Ingredients:

12 ripe plum tomatoes, skinned and deeseeded
1 1/2 cups good quality olive oil
2 large sweet Spanish onions, peeled and finely diced
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp Pimientón (Spanish sweet paprika, smoked)
1 tsp chilli powder (hot or whatever you prefer
1 bay leaf (laurel)

Method:

After skinning, scrape the seeds from the tomatoes into a sieve set over a bow (using a small spoon) cover and leave to “drip”. Blitz the tomatoes, add the juices from the seeds (I do this because the “water” is tasty, although it does prolong the cooking time)

Place a non stick pan over a medium to low flame, add the olive oil

Add the chopped onions,caster sugar and sea salt, fry slowly … stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or spatula … until the onions become tender and turn a light golden brown – this should take around five minutes, then add the tomatoes and stir, bring up to heat

Add the pimentón, chilli powder and bay leaf

Reduce to heat to medium-low and cook for about 20 minutes, stir occasionaly to ensure the sauce does not stick or burn

When ready the tomatoes will break down, colour of the sauce will deepen and the sauce will split, ie the oil will separate from the tomatoes

Push through a sieve, bottle and cap, refrigate until ready to cook. It is best to prepare the sauce only a short time before use

This is a very simple plum sauce I threw together when I had an abundance of plums – the local market was selling end of season plums for 1 euro for 2 kilos!

Ingredients

1 kilo of plums (preferably very ripe)
100g of Sugar
100ml of water

Wash and de-stone the plums. Throw them in a pan with the water and sugar. Cook on a low heat until they fall. Push through a fine mesh and cool.

Wonderful served with yoghurt, ice creams or anything else that takes your fancy. My most recent is a tart version of the plum sauce served as a sauce for Pavalova (my very own creation!)

Flour Рthis can be used in three ways to make a roux, a beurre mani̩ or simply mixed with water or milk.

• Roux – this is made by melting the butter and mixing in the flour then cooking over a medium heat for 5 minutes. The “classic” recipes tend to call for equal quantities of fat to flour but many prefer more fat than flour which not only gives a richer flavour but also allows the roux to be combined with the liquid far easier. I prefer a lighter sauce and on average use 37 grams of butter to 30 grams of flour per half litre of liquid.
• Beurre manié – basically as above but normally used to add to sauces already made that may need extra thickening. This is a French term ie Beurre – butter, manié – handled – so named as it is normally made by mixing the flour and cold butter together to form a paste.
• Water/milk – flour and liquid combined – water is mainly used to thicken gravies for roast meats, milk to for a quick and easy way to thicken milk based sauces, ie for a simple cheese sauce where you do not have sufficient time to make it using the traditional classic white sauce.

Cornflour – mixed with water or other liquid, this may be used for thickening most sauces, but normally reserved for reduction sauces ie sauces where the liquid (stock, wine etc) is simmered until reduced. Once the liquid is ready and has boiled, removed from heat then add the mixture slowly, while whisking quickly; it will thicken almost instantly so take care not to add too much.

Arrowroot – this is used in the same way as cornflour with the added advantage that it will add a nice “sheen” to the sauce and will not dilute the sauce’s colour. Arrowroot does tend to “clarify” liquid into which it is introduced. This is especially good for fruit sauces but may not be so effective for a sauce of gravy that is meat-based. Many also think It gives the sauce an artificial appearance.

It is extremely difficult to thin down sauces thickened with either arrowroot or cornflour, so it is wise to take care.

In addition to the above, many who do not like sauces thickened with flour resort to using dried potato flakes. When the sauce is nearly read, potato flakes are sprinkled onto the cooking liquid and whisked or stirred in. The sauce must not be left on the heat after it has begun to thicken as apparently it ceases to work and the sauce will become thin again.

In many of my recipes you will often hear me mention using a tomato frito, which we often buy ready made here in Spain. However, in case you do not have this option and would like to try how much richer it makes a dish, please feel free to use the following recipe.

Ingredients
1 kg very ripe tomatoes [or equivalent tinned tomatoes]
3 tbs of olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 medium onion
Salt
Basil
1 clove garlic (optional)

Method
1. Heat the oil in a frying pan, and gently fry off the chopped onion and garlic for three to four minutes.

2. Peel and chop the tomatoes [try dropping the tomatoes in boiling water for around a minute to make them easier to peel] and then add them to the frying pan [you can use tinned tomatoes in place of fresh ones if you wish].

2. Mash tomatoes, onions and garlic as they cook to help release the flavours. Cook for around 15 mins on a medium heat.

3. Once cooked, take off the heat and liquidise. Season with the salt and sugar.

This sauce is perfect for serving with meatballs, over pasta or even cold with tortilla espanola! Or better still in one of my own recipes

This is my own recipe made up on the cuff one fine Christmas day several year ago.

Its transpired transpired because I lacked a recipe at the time – and once we had it this way no other recipe would do. Once you have tasted homemade cranberry sauce you’ll never buy the readymade again! Personally I love to experiment with my own ideas, and this was a definite winner with my family.

Ingredients

1 orange
175g/5oz caster sugar
5 tbsp Red Wine [approximate, I tend to slosh red wine in..]
359g/12oz cranberries, fresh or frozen

Instructions

1. Place cranberries in pan, grate over the zest of the one orange, and add the juice. Throw in the red wine [4tbsp or a good slosh, depending on what you fancy]
2. Cook for 8-10 minutes [longer if you are using frozen cranberries] until the fruit is soft and the juices thick
3. Add further 1tbsp of red wine or another good slosh. Serve warm or cold