The Lazy monks Guide to making Salmorejo - This is a Spanish thick cold Tomato Soup (think spoon standing thickness). In times of global warming, wherever you are, you are going to enjoy this cheap, wholesome and tasty summer dish. It is healthy and is in its core: vegan, with vegetarian or carnivorous options -  and it is super cheap, quick and easy to prepare. 

One of the great things about open fires is that they can also be used to cook with. Modern stoves often come with an oven compartment, but don't worry if yours doesn't, you can still use the central fire to cook a lot of what I'm going to suggest below. The best of all is that the food is quick to prepare, requires no extra heating and has a special taste only acquired from wood burning stoves. 

Use the top of the stove to keep food warm, or to slowly warm up something prepared earlier in the day,  like that special Winter Garlic Soup recipe here. 

But not just soups, how about mulled wine, chai tea or taking the chill off the dogs water bowl?

1: Orange Skins as Firelighters:
When squeezing oranges for fresh juice over winter (what do you mean you don't?)  -  keep the skins and burn them in the oven at night. Not only does this give off an gorgeous smell throughout the house, but when they have become charred and black, take them out and keep them for the following day. They make excellent fire-lighters!
Check out how to do this here.
2: Orange Skins as Candles
Keep the skins, use the rhind inside as a wick and fill with oil! Yup its true: Check out how here!
3: Lavender, rosemary or other herbs:
Grab a stick or two from the herb garden and throw it in the fire before bed. The smell is intoxicating.
4: Glass of Something Smooth:
Turn off the lights, bathe in the warm glow, breathe in the rich aromas and sip a glass of something whilst listening to Sade's Smooth Operator for that perfect end to a winter evening. 

TRAVEL STORIES INSIDE THE TORTILLA
And lose yourself this summer in the travel stories of another era, and learn the history and the adventures behind all the recipes in this travelogue and search for a 21st century meaning to life:  Grab the ebook/paperback or audiobook of Recipes for Living another Life. ​

Ok, truth be told this recipe has little to do with the Iberian Peninsula, originating more as it does more than 5000 years ago in Peru. But people do speak Spanish in Peru (though possibly not back then. However..

1. The fact that the spices were introduced in Spain, long before they turned up in the kitchen’s of other European nations. 
2. Though Spaniards publicly recoil in horror at the mere mention of spicy food, they do in fact love it (see guindillas and gambas a pil-pil for example).

Spicy Popcorn therefore makes the ideal starter, and whenever its been served to locals, its been gobbled up furiously, accompanied by a decent bottled beer and talk of times when Spain was far more Spicy than it is now. 

1. Avoid microwaved popcorn: Hidden ingredients are suspect and have been linked to respiratory problems. See this article on what is called Popcorn Workers Lung

2. Avoid using coconut oil to pop the corn, and avoid using butter or margarine to top it off. This process - used extensively in cinemas across the world - is estimated to produce the same fat content as bacon eggs, a big mac, fries and a steak dinner combined, according to this article.

Instead, go for the healthier option. Go Spicy.

1. Pick a big saucepan. The biggest you have.
Slop in a thin coating of sunflower oil and heat. Just as the smoke sends the neighbours to call out the Bomberos, chuck in a healthy dose of spices. 

The tumeric is essential for colouring, peppery-ness and all the great anti-carcinogenic qualities and t-shirt tie-dying possibilities.
Cumin is used for taste, aroma and stimulating the appetite , whilst chilli provides the kick, the colour and doubles up as an anti-arthritic ingredient as well as acting as a traditional deterrent for rampaging elephants in your barrio. (More relevant for  Indian readers than Spanish)

2. As the spices begin to burn and the 'Bomberos' are knocking at your door, throw in the popcorn (cover the base of the saucepan with one layer) and salt. Put on the lid and go and deal with the firemen.

3. Once the emergency services have left and the popping begins, wait until the pops begin to slow down and when they reach a distance of 2 seconds between pops then turn off the heat. 

If you have used the right sized saucepan things will have gone well. If not, things may have gone a little astray (see photo).

4. Find a useful ladle like implement to scoop out popcorn into bowls and distribute whilst hot to unsuspecting guests.

Its artichoke season and time for the log fire once more. This means it's also time for thinking about cooking in other ways too and putting to use all that raw heat. Breads, pizzas, bakes and pies come to mind as well as a personal favourite - baked sweat potatoes. But one dish I've tried recently was an instant success, inspired by a photo from a thyme travelling artichoke friend.

He introduced me to the idea of roasting them over embers instead of steaming them, and they looked fantastic. My taste buds then took over. 

Native to the Mediterranean area and a member of the thistle species, the artichoke is said to have derived its name and popular use from Muslim Spain. The plant was later introduced to England by the Dutch and to California by the Spanish. (In fact I believe that California was introduced to Californians by the Spanish too).

But artichokes don't just taste good, they are said to reduce blood cholesterol levels and to aid digestion. Make the most of their cheap availability over winter by preparing them in the following way: 

• Chop off the tops of the artichokes
  
• Remove some of the harder leaves
• Cut of most of the stems
• Some recommend lemon juice, but I prefer to drizzle a little soy sauce into the very centre
• Sprinkle with garlic seasoned virgin olive oil
• (Optionally place inside the centre a clove of garlic)
• Sprinkle a little salt

Wrap in silver foil and place in the fire for about thirty minutes. Some say less, 10 - 15 others say longer. I found they need to be really well done to be able to dismantle the leaves and remove the heart easily.  The fleshy ends of the leaves  - as usual - are munched upon - but on this version they have an oily, garlicy, salty taste and therefore do not require the usual bucket of mayonnaise consumed with steamed artichokes. 

If you do not have access to an open fire or a BBQ, then use your oven, but you will be missing that special aroma that can only be found from wood cooked food. 

TRAVEL STORIES INSIDE THE TORTILLA
And lose yourself this summer in the travel stories of another era, and learn the history and the adventures behind all the recipes in this travelogue and search for a 21st century meaning to life:  Grab the ebook/paperback or audiobook of Recipes for Living another Life. ​​

This week I picked my own pomegranates from a tree planted just a couple of years back. We had not had a tremendous success with garden grown veg these last few years, as fruit grown in this very urban setting - surrounded as it is by gorgeous high breeze block walls is hardly conducive to our hopes for bio diversity. Still...a pomegranate is a pomegranate. 

Picking the fruit, I was transported back to a conversation I had in the early 90’s when I was renting a room in a flat in Seville: 

Pomegranate means “seeded apple” (pom = apple, Gran = grain or seed). It is also the emblematic fruit that appears on the coat of arms for Granada city here in Andalusia (Granada being the Spanish word for Pomegranate). 

As the world warms, and there appears little end to such madness, we all need to explore foods that will help us keep our cool. Perhaps you have already tried and are tired of the traditional Gazpacho recipes with tomatoes, and even it's more substantial bread-based cousin Salmorejo?

Well, if that is the case, you just may be interested in another cousin: Green Gazpacho or Gazpacho Verde. As I have a Black Belt in Gazpacho Tasting -  I thought I'd share this simple recipe with you: 

As its beginning to feel a tad chilier these days, I thought I'd add a great winter soup that I've been making for the last few years. I first noticed it served in the chiringuitos of the Costa Tropical, and immediately wanted to learn how to make it, as not only did it taste great, but I was told it used only old ingredients and... tasted even better the following day.

Now this was music to my ears as there is nothing better than a recipe that uses up the stuff thats going off, and that increases in flavour the longer it is kept. 

So here it is. Check it out here, or if you have an iPhone, download the Snapguide app and store this, and many other excellent guides on your phone.

Ingredients:
Fresh Jalopeña Chillis
Cream Cheese
Two Egg whites
Thin slices of Jamon or Salmon
Batter

Instructions:
Cut of the tops and scoop out the flesh inside and the pips.
Stuff with cream cheese and replace tops.
Rinse each pepper in water, before rolling in flour, dipping in the whisked egg white and then deep fried for a few moments.

Eat with caution, gusto and anything to balance the sudden burning of your inner cheeks.