The 2010 World Cup Final

For the final match of the tournament, the tall bloke agreed that as we were supporting the Spaniards, we should again eat from their cuisine. I had no idea what an incredible spread of tapas dishes was to arrive on the dinner table - all my favourite "platos" were served, some made from scratch and others from the unearthed selection at Waitrose.

We enjoyed:

White bean tapas with Manchego, chorizo in mojo pepper sauce, Pork meat balls in chipotle sauce which all came from the unearthed range and potatas bravas, tortilla and a green salad which the tall bloke made from scratch. We also enjoyed a selection of cold Spanish meats such as jamon serrano, olives and fried courgettes. It was a veritable Spanish feast and it was a worthy final meal for our World Cup Food diary.

We hope you've enjoyed reading our food blog and try some of the recipes - happy eating!

Germany 0 - Spain 1

The last of the semi-final matches and the choice of countries who's cuisines to cook from are seriously limiting now. Tall bloke put together one of my favourite rustic Spanish dishes: arroz al horno or rice in the oven. This recipe came from a book I bought for the tall bloke last Christmas called Cook Simple by Diana Henry. Here goes:

Serves 6

Ingredients:

8 tbsp olive oil

salt n pepper

12 chicken thighs

2 red peppers de-seeded and sliced

250gms chorizo cut in small chunks

1 large onion roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves crushed

3 tsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp of chilli flakes

1.3 litres of chicken stock

375gms of Spanish rice (paella rice)

2 tbsp of chopped flat leaf parsley

Juice of a lemon

Extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a shallow pan, season and brown the chicken thighs on all sides. Take chicken out of pan and set aside. Add peppers and chorizo to the same pan and saute on medium heat until all is softened. Throw in the onion and garlic, then cook until soft. Stir in the paprika and chilli and cook for a minute. Add the chicken stock, return the chicken, cover, simmer on a gentle heat for 15 minutes. Transfer chicken, veg and stock to big, oven-proof dish. Pour the rice around the chicken and season well. Place in the preheated oven on 180degrees. Cook for 20 minutes until stock has absorbed and top is golden. When cooked, cover the dish with foil, leave for 5 minutes, scatter with parsley, lemon juice and an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve with lemon segments.

Spain 2 - Honduras 0

As the tournament rolls on, it is getting increasingly difficult to avoid repeats. After some feed back about my diner's diary, the tall bloke is determined to keep cooking different meals. So tonight, I returned home from work to find a huge Honduran menu being prepared. He handed me a ripe avocado when I went into the kitchen to see what was happening (every surface covered with bowls of different ingredients) and I knew immediately that a guacamole was required for this meal. Tall bloke said he had expected this cuisine to be similar to Mexico, but there were a few new things to me, including this weird sounding sweet potato salad with buttermilk dressing.

Here are the recipes he used - I had seconds, which says a lot about the delicious rating of this meal:

Baleadas (in Mexico: Burrito)

Sweet potato and cheese salad

San Pedro Sula Simmered Beef

Spain 0 - Switzerland 1 !!!

This afternoon's game was a shocker! Spain have been widely tipped to win this year's world cup PLUS they were my second choice team (after England of course!) and their loss against Switzerland was generally deemed to be a real surprise. Tonight's menu was chosen from the cuisine of the losing team's country. So, whilst I was out enjoying myself with the team Canderel and other fellow, London food bloggers (check out later blog post), the tall bloke was cooking one of my all time favourite meals: paella con mariscos.

I did spend a fairly long period of time living in Spain, so really it is me who knows about cooking the national dish (one of only very few good dishes in my repertoire) and I taught the tall bloke this tried and tested method:

Paella
Oil your paella pan (or a wok is fine)
Add a chopped onion, one clove of garlic and seasoning - cook gently for a few minutes.
Add rice and saffron - coat all the rice with oil and saffron, by mixing with wooden spoon.
Prepare a stock (chicken or vegetable) with twice as much liquid as rice, and pour into the pan, using the spoon to soften the flow, in order that you do not "wash" the rice. Simmer.
Prepare vegetables - chop 2 colours of bell peppers, a handful of peas (frozen is fine) or whatever you want/have really - and after the stock has reduced almost completely, add to the rice.
Add the seafood (he used a frozen mixed bag and a handful of scallops) - around an over-sized handful per person and mix in.
Cook on a low heat, turning occasionally and I should say, "be careful not to catch it" but actually, that is the best bit (according to me and the good people of Spain).
Serve with lemon quarters and a jug of Sangria.

¡Arriba!