Grilled asparagus

From Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batali's book on Spain, a Culinary Trip, I took this recipe of asparagus, which I grilled with 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a cast iron pan at high temperature for about 4 minutes. Then to a plate and I squeezed on them some drops from a lemon and sprinkled sea salt: to the plate it went and then I ate it with great pleasure. Simplicity, few quality ingredients, the great flavors of Spanish cuisine.

Brownies

For Christmas time I cooked this indulgent recipe of brownies which I got from the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/womans-hour/cooktheperfect/perfect/brownies/). I preheated the oven to 350 F. I lined a glass baking tray with parchment paper. In a double boiler I heated 225 grams (2 bars) of chopped dark chocolate with 150 grams (10.5 tbs) of unsalted butter. In a large bowl I beat with an electric hand mixer 3 eggs, 125 grams of sugar (0.4 cup) and 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract from Madagascar, then I added a pinch of sea salt, 50 grams of all-purpose flour and 100 grams (1.25 cup) of chopped pecan, mixing it all very well. Finally I poured in the chocolate-butter mixture, kept mixing everything together and adorned with whole pecans once I put it inside the glass baking tray. I put it in the preheated oven and left it there for about 23 minutes, checking it to make sure it was barely done, puffy and crusty in the outside but moist in the inside. I took it out, let it cool and cut it into pieces with a knife. Served with vanilla ice cream, it provided a sweet and delicious treat for the Christmas days. 

Merry Christmas!

Caramelized pecans

What about some caramelized pecans to accompany your vanilla ice cream for dessert? In a pan I heated about 1/4 cup of brown sugar and a little glass of water, then added 1/2 cup of pecans and they started bubbling after some minutes, and then as a magic touch I poured a little bit of honey and a drop of Sherry vinegar. Then I took them off with the skimmer and let them cool off on a sheet of parchment baking paper. So indulgent and yummy!

Pisto manchego (grilled ratatouille)

Last Saturday was Saint Francis Xavier, my Saint's day, so I got a cook book as a present. It's Spain, a culinary road trip, by Mario Batali with Gwyneth Paltrow. So, to celebrate I made the first recipe of the book: the pisto manchego, which is a sort of grilled ratatouille. I put half the ingredients and then I realized I could have even reduced them even more since I had leftovers for some days after, it was so yummy anyway. I put 2 ripe plum tomatoes, half a medium to large eggplant, 2 red bell peppers and a red onion and rubbed them with 2 tablespoons of olive oil inside a baking tray. I roasted them in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes. I cooled them off outside, removed the skin as much as I could from the tomatoes and peeled the onions, scooped out the flesh of the eggplant and roughly chopped the vegetables, and finally chopped them a little bit more in a blender with 1/4 cup of Spanish olive oil (Goya brand from Seville). I seasoned the dish on the plates with salt and pepper and served it on toasted bread. It's a little different from the pisto gallego or andaluz that I usually make, but gorgeous and flavourful anyway.
Maybe next time I'll have a glass of red wine from La Mancha to go with it to make it perfect.

¡Buen provecho!

Chimichurri pork steaks

Listening to the tango rhythms of Argentina one evening I decided to make this dish of chimichurri sauce pork steaks. So I bought 4 little pork steaks at Buschs supermarket and grilled them in a pan with a tiny bit of olive oil, about 3 tablespoons. For the chimichurri sauce I bought this spice bag at World Market:
http://www.worldmarket.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11500210
for just two bucks. In a small glass I poured a little bit of olive oil, about a third of it of Sherry vinegar and 2 tablespoons of the chimichurri sauce flakes. The ingredients of the spice bag, by the way, were: garlic, parsley, oregano and sweet pepper flakes (maybe next time I'll prepare the mix myself). Once the steaks were golden brown, medium rare, I took them off the pan and to the plates and sprinkled them with the sauce helped with a teaspoon. I accompanied the dish with some sweet potato fries, which I fried in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. I'm not eating that much red meat lately, so the taste to my mouth was like heaven, wow, I felt like a gaucho in the middle of the pampa, haha. I had an excellent red wine to go with it: I should've chosen a Mendoza or something but I had a good old Rioja (Lan brand) this time, which can never go wrong.

Autumn pasta

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/comer-y-cantar/comer-cantar-spaguetti-otono-castanas-setas-albahaca-20-11-10/936415/

Not long ago, for dinner I cooked this gorgeous Autumn pasta dish full of decadent colors like orange, brown and ocher. I bought fresh pasta in the supermarket, some Italian linguine and boiled them in a saucepan for a couple of minutes (counting from the second the water started to bubble). I set them apart and refreshed them in cool tap water before adding to the rest of the dish. I pour in a blender some olive oil, some leaves of fresh basil and a big clove of garlic and mixed it to a sauce that I used to fry the rest of the ingredients in a pan: a peeled and chopped sweet potato, finely chopped mushrooms (a difficult word for me, since I always called them champiñones) and roasted, peeled and chopped chestnuts. When they started turning golden, I poured in the pasta and a glass of heavy whipping cream and let a sauce be formed in the heat for about 1 minute and a half, no more, as you want that carbonara texture, light brown in this case. Before serving I refreshed in mixing the whole thing with a whipped egg white.

 Seasonsetional!

Mushroom and shrimp lasagna

Last weekend I made for dinner this dish of lasagna whose recipe I got from the Spanish radio:

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/comer-y-cantar/comer-cantar-lasana-setas-gambas-29-10-11/1236298/

In a pan I lightly fried in very little olive oil some sliced mushrooms, chopped shallots basil leaves and shrimps, then I added 2 spoons of flour, and then 2 small glasses of milk, salt and pepper, stirring all the time. Out of the fire I added 2 egg yolks to make it more creamy. In a separate saucepan I boiled 9 lasagna panels in water with a bit of olive oil and bay leaves. I put the beds and layers of lasagna panels in an oiled metal pan filled with the 2 stairs of mushroom-shrimp-salsa, and the top floor I sprinkled with salsa and grated parmesan and Mahón cheeses. To the oven at 390 for about 10-12 minutes until golden.

  Not bad at all for being my first lasagna. Quite tasty and Autumny...

Salmon and bacon bites

To Kashi, in memoriam

Last weekend we went to the Windy City and had a great time as usual, running up and down the streets having fun. We had lunch at Fado's Irish pub and ate a delicious dish called salmon bites:

http://www.fadoirishpub.com/chicago/main-menuSmoked Salmon Bites

$8.95

Traditional cold oak-smoked salmon on crisp boxty “blini” with capers, onions, light horseradish sauce and lemon.

It was unusually delicate for the normal deal you get at a pub, quite tasty indeed, so I decided to cook it as soon as we came back. When I took the first bite I didn't notice it was a blinis based delicacy and thought it had bacon. So in my dinner imitation this is what I did:
Listening to piping music (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search?q=piping%20music), I sliced a small whole grain baguette and toasted the slices very lightly. I spread light horseradish sauce on them, put on some Spanish capers and sliced white onion. I fried some bacon slices and rolled pieces of dill sprinkled salmon around them, which I finally set on the aforementioned bread ship.
The result was magnificent, tasting quite similar to the pub's, a little bit like sushi, a little bit spicy, really flavourful. Our beloved kitty Kashi (the leader of the sleeping team) would have loved it and licked her tongue in anticipation and delight.

Bon appétit!

Crab cake sandwiches

Some evenings for dinner I toast two slices of bread, sprinkle some olive oil on them and lay in between either fresh cheese or Philadelphia cheese and a big slice of smoked salmon. It's one typical montadito or small sandwich which is served at tapas bars in Spain. This time I got some crab cakes from the Buschs supermarket and I layed them between toasted slices of bread previously sprinlked very lightly with oilve oil, mayonnaise, and with a layer bed of sliced tomatoes and onions:

Et voilà, a tasty little sandwich treat for dinner, simple and delicious.

Arranque - Start

One evening last month, as a farewell to the bright summer season, I made an Arranque, to start up the following morning with energy and zest. So, following roughly this cool recipe from the province of Cádiz (http://www.cosasdecome.es/recetas-tipicas-de-la-provincia/arranque/) I put in a blender to roughly chop 4 medium ripe tomatoes, 4 small green peppers, 3 cloves of garlic, a good piece of bread previously soaked in water, 125 mililiters of Spanish olive oil and a pinch of salt. It shouldn't be too liquid, thats why you don't add water and don't blend it too much. And this kind of primitive gazpacho without vinegar tasted like heaven when I woke up that Saturday morning at around 11 am, and I could feel as a sheperd or a hunter in the middle of their country endeavours. A delicious rush of strength in the palate.

Cuban style rice

http://www.rocio.es/recetas/arroz_cubana.html
Basically I boiled the rice (about 1 cup or less, maybe half for 2 people) and then served with olive oiled and parsleyed glass molds in two plates. I heated a can of tomato sauce and fried 4 eggs and 4 peeled and floured bananas and served it like this:

I like to cook it and eat it listening to flamenco versions of Cuban music to match this Spanish dish of Cuban inspiration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNSAM6yV3m0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APegkss_8jA

Cuba was the jewel of the Spanish crown, so when we lost it in 1898 it was a heartbreaker, but Cuba remains in the heart and imagination of the Spanish people as probably the most beloved foreign country in the world and a land of dreams. I love the Spanish saying: Más se perdió en Cuba y volvieron cantando. (More was lost in Cuba and they came back singing) to console yourself whenever you have a big upset or disappointment in life, it's funny! I like to taste dishes like this and listen to flamenco guajiras imagining myself walking the beautiful streets of La Habana smoking a big Cuban cigar and wandering like a bohemian artist in Paradise...

Peppers stuffed with blood sausage

I got a medium to small onion blood sausage, peeled and sliced it, and then fried the pieces in a pan with olive oil. I heated in a saucepan a can of tomato sauce mixed with 2 big tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. Then I stuffed two big red piquillo peppers with the sausage, put it on an iron pan over which I poured the sauce, sprinkled the peppers with olive oil, and to the oven at about 340 degrees fahrenheit (170 celsius) for a while.

A simple tappa that we ate for dinner and transported us back to beautiful Andalusia.

Madeleines (French magdalenas/muffins)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/womans-hour/cooktheperfect/perfect/madeleines/

Another evening I searched for lost things in my memory and made the classic madeleines, roughly following the aforementioned BBC website.
I fried in a pan on low heat 2 oz (60 grams=4 tablespoons) of lightly salted butter. Then I whisked in a large bowl 1 egg, 1/4 cup sugar, and added to keep mixing 1/4 cup flour (sifted), 1/4 cup ground almonds (sifted too) and 1 lemon zested. When it was super well mixed I added and whisked the nutted butter which smelled wonderfully aromatic. I let the mixture sit for an hour and then filled the paper molds with it and put it in the oven for about 14 minutes at about 375 Fahrenheit (about 190 Celsius).

I felt like Proust tasting a merienda which was not at all uncouth nor devoid of delicacy, but a dainty treat whose impression was bound to remain associated with the magdalenas of my childhood with hot Cola-Cao, manzanilla or yerbaluisa and the company of my grandmother.

Classic vanilla ice cream

One day I decided to make the simplest ice cream, the classic vanilla. So I whisked in a large bowl 1 cup whole milk with 3/4 cup granulated sugar and a pinch of sea salt, stirring then 2 cups heavy whipping cream and 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract from Uganda. When it was well mixed I poured it in a Tupperware and put it in the refrigerator for 2 hours, got it out and then into the ice cream maker for 15 minutes after which I added some Spanish caramelized pecan nuts for 5 more minutes rolling around.
(http://www.cuisinart.com/share/pdf/manuals/ice-21_recipe.pdf)

It was the finest helado, with a silky texture and a delicate flavour. Sublime!

Spicy garlic shrimp (gambas al ajillo)

I peeled about 300 grams of shrimp and fried them in a pan with olive oil, adding also 5 peeled and chopped garlic cloves and crushed chili peppers (3 tablespoons) until it sizzled with a smell that made me want to sneeze (as if I were eating wasabied sushi) and the shrimp were turning golden brown. I served it very hot. Ideally they would be served in brown clay little plates or pots. So deliciously simple! Dipping white bread in the spicy sauce is one of my favourite things...

Pistachio ice cream

This is one of my favourite flavours for the summer. I like very much the one by Haagen Dazs. This time I decided to do it homemade myself. I followed roughly the recipe of Emeryl on the foodnetwork website:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/pistachio-ice-cream-recipe/index.html
So I grinded in a blender 1 cup of unsalted shelled roasted pistachios and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. I boiled in a saucepan 2 cups of whole milk, 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and 2 cups of half and half. I beat in a bowl 12 egg yolks and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Then I added little by little 1 cup of the boiled mix in the bowl and then little by little I put it back together with the rest of the mix and heated it for 6 minutes. I added 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract and the pistachio mix. I refrigerated overnight and then I put it in the ice cream maker for 20 minutes:

Toasted green sweet flavour of summer...

Sherry risotto

I had never tried or cooked it before but I loved it. I bought special rice for risotto (Primoriso brand). In a pan I put a little bit of olive oil and fried until brown a chopped little white onion. Then I put 1 cup of the rice in it until it started getting transparent after some minutes. In a saucepan I boiled a couple of cups of water with a piece of chicken stock broth (Knorr brand). Then I started pouring into the pan alternatively some sprinkles of dry Sherry wine (a little glass in all) and of the broth (until finishing both) and whisked the whole thing. Finally I put on the rice about a tablespoon of unsalted butter. To finish it off I sprinkled the dish with grated parmesan cheese:

Heavenly Italian!

Potato omelette (tortilla de papas)

One evening last week I made this classic of Spanish cuisine, the tortilla de patatas or de papas as many of us call it.
I started peeling  6 or 7 small Texas red potatoes (Muleshoe brand), washed them and cut them in small pieces. Then I peeled a white onion and also chopped it the same way. In a large pan I started heating some Spanish olive oil and fried both the potatoes and the onion. After they looked golden I took them out and drained the oil. In a small bowl I beat 6 eggs and then poured onto the potatoes and onions and added a little bit of sea salt. In the aforementioned pan , already without oil I dropped a tablespoon of olive oil, heated a little to medium heat and poured on it the mix of eggs, potatoes and onion. After exactly two minutes, having taking care of the borders with a skimmer, I took another pan and putting it on top of the other I turned around the omelette letting it sit on the fire for another two minutes, and it was ready:

Delicious straight or served with mayonnaise!

Butter pecan ice cream

In a skillet I melted 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter with 1 cup of pecans and a tablespoon of salt, cooking it all for 8 minutes on a medium to low heat. I then strained the pecans and reserved them, letting then chill and then get cold in the refrigerator. In a big bowl I whisked 3/4 of a cup of granulated sugar, a pinch of salt and 1 cup of whole milk. Then I stirred in 2 cups of heavy cream and 1 tablespoon of imitation vanilla. I covered it with a red plastic film and placed the bowl in the refrigerator for 2 hours. After that I poured the milky mix in the ice cream maker letting it roll for 15 minutes and finally I started adding the pecans for 5 more minutes while thickening in the rounding spin.
http://www.cuisinart.com/share/pdf/manuals/ice-21_recipe.pdf
It's another easy recipe from the ice cream maker manual, with small changes, that turned out absolutely delicious again, and even more so when I let it steep one more day in the refrigerator and all the flavours came together in creamy sweetness. Perfect to be enjoyed with Belgian waffles as ice cream sandwiches or just with the dainty silver spoon to sink in!

Flamenco style eggs

This is one typical dish of my hometown, Seville, and a yummy and easy to make meal it is.
Into an olive oil sprinkled open metal container I lay a bed of spicy salami slices, square jalapeño cheese slices on top, then another layer of boiled green peas, then a couple of cans of tomato sauce and I broke 8 eggs on the very top with tiny pinches of sea salt on the orange yolks. Into the oven it went at 350 Fahrenheit until I saw that the white of the eggs was really white and half solid, a little bit past runny but not yet well done:

The splendour of the capital of Andalusia's table just ready to dip with bread and celebrate life!

Lavender ice cream

What a great find! I had accumulated some spices over the last year and among them these packages of French lavender I decided to use. After some research I found a honey lavender recipe by Martha Stwart and a lemon lavender by Emeryl Lagasse, and I chose the latter with excellent results:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/fresh-lemon-and-lavender-ice-cream-recipe/index.html
Following which I proceeded to boil in a saucepan the zest of a lemon and an orange, half a cup of fresh lavender (=2 packages), 2 cups of whole milk and 2 cups of heavy milk, then I let it steep for 20 minutes and strained it. I whisked in a bowl 8 egg yolks and 3/4 of granulated sugar, whisking 1 cup of the hot cream in it, and then mixed it quite well. Slowly I started adding the egg mixture into the hot cream mixture, cooking for 4 minutes. I removed it from the heat and let it cool in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Then I put it in the ice cream maker for 25 minutes and served it with blueberries, cherries and a touch of honey.

A complex and delicious taste, which I found a little bit too tart, bitter or floral at first, but with the passing of the hours and days turned into such an experience as biting purple clouds announcing summer storm. 

Peanut butter cup ice cream

I used the recipe of the machine:
http://www.cuisinart.com/share/pdf/manuals/ice-21_recipe.pdf
It's quite easy: you mix in a bowl 1 cup of not natural peanut butter and 2/3 cup of granulated sugar until you get it smooth. Then you add 1 cup of whole milk and mix it until the sugar dissolves. You stir 1 teaspoon of imitation vanilla extract and 2 cups of heavy cream. You refrigerate it for 2 hours. Then you pour the mixture in the ice cream maker for 20 minutes, you add 15 chopped miniature peanut butter cups and roll it for 5 more minutes, never interrupting the rock and rolling of the machine. Finally you set it in the freezer for 3 or 4 hours or overnight.

Supercreamy and decadent...

Meringue milk

Or as we call it in Spain "leche merengada". The recipe I got it from an old link that doesn't work anymore from Editorial Bitacora if I remember well. You just have to boil in a saucepan 1 litre of milk with 200 grams of sugar (a little less tan 1 cup), a grated lemon rind and a cinnamon stick, stirring it a little bit. In a bowl you beat two egg whites and add them to the milk once it's cooled off. You serve it very cold, maybe setting the saucepan overnight in the refrigerator and for 35 to 45 minutes or even 1 hour in the freezer before serving in tall glasses with sprinkled powder cinnamon and fresh cherries.

It's a delicious summer refreshment for merienda (the snack between lunch and dinner we have in Spain) or even for dessert. It reminds me of Benidorm or Valencia, this Mediterranean fresh breeze which is delicious and fruity to drink by the sea.

Andalusian lentil soup

http://www.hogarutil.com/cocina/recetas/legumbres/201006/lentejas-3911.html
This recipe from Bruno Oteiza turned out pretty good, a satisfying South of Spain lentil soup in the fashion my grandmother Antonia and my mother Matilde would prepare it.
I washed the lentils in a big colander and put them in a stewpot with plenty of water, a pinch of salt and a trickle of olive oil, then I added a green bell pepper, a carrot and an onion, the three of them cut in two. I added 4 peeled cloves of garlic, 3 bay leaves, some saffron theads, 6 pinches of cumin powder and 4 pieces of chopped and peeled spicy chorizo. I cooked it for about 25 minutes. I peeled a potato, diced it and added to the pot, I poured 4 spoons of Sherry wine (using amontillado since I didn't have fino). I stirred it all very well and cooked it over a low heat for about 40 minutes. I diced 2 slices of bread and fried them in a pan with olive oil. I served the lentils in a plate with the croutons on top sprinkled with a trickle of olive oil and dry parsley.

Perfect for lunch, it's a healthy and savoury dish from my homeland, the heart of flamenco. I feel like taking a siesta.

Galician tuna pie

This fantastic recipe from the website of Jose' Andre's I roughly followed:
http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/tv/Made-in-Spain/103906/1050994024/A-Pilgrim-s-Progress-in-Food/videos
I just fried in a pan with olive oil 1 chopped white onion and 1 chopped red bell pepper, then I added some raisins and 1 can of tuna in olive oil, kept frying for a while until almost caramelized. Then I put it all inside 2 sheets of pastry dough, sealing it with beaten eggs and also painting with them the whole surface. I set in the oven at 350 degrees until it got all golden brown. It was ready to be served and enjoyed.

It really reminded me of some delicacies I was lucky enough to taste one in the wonderful green region of Galicia. Yum!

Mascarpone and ginger ice cream

To celebrate the 4th of July we made a Mascarpone cheese ice cream with pieces of crystallized ginger. I tried to follow the recipe from this website:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/candied-ginger-mascarpone-ice-cream-recipe/index.html
Basically we (Michelle and I) heated in a saucepan 2 cups of whole milk and 2 cups of heavy whipping cream with the marrow of half Madagascar vanilla bean. We stirred it with a wooden spoon the whole time. We brought it to a simmer and let it rest for 10 minutes off the heat. Then in a big bowl we whisked together very well 6 egg yolks and 3/4 cups of granulated sugar and very slowly poured the saucepan content in it. Then we put it all back together in the saucepan and heat it all for a while. Then we took it off the heat and whisked in 1 cup of Mascarpone cheese. We mixed it all together very well. Later we sifted all into a smaller bowl which we set floating in a bigger bowl filled with cold water and ice cubes, into the refrigerator for an hour, then whisking in half a cup of caramelyzed ginger and 30 minutes in the ice cream maker and to the freezer for 3 hours. We took it out 15 minutes before serving and presented it in small bowls with cherries and blueberries for the colours of the flag of the USA.

Another day I served it also with a Begium waffle and Argentinian dulce de leche. It's marvellous, ashtonishing with its subtle texture and tangy sweet taste. Perfect for an unforgettable celebration.