Category Archives: Cooking
Mexican-Style Beans – Recipe
Mexican-Style Beans
- Use pinto, kidney, or black ‘turtle’ beans (the beans in the photo above are pinto).
- Soak beans overnight in plenty of cold water. (Use whatever quantity of beans you want, the recipe remains more or less constant)
- Drain beans.
- Put beans in big saucepan or pressure cooker and cover with unsalted water so that the water is about 3 inches above beans.
- Add a single clove spice ‘nail’.
- Bring water to boil and make sure the beans boil hard for at least 2 mins.
- Turn heat down and simmer beans for about 1.5 hours (or much less if using pressure cooker – check manufacturer’s instructions). If using normal pan, check regularly to make sure there is enough water to cover beans. Add more water if necessary.
- Check that the beans are cooked. They should be soft. If they are hard then cook for longer.
Now, keeping the beans and the cooking liquor in the pan, add a heaped teaspoon of vegetable bouillon, a squeeze of tomato puree, and a good pinch of salt to the beans. - Simmer down the beans for another 30-40 minutes until the liquor has concentrated and thickened.
Towards the end of the simmering period, in a separate frying pan in 2 tablespoons of olive oil fry a finely chopped large onion, a fresh chilli, and some garlic. When the onion is golden, add a heaped teaspoon of ground cumin and a flat teaspoon of paprika (sweet and/or smoked). Fry the mixture for 2 more minutes until the spices become fragrant. - Add the onion mixture to the simmering bean pan (deglaze the frying pan with some of the bean juice to get all the flavour), stir.
- Simmer the beans and onion mix for another 3 minutes.
- Check seasoning and add salt to taste.
- Add finely chopped coriander leaves and stalks, stir.
- Serve
Recipe for Spanish Omelette (Tortilla Española)
tortilla española
Ingredients:
- 1 large onion
- 3-4 medium potatoes. Waxy potatoes such as Maris Piper work best
- 5 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- sea salt
tortilla española
Equipment:
- Medium-large, non-stick frying pan with a lid (a plate will do)
- Medium-large mixing bowl
- Two warm plates
Method:
- Slice the onion and potatoes thinly.
- Fry the onions and potatoes for around 20 mins on a low heat in a covered frying pan in 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir occasionally.
- Season the potato and onion mixture well during cooking.
- Check the potatoes are soft – on the verge of breaking up.
- Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and gently beat. Season.
- Add the hot onion and potato mix to the eggs in the mixing bowl. Mix.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the empty frying pan. Turn up the heat to medium.
- Pour the egg, potato and onion mixture into the pan. Turn the heat down to very low.
- Cook the mixture for about 15 minutes, until it is no longer runny on the top.
- Covering the frying pan with the lid or a plate, carefully turn the pan over, so that the omelette rests on the lid or plate. (I do this over the sink in case of an accident.)
- Put the frying pan back on the heat, and carefully return the omelette to the pan, with the cooked side now facing up.
- Cook the omelette for a further 6 minutes on a low heat until the other side is done.
- Tip out or invert the cooked omelette onto a clean, warm plate.
- Cover with a second warm plate to keep the omelette warm until ready to serve.
Enjoy with crusty bread!
