RECIPES | Helenandmaria

Salut!

Helen and Maria
Oct 16, 2021
2 min read

Things are slowing down, the gardens at Picton Castle are starting to turn and glow and we are still welcoming visitors to the restaurant.

Our new winter menu, with warming soups, Spanish stews and tapas dishes is proving to be a great hit. Our current favourite winter-warmer is Espinacas con Garbanzos: Spanish Chickpea Stew, a delicious combination of tomatoes, chickpeas…

“Always use the ones in a jar, they are better.”

…chickpeas (from a jar), ground almonds and spinach. Delicious, warming and satisfying, HERE’S THE RECIPE.

And now it’s time to start planning! This year we’re hoping for a proper Christmas celebration season here At Maria’s (fingers crossed).

M: “We need to plan. Let’s talk about wine!”

It’s 9.30 in the morning – we talk wine for an hour, full-bodied reds, crisp whites and sparkling Cavas. It’s thirsty work but Maria is happy, the wine tasting event is taking shape: the evening will start with a glass of Vermut before guests sample three special Spanish reds including the full-bodied Wrongo Dongo then three Spanish white wines.

M: “But don’t forget – in Spain we eat to drink, and drink to eat! So each wine will be accompanied by a delicious pinxos!”

H: “Pinxos?”

M: “Pinxos. They’re popular in Spain, we eat them in bars as a snack. Pinxos are a great excuse for a get together. They’re a great excuse to socialize – a Pinxos crawl! Friends go from one bar to another, ordering a glass of wine or beer and eating Pinxos.”

A Pinxos is a small slice of bread with a mixture of ingredients on top, held in placed with a toothpick – this gives the snack its name: "pincho", meaning "spike" in Spanish. Almost anything can be put on the bread, most common ingredients include fish such as cod or anchovies, tortilla de patatas and stuffed peppers. The main difference between Pinxos and tapa are Pinxos are 'spiked' with a skewer to a piece of bread, then served in individual portions, quite often diners keep hold of the skewers so that the waiter can count these to calculate their bill.

M: “The most popular Pinxos, I think, is jamon Serrano with tomato. This is delicious, it is so simple. Here I’ll show you.”

Other popular Pinxos include:

Pick of the season

Helen and Maria
Sep 14, 2021
2 min read

My greenhouse is bursting with colour – every shade of tomato from sour green to pepper-hot red. It has to be my best growing season ever!

Each year I break out the grow bags, season them with a random selection of seeds and water morning, noon and night until the novelty wears off. Unsurprisingly I’m usually rewarded with 3 dull orange misshapen tomatoes and 460 green marbles. But this year I’ve hit jackpot! (Just call me Monty!)

I was so proud of my newly acquired green fingers I took a few of my more fabulous toms in to the restaurant, a bit of showing off if you like! But it was a bit like 'taking coals to Newcastle', Vanessa was busy making vegan peppers stuffed with tomatoes, Adam was just putting the finishing touches to a Greek salad and Maria was finishing some semi-dried tomatoes!

"My family is the only family that can have an argument about making a salad," Maria said. "We argue about the layers, the time to leave, everything, and it's only tomatoes, seasoning and olive!"

Vanessa suggested I might try making batches of tomato sauce: "I have a brilliant recipe, I use it for the cod and chorizo stew we serve on our tapas evenings."

This sauce certainly sounds delicious and we featured the recipe for cod and chorizo stew in our Celebrating summer blog. The recipe is included below, substitute the jar of sauce for our ultimate tomato sauce, it's delicious, and you'll have spare for a pasta dish!

"Or you could make Pan con Tomate or Gazpacho or Salsa de Tomate, or," Maria suggests as she comes in from the herb garden, armed with rosemary for the lamb she's preparing. "We Spanish love our tomatoes! But my favorite, let me think, yes, my favourite is Tomates Rellenos al Estilo Conte Ingles – Stuffed tomatoes Conte Ingles style. My son Robin, he makes it. It's totally delicious – tomatoes stuffed with tuna, onions, mayonnaise, delicious."

Looking at my handful of home grown tomatoes I realise I'm going to have to work much harder on my green fingers to produce a larger crop!

"In Spain we love tomatoes. We make everything with tomatoes." Maria laughs, "We love them so much we even make La Tomatina!"

"Tomatina?"

"Yes! La Tomatina! A festival in Valencia. Thousands and thousands of people and thousands and thousands of tomatoes! The people throw the tomatoes! A giant food fight!

Only in Valencia, I think as I head home to my greenhouse.