Morcilla & Caremalised Apples

That was sensational! So said Vicki at being presented with some spanish blood pudding cooked with apples and cider. High praise indeed but she was not wrong.

I bought the morcilla at Brindisa on Saturday, wanting to do tapassy things Tuesday night for dinner as they are the kind of food that is hard to come by in the otherwise food fabulous Singapore. Was thinking I'd just fry thick slices till crispy and serve it up - quality ingredients simply done and all that. Then I had a sudden panic that perhaps the lovely Vicki doesn't eat such meaty delights, or perhaps not plain. A quick flick through the Moro Cookbook yielded this elegant sounding recipe which simply needed me to find some golden delicious apples. Which surprised me a little as I had thought they were just an eating apple rather than one to cook with. But hey, Sam & Sam know a lot more than me.

http://www.orangepippin.com/, a site that knows a lot about apples, says the variety was first discovered in the USA at the end of the 19th century, and is now planted in all the major warm apple growing areas of the world. From a grower's perspective Golden Delicious is an attractive proposition - heavy crops, and fruit which keeps in storage for a long time after harvest. This would be of little interest to consumers, but it does have some redeeming features ! The fruit (when fresh from the tree) is exceptionally sweet, almost like eating raw sugar cane. It can be used both for dessert and cooking purposes, and it also has an attractive appearance - which can indeed be golden if left to mature on the tree.

Being literal minded at times I searched through the ones on display at the Farringdon Fruit Shop and chose those closest to the notion of golden. They cooked up very well indeed, ending up a deep golden colour after about ten minutes in the pan. Frying them in butter resulted in exquisitely rich pieces of apple, not sweet at all but like pie almost, with a melting texture that contrasted beautifully with the dense pudding and all of it served on a bed of rocket fresh from our little garden.

Morcilla & Caremalised Apples

50g ghee or clarified butter

2 golden delicious apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths

2 tbspoons olive oil

200g morcilla, cut into rounds about 1 cm thick

2 tbspns roughly chopped parsley

75ml medium-dry cider

Set a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the ghee. When it has melted add the apple slices and gently fry until golden brown on one side, then flip them over and do the same on the other side. Cook unitl the apple is soft and golden all over. This takes about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Wash the pan.

When you are ready to serve the dish place the cleaned frying pan over a medium to high heat and add the oil. When it is hot add the morcilla and fry for a minute on each side until slightly crisped, turning carefully. Return the apple to the pan and add the parsley, then the cider, taking care as it might spit. Continue to fry for 30 seconds to burn off the alcohol, then taste for seasoning.

Sam and Sam Clark recommend serving on a bed of lightly dressed cress but rocket worked a treat.

How can you resist? Sensational!