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.