Mexican Style Breakfast

I cannot claim to have made this one up as the whole idea came from Jaime Oliver and if you would prefer to see his version then do click here.  As always with me I have a habit of not following recipes exactly.  When I do they turn out just as they are supposed to but if I don't have all the ingredients to hand but enough of them and with suitable substitutions I will go ahead anyway.  I am seldom disappointed with the results.

And so it was with my Mexican style breakfast....

I haven't seen any tins or jars of black beans here - it's Spain, there should be such things but perhaps the supermarket where I shop is not a very good one?? who knows... but you can buy the dried beans so I began my version the day before when I soaked the beans for several hours and then cooked them in my pressure cooker.  The pressure cooker really takes the hassle and time out of cooking dried beans and I definitely would recommend it.

So in the morning I whizzed up a couple of avocado's and added some lemon juice and fresh home grown chopped chillies.  As it turned out the chillies were not really very hot... I can't bring myself to try them before putting them into food so its always a bit of a guessing game with me.

I fried the beans.  This time I actually heated my pan first before adding the olive oil and then the beans... it worked very well.. much better than how I usually do it.  I think I always thought it would ruin the pan... !  Once the beans were a little frazzled on the edges I cooked the omelette with a little cheese inside.  Much thinner omelettes than I usually do... and they rolled up really well.

I served the omelette and beans and avocado with some chopped tomatoes (at room temperature, this is soooo important) garnished only with a little salt.  Really really good.

Apple and Chilli Jelly

After a very long summer of no posting I am happy to say that I have managed to co-ordinate the camera and the cooking process... at least enough to document something I haven't made for a long time but always remembered fondly... fondly enough to want to do it again.

In the UK I made this with foraged crab apples and home grown chillies.  It became a family favourite and cheese was never quite the same without it.  Here in Spain cheese is served with membrillo (a kind of quince cheese) and it is delicious, especially if home made, but I really hankered after my old favourite so....

Firstly, I forgot which recipe I used.  So I found one in this book.....

... Which I thought was probably the one, it had some pencil notes about doubling quantities and cooking times for larger batches, so I guessed it was likely the one.

Ingredients:
1kg tart apples - I used Granny Smiths.
1.5 litres water
50ml cider vinegar
2 cinnamon sticks
1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 Cinnamon sticks
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
4 whole red chillies (this is an extra that I add to give it a bit of a kick)

(I apologise for the measurement of sugar being in volume rather than weight - I hate using volume, I find it is so inaccurate, but that is how the recipes are in this particular book - being aimed at the American market)

Method:
Put the apples, water, vinegar, cloves, cinnamon and chopped chillies (I included the seeds but its up to you if you do or not) into a large pan, cover and bring to the boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook until the fruit is very soft - soft enough to push through a sieve.

When cooked, strain it through a sieve first to remove the solids and then through a jelly bag to extract the juice.  Return this juice to the now cleaned pan and add the sugar.

Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until setting temperature is reached and then continue to boil until you achieve a 'gel'.

A jam thermometer is indispensable to ensure that you get a good set on the jelly.

To check that it is set I usually put a saucer into the freezer until its very cold and then put a teaspoonful of hot jam onto the saucer, replace in the freezer for a minute or two and then check it to see if it crinkles when disturbed by your finger.  As soon as it does, its ready to pot.  Sterilise your pots in boiling water and drain and dry in a warm oven.  Pour in the hot jelly and pop on the lid....

I know the book is called Small Batch Preserving but this really is a very small batch.  I think I boiled it a little longer than necessary but even so it still wouldn't have made much more than one pot, now I see why I marked on the page that I should double the quantity....

and then.... I found a piece of paper stuffed into the back of another preserving book with my favourite recipe - which is basically the same but the quantities are much larger and it also suggests that you make Apple chilli butter with the pulp - I had already put mine on the compost, but perhaps next time.  It was delicious and the little pot has already been used up with cheese for afternoon snack!

Really Easy Economic Cream of Mushroom Soup

Mushrooms have a very strong flavour so it is really easy to make a little go a long way.  Here I am using whole mushrooms but did you know that you can make a bowl of soup from just the stalks?  Yes that's right... just the stalks.  If you are the kind of person who habitually chops off the stalk and chucks it away then you might consider trying this in the future.

Chop up your mushrooms (or your mushroom stalks).  Here I have taken the dirty bit off the end but kept most of the stalk on.  I haven't peeled them either... you lose a lot of vitamins if you peel them.  A wipe with a damp kitchen towel should be enough to dislodge any dirt that is clinging to them.

Chop up some onion and fry it gently in a little vegetable oil - or whatever you have in the cupboard.  When the onions are soft add the chopped mushroom (or mushroom stalks) and sweat them down a bit with the lid on.  When the mushrooms are cooked but not mushy add some stock (veggie, chicken beef ... whatever) or plain water if you don't have any stock to hand.  How much?  Well it depends upon how many mushrooms or mushroom stalks you have ... if you are only using stalks you might want to just make enough for one bowl of soup... so you will have to judge.

Put the lid back on and simmer it for about 20 minutes on a low heat.  Remove from the heat and whizz it up in a liquidiser or using a hand whizzer until it is creamy and smooth.

Finally add some single cream or the top of the milk (do we get the top of the milk these days?... you don't here in Spain - at least not where I live, but you do get a uht cooking cream which works a treat).  Season to taste, if it has cooled then warm it through again but try not to let it boil.  Remember a soup boiled is a soup spoiled!

PS.  If you made a very small amount using the stalks, instead of turning it into soup you can use it as gravy or as an enhancement to a meat gravy... added to a casserole, pie... whatever you fancy.  Leave out the cream but add a dash of Lea and Perrins or even a splash of ketchup or brown sauce - delicious vegetarian gravy!