Leg Of Chicken In Cava Sauce, Black Pudding And Cashel Blue Crostini, Jambon De Savoie With Melon

The problem, if you want to call it that, with summer is that this hot weather encourages the eating of salads. The problem with salads is that they are salads. Now now don't start flipping out dear reader, I like salads - in fact I probably like them a lot, but they are no substitute for some hot, non-salad food. I have never really found it 'too hot to eat'. Even if it is a hot sticky day and I get a whiff from the local Thai take-away or even the smell from a BBQ, I can safely say, that I do not under any circumstances utter to myself 'ooh I would love some lettuce right now'. Nope, give a steaming hot bowl of noodles or a burger the size of my head, with some lettuce and tomato of course.

In this weeks fascinating tapas entry, we tried to combine the delicate and light, with the rich and heavy. Tried I said!!



After a busy week of hot stickiness, there is no better dish suited to this weeks Tapas Friday than Melon and what we hoped would be Serrano Ham. Sadly, it seemed everyone else in Dublin had the same idea as Salty Squid and I found it hard - well impossible - well I only tried one place but I was in a rush, it was hot and I didn't fancy going on a Serrano-Hunt. We were forced to settle on a French Jambon de Savoie and personally, I am not the greatest Parma ham fan. I like it, but...and there is a but. If that makes sense. Which it doesn't. For a change.

Now to insult your intelligence, chop your melon. Remove the seeds and fold, throw, catapult your chosen ham onto the same plate/board/table and munch away like a little mouse eating a nut. Or maybe I mean squirrel. Eating a nut that is, not being eaten by a mouse.

Some good free-range or organic chicken legs are essential. Brown the legs in a hot pan on both sides with a good bit of seasoning. Remove and set aside. Next cook off a chopped shallot and some garlic until soft. Add some white wine vinegar, mustard and Cava. Let it come to a boil and reduce the heat and simmer for a minute. Give it a good season – lots of black pepper. Next add a touch of cream and then re-add the chicken and a good bit of thyme or tarragon or parsley. Stick it into the oven for about 20 mins to cook the chicken – adding a touch more Cava and some lemon juice at the end. Some nice bread to mop up the sauce is highly recommended.

Alternatively for a vegetarian option, omit the chicken, shallot, cream, garlic, whatever 'erb you chose and white wine vinegar and the cooking. Simply serve the Cava in a glass like object, preferably a glass.

A summer dish it is not. In fact this little slice of brilliance is so comforting you almost get the impression it WANTS to give you a big hug, if it had arms. But again, that's probably the Cava working it's magic on my hungry self.

Get some really nice black pudding – we got ours from our local friendly butcher. Some good blue is also required and we hear at Salty Squid are always trying to find the cheapest way of producing these meals – we had some Cashel Blue frozen – it did the job perfectly.

Fry off some slices of black pud and arrange them onto of some sliced baguette– which also came from our local freezer (cha-ching!), and top with the blue cheese. Stick it under a hot grill for a minute. Serve with home made red onion relish – which we didn’t have. I forgot the red onions. But we had a pear so I just cooked it with some butter and cinnamon and a sarcasm of honey.

Shopping List
Chicken legs €3.00
Black Pudding €1.20
Melon €2.50
Cream €1.30
Shallots €0.60
Jambon de Savoie €4.22
.........................................................
Total €12.82

Drinks:
Cuvee Des Contis, 2009, 14%
Rosé da Peceguina, 2009, 13.5%

On the stereo:
Basement Jaxx, Vuvuzelas