mix into the cheesecake pan and bake in the hot oven for about 30 minutes. It should look dark golden on top and still wobbly in the middle.
• Keep in the pan until it completely cools down. Ideally 1 hour at room temperature and 2 more hours in the fridge.
• Traditionally this is not served with any jam. Occasionally it’s served with a shot of Pedro Ximenez.
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