Saturday 26 April 2014

150 - Baked Egg and Octopus [Al Horno Huevo y Pulpo]

A break from the beans! Thank heavens. Also 100 dishes to go! Woo. This weird and wonderful dish came from a weekend in Glasgow with the girls. Fun times and food all round!

The Verdict 

The baked egg with octopus was along with everything else, delicious. Yum. 


Taste:  4/5 Ultimate Tapas Selection
Cost: 3.5/5 Decent
Visual: 3.5/5 All The Things
Magic: 4/5 Yes!

149 - Bean Salad [Ensalada de Frijoles]

I can officially say I'm fed up of bean based dishes.


The Verdict 

Better than the first bean dish not as flavourful as the soup The crunch of the salad creates a welcome texture change and if paired with something more meaty this would be rather enjoyable. On it's own after two other bean dishes it's a bit meh. 

Taste:  2.5/5 Meh
Time:   4/5 5 mins
Visual: 2.5/5 Creamy Mush
Magic:  2.5/5 Meh

148 - Bean Soup [Sopa de Frijoles]

This is pretty much a more liquid version of what I had yesterday. With different types of beans.

The Verdict 

Better than yesterday as the addition of chilli upped the excitement/taste factor. 


Taste:  3/5 Warming
Time:   1/5 60 mins
Visual: 3/5 Bowl of Beans
Magic:  2.5/5 Soso


147 - Beans and Tomatos [Los Frijoles y Tomates]


Deadlines and applications for residences and interviews means beans. Apparently.

The Verdict

Not the most exciting dish ever but very medditterean. And cheap. Things which right now fit the bill of requirements.
Taste:  2.5/5 Not a fan of a Green Bean
Time:   4/5 7mins
Visual:  2.5/5 Wet Salad
Magic: 2.5/5 Done

146 - Scrambled Eggs [Huevos Revueltos]

I went out for dinner with my friend Kieran Baxter the previous night for a catch up. This resulted in us drinking prossecco and singing Disney songs in the middle of the night at his house and resulted in my passing out on the sofa. I woke up not feeling to rough but presented with a great breakfast; a feast of eggs on toast by his flatmate Kieran Duncan. I swear there are too many Kieran's in this world. But these two happened to make awesome eggs.

The Verdict

I'd been saving eggs on toast for a day when I had no time and this turned out yo be the day. That and they happened to be the best eggs on toast I've ever had I asked what the secrecy is and it's apparently cream cheese. Awesome tip and altogether great  breakfast! Cheers guys! 
Taste:     4/5 Yummy Eggs!
Time:      3/5 13 mins
Visual: 2.5/5 EggyMagic:    4/5 You Bet.

145 - Spiced Nuts [Frutos Secos con Especias]

I fancied something different today so went for spiced nuts.


The Verdict 

Honey, spices and nuts. They are a bit hard as I may have overdone the honey glaze but they are super tasty and very, very moreish. Definitely going to make this again. Would go really well between pastry when making baklava which I love...

Taste:  4/5 Sweet and Sticky
Time:   4/5 7 mins
Visual: 3/5 Brown and Brittle
Magic: 3.5/5 Yes!

144 - Sardines with Lemon [Sardinas con Limón]

I'm feeling brave again plus I feel the need to compensate for yesterday's simple one. Also I'm a bit skint.

The Verdict 

Exactly as you would expect. I have to admit after eating one, I doused the rest in a chilli/tomato hot sauce so not exactly my cup of tea. 

Taste:  2/5 Meh
Time:   3/5 12 mins
Visual: 3/5 Fishy
Magic: 2/5 Not My Thing


143 - Olives and Humous [Aceitunas y Humus]

Bit of a cop out one today as time is non-existent. I was however taken out for lunch and the only tapas type thing was this.

The Verdict 

Expectedly Yum. 

Taste:  4/5 As Expected
Cist:    3/5 Standard
Visual: 3/5 Standard
Magic: 3/5 See Above

142 - Peppers and Mushrooms [Pimientos y Champiñones]

A quick one today and one which will go well with leftover tortilla!


The Verdict 

Quick, simple and surprisingly good. I think lemon, garlic and mushroom is becoming a favourite combination of mine. Really good considering the simplicity of the ingredients. Also I was pretty hungry.

Taste:  4/5 Yum
Time:   3/5 7 mins
Visual: 3/5 As Expected.
Magic: 4/5 Suprise Factor

141 - Fried Potato Tortilla [Frito Tortilla de Patatas]

An ambitious one today. I got the texture deadline finished for the avatars I'd been helping a company on and thought why not.

The Verdict 

Fun to make and relatively successfully. Goes well hot or cold however does take some time to prepare and cook. Still worth it and very filling and satisfying on a damp day like today.

Taste:   3.5/5 Not bad. Not Bad at All
Time:       1/5 90 mins
Visual:     3/5 Beige.
Magic:  3.5/5 Tortilla. 


139 - Olive Salad [Ensalada de Oliva]

Another healthy one



The Verdict 

Sometimes I really crave salad. This was one of these days. As I have learned though most things taste better with olives. Turns out salad is not the exception to that rule. This was a decent salad. 

Taste: 2.5/5 Leafy
Time:  4/5 5 mins
Visual: 3/5 Fresh
Magic: 3/5 Works

140 - Flatbread [Hogaza]


My mum is a big aficionado of homemade bread. She also went a bought a brand new bread machine which came with some great recipes for focaccia and medditterean flatbread. After working in a bakery for one hellish year I'm still adverse to flour however I guess I was inspired

The Verdict 

For homemade bread this tasted pretty good. I made the dough with rosemary and oil in it and left it for a few hours to rise. There was a nice consultancy to the dough due to the oil and while it could be a great accompaniment to a meal went really well with balsamic vinegar and oil. Didn't last well though so next time I'll get someone over or make it smaller. 

Taste:    3/5 Decent Result
Time:    1/5 20 mins kneeding/ 
baking plus 2 hours resting
Visual:  4/5 Nice
Magic:  3/5 Smelt Great Too

138 - Sautéed Garlic Spinach with Lemon [Salteado de Ajo Espinacas con Limón]

More Spinach..


The Verdict 

Fairly healthy, equally fairly tasty. Not as bland as I was expecting but rather far from exciting. Still another tapas down and more spinach used up. 

Taste:  2.5/5 Fine
Time:   3/5 15 mins
Visual: 2.5/5 Mono-Green
Magic: 2.5/5 ....

137 - Egg with Spinach and Tomato [Huevo con Espinacas y Tomate]

Back to the deadlines and back on the eggs.


The Verdict 

This was basically an omelette on toasted bread. Good, like a condensed breakfast, and much better once I added some chilli. But I would think that! 

Taste:  3/5 Needed Spice
Time:   3/5 12 mins
Visual: 4/5 Colourful
Magic:  3.5/5 Great Breakfast

136 - Cod, Salsa, Tomatoes [Cod, Salsa, Tomate]


Ahhh ingredients. I love planning out a few dishes and filling the trolley with yummy things. Managed to finish up a tight, stressful deadline after holiday in between returning back to job number two and dealing with jet lag and got myself to the shops.  Far from planned this experience was a bit more free form. I did find a lovely piece of cod and wanted to do it justice.


The Verdict 

Healthy, light, balanced. The tomato salsa could of had a bit more punch with chilli or lime however I would say that and overall it was juicy and complemented the fish well. 

Taste:  4/5 Balanced but needing a kick
Time:   2.5/5 20 mins
Visual: 3/5 Watery
Magic: 3.5/5 Almost

135 - Salad Pinchos [Ensalada Pinchos]

So after the American onslaught of food, I've decided that I must cut down and a diet of some sorts is required. Definitely feel like I've overdone it. Still it was worth it. Looking up heathy tapas ideas I came across this and thought heck why not. Now I hate cucumber but I had volunteers to eat those and I thought it looked…different...
The Verdict 

Refreshingly light, and while I can't vouch for the cucumber ones the Tomatos were pretty heavenly and juicy. Made a change from buttery sauces! I'm not a fan of beansprouts usually but I was that desperate for something light that with a bit of lemon and garlic these were pretty yum. 

Taste:  3/5 Simple and Light
Time:   4/5 5  mins
Visual: 4/5 Fresh
Magic: 3.5/5 Muchly Needed


134 - Seafood Stew [Marisco Cocido]

It was farewell to America as we prepared to head back home. Still in American style still time to shoehorn in one last feast. Have to say I'm looking forward to getting back to eating normal sized portions and to get cooking again!

The Verdict 

So good. Lovely calamari, perfect fish and a lovely wine based sauce that complimented the fish well without detracting from the individual flavours. Only ruined by the slightly terrifying MTV awards which were on at the time. 

Taste:   4/5 Perfectly Cooked
Cost:   2.5/5 Had Cheaper
Visual: 3.5/5 Oily but Tasty
Magic: 3.5/5 Aye!


Wednesday 23 April 2014

133 - Churros!



I remember the first time I had Churros was at a continental market in Dundee with an ex of mine and thought they were weird, long doughnut strips but rather great and an improvement on the round formation doughnuts in this country take. The ones eaten today were bought at NASAs Cape Carnarval and consumed amoungst some of the early rockets that went into space. It was a pretty awesome experience. I also had a ice cream dessert called space rocks which were weird and so so so so so so so so so so good.
The Verdict 

Churros! What's not to love! Unhealthy fried dough sticks and chocolate. Yum. 


Taste:     3/5 More Texture 
Cost:      3/5 Nasa isn't cheap
Visual:    4/5 Yum
Magic: 4.5/5 Yes!

132 - Shrimp Empenadas [Empenadas con Gambas]



 
More shrimp but after an exhausting day running around Universal Studios like someone 1/3 my age I was happy for anything. Forgot how tiring theme parks were! I don't own this picture as my camera died. I can recommend the minion ride for despicable me though, that was pretty fun, and a great place to hide from the thunder. 

The Verdict 

Right then all I needed was food and sleep. So this was great but was demolished slightly too quickly to fully appreciate it. I remember it being the best thing ever at the time then crashed pretty quickly afterwards...




Taste:  3/5 Great At The Time
Cost: 2.5/5 Standard
Visual: 3/5 Organised Chaos
Magic: 3/5 Needed It

131 - Saffron Rice [Arroz con Azafrán]


Time to hit the road once again and we drove down to Tampa to stay with Marks other cousin Lyndsey and her husband Matt.  It was possibly the most straightforward road I'd ever seen with the sat nav going "in 200km turn right". Pretty dull road but thankfully a thunderstorm as we entered Tampa made the journey bearable. As did a stop along the way.

The Verdict 

Not perhaps the most exciting dish but it was filling, tasty and kept my carsickness at bay which, concidering it was too humid to open to the windows, was an good thing and I feel like I owe this dish. 

Taste:  3/5 Nice
Cost:   3/5 Cheap Grains
Visual: 3/5 Yellow
Magic: 2.5/5 So So

130 - Paprika Prawns [pimentón aderezado gambas]


Today I have mostly been kayaking around Fort Lauderdale sporting iguanas which was surreal.

The Verdict 

We were taken out for dinner to an Medittereanan restaurant which was seafood heavy. I hadn't had anything prawn based for oh at least a week or so, so saw this and thought bring it on. This was perfectly cooked though lacking slightly in seasoning and overall just fine. If I'd known that broccoli was involved I probably would of avoided. 

Taste:  3/5 Fine
Cost:   2.5/5 Fairly Pricy Relatively Speaking
Visual: 2.5/5 Alirght
Magic: 2.5/5 Indifferent

129 - Chilli Rellenos


The day was spent reading and swimming in the pool. All very pleasant. I also found I'm rather fond of Iguanas which are pretty damn cool.

The Verdict 

Good but not as awesome as the clam chowder we were brought back for lunch which was really really good. Still I've been taking the piss slightly when it comes to tapas so time to reign it in. Marks family are foodies and Louise, his cousin is a food critic in Miami so all of their choices of food are pretty great. This was fine but the cheese wasn't great and out of all the peppers green is my least favourite.

Taste:  3/5 Fine
Cost:   3.5/5 Reasonable
Visual: 3/5 Poor Cheese
Magic: 2.5/5 Could Be Improved On