Calamares & Red Wine

Last night my daughter decided to try an new recipe for calamares, which we bought from the fresh fish counter in Intermarche.
Calamares is squid which can be purchased whole, though we buy strips as preparing a whole squid can be quite fiddly.

The following quantities serve four people.
Ingredients
1/2 kilo calamares strips
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 glass red wine
1 courgette
1/2 aubergine
1 yellow pepper
1/2 carton frito
Olive oil
Season to taste


Method
1: Dice onion finely and crush garlic then saute until soft in a little olive oil.
2: Dice calamares, and add to onions with glass of wine. Leave to simmer for 15/18 minutes.
3: In a second pan, add all other vegetable, cut into chunks. We usually keep these quite large as it helps the vegetable to keep their texture.
4: Cook until soft, and add frito to mixture.
5: When calamares are ready, mix the contents of both pans and allow mixture to reduce until you are satisfied with the thickness of the sauce.

Serve with pasta, or cous cous.

Chocolat & Churros

Recently my daughter and I decided to try a typical Spanish treat- chocolat and churros. We visited a little churrería on the main street of Guardamar which was clearly very popular with all the locals.

If you have a sweet tooth then this is a perfect breakfast or snack. The chocolat is a cup of hot melted dark chocolate, served with churros- a sweet fried pastry. It is traditional to dip the churros into the chocolat, and very delicious!

Some people say that churros are named after the churro breed of sheep, as the ridged strands are remeniscent of the sheeps horns.

My daughter is a total chocoholic and says everyone should try it!

Turron - An almond candy.

Turron was invented over 500 years ago in Jijona, north of Alicante, It is a traditional sweet invented by the Moors. There are two kinds of Turron , smooth and soft or a thick brittle nougat type. Honey and almonds are important ingredients of the turron, which is made by roasting and chopping the almonds then mixing them with the honey, and it then goes through more processes with different flavours being added to make bars of chocolate, praline and even Kiwi flavoured turron, sometimes other ingredients such as dried nuts and fruit are added. This sweet is real favourite at Christmas time where the supermarkets will have every type available.

La Mata Wine

On November 20th La Mata wine was presented for the first time. The vine growing area around the the salt lakes had fallen into a state of neglect and is now being improved for cultivation of the vines. A wine museum and bodega are being built to promote the wine and show how it is produced from the grape to the bottle. At the moment only there is a limited quantity of the wine available, from restaurants in and around Torrevieja. The new wine will be called Humedal and is made from the mersegeur grape. It is the first time this type of grape has been commercialised and made into a viable wine product.

Water and Lizards

Here are some tips on Water conservation, being as there is a shortage of water. It will also save on your water bills

• don't leave the tap running when you clean your teeth


• take showers, not baths, and fix dripping taps -share a shower.


• buy water-efficient household appliances


• only fill the kettle and saucepans up with the water you need


• only wash full loads in your washing machine or set machine to half load


• fit a water-efficient toilet -did you know if you press the flush a second time it stops it flushing.


• only water your plants when necessary and use a watering can


• collect rain water to water your plants


• wash your car with a bucket, not a hosepipe

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Traditional food in Spain -- This is a really nice one, Roasted Lizards, apparently they used to eat them cooked in tomato, with spot of garlic and parsley, meant to be delicious. rather like the texture of chicken, and the taste of herbs. the lizard that was eaten was the Oscillated Lizard which now is a protected species so unfortunately it is a traditional food that can´t be tried.