Ambre Solaire

Help, we are here for a few months rental and have decided to have a dozen or so people in the evening over for some food and drinks Can someone suggest some hot dishes I could make that are simple to make but delicious and filling. Unfortunately, the house only has 2 pans and 1 frying pan and a roasting dish. The main problem I cannot really cook and I am totally lost in the local supermarket, not speaking the language !

Many thanks

ps which rice do you buy for chilli ?

Rosemary

Long grain rice for chilli.

Rosemary

Mama_Carol

Why does it have to be hot food?

There are lots of things like cold meats, cooked prawns, olives, salads etc that you could serve as tapas.

What supermarkets do you have near you? Surely in a supermarket you do not need to speak Spanish - just point.

marqueemoon

Have a look here: http://spanishfood.about.com/od/cook...ntialfoods.htm

Basically all these ingredients are easily available, and the site will give you tons of recipes incorporating these, plus some pork, or chicken, or chorizo or whatever. Many Spanish recipes can be cooked in one pot, so you have plenty with two!

And as Mama_Carol says so much that is good in Spain is eaten cold. Just add bread or garlic potatoes, or bean salad, or rice, or couscous, for bulk.

Two pots and a frying pan are plenty!

macgirl

Try tapas!!! There are plenty of easy recipes. Some of them are already made.

-Go to Mercadona, or any other Spanish supermarket, buy "migas". You'll find them refrigerated. Just have to heat them in the microwave and put them in small plates. They are good! Nobody will notice that you didn't cook them.
-Patatas con mojo picón. Buy some of these very small potatoes and mojo picón (salsa, from Canary Island). Boil the potatoes in very little water and A LOT OF SALT. To eat it: dig the potato into the salsa. It's a wonderful and easy tapa!
More:
-Pinchito moruno. You'll find it already prepared in the supermarket. Just cook it with some oil in a pan and that's all.
Buy olives, goat cheese (cut it in triangles), good spanish ham (very thin slices), ... put some bread with tomato (pa amb tomaquet, tipical from Catalonia, wonderful! Rub the tomato on the bread and add some olive oil and salt).
Buy good wine, try "Sangre de Toro", is cheap and wonderful, and enjoy.

Ambre Solaire

Many thanks for your kind suggestions, you have "saved me" I do feel a bit of a "doughnut" now, but I think I was thinking with my Brit brain and panicking.

Hasta luego !

Rosemary

Tranquilo, you are in Spain now so become laid back about the food like the Spanish are. Remember that the supermarkets have cartons of Gazpacho so no cooking or heating. Bread with Tomaca (jar so no preparation) is liked by most people, again no pots used. Flan, ice cream, fresh fruit etc. Loads of cooked things are possible even with the limited pans if you take the pressure off in this way. Things such as chilli, fajitas, tapas, patatas bravas, chicken pieces, rabbit, chorizo etc are easy too.

Stop giving yourself a headache and remember that people enjoy eating reasonable food and being in good relaxed company more than have great food in bad company.

Rosemary

Rosemary

Forgot to say that if you already know these people would they lend you any pans that you need.

Rosemary

Alectryon

If you want hot food then try this - 20 minutes to prepare and 90 minutes (or so) to cook - this is a one-pot meal so beloved by the Spanish, and all of my guests.

Ingredients (for six people):

1 chicken in pieces (or buy ready prepared chicken pieces)
6 small potatoes
2 ripe tomatoes
3 medium-sized onions
6 desert spoonfuls of olive oil
100 grams of pinenuts
100 grams of almonds
1 small glass of white wine
Juice of half a lemon
2 cloves of garlic
1 sprig of parsley
1 sprig of thyme
Pepper
1 chicken stock cube
salt

Steps:

1: Prepare an oven dish made of glass or clay. Rub the bottom with a clove of garlic and then put the chicken pieces inside it.

2: Peel the potatoes and onions. Cut them into large pieces and put them in the oven dish with the chicken. Do the same with the tomatoes.

3: Chop the garlic and sprinkle on top with small pieces of parsley and thyme. Add the lemon juice, pinenuts, almonds, pepper and salt.

4: Disolve the stock cube in a small glass of warm water and pour onto the chicken. Then pour on the glass of white wine and the oil. Try to make sure that all these liquids are poured over the ingredients as evenly as possible.

5: Put the oven dish in the middle of the oven and leave it to cook for an hour and a half at 180º. When all the ingredients are cooked, take the oven dish out of the oven and serve

Good luck

Rosemary

Here is a quick translation of the ingredients if you decide to do this dish. Not had this particular recipe ourselves so will have it this week-end. There are similar mixtures in different areas of Spain. In our town they tend to do more rice dishes than potato so this recipe would possibly be used with the rice in place of the potatoes.

chicken = pollo
potatoes = patatas
tomatoes = tomate
onion = cebolla
olive oil = aceite de oliva
pinenuts = piñones
almonds = almendras
white wine = vino blanco
lemon = limon
garlic = ajo
parsley = perijil
thyme = salvia
Pepper = pepe
chicken stock cube = caldo de pollo
salt = sal

Hope this helps, bet you knew most of them already anyway.

Rosemary

macgirl

pinenuts = piñones
parsley = perejil
thyme = tomillo
Pepper = pimienta (Pepe is a name, like Joseph)

macgirl

sage= salvia

Alectryon

Just to help here are pictures of the dish as it goes into the oven and another of when it comes out.

Rosemary

First 2 are typos, 3rd is my OH´s fault because he is always going on about sage and last one I lapsed into Italian which I rarely use.....oh well.

Rosemary

Rosemary

Stop it.....I have just had my meal but you still made my mouth water, it is definitely one for us to try. Thanks for putting it on.

Rosemary