Serranía Kitchen - recipes from around the world

On Good Friday, Christians, or Roman Catholics at least, are supposed to eschew meat and eat fish.

So, we decided to put something together using more or less what we had. I bought two sorts of fish, atun and dorada in the morning, we discussed what we would have with it and decided on rösti potatoes, asparagus, sugar snap peas, and kohl rabi.

Plus, a nice dry white wine, of course. A verdejo from Rueda happened to be nicely chilling in the fridge.

We don’t normally prepare food together because we are both very self-opinionated. However, Rita knows what she’s doing, so, on this occasion, I promised to do what she told me.

We prepared the vegetables between us and then set about constructing our Cena de Viernes Santo.

Duo of fish with vegetables Serrania-style

Ingredients:

2 tuna steaks

2 fillets of dorada (gilt head bream)

3 medium potatoes

250 g green asparagus

250 g kohl rabi

250 g sugar snap peas (fresh from the garden)

Sunflower oil

Salt and pepper (to taste)

Method:

Prepare the vegetables: peel the potatoes, chop the asparagus and kohl rabi, trim the sugar snap peas and set aside.

Shred the potatoes, using a shredder.

Fry the vegetables in sunflower oil until al diente and place in the oven to keep warm.

At the same time, fry the rösti potatoes in another pan.

Fry the fish in hot oil for 2 minutes each side.

Prepare the sauce,

Plate up and eat.

Accompaniment:

Tartare sauce

A dry white wine, eg our choice a chilled verdejo.

I was disappointed, however, so I switched to a rosado from Valdepeñas, which suited the meal better.

Conclusion:

Well, we worked together fine and enjoyed sharing the preparation and the eating. Unfortunately, we had an argument about something completely unconnected, so the overall Good Friday dining experience ended on a sour note.

I enjoyed my digestif, a shot of Miura.

Acknowledgements:

All photos by Paul Whitelock except main photo courtesy of Facebook

© Rita and Paul Whitelock

Tags:

al diente, asparagus, cena de Viernes Santo, digestif, dorada, duo of fish, fillets of dorada, gilt head bream, Good Friday, kohl rabi, Miura, pepper, potatoes, rosado, rösti potatoes, Rueda, salt, Serrania-style, sugar snap peas, sunflower oil, Tartare sauce, tuna steaks, Valdepeñas, vegetables, verdejo, Whitelock

By The Restaurant Guru

I like my food. And, although my wife is a fantastic cook (ask anyone who has ever been to our house for dinner; ask also members of the Costa Car Club, for whom she cooked on two occasions when they came to Montejaque (Malaga) some years ago and the hotel had no chef, I do like to go out for a meal or tapas when we can afford it, or even when we can’t, and there is something to celebrate!

This new blog will be about our dining experiences, both chez nous and out and about in Spain, Germany, the UK, wherever we happen to be. I hope you find our experiences helpful, interesting and thought-provoking.

To start with I am going to unashamedly regurgitate articles I have posted elsewhere. “Regurgitate” maybe creates the wrong impression, but, hey!

Introduction

When I met my wife, Rita is her name, she was a German living in Montejaque (Malaga). She’s still a German, but although she still owns the Montejaque house, Casa Rita, we don’t live there any longer.

When we started “courting” I invited her to visit me in England where I was living at the time (2008), even though I owned two properties in Ronda (Malaga).

The first time she came to visit me in England, I offered to prepare my “signature dish” in my recently purchased Victorian villa (down on its luck, by the way), she was thrilled. Although she had been married twice, neither husband had ever cooked for her. Pressure or what?

My “tour de force” is grilled asparagus with anchovies as a starter, followed by steak au poivre with a mushroom sauce, sautéed potatoes and broccoli. I don’t do puddings/desserts.

She was not impressed, I have to say. “I would have done it like this”, she quipped. I still think that was unfair, but hey!

We have now been together 16 years (13 married) and I can count on two fingers the number of times she has allowed me to cook a meal. The best was Christmas dinner a la inglesa with all the trimmings one Christmas Day before Covid. I thought it was amazing! She was not impressed. Oh well!

So, back to this blog. I will be posting about dining experiences we have had in several countries, predominantly Spain, where we live, but also in France, Germany, the UK and anywhere else we may fetch up in the future.

© The Restaurant Guru

Tags:

anchovies, asparagus, broccoli, Casa Rita, Christmas dinner a la inglesa, Costa Car Club, Malaga, Montejaque, mushroom sauce, Paul Whitelock, Restaurant Guru, Rita, Ronda, sautéed potatoes, steak au poivre

By Paddy McGinty

This recipe is a classic with a twist. We’re taking those same rich and beefy flavours that we know and love about French onion soup. But, we’re enhancing the richness with the addition of stout beer (Guinness). And, we’re revitalising that cheesy crouton that tops the soup by adding a little (Irish) cheddar into the mix.

Recipe details

Yield  4  servings

Time:  Preparation time: 10 mins  Cooking time: 1 Hour Total time: 1 hr 10 min

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 5 medium yellow onions, cut in half and thinly sliced (about 2 lbs)
• ½ tsp salt (two lots)
• ¼ tsp pepper (two lots)
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1.5 litres of unsalted beef stock
• 1 bottle (12 oz/330 ml)) Guinness stout
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 slices thick cut sourdough bread or French stick
• 4 oz gruyère cheese, grated
• 4 oz (Irish) cheddar, grated

Method

Prepare the onions:

In a large saucepan heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, and brown sugar; and stir to combine.

Cook for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are light golden brown. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

Add beef stock, Guinness, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, bay leaf, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper to the softened onions, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to pull up any browned bits.

Stir to combine.

With the heat still at medium, bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Taste for seasoning, and add another pinch of salt, if necessary. Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf from the pot.

Make the crouton:

Preheat oven to 190 C.

Cut bread to fit the size of your soup bowls, and place on a baking sheet.

Bake for 5 minutes, flip, and place back in the oven for 5 more mins. Increase oven temperature, and position top rack to 6 inches from the heating element of the grill.

Divide the onion soup between 4 oven safe bowls arranged on a baking sheet. Place toasted bread on top of soup. Mix gruyère and cheddar together, and top the croutons with cheese mix evenly divided between the bowls. Place under the grill for 5-6 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and melted and just starting to brown.

Serve immediately.

Tips

• Though it requires a little patience, we don't want to rush bringing the soup to a boil by raising the temperature. The Guinness is at risk of becoming bitter if we cook it at too high of a heat, so medium heat is the highest we'll want to heat the pan.
• When buying your beer, be careful NOT to get extra stout. That will definitely get bitter in the soup. Stick to Guinness Stout Draught.

Preferred drink

Guinness, of course!

If you don’t like Guinness, a strong oak-aged Spanish wine should do the trick. Try something from La Mancha or Valdepeñas, eg Pata Negra tempranillo.

“Sláinte!”

Acknowledgements:

Amazon

Foodtalk Plus

garden.eco

Paul Whitelock

Val Doonican

Wikipedia

Tags:

bay leaf, beef stock, brown sugar, cheddar, crouton, Foodtalk Plus, French onion soup,  French stick, garlic, gruyère, Guinness, Irish cheddar, La Mancha, olive oil, Paul Whitelock, sourdough bread, stout, thyme, unsalted butter, Val Doonican, Valdepeñas, Worcestershire sauce, yellow onions