Lemon Marmalade

26 Sep

I have always liked lime marmalade, but when we moved here there seemed to be a bit of a dearth of limes with which to make it.  So instead I started making lemon marmalade as we have a lemon tree outside my kitchen (although I do have to go lemon scrumping occasionally as there aren’t enough on my own tree!).  Anyway, lemons in the UK are cheap enough and if you want to have a go, it is really rewarding and incredibly delicious as well as easy peasy.

All you need is very large cooking pot to put on the hob.

Here is my recipe adapted from an orange marmalade recipe.

900 gms of lemons, plus one additional one

2.25 litre of water

1.35 kg granulated sugar (most recipes ask for 450 g more but I think it is too sweet so

I just boil it for longer in order to get the set)

This should yield around 5 or 6 450 g jars, maybe a bit less because of the increased amount of boiling.

Put the water in the pan and then cut the lemons in half – juice them and add to the pan, and then, here is the boring bit, cut all the peel up into small strips and add these to the pan too.  It takes ages so just put the radio on, listen to your favourite programme and get on with it!  Any pips or pith that is left on the squeezer put into a little square of muslin or a small fine handkerchief, tie up and suspend in the liquid.  Simmer the whole lot for an hour and a half and then put three saucers into the freezer.

After the simmering time, remove the little bag and shoot the sugar in and stir over a low heat.  Make sure that all the sugar is dissolved before increasing the heat.  Squeeze all the stuff out of the little bag – it contains pectin and will help the setting.  As soon as the mixture starts to boil you can start timing.  But watch it carefully now as when it gets to a rolling boil, it can boil right over – if this starts to happen just turn the heat down for a couple of seconds.  After 20 minutes or so, take one of the saucers from the freezer and drop a teaspoon on the saucer.  Put in the fridge for a few minutes to cool and then push with your finger.  If it wrinkles it is ready.  However, I find that because I don’t put as much sugar as usual recipes, I tend to carry on with this testing every 20 minutes another two times.  Don’t be tempted to bottle it if you don’t get to the wrinkly bit as it will just be liquid when it cools!  When you are ready, just leave in the pan for a while to cool a little before bottling in sterilized jam jars.  To sterilize pop in the oven in a moderate oven for 10 minutes.  Cover with waxed discs, seal and then when completely cold put the labels on.

Enjoy the next morning on some lovely fresh toast.

Cuevas del Almanzora

24 Sep

It occurred to me that since I started the blog, I haven’t mentioned our nearest town; it is a nice town too.  The name means Caves and the minute you arrive you don’t really have to ask why.  There are many cave houses here – both deserted now and converted from caves which were excavated thousands of years ago.  The modern ones can be quite grand as they build a normal house on the front and then use the caves as bedrooms as they remain the same temperature all year round – cool in summer and warm in winter.

Cuevas Town Hall

Cuevas has a population of around 12000 people, 99 per cent Spanish – yikes!  Luckily I have continued to drag myself to Spanish lessons pretty much every week for the last two years.  My Spanish is still rubbish but I can make myself understood (understanding Cuevans is a different matter though – I guess it is like someone from Madrid trying to understand someone from deepest Devon).  Anyhow, I digress.  We have a castle, which has a very nice little art gallery (we even have a Picasso exhibited there), a Dam (constructed for the 2005 Mediterranean Games for the rowing events), a motocross arena which happens in August until 3 in the morning, a pub which looks like it could be in Dublin, but is completely Spanish owned and run – they serve draft Guinness – we love it.

Check out this fantastic over the top Cuevas video made by the Andalucia tourist people  

There are little pizzerias, one really good restaurant although I prefer to go in winter as it is indoors, a pretty square with fountains and a children’s playground and a really pleasant bar called El Recreo, where you can sit and have a drink and watch your children playing.  We have markets up at the castle on Tuesdays and Thursdays that sell fantastic fruit and vegetables and then all the usual stuff that markets sell (i.e. mostly ‘toot’ but I have bought a linen dress there for a fiver before now!).  Also up at the castle are a few little cafe/bars; one of which, bar Canada,  is just fantastic for ribs, chorizo, pinchos (little kebabs) done on an old fashioned wood burning grill – order chips and salad to go with it and you have a really gorgeous supper.  Do not drink the red wine though – I believe it comes from the local garage and is completely undrinkable, so stick to beer or G&T’s.  I have never risked the white wine – in fact I don’t think they have it.

We have one or two really good shops – my favourite is the nice lady shop as we call it as I can never remember the actual name but it is full of nice ladies ready to help you! And we have a couple of great clothes shops, supermarkets, and about 14 banks.

The best time to see Cuevas is during the early evening when all the families are out for a stroll and a drink with all the kids in tow – it is the same all over Spain and just something we in the UK don’t really do (because of the climate) but something which is very pleasurable here.

Valencia

21 Sep

The wonderful thing about living in mainland Spain (as opposed to Mallorca, which I love, for example), is the ability to drive to other cities (or even other countries come to that!) – no panicking about getting to the airport on time, or wondering whether your bathroom scales are correct and actually you are half a kilo over weight in your luggage.  You can just get ready in your own time, pack up the car with whatever and however much you like, lock the front door and get on the road.  One place which is easy to get to and one of our favourite cities is Valencia.  Ok, it is a four hour drive, but definitely weekendable from here and straight up the E15.  There are loads of good places to stay and I would always recommend staying in the old town, near the cathedral.  It is perfect for young and old alike – if the walking gets too much you just plonk yourself down in an outside cafe and have another drink!

Valencia has much to offer, great architecture old and new, shopping, fantastic world class restaurants, music, arts, and the dry river bed going through the centre is now an enormous and beautiful park – quite an unusual sight as you criss cross the bridges when driving around the city.

Valencian architecture

The last time we went to Valencia was last November.  We took our parents, all in their mid seventies.  The weather was incredible and the city was not crowded as it was not half term or any major holiday.  I like to do my research when I travel and so spent hours on the internet looking for restaurants in particular (hotels I find are much easier as you decide on your budget and pick the one which looks the nicest); restaurants are much trickier but I figured I would pick an uber expensive one (as it was my mother’s birthday) and one more casual, fun one.  It worked a treat as the first one, Chust Godoy; (strange name) was fab.  It was rather formal but at the upper end of Spanish cuisine (and price!) and everyone enjoyed it.

When we awoke the next morning, it was the most beautiful day so after breakfast we headed off to the central market.  Even if you are not a foodie, it is the most amazing. It is a kind of old Covent Garden and Harrods food hall rolled into one.  We spent a good couple of hours there mooching about – I spent 57 euros on cheese!  I won’t go on about it but suffice it to say that you cannot go to Valencia and not go to the market.  We will be going next week as Mick is meeting a client there so we will stay overnight and cram in the market in the morning.

The Central Market

Then we hopped on an open top bus – the most perfect thing to do in a group of mixed ages as everyone will enjoy it and gives everyone a chance to relax and enjoy the city and the weather.  The destination of these buses is usually Valencia beach – the home of paella. So we got off the bus and we did a bit of a recce for lunch.  All the beach restaurants looked pleasant and busy so we just took pot luck with one.  It was brilliant, great food, fresh fish and a bottle of rosado wine.  We had to leg it a bit in order not to miss the 4 o’clock bus, otherwise we would have had to wait for another hour (no real hardship!).

Then it was back on board to the city and the main square for yet another drink – well we were on holiday.  After a small late siesta, it was up and off again for dinner.  This time a short cab ride away to Conde Altea an area Mick and I had visited before.  It is similar to Soho in London (without the sleaze!)  in that there are streets lined with restaurant upon restaurant most of which look good judging by the volume of people in them.  We chose a huge pizza place (Don Salvatore Italiano) which I had researched, frequently apparently by the football crowd (players, not fans I hasten to add!).  They boasted 100 different pizzas and was quite simply brilliant.  My father went a bit crazy and ordered a bottle of champagne, a bottle of red wine and one of white so by the time we were full of pizza we were also smashed.  Anyhow, we had another great night and wandered around after dinner for a coffee and a brandy before heading back to bed.

We were only there for two nights on this occasion which is fine but if you want to do more of the cultural things than we did on this particular trip (the museum of modern art, the aquarium and opera house which architecturally are quite incredible, the cathedral and maybe some serious shopping) then I would say you need at least another day and night in order not to be shattered.

The dolphins at Valencia aquarium

What I would say, however, is that however long you decide to go for, do go – it is well worth the visit and a complete contrast to where we live.

Alcazaba, Almeria

18 Sep

If you come to Almeria, you could do a lot worse than spend the day in the City of Almeria.  I wouldn’t particularly recommend it in August but any other month it can be a great day out.   However, you do need to know where you are going to fully enjoy the experience (like most cities) and someone who can read a street map and do a little research before heading off, otherwise you are in danger of parking the car and wandering about aimlessly!   The old town is full of great little bars and restaurants (some of which I will feature later) and there is a good main shopping street leading down towards the port (where you can get a ferry to Morocco, another thing on our ‘to do’ list!), plus the bus and train station, from where you can travel all over Spain.

The Alcazaba entrance

If you do visit, then a trip to the Alcazaba is must.  It is an Arab fortress which dominates the city and was constructed in 955 and is one of the best preserved in Spain.  It is the second largest Muslim building in Spain (after the Alhambra in Grenada).  In its heyday, 20,000 people lived within its walls.   In 1489 the town was captured by the Christians and opened up a new era of economic development.  However it came to an abrupt halt when in 1522 an earthquake devastated the city.  The 16th and 17th centuries were a period of slow but steady expansion but the Alcazaba has more recently undergone extensive renovation and is well worth the effort of a visit.   There is a good deal of walking as you would expect and also a lot of steps so it is not great for wheelchairs unfortunately, but if you are up to it, it makes an interesting contrast to a day at the beach followed by a fabulous long lunch somewhere in the old town.

Tha Alcazaba interior

Morrocan Honey Chicken

16 Sep

A while ago I included one of my favourite recipes for pomegranate cous cous by Rosie Lovell (if any of your friends love cooking, buy them Spooning with Rosie for Christmas – it virtually never goes back on my bookshelf, but lives in my kitchen and just moves around so I can leaf through it while having coffee or chatting with mates who pop round) – this is the main dish with which to serve it – not only is it utterly scrumbo but it will feed an army without breaking the bank and looks stunning for a dinner party.  We often have 10 around our table at the cortijo and so is just brilliantly easy to cook and serve as the chicken can be made early that day or even the day before.  Make the cous cous an hour before your guests arrive and make up some chickpea puree – basically make a hummus without the tahini and add a gently fried onion and a good handful of coriander all whizzed up.  So, back to the chicken.

For an army you will need 2 hens, for six people 1 will be plenty – if I am cooking for six I don’t halve the rest of the recipe as I love the sauce.

2 Hens about 1.5 kg each

3 bay leaves

4 teaspoons whole cloves

2 teaspoons whole peppercorns

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 medium onions

2 teaspoons ground cloves

2 sticks cinnamon

2 bird’s-eye chillies

6 cloves garlic

1.2 kg fresh plum tomatoes

5 tablespoons of runny honey

freshly ground black pepper

Maldon sea salt

Put the chicken in two seperate large pots of water (or one if you have a massive pot).  Add bay leaves, whole cloves and peppercorns.  Bring to the boil and put a lid on and simmer for an hour and a half – the meat will be amazingly succulent and fall off the carcuss.  Take out of the stock and set aside for a couple of hours to cool.  Keep the stock for the cous cous (see my pomegranate cous cous recipe) and also for adding to the sauce.  You can freeze the rest for soup as there is so much of it!  When the chicken is quite cool, just pull all the meat off – it is brilliant as there is very little wasted, not true when you roast a chicken!  Then make the sauce.

Warm the olive oil in a very large pan and add the onion, peeled and chopped.   Fry with the ground cloves, cinnamon and finely chopped chillies.  Then peel and crush the garlic and add that too.  Sweat these ingredients gently – you don’t want it to brown.  Then roughly chop the tomatoes and add these to the pan.  Slow cook the whole lot with a lid on for a hour or so and then ladle in a  little of the reserved chicken stock to make a bit more saucy!  Then add the honey and then the stripped chicken, and season with salt and pepper.  If you are making this in advance just bring out of the fridge to room temperature and warm through just before serving with the cous cous.  Sensational!

Riad Cabrera/Fatima’s Restaurant – Sierra Cabrera

13 Sep

If you are happy to go for an ever so slightly hairy drive into the hills that are Sierra Cabrera, you couldn’t find a more charming gem than this fantastic restaurant.  It nestles in a dip high up in the Cabrera’s, near the town of Turre.  The influence of course, is Moroccan and is where Fatima herself hails from.  The restaurant is absolutely beautiful – a fabulous terrace to dine or have drinks on in the warm summer and early autumn nights and an intimate bar inside with stunning Moorish tiling for when the evenings are no longer warm enough to be outside.  The huge inside dining rooms are immaculate and stylish and would make a magnificent venue for any party, whether it is a formal wedding reception or a special birthday or anniversary do.  So all of that without even mentioning the food!

The view onto the terrace from the restaurant

Well, you need a good twenty minutes and a large gin and tonic (served in a wonderful goblet) to study the extensive and inventive menu.  It is a joy to read and very hard to decide what to choose and in fact, when deciding,  you are in your mind already planning your next visit!

To start you have to select one of about twenty six – no mean feat!  Duck foie with blackberry sauce and sweet wine jelly does it for me (but among other things you could have Spanish ham and melon, anchovies, fresh marinated tuna tartare with wasabi sauce, ostrich pate, various delicious sounding salads, prawns, risottos, fresh pasta with pear and cheese….. I could go on.

The beautiful terrace

The house specialities consist of various delicious tagines (lamb, chicken, venison and vegetable), several different types of cous cous, fish pie with Moroccan herbs and spices, confit of duck cooked in onion oil, cinnamon, lemon and honey to name a few.

Then there are the most delicious meat and fish dishes, including suckling pig with mashed apple, lots of beef choices and roast leg of young goat with cous cous.  There is fish for every taste, red tuna rolled in sesame with teriyaki sauce, grilled hake, cod, or tuna and prawn kebab.

There is separate dessert menu, if you manage to get that far.  I am sure you have gathered that this is a high end restaurant but still offers fantastic value for money.

The service is warm and welcoming and I guarantee you will want to go back again.

Go for lunch if you are scared of driving in the dark, but do go – you won’t be disappointed.

Riad Cabrera telephone number: 950 092 042

Playa de los Genoveses

11 Sep

This is surely one of the regions most beautiful and unspoilt beaches in the Cabo de Gata – a huge area of natural beauty – you enter the town of San Jose, quite close to Almeria, and follow the signs to it.  The road, or rather, track, is very bumpy for a kilometre or two and when you arrive you have a little trek over some dunes to the vast expanse of beach and sea so it is really only accessible for the able bodied.  But it is well worth the effort and is absolutely stunning and puts one in mind of Cornwall.  Recently, the local authority limited the amount of cars that they permitted to park there and so during the height of the summer you have to be an early bird to get access to the beach.

A fantastic place to spend the day

However, now is the perfect time to go – the bulk of holidaymakers both Spanish and English have returned home, and this is our time to take advantage of the peace and quiet and the still gorgeous weather.  Take a picnic, books, cushions, umbrellas, wine and flasks of tea and you are all set for the most peaceful and relaxing time.  Stay all day and enjoy the sunset – then head for San Jose 10 minutes away for an early evening drink before coming home.

Pomegranate Couscous

9 Sep

One of the things I love about living in a Mediterranean country is the ability to go and pick more unusual things off trees, particularly when cooking certain favourite recipes.  The other day I was driving over to a friend’s house at Desert Springs golf club and I decided to take the back road.  I am glad I did as on the way, past the village of Las Cunas, I passed an enormous pomegranate tree.  I was so excited as the tree was absolutely laden with fruit ripening in the late summer sun.  It was situated outside someone’s gates, but clearly was benefiting from being watered, so in effect I would be pomegranate scrumping!  However, one person could not eat all this fruit and so I decided it would be alright to share! 

I only picked a couple as I wanted to make sure they were ready and off I went, vowing to take Mick back with me if they were.  So when I got home I cut into one – the jewels were paler than normal, but the fruit was ripe and absolutely delicious.  We went back on Tuesday evening and picked a whole basket load, whilst keeping an eye on the guard dog who was barking his head off!  A tiny tub of pomegranate seeds here is a couple of quid so this added to my delight!  

I have two of my best friends arriving tomorrow night and will be making one of my favourite dishes by Rosie Lovell (Spooning with Rosie) – Moroccan Chicken with Pomegranate Couscous and chickpea puree.  It is just gorgeous and one chicken will feed six of you.  Anyhow, here is the recipe for the couscous part. If you want the chicken recipe, leave me a comment and I will include it.

400g flaked almonds

1.5 litres chicken stock or vegetable bouillon

5 coffee cups of couscous

Ground black pepper and Maldon sea salt

1 pomegranate

Scatter the almonds in a frying pan and toast until golden (just a couple of minutes should do it)

Remove and tip onto a plate or they will continue cooking

Heat the stock to simmering point – put the couscous in a large bowl – poor over the stock and make sure the grains are covered by about 5 cms.  Cover with cling film and leave to absorb for at least 20 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and season.  Then take all the (free!) pomegranate seeds without any pith and scatter these and the flaked almonds over the couscous.  I guarantee once you have made this you will make it at least half a dozen times a year.  It is a fantastic dinner party dish as everything can be done in advance, looks stunning and doesn’t cost the earth to feed a dozen people.  This would also go brilliantly with spicy lamb or fish.

Lua beach bar – Mojacar

7 Sep

Whenever we feel like a bit of glamour we go down to Mojacar beach where there are some great beach bars.  The most glam is Lua – a kind of Trader Vic’s on the beach (for those of you old enough to remember the basement bar at the Hilton in Park Lane, London!). It really only comes to life late at night during the summer, but it is still fab to go for a drink at sunset.  It is right on the beach so you watch the waves rolling in and feel the wonderful breeze after a blistering day.

A sea view with your drink

September is a particularly lovely time to go there in the early evening.  It is lovely and cool and has lots of nooks and crannies with comfy sofas and chairs to hide away in or to sit on a bar stool overlooking the beach while the barman brings your favourite drink with some nibbles.  It is a good place to come late as well, busier and enchanting in the dark, with all the Buddha’s and blue fairy lights and banana trees – a real tropical hideaway.  Have a drink here, whether just the two of you or in a big crowd – it is very spacious, both indoors and out.  Most of the beach bars close during the winter, but are open well into the autumn which makes it feel like spring is just around the corner for those of us who live here.

Lua beach bar telephone number: 950 472 643

Restaurante La Cabana – Mojacar

6 Sep

My blog today is dedicated to my dad – it is a very simple Argentinean grill on the main drag on Mojacar Playa but it is my dad’s “favourite restaurant in the world”.  We will be taking him there the week after next – he would go straight from the airport if he could!  The staff are great and we have been going there for 7 years and never had a duff meal yet.  It is a large, no frills, airy place, with a terrace for warm nights.  They have the best Argentinean beef ever, rib eye, sirloin, fillet and rump and it is fantastic value too.

La Cabana outdoor terrace

They serve chirichurri, a kind of chilli tapenade and blue cheese with brandy with hot bread first so you have something to nibble whilst you decide which cut to have.  They do gorgeous rack of lamb and chicken and vegetable kebabs too, together with huge platters of salad with everything in them so perfect for vegetarians (although I grant you not many vegetarians frequent La Cabana – why would they?).

My mum always just has the salad and pinches a tiny piece of steak from each of us as it is too much for her.  The other thing they do fantastically well is big fat chips and really that is all you need – we never bother with a starter and rarely have a pud so it ends up being like the most sumptuous fast food place and if it is just Mick and I, we are in and out within an hour which always makes us laugh!  But mostly we go in a large party of friends or family and everyone loves it.  If you are down here it is simply unmissable and I bet you go there more than once!

La Cabana telephone number: 950 615 179

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