Yummy Almeria

This year for Christmas we decided to treat ourselves to a Spanish Jamon as there would be nine of us for some time!  They look fantastic on their stands and pretty much every spanish family we know has one (or sometimes even two!).  When buying one, you need to do a little research to fully understand what you are paying for so it is worth spending a little time on the internet to get some background information.  Spanish cuisine has become very fashionable in London in the last few years (it tends to be much closer to english cuisine than, say, French cuisine.  It is more robust and less fussy and usually very delicious.  They are proud of their Jamon and rightly so.  You see them hanging in bars and restaurants all over Spain and at Chrismtas time in every supermarket.  In London I know you can pay hundreds of pounds for a Jamon so if I were you I would just book a flight for a weekend break and pay less than half the price here!

Here is  a quick look at the different types of Jamon you can buy

Jamon Iberico de bellota – the king of hams from free range Iberian black pigs fed on a diet purely of acorns.  Utterly divine and you can taste the nuttiness – even the fat is healthier as it is 60% nut, similar in goodness to olive oil which melts at room temperature.

Iberico de Recebo – the next best thing and quite a bit cheaper as although they are also free range, they feed from pasture and grain as well as acorns but truly sensational as well

Jamon Iberico

Still free-range black Iberian pigs, but fed on compound feed – very good value and great tasting

Jamon Serrano

The most common jamon that you will find in all supermarkets in abundance – it is really delicious but ordinary cured ham that comes from white pigs.  It is obviously the most affordable and you can buy an entire leg for around 30 euros.  Fabulous with melon as a starter or lunch dish.

All our guests are served Serrano Jamon at some time or another during their stay.  If anyone wants to taste the Jamon de bellota I add it to the menu as it is much better value for money here than in the UK.  For more detailed information on the different types of Jamon go to www.jamon.com

It’s Sunday morning and I have about 15 kilos of oranges all over the house!  They are in baskets in the hall, living room and kitchen. We have two orange seasons in Spain – one in May and the other in November.  The trees everywhere are just dripping with the things and my harvest is made up from our courtyard oranges and the ones I have scrumped from Desert Springs!  Theirs are much bigger and juicer whilst mine are a little more bitter which is perfect for marmalade making.

I put on Radio 2 for Love Songs (yes I know, I know but parts of marmalade making are intensely boring and I need something to sing to where I know the words, or have even heard of the artist – this is nothing new and those who know me well know that I never have known what goes on in the modern world of music, only the old one!).  I am looking out onto the courtyard which is drenched in sunshine.  It is still early so a little chilly so I light the kitchen fire.  Now I am at my happiest!

You can make marmalade with any citrus fruit – grapefruit is wonderful as it is bitter and therefore not sickly.  As is lemon (see previous recipes).  However, bitter orange is also divine and I always put in a whole pound less sugar than the recipe states.  This does mean leaving it on a rolling boil for much much longer, but I think the result is far superior unless you have an exceptionally sweet tooth.  It is dead simple, you do not need any special equipment, just the fruit and the sugar, and a bit of whisky if you like, and that is that.  So, collect your jars, give them a wash and 10 minutes in the oven (moderate) to sterilise of off you go.

The quantity I use means that you are not having to wait forever for a set (when the jam is ready to leave to cool and then bottle).  Also, you don’t want it boiling over which is a nightmare.

2 lbs (900 g) Seville Oranges, or lemons, or grapefruit

1 lemon

4 pints of water (2.25 litres)

3 lbs granulated sugar (1.3 kgs)

A small square of muslin or a fine clean handkerchief will do (this is to tie the pips and leftover pulp in the juicer)

Put the water into a very large pan – the size that you would use for a casserole

The juice the oranges and the lemon and add to the pan

Now for the boring bit – enlist some help if you can – you need to slice the orange halves into thin shreds.  I don’t make them too thin as it just takes too long but you may be more patient than I!  If you come across any pips, put them on the muslin square.  All of this contains pectin which will help the marmalade come to a set.

Then tie up your little muslin bag with string and suspend it into your liquid by the handle.  Bring up to a simmer, and continue simmering for around an hour and a half.

Then remove your little bag to cool.  Add all the sugar and stir in to dissolve before turning up the heat and bringing to a raped boil. Squeeze the little bag with your (clean) fingers into the pan or you can scrape it onto a saucer first – it will be a jelly like substance – and whisk it into the jam.

You need to kind of hover about for the next bit as you do not want your marmalade to boil over – but just let it come to a rolling boil and leave it like that for at least 25 minutes – at the same time put 4 saucers into the freezer (this is for testing the jam).

After 25 to 30 minutes put a teaspoon of marmalade onto the saucer and pop in the fridge.  After a couple of minutes, take it out and push it with your index finger – if it definitely crinkles you know it is ready – in my experience it never is so continue boiling for another 10 minutes and re-test.  Don’t be tempted to bottle until you get a crinkle –I have done often when it is not quite ready, and whilst I like what I call French jam (runny) you don’t want a liquid either!).  When you think it is ready, take it off the heat and cool for 20 minutes – this way the fruit stays evenly distributed in the marmalade.   I find it easier to ladle into a large jug and pour into the prepared jars.  Put a waxed disc on and seal.  (you can buy these from stationers I think or else order from Lakeland!).

If at the end of the day the marmalade is still too liquidy, don’t fret, just pour it all back in a pan and repeat from the rolling boil part.  It’s a bit of a faff but at least you won’t have wasted your time.  If you want to add a bit of whiskey, do so just before bottling – for this quantity I would say you need about 5 tablespoons – but you do need the marmalade to have reached a proper set first – the crinkly bit – as otherwise the added liquid will just hinder the setting process. Again, if it doesn’t set, no matter, just re-boil as above – the worst that will happen is the whiskey will evaporate!

Once you have made your own marmalade or jam, you won’t ever want to buy any again.  My sister supplies a little restaurant in North London where you can have tea and scones all day long among other things,  with jams from fruit on her allotment and they can’t get enough and have numerous comments from their customers.  Have a go when you have some time to yourself – it is very rewarding and also very relaxing and something different to do.  Start now and you will have some lovely pressies for Christmas.

I have always liked making my own stuff for Christmas (as you may have gathered) and even when I was working full time in the West End of London, I still spent weekends holed up in my kitchen for hours pottering about, cooking, preserving and pickling.  Sad I know (but it didn’t stop me meeting the man of my dreams aged 41!).  Anyhow, one thing I love at Christmas more than any other time, are really strong pickles on Boxing Day with cold turkey, cheese or game pie.  So does everyone in our family so even if you think you have bought enough, you never have!   So, I started making great big jars of them, and then losing the will to live after peeling a couple of pounds of small onions or shallots.  A couple of years ago I thought why not just use very fresh and crispy large onions that you would normally use in cooking.  I peeled about 5 or 6 large ones, and then quartered each one, and then cut the quarter in half.  Some of the outer layers come away, but so what?  They were are roaring success so I made our Christmas ones on Sunday – any pickles really need to be made about 6-8 weeks ahead, but if you do them this weekend, they will be fine for Boxing Day!  Be warned though, using onions does make them very spicy and because you don’t remove any of the chillies from the pickling spice, even more so!

You can make whatever quantity you like really so just decide on how many jars you will use – a huge old pickled cucumber one, or a few ordinary pickle jars.  Whatever you decide, for around 2 kgs of onion you will need 25 gms of pickling spice and 1.5 litres of vinegar or maybe a little more.  Malt vinegar is good, but I used cider vinegar this time – it isn’t quite so sharp.  You could try red wine vinegar too.

Cut up your onions and put half in the jar, followed by good teaspoon of the pickling spice, top up the jar with more onions and spices and then pour over the vinegar right up to the top and seal with the lids.  You need to store them in a cool dark place for several weeks before eating.  Voila!