Category: Starters

Prawns with Cardamom, Vanilla & Coconut

This sounded like an interesting starter, perhaps to begin an evening of spicey food. I got this from the Wine Society blog. Planning serves: 4 preparation time: 15 mins cooking time: 30 mins Ingredients 16 tiger prawns, defrosted if frozen

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Pork Chops, Sage and Mushrooms

I’ve always found pork chops to be rather dull and uninteresting. This is a very old standard (for us), however, which I have finally got round firstly, to figuring out how to cook properly and secondly, to documenting. It makes

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Roasted Asparagus and Serrano Tapa

Several European countries think their own take on ham is best: Italian Parma or prosciutto, French Bayonne ham. In my view, however, the Spanish have got everyone else licked with their stunning serrano (mountain) ham and no spread of Spanish

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Goat’s Cheese and Onion Tapa

Another splendid tapa : cheese and onion Spanish-style. Planning serves: 4 preparation time: 10 mins cooking time: 15 mins Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 1 white onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, finely chopped 4 thin slices of baguette, cut on

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Chicken Liver with Caramelized Red Onion Tapa

One of my favourite tapas . The original of this is actually made with duck liver which, if you could get it, would be very decadent and luxurious. However, the more widely available chicken livers work very well, too. The

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Smoked Salmon And Asparagus Tapa

Here’s a tapa that really needs the bread base to support it. Smoked Salmon didn’t sound very Spanish to me but it came from a Spanish book so I imagine it is. Planning serves: 4 preparation time: 10 mins cooking

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Piquillo Peppers Stuffed with Crab and Shrimp

The original of this recipe begins by cooking large raw prawns and making a sauce with the cooking liquid, shells and heads. A little of the sauce is them mixed with the mayonnaise. If you’re preparing a tapas spread single-handed,

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Stuffed Tomato Tapa

Another vegetable unit to add to a spread of Spanish tapas . Smallish tomatoes are great to stuff with all manner of fillings; this is just one. Planning serves: 4 preparation time: 1 hr cooking time: n/a Ingredients 8 small-medium

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Roasted Sweet Pepper Salad

Feel free to use a mixture of red, yellow and/or orange peppers but avoid green peppers in this at all cost. I find that there isn’t a great deal of colour difference between orange and yellow peppers once cooked, either,

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Chicken Liver Paté

Every time I make chicken liver paté, I go through the same head-scratching search. So, finally, here is the answer written down. For parties I make three times this amount which is enough to fill precisely my large Le Creuset

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