Portugal

Saturday, 23rd July.

Right, so we've abandoned the rain of England in favour of the sun of Western Portugal. Sao Martinho do Porto to be exact.

Unfortunately it's only a temporary abandonment but still, it gives us a chance to soak up the sun and sample the amazing food on offer - starting with these wonderful clams which were simply opened in lashings of olive oil with a lot of garlic and coriander.

These were preceded by a cold seafood appetiser of squid, prawns and mussels with onion, peppers and the ubiquitous olive oil which we hadn't ordered but just arrived. As did the bread and olives that also arrived unannounced. Nevertheless, it was all tasty enough so I'm not complaining.

My clams were followed by some fried John Dory fillets which were unexpectedly battered and didn't quite live up to the standard set by the starter however The Missus had prawns in garlic to start which, were great, followed by sea bass steaks served (unusually, I thought) with pasta, which she assured me was pretty good.

So, all in all, a good first choice of restaurant. We've had a wander around the cove and there are plenty more restaurants to choose from, mostly with a good selection of fresh seafood.

Speaking of fresh seafood, I went for a run round to the far side of the cove and discovered the beach littered with mussels, cockle, clam and razor clam shells. A short clamber over some rocks and I found an abundance of mussels, crabs and limpets. I'll definitely be heading back over there with a bag before the holiday is out to gather up a supply of mussels to cook as I did last year in Nerja, Spain. This time it should be easier as there'll be no snorkelling involved.

Anyway, I'm writing this in our fantastic apartment with has everything you could wish for - apart from wi-fi. So this'll be parked up until I get down to one of the bars at the beach later.

For now though, it's croissants and yoghurt for breakfast followed by a mooch round the market around the corner.

Laters.


The Bloke

BBQ Ribs

Barbecue!

So, finally the great British weather relented long enough (only just) to let me put the new gas BBQ to the test. It didn't disappoint.

First up, home-made burgers. I've covered making my own burgers on this blog before here
http://blokeinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2009/06/home-made-burger-and-chips.html. I still do them the same way except l no longer add an egg. I don't think it's needed.

Another thing I often do is put some grated cheddar in the middle of the burger. This melts wonderfully when grilling and gives a great flavour throughout.

The burgers grilled a treat on the barbie, the control of being able to crank the heat up or down instantly is amazing, not to mention having instant fire at the twist of a knob. The fat dripping down into the burners and smoking more than makes up for the lack of charcoal in my humble opinion.

After the burgers came some chicken legs which I'd simply marinaded in olive oil, crushed garlic, lemon juice, chilli and salt and pepper. I'd also cooked these in the oven at 180 degrees (gas mark 4) for 20 minutes to make sure I wasn't poisoning my friends and family.

Next up, a sheet of bacon ribs I'd bought earlier in the day from the wonderful Scotch Beef Shop in Woolton, Liverpool (where I'd also bought the minced beef for the aforementioned burgers as well as some sausages, which I'll come on to later). These ribs deserved a decent marinade so I had a root through my store cupboard and came up with the following:

BBQ Marinade Recipe

4 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
4 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of paprika
Ground black pepper

Mix the lot together, smother your meat of choice and leave to marinade for a couple of hours.

The ribs were followed up by the obligatory bangers. No ordinary bangers here though, oh no. These are hand-made affairs from the butchers mentioned above, pork and pepper and Slimming World approved too so not too much damage on the waistline. The have a whole range of interesting sausages and the shop is worth a visit for these alone.

To counter the meat-fest there was a lot of nice fresh salad doing the rounds, as well as some halloumi griddled on the barbie's side burner all washed down with a jug of Pimms and some Stella Artois Cidre.

Well, now our 2 days of summer appear to be over and the rain has returned so the cover's back on the barbecue, probably until this time next year.

Salud!

View To A Grill

After 2 hours of crawling around, lifting and swearing a lot, the lean, mean grilling machine is ready to do battle.

Let grilling commence!

Baked Trout and Sunny Days

Ah, sunshine! It's usually a rare commodity in these here parts but April and, so far, May have been nothing but glorious.

It's weather like this that makes me think of holiday food and that, more often than not, means fish.

This dish in particular reminds me of sunset at a restaurant on the beach in Mallorca a few years back. At the time the fish in question was actually Gilt-head Bream but, being at the mercy of Tesco fish counter (other supermarkets are available) I chose the fish that looked freshest and that was some nice Rainbow Trout.

Incidentally, best way to tell if the fish is fresh is to look at the eyes. They should be clear and bright. If they look cloudy then avoid at all costs.

Right, back to the trout. I keep it nice and simple. Take a roasting dish or baking tray large enough to hold your fish and scatter the bottom with a finely sliced onion and a bunch of chives.

Next, cut slashes in the sides of the fish on both sides and season the fish with salt and pepper, both inside and out.

Stuff the insides of the fish with a few slices of lemon, thin slivers of garlic and a bunch of fresh parsley.

Lay the fish on the onions and drizzle the whole thing with a good olive oil.

Roast (or bake, if you prefer - no difference as far as I can determine) for around 20 minutes at 180 degrees (gas mark 4 - I think).

Serve the fish whole with new potatoes and crisp blanched veg such as sugarsnap peas, green beans and asparagus. Oh, and how about a cheeky little dry white? Ah, go on then, I'll have a Gavi.

We've also had a raft of bank holidays, with an extra one courtesy of Prince William and his lovely bride, Catherine. We watched the wedding with a drop of fizz round at our good friends, Sles & Jac followed by a barbecue and a certain amount of cider. Cheers Will and Kate!

We finished off the bank hols with a trip up to the Camelot theme park with The Missus, Pooky and I plus Pooky's sidekick, Ubiquitous Katie.

When you've been to Orlando, those sort of places kinda pale by comparison. Still, a good day (along with picnic) was had by all.

Oh, speaking of barbecues, and Orlando for that matter, after being treated to gas barbies in Oz a few years back, Sles & Jac took the plunge and splashed out on a huge 4 burner contraption. We resisted but were tempted again by the one we had in Florida at Christmas.

Last weekend's wedding barbie finally persuaded us that we needed to abandon the charcoal and go gas so we've ordered a four burner piece of our own. It's getting delivered on Friday so putting that together will no doubt be fun. I'll keep you posted....




The Bloke

On me shed, son.

The aforementioned shed.

Myself and three of the allotment old guard moved this from plot 11 to my plot, 14a, on a tiny trolley. The whole scene was reminiscent of Last of the Summer Wine.

Anyway, there you have it. Home sweet home.

Happy Experiment!

Ok, it's been a while and I apologise. What with the Swimathon a few weeks back and work, family and footy commitments, oh, and the allotment (which I'll come to later) it's been all go at Bloke HQ.

Anyways, first to the experiment. The Missus is out at the theatre today and The Pookster is in bed so, as usual, that means it's pasta for one.

Now, I've talked about my pasta fast food before here http://blokeinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2009/10/bloke-pasta-with-chorizo.html and this is just a variation on the theme but it's also using some leftovers and the result is, if I say so myself, pretty great.

Recently, I've mentioned something called pringá; a Spanish slow-cooked pork that we discovered in Seville (details here http://blokeinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/03/foodie-weekend.html). Well, I'd kind of made rather a lot so, as I always do if I have leftovers of anything freezable, it was bagged, labelled and frozen.

Also leftover from yesterday was some mixed olives in oil with herbs and chilli.

This all got me thinking that there was a pretty special marriage (never mind William & Kate) waiting to happen right there.

So, after defrosting a batch of the pringá, I finely sliced a fat clove of garlic and a spring onion and softened them, along with some dried chilli, in the oil from the olives. I kept the olives to one side where I roughly chopped them, along with some fresh parsley, to be added later.

While all this is going on, I cooked some pasta for about 12 minutes in well-salted boiling water.

With a few minutes to go on the pasta, I added the pork, olives and parsley to the onions, garlic and chilli to warm through.

I then drained the pasta, tipped it back into the pan and stirred through the meaty, spicy sauce, added a little black pepper and served up with a very nice South African Chenin Blanc.

Oh, quick note about the allotment. I now have broad beans, peas, radishes, sprouts, yellow courgettes, squash and carrots planted out and fending for themselves. I've also managed to blag a shed from an empty plot which I'll be moving onto my plot tomorrow.

I've currently got onions, leeks, peppers, chillis, green beans, tomatoes and courgettes growing in propagators in my conservatory which will be going out in the coming weeks. Oh, I've also got a couple of varieties of spuds growing in a planter (which I keep topping up with compost as the plants grow) in my garden. Hopefully it won't be long until I've got a bumper crop of fresh produce to cook and eat over the summer.

Right, back to my Chenin Blanc.

Enjoy!