Stokes Sauces: Stokes on tour - more foodie forays with Stokes

Spanish? Not really

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/ketchup-and-sauces

Following last week's drive down the west coast of France and across to Toulouse (here), we continue our self-catering foodie foray across the border from Rousillon (technically France) into Catalonia (technically Spain) before heading west through Rioja country towards Bilbao (definitely Basque).

Rousillon was once North Catalonia. The people of Catalonia consider themselves Catalans rather than Spanish. And across in the Basque country around Bilbao, don't even mention Spain.

Confused? Don't worry, the foods of these picturesque regions are fantastic. We have three regional dishes below that we have simplified so that even self-catering resources should cope...

...though perhaps not if you're staying in the tree top chalets of Les Guilleries, west of the must see town of Girona.

Vamos a Cataluña

Canalons

Canalons are Catalan's version of cannelloni. You can buy the pasta in any supermarket, boil it and roll it or you can buy them ready rolled. You basically cook them, stuff them and bake them. Canalons can be stuffed with a variety of delicious filling – codfish, minced meat, spinach. You name it and it can be made. This version uses chicken or turkey or both.

You'll need:

Chicken joints with chicken livers if possible
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, grated
2 or 3 tomatoes, diced
1 tsp of dried mixed herbs
Olive oil
2 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup
1 tbsp of Stokes Brown Sauce
a dash of brandy
1 packet of Canalon pasta, sheets or tubes

Here's how:

Take the meat off the bone and cut it into smaller pieces. Soften the onion and garlic in a deep pan for 5 minutes. Add and cook the chicken and 1 of the tomatoes for a further 5 minutes.

Add a good dash of brandy if you have any - perhaps in the first aid kit, for medicinal purposes only of course. Cook off the brandy for a minute then cover the contents with water, put a lid on and simmer for 30 minutes, topping the water up if needed.

Drain off any excess juice and reserve it for the sauce. Let the meat mixture cool and then chop it finely. Cook the pasta sheets as directed - it will be in Spanish of course but 10 minutos or so will do it.

Lay the cooked sheets on a damp tea towel, spoon the meat mixture into the middle and roll each piece. For the sauce, add the remaining tomatoes to the cooking liquors with the ketchup and brown sauce, simmer for a minute then pour it over the Canelons in an ovenproof tray. Into a hot oven for 10 minutes and enjoy with cheese grated over the top.

Suquet de Peix

Fresh fish from the Mediterranean is never far away and is as abundant as it is varied in any local market. Even the supermarkets show a display worthy of this Catalonian fishy meal in a bowl. Catalan dishes, like this, tend to start with a sofregit of fried garlic and tomatoes and end with a picada - a sauce of almonds, garlic and parsley which is stirred in before serving. We'll skip the picada here - self-catering has its limits.

You'll need:

Olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, chopped and crushed
2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup
About 500 g of potatoes, peeled and sliced
A glass of dry white wine (a white Rioja is perfect - finish the bottle)
350 ml of vegetable stock
250 g of firm white fish - be adventurous
the same amount of raw prawns or a combination of shellfish

Here's how:

Cook the tomatoes and garlic in oil, gently reducing them to a jam-like consistency for about 10 minutes then stir in the ketchup to deepen the flavours.

Add the potatoes and white wine and just cover the potatoes with stock. Season, cover and simmer softly for 15 minutes or so, until the potatoes are just short of ready.

Cut the fish fillets into 2 cm squares and add them to the soup. After 4 or 5 minutes add the prawns and shellfish, cooking on until the clams etc open and the prawns turn pink.

This is simple and delicious with more of that lovely Rioja and a wedge of local bread.

Bacalao Salado

Perhaps a little adventurous for a self-catering kitchen but you will see salt cod (bacalo salado) hanging in shops and markets everywhere. You simply need to plan ahead to soak the cod in plenty of water for an hour, changing the water four or five times and leaving it overnight. Drained and patted dry, you are left with quite beautiful thick steaks of cod.

Here' we are going to pan fry the cod and typically serve it with tomatoes and capers.

Here's how:

Once you have bought and soaked centre cuts of salt cod and it is ready to cook, pin-bone it, drizzle it with oil and place it skin side down in a large frying pan.

Once the skin has crisped and caramelised, put the cod pieces, skin side up, in a pre-heated ovenproof dish and let it rest in the oven on a low heat.

In the pan in which the fish has been cooking, add a little more oil and cook a can of chopped tomatoes (or the equivalent freshly chopped local tomatoes) and plenty of garlic.

Add a glass of red wine (another Rioja), 3 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup, 3 tbsp of rinsed capers or fresh caperberries and a handful of local olives. If you have fresh herbs such as basil and mint, rip or chop the leaves coarsely and stir these in too. Check that your fish is cooked and serve it with this fresh and delicious tomato sauce.

TIP: Check the seasoning. You'll need pepper but probably not salt as the cod will have residual salt as probably will the capers.

Enjoy your Catalan taste experience.

Next week - west to Rioja (more wine) and up into Basque country where you'll be ready for a beer and pintxos ... what a treat - but that's next week's story.