Braised chicken in Spanish Olive sauce -

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Braised chicken in Spanish Olive sauce

Omar Allibhoy
2 serves

150 gr of pitted green and black Spanish olives

50 ml Spanish olive oil

8 free range chicken thighs

1 head of garlic

1 spanish onion

1tbsp of flour

1 shot of brandy (or dry white wine if you prefer)

Salt

Black pepper powder

2 sprigsof fresh rosemary

1 glass of water (or chicken stock)

Method

Place a wide pan over a high heat and brown the seasoned chicken thighs with a bit of olive oil. Skin side down first as they will release a bit of fat which will help golden the chicken and for all the remaining ingredients to caramelize properly.

Once both siders of all the thighs are dark golden set them aside and start frying the thinly slice garlic and onion.

When golden add the four and stir constantly for 1 minute so the four toasts evenly and doesn’t give a doughy favour to the end dish.

Bring the chicken back into the pan, add the rosemary and pour the glass of white wine. Stir to dissolve the four properly and reduce the wine by half: to burn the alcohol and to give enough of the acidity that this dish needs.

At this point we should add the black pepper, the glass of water and the olives and braise it for around 20 minutes, till the chicken has tenderized and all the ingredients have come together in a juicy and rich sauce.

Taste the seasoning and buen provecho!

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Marinated Lamb and Escalivada

Chef Jose Pizarro
4 serves

2 racks of lamb, French—trimmed

MARINADE

100g pitted black Spanish olives e.g Hojiblanca or Cacereña

50g tin salted anchovies, including the oil

1 tbsp salted capers

½ fresh red chilli, or to taste

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Freshly grounded black pepper

PICKLED ONIONS

75 ml cider vinegar

75 ml raspberry vinegar

50 g caster (superfine) sugar

6 black peppercorns

4 red onions, finely sliced

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

ESCALIVADA

4 peppers, a mix of colours

1 red onion, finely sliced

2 aubergines

1 bulb of garlic, cloves separated

A handful of thyme sprigs

Extra virgin olive oil

A good squeeze of lemon juice

A handful of chopped fat leaf parsley

Method

Put all the marinade ingredients in a food processor and blitz to make a paste. Don’t add any salt as there is already a lot present. Just add a few grinds of fresh pepper if you wish. Cover the meat in the paste and leave it to marinate in the fridge for a minimum of 12 hours, ideally 24 hours.

Heat the vinegars with the caster sugar and peppercorns until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the hot vinegar over the onions and set aside

To prepare the escalivada, preheat the grill to high and blacken the peppers all over. Seal in a plastic bag to steam and loosen the skins.

Preheat the oven to 160C/Gas 3. Scatter the onion in a roasting tin. Add the aubergines, garlic and thyme and toss together with a good drizzle of olive oil. Roast for 1 hour.

Remove the skin from the peppers, deseed and cut into strips. Toss into the pan with the onions and aubergine and cook for a further 15-20 minutes until the aubergine is really tender.

Allow the aubergine to cool a little, then cut into strips and toss with the peppers and onions. Squeeze the garlic cloves from their skins and toss with the vegetables, plenty of extra virgin olive oil, a good squeeze of lemon and the parsley. Season to taste

The best way to cook the lamb is on the grill. Place the rack of lamb on the hottest part of the grill and cook it for 3 minutes. Turn the rack of lamb over and cook it for an additional 3 minutes on the other side.

Move the lamb to the edge of the grill with the thickest portion closest to the direct heat. Cook the lamb for 10 minutes on each side for medium rare meat, 15 minutes for medium.

Remove the rack of lamb from the grill and transfer it to a large serving platter. Allow the lamb to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before slicing and serving it so the natural juices can redistribute throughout the meat.

Serve with pickled onions and escalivada.

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Spanish Eggs

FIONA HUNTER
2 serves

75g pitted black Spanish olives e.g. Hojiblanca or Cacereña, roughly chopped

1 tbsp Spanish olive oil

1 large red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped

1 red pepper, de-seeded and roughly chopped

½ tsp pinch of smoked paprika

100g chorizo, diced

2x 400g can chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree

4 medium eggs

Handful fresh parsley, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Crusty bread to serve

Method

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 25 mins

Preheat the oven to 200C/ 180C fan/ gas mark 6. Heat the heat the oil in a non-stick, oven proof frying pan. Add the onion and sauté over a medium heat for 4–55 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the pepper, garlic and paprika continue cook for 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, chorizo and seasoning to taste. Cook over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. Stir in the olives. Adjust seasoning as necessary.

Using the back of a tablespoon make an egg-shaped hollow in the tomato mixture and break one egg into the hollow. Transfer the pan to the preheated oven for 10minutes or until the eggs are set but the yolk is still runny.

Scatter over the parsley and serve with crusty bread.

Cooks tip: To make this a more substantial meal and boost the fibre content add a can of chickpeas.

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Cocktail Biscuits

FIONA HUNTER
4 serves

50g pitted black Spanish olives eg. Hojiblanca or Cacereña, roughly chopped

100g plain four

75g butter, softened

50g grated Parmesan cheese

1-2 tbsp ice cold water or milk

1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp sesame seeds or Dukkah

Method

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 20 – 25 mins

Sift the flour into a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the Parmesan, olives and water and mix to make a smooth soft dough.

Spoon the mixture onto a sheet of non-stick baking paper or cling film and roll it up into a cylinder about 4cm thick. Chill or freeze until firm.

Just before baking brush the dough with the beaten egg and coat with the sesame seeds or Dukkah. Slice the dough into 1cm thick slices and place a few centimetres apart on lined baking sheet.

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and bake for 20-25mins or until golden.

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Gordal and Hojiblanca Olive Chicken with Roasted Peppers

serves

¾ cup black Hojiblanca olives

½ cup green Gordal olives

1 chicken breast, boneless, skinless

½ cup roasted peppers (piquillo peppers)

½ cup arugula

1 tbsp olive oil

6 pinches fine salt

Pepper

Salsa

2 cups arugula

2 tsp coarse salt

50 ml olive oil

6 pinches fine salt

Pepper to taste

Method
Coulis

Bring a large volume of salted water (10 g of coarse salt per litre) to a boil.

Wash the arugula, and immerse it in boiling water for 4 minutes. Drain the arugula, and mix in a food processor with some cooking water. Finally, add olive oil to emulsify the sauce, and adjust the seasoning.

Olive mixture

Cut the chicken breast into thin slices and then cut the slices into sticks of about 0.5 cm thick.

Brown the chicken pieces in a hot frying pan with olive oil, then remove.
Pour more olive oil in the same pan, and add the roasted peppers and drained olives. Fry everything quickly, then add the arugula coulis and mix the combination.
Finally place the chicken slices back in the pan, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes.  Final touch adjust seasoning to taste.

Transfer the preparation to a shallow dish, and serve with a garnish of fresh arugula, ready to eat!

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Grilled olives with Manchego

serves

24 pitted Queen olives

4 ounces Manchego cheese

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 shallot, minced

1 tablespoon, rosemary, minced

1 tablespoon thyme, minced

4 ounces extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

Method
For the Olives:

Drain the Queen olives of all their brine and allow them to dry on a paper towel.

Take the Manchego cheese and make sure there is no ‘skin’ on it and cut it into small 1 inch x 1/4 in pieces (small enough to stuff in the olive).

Stuff all of the olives with pieces of Manchego cheese.

In a bowl combine the garlic, shallots, herbs, sugar, pepper, Worcestershire sauce & olive oil.

Skewer the Manchego stuffed olives on to a soaked skewer or rosemary stem, three to a piece.

Once you have 8 skewers with olives cover them in the marinade and allow them to sit for 4-8 hours.

 

Plating:

Grill the marinated olives over high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until the start to soften, caramelize and the Manchego cheese starts to melt slightly inside.

Serve them along some good crusty bread that’s been drenched in good olive oil and grilled alongside the olives.