It’s not just in the cooking time either. How many times have you heard people say “It tastes even better the next day!”? With most stews or sauces, giving them time lets the flavours combine and develop into something deeper and more subtle.

I recently made a quick Spanish bean tapas dish (don’t worry the recipe will be on here soon!) and although it was being eaten that evening by adding the beans when the sauce was cooked out by letting it go cold then reheating about an hour later the sauce had developed a much better flavour and the beans had had time to soak up the sauce.

That short amount of time gave a huge payoff when eating the finished dish.

Let’s get complicated…

Complexity is what it’s all about. When a wet dish with several ingredients is given time, the flavours meld together and become more complex and yet fully rounded the layers of flavour becoming more blurred while still being individually noticeable.

I have a little trick with curries in particular chicken and seafood, what I do is make my curry sauce and let it go stone cold. Then I add the raw meat and pop the pan in the fridge and use the sauce as a marinade. Hours later you simply heat up the curry until the raw ingredients have cooked through. Not only does this improve the depth of flavour, it is also a very handy technique if you have guests coming over.

So why not give it a try? Next time you are making a pasta sauce, chilli, curry or stew try letting it go cold then reheat and see if you notice a distinct difference over how the recipe usually turns out…

I would love to know if you tried this method, please remember to let me know in the comments below.

Michael Robinson

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The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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The post Time – The Secret Ingredient appeared first on Food on the Blog. Post by The Food Curator

This is easy to make and great value too as we will use pork shoulder steaks, a good marbling of fat means this is a really tasty yet cheap cut of meat.

This stew has bags of flavour thanks to sweet smoked paprika power which has a rich, deep and warming taste. It is a real exotic spice which is really useful to have in the kitchen cupboard.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 5-600G x Pork shoulder steaks
• 1 x Large onion
• 1x Large green pepper
• 2 x Cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 x Teaspoons of sweet smoked paprika
• 1 x Teaspoon red or white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
• 1 x Level teaspoon of sea salt
• ½ x Teaspoon of white pepper
• 3 x Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 x Tablespoons plain white flour

Method

Preheat your oven to 160C (320F or Gas Mark 3)

First quarter your onion and pepper then slice medium to thin. Add the olive oil to a frying pan and place on the hob on a low heat. Add the sliced onion and peppers and slowly sauté until soft.

When done add them to a lidded casserole dish.

Chunk up your pork steaks into pieces about 1 inch (2.5cm) square. Toss the pieces of meat in the flour, heat up the frying pan a little and fry them until they go completely change colour. Don’t worry about getting the meat brown, we want that flour and oil to bind and thicken our stew.

Once done add to the casserole dish along with the salt, pepper, sweet paprika, vinegar and garlic. Stir together well and add about 150-200ml (9 fl oz) of cold water. Now stir it through again.

Once combined, add the lid to the casserole dish and place in the oven.

Cook for about 3 hours. We want that pork to have absorbed all of those flavours and become fall apart tender.

If you want to make this in a slow cooker then by all means do, just follow the cookers instructions.

Serve with potatoes or rice. In those bars in Spain it always comes with French fries, yes stew and chips who would have though it!

This is a great dish to bring some Spanish sunshine into your week

Remember to tell me how this stew worked out for you in the comments below.

Michael Robinson

Author information

The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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The post Spanish Pork Stew Recipe appeared first on Food on the Blog. Post by The Food Curator

For 2 good portions you will need:

• 1 tblsp olive oil
• 200g/8oz chorizo for cooking (prob 4 sausages), cut into 1/3rds
• 2 medium onions, very rough chopped
• ½ green bell pepper, rough chopped
• ½ red bell pepper, rough chopped
• 2 medium carrots, halved & chopped
• ½ medium aubergine/eggplant, rough chopped
• 2 cloves garlic (ideally smoked), crushed & chopped
• ½ 400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp each smoked paprika and crushed pink peppercorns 
• ½ tsp each cumin, caraway, coriander & sea salt or use Moroccan seasoning for all spices
• 125ml/4 fl oz red wine

Method:
Sauté the onion in the olive oil over medium heat in a large frying pan/skillet, till starting to brown.
Add garlic, carrots, peppers, aubergine/eggplant and spice.
Stir well and continue cooking.
In a small separate frying pan/skillet dry fry the chorizo (ie no oil) until cooked & brown, about 6 minutes.
Add the chorizo to the vegetables along with the red wine & bubble till wine is evaporated.
Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.
Serve in soup bowls on its own or on a bed of couscous, sprinkle with smoked paprika.

Enjoy!

Chorizo is ideal if you want to create a tapas style appetiser or starter. Either whole or sliced cooking chorizo cooked in an oven proof dish and served on cocktail sticks, so easy! Or slice and pierce on small bamboo skewers with onion and peppers and grill.

Author information

Karen Kennaby

Karen Kennaby is the Intuitive Food Coach. She helps people, primarily women, discover the best foods & eating pattern for them so they feel & look AMAZING!
“The focus is very much on delicious, beautiful & healthy food. For the last 9 years I’ve chosen real food, moderately low carb diet & maintained my weight all that time – plus no tummy aches, no bloating etc"
I am excited to tell you about: 'Around the Table with Karen'... I believe a lot of life goes on around the table…meaningful 121 conversations, group discussions, interviews, coaching, relationships developing, preparing & sharing food, eating, and more! Around the Table with Karen covers all this.
Click here for more information on Karen.

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The post Spanish Style Chorizo Stew appeared first on Food on the Blog. Post by Karen Kennaby