Tapas Party Menu

After we spent an enjoyable week in Spain last month I really wanted to have a go at making my own homemade tapas and what better way to eat tapas than with friends. Over the holiday period with numerous parties and entertaining then why not try something different and throw a tapas party instead of the normal canapes or as alternative to christmas dinner. Below is my Tapas Menu (click on the links to go to the recipes) which has the benefit that most of the dishes can be prepared in advance leaving you free to mingle with your guests and glug some sangria.

• Bread with Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar
• Olives, Toasted Almonds & Cubed Almodovar Cheese
• Platter of Serrano Ham & Chorizo
• Manchego with Tomatoes and Olive Oil
• Garlic Mushrooms
• Spinach & Chickpeas in Tomato Sauce
• Spanish Tortilla
• Patatas Bravas
• Patatas Alioli
• Garlic Prawns & Chorizo (I followed this recipe but added a good squeeze of lemon at the end)
• Pork Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
• Merguez Sausages (from our wonderful local sausage shop)
• Red Wine Sangria with Nectarines
• Dairy-free Egg Custard with Caramel Bananas
• Pine Nut & Almond Cookies

Hypocras -Spiced Cordial

With the nights drawing in and Christmas just around the corner there is nothing better than sipping a spiced warm drink by the fire. This recipe is ideal for adding to wine, cider, apple juice or even just water. Hypocras is supposedly a medieval drink that involved a variety of spices and sugar. This is a pared down version which uses easily available spices and makes a lighter alternative to the traditional mulling spices.

Spiced Elderberry Cordial

The season seems to be turning now with the occasional nip in the air and the trees and hedgerows are laden with autumn fruit. This drink is most definitely an autumn delight which is packed with vitamin C to help fight off the colds that are so often rife as this time of year.

This recipe is based on one I found in this months Country File magazine with some extra spices and less sugar added than the original. Don't be surprised if it smells like Christmas in your house after making this. It is very easy to make and you can also pick a double batch and freeze half the elderberries to make a second batch later in the year, just remember to leave plenty of fruit on the trees for all the local birds and animals. I foraged for these elderberries from some local hedgerows. In the UK elderberries (Sambucus nigra) are common all over on scrubby areas and in hedges. If you cannot get elderberries you could always try this recipe with blackcurrants or blackberries instead.

Almond Milk

So I have been trying different some different non dairy alternatives to milk and my latest experiment was to make almond milk. I had a look on the internet and there is a surprising amount of information on making all kinds of milk.  Now I have never tried commercially made almond milk so I cannot advise on whether this is similar in taste or texture but if it is anything like rice and soy milk then I suspect there will be a big difference in taste from brand to brand anyway.  

I picked a recipe from Ohnuts although I used almonds with the skin on and cut down a little on the water as my blender is a little weak and didn't pulverise the almonds as much as I had hoped. I tried the milk without any sweeteners and it tasted good enough for pouring on cereal but for drinking straight it was nicer to add the additional flavorings.  It tasted great and was smooth and creamy and not overtly almondy like marzipan, which I hate. For this recipe you need a blender, a sieve and a piece of cheese cloth or I used a cloth coffee strainer. That way you really do feel like you are milking the almonds. I am looking forward to using the milk in some recipes as well as trying to figure out what to do with the almond meal I have left over so watch this space. 

Fresh Raw Corn Milk

Whilst wandering around the streets of Hanoi over the weekend we stumbled across a fresh corn milk stand. This piqued my interest as I have been looking into making a variety of dairy free milks but I had never thought of using corn to make milk. In hindsight, corn seems the most obvious grain to use, it even oozes a milky liquid when you cut it, but I am not sure I would ever have made the leap unless I had seen this stall. I made this milk using raw kernels as I figured it would have more vitamins that way but I am sure you can used cooked corn although the taste will be slightly different. I am planning to try with cooked corn just to see which flavor I prefer. I added a little brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon and ginger to my milk and it made for a quite refreshing drink.