Simple, honest food with a spanish flare
You simply cannot go out in the evening and enjoy some tapas without ordering some croquettes. I have to confess, more recently I have developed a habit of judging the quality of any tapas restaurant based on their croquettes. And the salted cod croquette is…
Everybody loves chocolate brownies, right? Well, me too. I have tried lots of recipes from various websites and cookbooks over the years, but none of them have really impressed me. They were either too dry, too gooey, or too floury. But during a visit to…
A great family dish for sharing in the middle of the table, as a simple tapas dish or even as a light lunch. Who doesn’t love a good meatball! I’ve cooked, tasted and experimented with several variations of meatballs over the years. Italian Meatballs, Swedish…
The perfect “low and slow” way to cook pork cheeks, a cheap cut of meat with huge flavour. Dress it up as a dinner party main course or serve as a casual dinner with the family. I don’t know about you, but I love meat…
This is comfort food at its best! Great ingredients but maximum flavour, a simple Chicken and Chorizo Traybake. It also means the cleaning up is easy; a win in my eyes. Variations of this recipe appear in numerous cookbooks and TV shows, but strangely I’ve…
A dish to celebrate the abundance of fresh vegetables grown in Murcia, full of colour and sunshine. Living in the Murcia region of Spain means that we have access to some of the freshest and best produce in Europe; of course, I didn’t know this…
A simple, Lamb and Orzo Pasta Salad, a fresh and tasty way to use up your leftover lamb. Like many people, when Monday arrives, I generally have leftovers from the Sunday Roast. I often go hunting through my collection of cookery books, magazine clippings and…
The humble Padrón Pepper pairs very well with Feta So this is another very simple, but much lighter take on the Fried Padrón Pepper, this time with Feta cheese. And yes, I know that Feta is a Greek, not Spanish cheese, but I am taking…
Tart, zingy and fresh citrus flavours give this Lemon Drizzle Cake provides a real feel of Spring and hot summer days! Until the last few months, I have avoided baking. Period. Despite my love for watching Bakeoff and the contestants’ many successes. The failures are…
Cheese, Chorizo and Peppers…the perfect Padrón and Chorizo Gratin This is one of my absolute favourite dishes, and it features the humble headline “Padrón Pepper”. Charred on either a BBQ, griddle pan or simple frying pan (skillet) the key here is to get the skin…
You simply cannot go out in the evening and enjoy some tapas without ordering some croquettes. I have to confess, more recently I have developed a habit of judging the quality of any tapas restaurant based on their croquettes. And the salted cod croquette is one of my absolute favourites. Pulling it apart with my fingers, and dipping it into a heavy garlic aioli. For me, these croquettes beat a chicken nugget any, and every, day of the week. No question!
During one of my recent Spanish lessons, we got onto the topic of food and the variety of local restaurants, using that subject as the basis of the lesson. But my tutor María, was surprised to learn that I was able to cook traditional Spanish croquettes. I was told that it´s considered to be quite a difficult task and that not many people cook them at home; I was quite humbled to think that this was a dish I´d cemented into my growing collection of Spanish recipes. I promised her I would take her a batch the next time I cooked them. That day has not yet arrived, but as I´m writing this, I´m already thinking about next weeks meals. Yes, salted cod croquettes will be featuring on the menu; again.
I’ve known some restaurants to use mashed potato as the base filling for their croquettes. The result is a much heavier and denser filling. Now, I understood why I was judging restaurants by the quality of their croquettes. Its very simple; the amount of time needed to invest into making a quality croquette is often dismissed when restaurants are trying to produce large quantities of food on a budget. It seems that my initially uneducated assessment, was spot on.
The same recipe can be easily adapted to accommodate any number of flavours and fillings; you may need to tweak it depending on the texture of your chose filling. Trial and error is your friend here. I’ll add additional recipes for alternative fillings at a later date, but for now here’s a few suggestions and fillings you will often see in restaurants and tapas bars.
Let your imagination run wild, would love to hear what other combinations work for you.
It’s all well and good having the created the perfect croquette; but if you’re like me, then you also want to have the best, easy to make dip, to dunk them into. Here are a couple of my favourites.
This is a simple yoghurt based dip. I prefer the full fat variety over fat-free, mainly because they have less sugar than the alternatives. Mince some chopped garlic until you a paste, again as much as little as you like. Taste every step of the way until you reach your preferred strength; remember you can always add more but you can’t take it away. Add some freshly chopped herbs – parsley, mint and dill work well with the salted cod croquettes. Season to taste and finish with some lemon zest for that extra zing.
For my take on the traditional seafood sauce, I combine equal quantities of mayonnaise and ketchup. Homemade mayonnaise is always best, but you can use the jarred variety as well. Add some minced garlic, a good amount of spicy paprika, onion salt and a pinch of chilli powder. I always add chopped parsley and more grated lemon zest.
Share your own creation and mention us on Instagram @thepickledpadron or tag us #thepickledpadron and you may be selected to feature in our members gallery (coming soon)
You must be logged in to post a comment.