tapenade recipe

This is a favourite from Provence, this particular recipe was inspired by a meal in Grimaud in the south of France. A beautiful walled village in the hills above Saint Tropez, or Sans Trop as it's known locally. I spent a very pleasant summer here working occasional jaunts on a Sunseeker motor yacht. To be honest the yacht rarely made it past the bay. The best thing here was the bread, baguettes baked in the morning and then again around five. So you were never very far from a croissant or baguette.

Of course the scotch bonnets were not part of the original recipe but in combination with the anchovies are delicious, when you chop the chillies leave them to sit in the lemon juice for extra zing.

There is no salt as none is required. Salted anchovies are best for this recipe, be sure to rinse well.

You could serve this on toasted croutons or it is works well with spaghetti.(spaghetti is a recurring theme throughout this blog)

100ml extra virgin olive oil

10 anchovy fillets

1 clove garlic

100g good quality black olives

30g rinsed capers

2 scotch bonnet peppers

juice of one lemon

bunch of flat parsley

twist of black pepper

1. Finely chop the olives, anchovy fillets, capers, parsley, garlic and scotch bonnets.
2. At this point you could mix the items with the olive and lemon and have a rough olive salsa..
3. For a more authentic smoother paste add the chopped ingredients to a mortar with the lemon juice and olive oil and grind until smooth.
4. Avoid the temptation to electrically blend together, this will affect the final taste.

pasta with scotch bonnet pepper and sea urchin roe sauce.

Pasta with scotch bonnet pepper and sea urchin sauce.

This sauce works well with spaghetti and grated Parmesan, the sea urchin roe is delicious with a shellfish flavour similar to crab or lobster, it is common in Spain, though a little pricey, it`s flavour is unique. Care should be taken not to overcook this dish. The creme fraiche softens the impact of the peppers. If you dont have fish stock, then you need to make some.

I wont spell out how to cook spaghetti.

25g unsalted butter
4 shallots, chopped
200ml white wine
200ml fish stock
1 tbsp Sea Urchin Roe
2 scotch bonnet peppers
200ml crème fraiche
bunch of chives chopped
bunch of chervil torn

Method

• Melt the butter, add the shallots and cook for 2 minutes until golden, then stir in the wine. Allow to reduce for 5 minutes . Stir in the fish stock, then lower the heat and stir in the chopped scotch bonnets and cream. Simmer gently for 1-2 minutes until slightly thickened, then stir in the sea urchin roes, chives and chervil.
• This particular brand does not require cooking, the roe can be eaten raw when fresh.
• Sprinkle with Parmesan and squeeze of lemon

hot salsa verde recipe

This is an olive oil based sauce or dip, contains green chilli so its mild. The quality of the olive oil is important, we use organic Caramba Olive Oil  from Andalucia, in particular this oil has a good acidity and deep flavour.

The Salsa Verde goes well with BBQ fish or simple pasta. The main ingredient is parsley but there are many variations of the green herbs you can use. Coriander and dill can be added if desired.

A bunch of flat parsley leaves

20 basil leaves

20 chervil sprigs

25 ml French mustard

80 ml good olive oil

juice of lemon 

zest of 1 lemon

4 cloves of smoked garlic grated

2 green chillies finely chopped

50 g of capers rough chopped

2 spring onions finely chopped

The method as always is fairly simple, the stalks should be removed from the green herbs.

Chop the herbs separately taking care to use a sharp knife.

Mix the herbs with the olive oil, lemon juice, zest, mustard.

Finally add the chopped garlic, capers, chilli and spring onions.

Mix well, leave to stand for twenty minutes to allow the ingredients to blend.

Really it is best to avoid electrically blending these ingredients as it will heat and smash the herbs flvours.

hot sauce recipe from Spain, romesco sauce

This is a Hot Catalan sauce made with with roasted almonds and bread. It is simple to make as the ingredients are sprinled with olive oil then roasted, then blended smooth, served in Catalonia as a dip for crispy potato tapas, but you can serve it with vegetables, chicken or fish.

• 8 cloves of garlic
• 50ml balsamic vinegar
• 4 large ripe tomatoes seeds removed
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 scotch bonnet chillies
• 100g of crusty bread (stale bread is better)
• splash of olive oil
• chopped flat leaf parsley
• 50 g capers
• sea salt and black pepper
• 1 large red pepper skinned and seeds removed
• 1 red onion

Roast the peppers, chillies, tomatoes, almonds, garlic, chunks of bread and onion in a hot oven with the splash of olive oil until golden.

When finished cooking sprinkle with sea salt and pepper then add all the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.

Add the balsamic vinegar and roasting juices from vegetables.

Finally add the parsley and capers blend some more, the texture should be fairly thick, if too thick you can add more olive oil or water.

hot sauce recipe