Ajo Blanco

Soak the bread in cold water for 5 minutes. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Combine the almonds, bread, and garlic in a food processor and blend until smooth. With the motor still running, slowly pour in the olive oil until a smooth paste is formed. Add in the cold water and the vinegar. Process until the mixture is thin and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the mixture into a large bowl. Float the grapes on the top of the soup. Cover and chill in the refrigerator (or instead of water previously, add ice cubes). To serve, pour the soup into individual soup bowls and garnish with the toasted almond slivers and chopped parsley, if desired.

Baked Apples

Core the apples with an apple corer. Mix together all the other ingredients. Stuff the apples with the mixture and brush with any leftover mixture. Bake for approx. 45 minutes, in a preheated oven at 190C. Drizzle with the juice from the tray and serve with ice cream.

Duck with Olives

Make cross diagonal slashes on the skin of each breast. Season with salt and pepper and put them skin side down in a heavy based frying pan, along with the shallots. Turn on the heat. As it gets hot, the duck fat will start to melt and fry the breasts. When the skin is golden brown (4min), turn them over until golden on the meat side. Transfer to a baking tray skin-side downand pour out the excess fat from the pan, reserving it. Deglaze the pan with the sherry, add the olives and the stock. Let the liquid reduce to a syrupy glaze. Return the breasts and shallots to the pan, cover and cook over a low heat for a further 4-6 minutes, until the meat is medium-rare.;In another frying pan, sautée the chopped garlic with 2 tbsp of duck fat. Add the partially drained chickpeas and mash them with a fork to a thick purée. Season with salt, pepper and parsley.;Cut the duck breasts crosswise into 5mm slices and serve on a plate covered with the olive sauce and garnished with the mash and shallots.

Easy Seafood Paella

Cook the shells of the prawns in 2 litres water. Reserve the tails. In another pot, steam the mussels in 2cm of boiling water for about 5 min, until they open. Discard any that don’t. Strain the cooking broth and mix with the shrimp broth. In a small bowl let the saffron infuse with some of this hot stock. In a paella pan (or heavy-based frying pan), cook the chopped onion in oil. Add chopped garlic, peeled, seeded and diced tomatoes, seeded and diced green pepper. Add the squid cut into rings and, as they change colour and dry a bit, the rice. Stir for 2 minutes. Season, pour the saffron broth and finish covering with the hot prawn/mussel broth. Bring it to a boil, turn down the heat to a simmer and cook for about 20min, adding more broth if necessary. Don`t stir the rice anymore. Add the prawns in the last 4min. Decorate with the red pepper cut in ribbons, chopped parsley, the mussels and the peas. Cover with aluminium foil and rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

Escalivada (Charred Vegetables Salad)

Originally, theses vegetables would have been charred over hot coals. To make in the oven, preheat it to 250C/450F. Slice the tomatoes and courgette in 4, lengthwise, the onions into chunks, halve, seed and cut the peppers in thick slices. Cut the squash into thick chunks, cross cut the fennel in 4. Smash the garlic cloves with skin on. Put all the vegetables, except the tomatoes, in a pan in one layer. Mix the lemon juice with the olive oil and pour over the vegetables, seasoning with salt and pepper. Toss well. Sprinkle with thyme sprigs and roast for 20min. Toss in the tomatoes and cook for a further 15min, until slightly charred around the edges.

Fried Squid with Aioli (Garlic Mayonnaise)

For the aioli, grate or smash the garlic to a purée. Add a good pinch of salt. In a food processor (or in a bowl with an egg beater), beat it with the egg yolks and lemon juice. Then, start adding the olive oil, a drop at a time, until half of it is gone and it thickens lightly. Then, you can beat in the rest a bit more quickly, until very thick. Cut the bodies of the squid into rings and the tentacles into bitesize pieces. Place in a bowl, pour 2 tbsp of olive oil, the paprika and season with pepper. Toss the squid in the flour, get rid of the excess and deep fry it in batches in very hot oil (180C), until just golden. Drain on kitchen paper and season with salt.

Gazpacho

Peel the tomatoes: cut a cross under each, plunge in boiling water for about 30 seconds and transfer to a bowl of iced water. The skins should come off easily. Seed and chop them, along with the green pepper. Peel the garlic cloves, cut in half and remove the germ. First, blend the green pepper, onion and garlic with a small amount of water. Then, gradually add the tomatoes. Next, pour in the olive oil and finish blending the bread (maybe you’ll have to do this in batches), which will thicken and stabilize the mixture. Season with the vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Chill in the fridge or add some ice cubes.

Peel and dice the cucumber and serve it with the Gazpacho, along with the croutons.

Grilled Lemon Sole

Preheat the oven for 30min. Turn on the grill to maximum. Trim the fins and tail from the sole. Butter a baking tray and make a bed with lemon slices. Make 5mm deep scores on each side of the fish. Let the butter soften and rub it all over the sole, seasoning with salt and pepper. Place it over the lemon bed and put the tray under the grill. Bake for about 10min, until the flesh pulls away from the bone. Baste the fish with the butter during cooking. Serve with lemon wedges.

Piquillos Rellenos

Drain the peppers and reserve the liquid. Pat them dry with kitchen paper. In a frying pan, sauté the chopped garlic with the drained beans, reserving the bean’s liquid. Mash with a fork to a thick purée. Add a little of the beans water if necessary to form the paste. Add the vinegar and season well with salt and pepper. Leave to cool and then stuff the piquillos with this paste. Sprinkle with thyme and serve with the greens.

Prawn Croquettes

Let the butter soften outside the fridge. Mix it with the flour and cool again. In a medium saucepan boil the milk with the prawns. Strain and reheat. Add the cold butter/flour mixture, stirring until it melts completely. When it boils, stir in the tomato paste and simmer for about 10min, stirring until it thickens. The end result should be quite thick, but still creamy. Chop and add the prawns back to the mixture, spread it onto a baking tray and cool. Take a scant tablespoon of the mixture and form into croquetas, 3×5cm (1 1/2×2 inch) cylinders. Roll each one in the breadcrumbs, then coat in the beaten egg, and roll in the breadcrumbs again. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pan until the temperature reaches 180C/350F or a cube of bread turns golden brown in 20-30 seconds. Fry in batches of no more than 3 or 4 for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Remove with a slatted spoon, drain on kitchen paper and serve immediately.