The Kitchen Escape

With Christmas on the horizon and a sudden change in the weather, my heart is pulled towards the kitchen. After watching countless Nigella Lawson videos on Youtube my desire to cook has been re-ignited and now you can be certain that at any given time, food will be on my mind. From spending hours drawing up a Christmas baking list to finding the perfect recipe for apple pie, my entire being is itching to get home and bake. Christmas cake, yule log, gingerbread cookies, mince pies; these are all of the things I long to make but cannot,because I’m in Madrid and that rich British baking somehow, just doesn’t belong here. No, the currants, raisons, cinnamon and pastry will have to wait until I’m home, in my English kitchen, where they’ll be appreciated in all of their sticky, sickly, comforting glory.

However, although I’m restraining myself from baking those Christmas classics, I’ve thrown myself into cooking some Spanish winter favourites. So everything is either spiked with paprika or left simmering reassuringly on the stove for hours; both approaches resulting in a dish with a deep warmth, perfect for a cold winters day. Here is one such recipe and I christen it…Lentils From the Heart.

All I did was cut the meat from five large raw chicken thighs and a couple of legs. I then cooked the bones together with leeks and onion for about 40 minutes to make a really delicious stock. Once the stock was ready I browned my chicken with some garlic and onion before removing it from the pan and setting aside. Then I just chucked in some brown lentils, added stock and cooked for twenty minutes before returning the chicken, together with a can of tomatoes to simmer away happily for a further half an hour. The result is so deliciously warming, hearty and chickeny that even a very fussy pair of children will gobble it down!

Right, now it’s time to do some Spanish homework for my class tomorrow (yes, I finally started!) and organise sightseeing for my parent’s visit on Saturday – very exciting!

Adios x