Tapas del Paradise

About time we cooked some blogworthy food.  We've been getting spoilt throughout June and have had some great food cooked for us by friends, but we've not entertained for a while.  Last night the boy's parental units came for dinner which gave us the impetus to plan and execute a most enjoyable menu.  This consisted entirely of recipes from a book I've mentioned previously, Carlos Horrillo and Patrick Morcas's tapas book, a bible of beautifully simple recipes and tapas in its broadest scope.

Knowing that our fishmonger in the Guildhall Market has a steady supply of the largest, most succulent prawns imaginable, we opted for a Gambas starter.  Gambas al Romero to be precise:
I've never thought to put rosemary with seafood before but it works beautifully:

Gambas al Romero:
12 uncooked tiger prawns - heads off, shells on
olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Maldon sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
30g butter
lemon wedges to serve

With a sharp knife, carefully make an incision down the back of each prawn and remove the dark line that runs along the spine.
Place them in a large bowl with 150ml olive oil, the garlic, rosemary and pepper.  Combine well, cover and leave to marinate for up to 12 hours (we left them for about 5 hours).
When you are ready to cook, turn your grill on to high or preheat your oven to gas mark 7.
Place a large, non-stick frying pan on a high heat (you are going to be putting it under the grill or in the oven so make sure it doesn't have a plastic handle) pour in two dashes of olive oil and tip the pan to coat the base.
When it is smoking hot drop in the prawns, garlic and rosemary, add a generous pinch of salt and cook for 60 seconds turning the prawns so they all cook evenly.
When the shells start to turn pink drop the butter in and stir it around so that it melts, then place the pan under the grill or in the oven for 30 seconds (we used the grill).
Serve straight away with lemon wedges on the side.

Strictly speaking, the boy cooked these and they were absolutely delightful and infused with rosemary.

 A hard act to follow, but follow it we did, with Panceta Asada, or slow roast belly pork with fennel seeds and garlic.  We got pork belly from the butchers, again in the Guildhall market (on the corner by the poultry man, if you're interested, he does the best pork).  The butcher scored the fat for us and we pierced the flesh with a skewer.  We then marinated it overnight in the fridge, wrapped in clingfilm with olive oil, garlic and crushed fennel seeds rubbed into the meat, and a shit load of salt rubbed into the fat.  Not an artery pleaser but makes for the best crackling ever.

When you are ready to cook, it needs half an hour in the oven at gas mark 8, followed by two hours at gas mark 5.  The recipe said you could put the pork under the grill for a few mintues at the end of cooking time to get the crackling even crisper, but we didn't need to, it was done perfectly in the oven.  Leave to rest for a few minutes before slicing.

We served this with Brecol del Parador, or broccoli pan-fried with baby carrots, roasted cherry tomatoes pumpkin seeds, harissa and cumin oil, the trace of fennel in the harissa perfectly complementing the sweet and salty aniseed of the pork.

Finally, room for some Manchego cheese from the fabulous G Morgan and sons cheese counter in the Eagle Centre Market, pricier than the supermarket but tastes of really good cheese, not plastic.

Tapas is so much more than the lumps of chorizo swimming in oil or morsels of overchilled tortilla that give it a bad name in certain establishments, if anyone would like more recipes from this book let me know, I'd be happy to have the excuse to try them out :-)