HOMECOOKING WITH TERESA

Tonight we had a little break in our vegetarian journey and had a very traditional salad from Catalonia. It's called 'Xató' and many towns on the coast that goes from Sitges to Tarragona have a variation on their recipes. The main ingredients are basically the same: 'escarola' - curly endive, salted cod, tuna, anchovies and Arbequina olives which are a particular type of olive, quite small and bitter. It is served with a kind of romesco sauce and it is this sauce that varies from place to place; some people add a bit of chilli and more of this and that... I only do this recipe when I can get the endives at our local shop. This happens only once or twice a year... I have tried to use lettuce instead, but for me it doesn't work because the bitterness of the endive together with the saltiness of the fish and olives and the nutty flavour from the sauce it's what makes this dish so delicious. I had to adapt it with the ingredients available where we live and inst...

What can you do when you have people coming for drinks and have no time. These are some delicious platters that can be prepared in a matter of minutes. Soft blue cheese, crumbly cheese, serrano ham or prosciutto, salami, biscuits, dry figs, walnuts, pecans and anything else you can find in the fridge or pantry! Yummo! 😄😜 Cucumber, serrano ham or prosciutto, dolmades, white asparagus. Add salt and pepper to the cucumber and a splash of olive oil just before serving. Add a few vegetables to cold meats. I like a variety of biscuits to serve with the cheeses and deli platters, but a variety of breads and wraps, sliced and warm, also go extremely well with deli platters.