Papas aliñadas / Simple Cadiz-style potato salad

This is one of those dishes that seem super simple but where the homemade version never quite measures up to the one served in restaurants (or in this case, bars). I stopped making this at home a few years ago because my efforts, while always perfectly good, fell disappointingly short of what I was aiming for.

Was there some missing ingredient? Some magic technique? Did the Spanish hospitality business have access to a mystery supply of a unique variety of potato?

Satisfyingly, I think I've cracked it. The key:  the right kind of potatoes (when Spanish recipes say 'new' they don't mean what we understand to be 'new potatoes' in English; they just mean ones that have been harvested relatively recently); cook the potatoes in their skins and peel them afterwards; use a lot of oil; add the onion and parsley just before serving.

Ingredients

700 g of white potatoes (Maris piper work well)

1 teaspoon of coarsely ground salt

100 ml of good quality olive oil

30 ml of sherry vinegar

100 g of mild onion

plenty of fresh parsley (about 2 tablespoons?)

Method

1. Steam or boil the potatoes in their skins until just done. Peel, chop into large chunks (about 2 cm).
2. Combine the potatoes, salt, oil and vinegar in a large bowl.
3. Roughly chop the onion (it's there for flavour, not to be eaten), finely chop the parsley and add to the potatoes just before you serve.

Beef with broccoli

This recipe is a slightly tweaked version of the one on the magnificent Chinese food blog Woks of Life.

Ingredients

500 g of beef steak
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
50 ml water

for the marinade
2 teaspoons of cornflour
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
2 teaspoons of oyster sauce

for the sauce
100 ml chicken stock
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
a few grinds of pepper

500g of tenderstem broccoli or broccoli florets
vegetable oil for frying
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 inch of garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of Shaoxing wine (or use dry white wine)
1 tablespoon of cornflour, mixed with 2 tablespoons of cold water

Method

1. Slice the beef into fine strips (use a very sharp knife and chill the meat for 30 minutes in the freezer beforehand - or just buy beef that has already been cut for stir-frying).
2. Put the beef in a large bowl, add the baking soda and water, massage the mix into the beef, mix the marinade ingredients, add to the beef, and leave to tenderize for at least 30 minutes.
3. Combine all the sauce ingredients.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, blanch the broccoli quickly - no more than 1 minute - strain and set aside.
5. Once the beef has tenderized, fry it in batches in a very hot wok for two to three minutes. (You'll probably need to do at least four batches.) Set aside.
6. Heat a little oil in the wok, add the garlic and ginger, fry for a few seconds, add the Shaoxing wine, then add the sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer.
7. Next, add the cornflour and water mixture, and cook briefly to thicken the sauce.
8. Turn the heat up to full, add the beef, stir well to coat and cook for a minute or so, before adding the broccoli.

Hummus

Ingredients

60 g tahini
juice of 1 lemon
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
60 ml water
30 ml olive oil
400g tin of chickpeas, drained, reserve the water

Method

1. Combine all of the ingredients except for the chickpeas, in a food processor or nutribullet and blend very thoroughly for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the chickpeas, blend for another minute or so until very smooth.