Smoked Mackerel and Chorizo Potatoes

Ingredients

200g piece chorizo, roughly chopped

2 small onions, chopped

900g potatoes, cut into small cubes

250g cherry tomatoes, halved

4 peppered smoked mackerel fillets, skinned

Large handful of fresh parsley leaves, chopped

Method

1. Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, until most of the oil has been released. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions and potatoes to the pan. Coat in the oil from the chorizo and cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the potatoes are just tender and the onions golden.

3. Stir the tomatoes and chorizo into the pan. Flake the mackerel fillets with a fork and add them to the pan. Gently mix and cook for 2 minutes, until piping hot. Stir in the parsley. Divide between 4 plates and serve with a mixed leaf salad.

Sausage & Chorizo Goulash

Sausage and chorizo goulash

Prep Time 30 Minutes

Cook Time 1 Hours

1 tbsp vegetable oil

knob of butter

450g/ sausages, chopped

150g/ spicy chorizo sausage, chopped

1 onions, finely sliced

1 garlic clove, chopped.

1 tbsp plain flour

½  tbsp smoked paprika

1 red chillies, finely chopped

1 red pepper, finely sliced

150ml/ beef stock

100ml/ soured cream

1 tbsp choped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.

Heat the oil and butter in a large ovenproof frying pan and fry the beef sausages and chorizo for 5-7 minutes, or until browned all over.

Remove the sausages from the pan using a slotted spoon and set aside. Fry the onions and garlic in the same pan for 3-4 minutes, or until softened. Stir in the flour and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.

Add the paprika, chillies and pepper and stir until well combined. Pour in the beef stock, return the beef sausage and chorizo to the pan and cook in the oven for 30-35 minutes.

Remove the frying pan from the oven and skim off any fat that’s risen to the surface with a slotted spoon. Stir in the soured cream and parsley until well combined.

Picadillo

Picadillo

INGREDIENTS

2  tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2  medium-size yellow onions, peeled and chopped

2  ounces dried chorizo, diced

4  cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 ½  pounds ground beef

  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

one 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes

2  tablespoons vinegar

1  tablespoon ground cinnamon

2  teaspoons ground cumin

2  bay leaves

  Pinch of ground cloves

  Pinch of nutmeg

⅔  cup raisins

PREPARATION

Put the olive oil in a large, heavy pan set over a medium-high flame, and heat until it begins to shimmer. Add onions, chorizo and garlic, stir to combine and cook until the onions have started to soften, approximately 10 minutes.

Add the ground beef, and allow it to brown, crumbling the meat with a fork as it does. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Add tomatoes, vinegar, cinnamon, cumin, bay leaves, cloves and nutmeg and stir to combine. Lower the heat, and let the stew simmer, covered, for approximately 30 minutes.

Uncover the pan, and add the raisins and the olives. Allow the stew to cook for another 15 minutes or so, then serve, accompanied by white rice.

Slow Cooker Picadillo

ingredients

2 lb (907 g) lean ground beef

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can (5-1/2 oz/156 ml) tomato paste

1 cup (250 mL) water

2 tbsp (30 mL) Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp (30 mL) red wine vinegar

1 tbsp (15 mL) finely chopped jalapeño peppers, (fresh or pickled)

2 tsp (10 mL) dried oregano

1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt

1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper

1/2 cup (125 mL) sliced pimento stuffed green olives

1 sweet green pepper, chopped

Preparation

In large nonstick skillet, cook beef over medium-high heat, breaking up with spoon, for 5 minutes or until no longer pink. Drain off fat. Transfer to slow-cooker.

Add onions, garlic, tomato paste, water, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, jalapeno pepper, oregano, salt and pepper to slow-cooker. Cover and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours or until thickened.

Increase heat to High. Add olives and green pepper; cook, covered, for 15 minutes. (Make-ahead: Let cool for 30 minutes; refrigerate until cold. Refrigerate in airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 2 weeks.)

Baked Cuban Chicken and Rice

For stock

• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp soft dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• pinch salt
• pinch white pepper
• olive oil
• 1pint chicken stock
• 35ml rum

For chicken

• olive oil
• 200g/ chicken breast, cut into chunks

For sausages mix

• 100g spicy sausage/Chorizo, chopped
• 1 carrots, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, sliced
• 175g/ short grain rice
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped (or half tin chopped)
• Half tin mixed beans
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 50g butter
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and butter a casserole dish.

For the stock, mix the spices and seasoning together in a bowl and blend with the little olive oil.

Stir the spice mix into the chicken stock and add the rum.

For the chicken, heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the chicken. Fry until golden-brown then remove and set aside.

For the sausage mix, fry the sausage, carrot, onion and garlic until soft. Remove and place in a bowl.

Add the rice, tomatoes, beans, parsley and the butter to the sausage mix and season well.

Put half of the mix into the casserole dish. Layer the chicken on top and cover with the rest of the mix. Pour over the stock and cover.

Place in the oven for about 30 minutes until the rice is cooked.

Jambalaya

Jambalaya Serves 3-4

20 minutes preparation: 50 minutes cooking

Jambalaya is a rice, meat and seafood stew from Louisiana. Traditionally the cooking starts with the so-called 'trinity' of onion, green pepper and celery which begins many dishes from the Deep South, but thereafter almost anything goes. The name is a jumble of jambon, the French word for ham, and alaya, which means rice in an African dialect, and consequently the dish usually includes a spicy pork sausage of some sort, although often ends up with ham. Whatever the ingredients, a good jambalaya is always spiked with plenty of chilli. My version of this easygoing dish is made even more colourful with red onions and red peppers and I have purposely restrained the chilli-heat by using cayenne at the beginning of the cooking and adding Tabasco towards the end, while serving Tabasco and a wedge of lemon alongside so that people can adjust the dish to suit their own heat threshold. A good supply of ice-cold beer is essential.

Ingredients

• 2 red onions,
• 2 plump garlic cloves
• 1 red pepper
• 1 celery heart
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 bay leaf '
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 large skinless boned chicken thighs
• 2 pepperoni sausages or 50g/2oz sliced chorizo
• 200g/7oz raw giant tiger prawns with shells
• ½ tsp Tabasco sauce
• 250g/8oz basmati rice
• 400g/14oz can whole Italian tomatoes
• 500ml chicken stock
• 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley 1 lemon (for wedges) salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Peel and chop the onions and garlic.

Core, deseed and dice the red pepper.

 Trim and slice the celery, setting aside the leaves, rinse and drain.

Heat the oil in a 2-litre/3%-pint heavy-based flameproof casserole and stir in the onion and garlic.

Cook for about 5 minutes then add the red pepper, celery and bay leaf.

Season with salt and pepper and cayenne and cook for about 10 minutes more while you prepare everything else.

Cut the chicken into chunks,

Slice the pepperoni chunkily or halve the chorizo.

 If the prawns are frozen, slip into warm water for about 5 minutes and remove the shells.

Place the prawns in a bowl and toss with the Tabasco.

Stir the chicken into the vegetables and, when it's changed colour, add the pepperoni, if using, the rice and the canned tomatoes with their juice.

Add the stock.

Bring to a simmer, cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes.

 By now the rice will have absorbed most of the liquid but the jambalaya should be nicely moist.

 If it isn't, add a little more stock.

Stir in the prawns, cover the pan again and cook for 10 more minutes.

 Sprinkle over the celery leaves and parsley and serve with lemon wedges and the Tabasco bottle.