Tapas feast!

I finally got my table and chairs delivered this weekend, so I knew that I'd have to cook something a bit special to celebrate. It feels like me and The Fella are proper peoples now we have a dining table!

These tapas dishes are easy to make, and I already had the ingredients in the cupboard and fridge. They all work really well together but they're delicious on their own too. The honey, cheese and bitter vinegar notes really work well with the mellow soft beans. The patatas bravas are crisp and saucy at the same time with satisfying background heat. The chorizo balls are beautiful when dipped in the aioli, and the fella calls them 'meaty surprise breads'. Bless him...

Blue cheese and bean salad

1 tin butter beans
Handful of crumbled blue cheese (I used Saint Agur)
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp sherry vinegar (balsamic is fine too)
2 tsp clear honey
1 tsp mustard

Mix the oil, vinegar, honey and mustard together. Stir in the beans, crumble the cheese on top and fold it all together.

Patatas bravas

2 tbsp oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 tbsp sherry or dry white wine
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp balsamic or red wine vinegar
2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp chilli powder or flakes
1 kg potatoes

Cook the onion in oil for 5 minutes until transparent, then add the garlic and stir through. Add the wine and vinegar and let it bubble a bit if it doesn't straight away. Add the tomatoes, chilli and paprika. Let it bubble away for 10 minutes until it thickens a bit. Set aside while you make the potatoes.

Cut the potatoes (ideal new potatoes) into large bite size chunks. In a pan, heat about 2 cm vegetable or sunflower oil and add the potatoes. Cook on medium-high heat until the potatoes are cooked and crispy. Drain on kitchen paper and season, spoon over the tomatoes and enjoy.

Marinated aubergine
1 aubergine
1 tbsp parsley
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
Few glugs of olive oil

Cut the aubergine in half and score the cut side deeply, making 1 cm deep incisions, criss-crossed. Pour the oil over and rub it in a bit. Put it cut side down in a casserole dish and drizzle the skin side lightly with oil again and sprinkle the parsley, garlic and half the lemon juice. Bake in an oven about 190c for about 40-45 minutes. When you go to serve put it skin side up and sprinkle over the tbsp of lemon juice to freshen the flavour up a bit.

Chorizo bread parcels

200g strong bread flour
1.5 tsp dried yeast
0.5 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
125ml warm water
120g chorizo

Mix the flour, yeast, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Add the water and bring it together until it forms a smooth ball, you'll need to knead it for about 10 minutes. Put in a bowl and cover with clingfilm or a tea towl, and put it somewhere warm for an hour to rise. When it's doubled in size, take it out of the bowl and punch the air out of it by kneading it again for a few minutes. Take small balls off and flatten and roll out in circles about the size of the palm of your hand. Put a chunk of chorizo in the middle and bring the corners up together, and pinch it to seal. Place on an oiled baking sheet seal side down, and bake in a 200c preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Aioli
1 egg
1 tsp mustard
1 finely minced garlic clove
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper

In a large bowl, add the egg then the mustard and lemon juice. Whisk together and gradual drizzle in olive oil and sunflower oil (equal quantities for taste, but it doesn't matter which goes first). Add the garlic towards the end and whisk until thick. Season to taste.

(P.s. I'd like to say thanks to The Fella who is always very patient when I shout 'don't touch it yet! Blog picture!' to stop him tucking in.)