"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it."- Russell Baker

*Gasps for air*

It's so damn hot!!

Seriously, it's boiling over by 'yer. We're on our fifth day of 35ºC + weather (that's 95ºF + for all you fahrenheiters), and while you might be thinking: "I don't know what you're moaning about! That sounds swell!" consider that there is no beach, a VERY strong sun, very little wind, and that we try not to turn on our air conditioning for fear of the astronomic electricity bill.

In all this heat, there's very little one feels like doing. The heat coming from the computer adds to the discomfort, it's too hot to shop, it's too hot to eat, and it's certainly too hot to do any work for uni! ;) In all this heat, all I want to do is take a siesta, listen to a ridiculously assembled summer playlist and drink gazpacho.

Gazpacho (recipe to follow).

Hope that wherever you are, you're keeping cool.

Dorada a la sal

In my house in Chicago there are two framed watercolours hanging on our sitting room wall. One is of the house that my family stays in near a tiny fishing village in Almería– incidentally one of my most favourite places in the world– and the other is of a Dorada skeleton. This is something my dad painted on Christmas Day, 1999. We had decided to ring in the new millennium in Spain, and so spent Christmas there as well. Deciding to go the more untraditional route with regards to Christmas lunch, we had dorada, baked in salt.

Dorada. image from M Stevens and Son

Dorada literally translated into English (according to wordreference.com) is Gilt-head Bream. Sound familiar? I reckon even as a native Engish speaker you'd have to know a whole lot about fish to be able to identify one just from that title. Actually, dorada is very common in Spain, and in Portugal. It's a fresh-tasting, white fish similar to cod. Baking it in salt is probably one of the best ways to cook it (and I say baking it, you don't eat the salt with the fish, it all gets removed before serving). It creates a sort of kiln that allows it to be cooked almost perfectly. It also looks rather fancy so if making it for a dinner party or what have you you can make a show of removing the salt before you eat it.

The dorada in its salt shell

Dorada a la sal

2 Dorada, gutted, scales on, gills out
4 cups/2 lbs/1 kg rock salt
2 eggs
2 tbsp cold water
1 lemon

1. Preheat the oven to full heat. In a large bowl, mix together the salt, eggs, water, and grated lemon rind into a thick mixture. Place about a half of this mixture onto a baking tray and form a bed for your fish.

2. Place the fish on your salt bed, then cover with the remaining salt mixture. This should create a nice shell all around the dorada, about 1-2 cm thick. Make sure that the fish is completely covered by the salt. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.

3. To check whether or not the fish is cooked, stick a knife into the fish and then gently press it against your lips. If the knife is hot, then the fish is cooked. Do not take off the salt until the fish is cooked. Leave to sit for 10-15 minutes.

4. Get ready– this is the fun part! With the back of a spoon, firmly tap the salt casing of the fish. If you do it right, the hardened salt casing should crack nicely and all the pieces will begin to fall off the fish. If not, gently remove them with the teaspoon, making sure not to let any salt touch the flesh of the fish. With a sharp knife, cut along the spine of the dorada, then remove off the head. The dorada should open up nicely, and you'll be able to remove all of the bones pretty easily. Serve with a big wedge of lemon.

serves 2-3.

Chorizo al vino

Sorry for my absence folks. Been a busy gal. But I'm back, with some good stuff.

Another 'I will learn to cook this in Spain' dish out of the way. Chorizo al vino is one of the easiest things in the world to prepare, it just takes time. And, because it lasts for quite a while, it's totally worth making a lot at a time, using one or two chorizos in each batch. Perrrfect for tapas.

Chorizo al vino

2 chorizos, as picante as you want them

1 bottle bog standard red wine (the wine's going to be bubbling away for ages, there's not much point splashing out on a nice one)

1. Using a fork, prick holes all over the two chorizos. This will allow them to absorb the wine more easily. Place them in a saucepan that has just enough room for both of them. Pour the entire bottle of wine over the chorizos. The wine should just cover both of them. Bring to a boil and let simmer gently for 20 minutes.

2. Remove the pan from the heat. Place a lid on the saucepan and set it aside overnight to allow the flavours to really blend together.

3. When you're ready to eat your chorizo, remove them from the pan, being sure to conserve the wine. Cut the chorizo into thick slices. Place into a pan with half of the wine mix that you marinated the chorizo in. Fry, turning frequently, until the slices are nice and crispy and the wine, mixed with the juices from the chorizo, have reduced to 2-3 tbsp. Serve immediately.

The first boquerones adventure

If you look back a couple of posts, one of the things I decided that I must learn to cook in Spain was boquerones, a small whitebait/anchovy sort of fish that are normally served fried with lemon juice as a typical tapas dish. Well, a last minute decision on a calm weekday evening allowed me to realise this goal.

There they are, accompanied by one of my typical 'kitchen sink salads'. Yummm.

Not bad for a first effort, I'd say. Up until this point, I had never used a deep fryer before in my life, and the idea of it was a little more than intimidating. I had no idea just how much oil would be required, even just to fry the bare minimum– this is not a dish you'll want to be eating everyday! But I wouldn't say that they turned out as well as they possibly could. Next time, an absolute must would be to buy them fresh from the fishmongers. I used a frozen bag this time (I know, naughty naughty) that I got from the local supermarket for a 1,80€; I'm my father's daughter, I can't resist a bargain. Another thing that I shall have to keep in mind is how quickly these little fishies go from not-quite-cooked to very-very-cooked. You want the fish to be crispy on the outside, but still soft and moist on the inside, you definitely don't want them to crisp up and dry out!!

I shall keep you updated on my efforts.