Patatas Bravas

Ever since we visited Barcelona, I've been obsessed with Tapas. Here is my take on the traditional Patatas Bravas. Done right, these are a beautiful accompaniment. I couldn't find one recipe that I liked the look of, so here was a merge of a few.

Potatoes - Cubed potatoes, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper - Oven for on 200 for 30 minutes.
Tomato Sauce - Chopped tomatoes, white onion, 2 garlic cloves, bay leave, thyme sprigs, splash of soy sauce, 2 tsp paprika, good pinch of chili power, sugar, olive oil. Simmered for 10 minutes.
Soured Cream - Fresh Parsley and Lemon Juice.

Aubergine Parmigiana

A great meat-free dish. This Aubergine Parmigiana is layers aubergine which has been grilled first, a ragu style tomato sauce, plenty of fresh basil and oregano and lots of Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese. I like the Jamie Oliver recipe, and tend to use that mostly. Although the Balmasic does tend to sneak into the recipe.:)

Chicken Salad with a Twist.

This fiery little number is a great alternative to the plain old' chicken salad. The recipe is taken from the Persiana book again, it boldly combines griddled chicken, watercress, fresh red chilli, feta cheese and mint dressed with Greek yoghurt, lemon, garlic and sumac. I've made it a few times, and although not cheap dish, it's definitely one of my favourites of hers.

Chicken Skewers

Chicken Tikka and Red Onion Skewers with grilled naans, homemade tzatziki, rice and salad. I cheated and used a pataks curry paste, but works out as quite an easy midweek dinner.

Ras el Hanout Chicken Wraps

Wraps are a great versatile ingredient that you can put pretty much anything in. A great alternative to Fajitas that I like to do are Moroccan style wraps. This recipe was taken from Persiana, a book I got for Christmas and consists of marinating the chicken in ras el hanout and olive oil and serving it with a Greek yoghurt and sumac dip and a pomegranate salad.

I do feel this recipe is probably a little heavy handed with the spices, and would probably do a level tbsp of ras el hanout or even a little less, then same goes for the sumac. But definitely a one to have again.

Festive Bagels

This is a great breakfast for around christmas, but enjoyable at any time of the year! My own recipe, it consists of; sesame seed bagels, grilled streaky bacon, soft cream cheese, cranberry sauce, lettuce, tomato and red onion. A great alternative to a classic BLT.

Warming Celearic Soup

I knocked this up on Christmas Eve for lunch and we had it as an amuse bouche for Christmas Day. These lovely wintery flavours of celearic, thyme and pancetta really work great together. I used this recipe for inspiration and adapted it slightly. Finishing the soup off with Truffle Oil brings this soup to a whole new level. A must try, even for those who weren't a fan of Celearic enjoyed this one!