Rueda Verdejo wine, from 2018

Last week, as it was so hot, I got this bottle of young fresh white wine from the Rueda region in Spain. It's from last year, 2018, a vintage considered as a very good one, the former, 2017 being excellent. And it was really good indeed. The color is greenish yellow (just like the vinho verde from Portugal, thus their names). On the nose, aromas of white fruit like peach, minerals and fresh herbs like fennel. On the mouth: acidic lemon, fresh, well structured. Aftertaste: pleasingly long and bitter almond. I served chilled and drank it to accompany a rice dish with cod and shrimp; for dessert I had tetilla cheese and quince paste. I have to say all the flavors were enhanced to take the dinner to a whole new level. 

Rioja red wine, Crianza from 2015

A couple of weeks ago I bought this fairly priced Rioja at Central Market. From Bodegas Montecillo, the third oldes Rioja winery, it is a prestigious, consistent brand from Rioja Alta, one of the 3 sub-regions of Rioja in Spain, famous for producing wines with great structure and high acidity. These are wines that usually taste better after aging for a long time. Crianza means it has been aged for 1 year in American oak casks and for 1 year in the bottle. Its color is cherry red with purple glitter, very elegant. Elaborated with mainly Tempranillo grapes, plus a little bit Garnacha and Graciano, to make a more complex and powerful blend without losing the main grape losing in protagonism. The aroma on the nose brings a bouquet of dark fruits like blackberry, currant and raspberry. The taste is silky and you can tell it has a harmonic and balanced body. The 2015 vintage is very good, which is optimal, since the latest excellent vintages date from 2010 and 2011. I paired it with chorizo from Córdoba (Andalucía, Spain) which I bought at Central Market, and a hearty lentil soup. It helped wet my appetite and really enhanced the flavors of the cured meat and the solid lentil soup, taking them to a nother level. The glorious aftertaste notes made me want to take a peaceful siesta, which I did take right after lunch for a good hour and a half. I woke up restored, reenergized and happy with life :)

Rhum and Raisins Ice Cream

Last week I felt nostalgic for some ice cream flavors of the 80s, when I got to recall in a Proustian moment the delicious rhum and raisins ice cream I used to enjoy long ago. After a careful research of suitable recipes online I chose this solid one:
https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Classic-Rum-Raisin-Ice-Cream/
This is how I prepared it: in a measure bowl I put 1 cup of raisins and I poured 1 cup of Nicaraguan dark rhum Flor de Caña, and left them covered to soak overnight and absorb all the liqueur.
The next morning in a big bowl I whisked together 3/4 of sugar and 6 egg yolks; then added 2 cups of whole milk and stirred it and boiled the mix in a saucepan for 10 minutes. I strained the mix, added the raisins previously strained, 2 tablespoons of the remaining rhum, 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract. I refrigerated the mix for 2 hours and then I put it all rolling in the ice cream maker for 30 minutes until it thickened a little. And then I refrigerated it for 4 hours in the freezer this time. The result was nothing short of spectacular. At first I was not sure if it was thick enough, but the perfect texture had been achieved: the following days, by the effect of the alcohol over the dairy mixture it did not need to thaw any time I would take it out of the fridge to serve because if had the ideal thickness and you could start savoring the heavenly cream immediately with your silver spoon after adding a couple of crumbled Spanish Gullón Digestive cookies from Central Market. Thanks  saveur.com for helping me bring back a yummy food from the paradise lost of decades past. Et voilà:

Pesto Quiche with Eggplant and Ham

I always wanted to try and cook a French quiche, so when I found this recipe on the Spanish public TV website I decided to go ahead:
http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/cocina-con-sergio/cocina-sergio-quiche-berenjenas-pesto/2830278/
Sergio Fernández is one of my favorite cooks, he does simple recipes and he is so nice and clear, that I choose him often as the source of inspiration for a lot of my cooking.
So yesterday for early dinnerI got started: I chopped 2 small white onions and started frying them on a pan with Spanish extra virgin olive oil, ading some salt. After a while I added 85 grams of chopped Spanish serrano ham and a spoonful of sugar to caramelize the mixture and compensate the saltiness. I also chopped 2 small eggplants and set them aside in a bowl with salted water to make them smoother; later I rinsed them and added them to the pan. I an glass bowl I whisked 4 eggs, salt, pepper and a big glass of heavy whipping cream, and poured the mixture on the pan. In a separate buttered tin foil container I put 2 sheets of pastry dough and poured the whole contents of the pan in it, and right away I baked it in the oven previously heated to 350 degrees Farenheit (about 180 Celsius approximately) for 45 minutes. When it started to look golden I took it out to serve sprinkled with Central Market pesto sauce. It was so delicious that we had to eat second servings.
Overall it was a successful, yummy quiche dish, delicately crunchy, moist, with balanced sweetness-saltiness. I will definitely try something similar again, since it has been a good addition to my recipe list :)

Portuguese Codfish Bras Style

Last weekend I ventured to cook this tasty Portuguese recipe, bacalhau à Brás. Cod-based dishes are very popular in Portugal, and whenever I have visited the country I have been able to enjoy the 1001 ways to cook it to perfection. This is one simple, delicious recipe. I bought all the ingredients at Central Market, of course, where we have the highest quality. I boiled the 4 salted codfish patties (about 500 g) in a pot with water for a while until they got white and less salty for which I changed the water every 5 minutes or so. I set them aside on a little plate to cool them off. I took out the peel and the spines, and crumbled it making sure it was tenderized. In a large pan I lightly fried in Spanish olive oil an onion and 4 garlic cloves, all peeled and well sliced, adding 3 bay leaves for extra flavor. In a jar I blended 7 eggs and added salt and pepper. I added to the pan with the garlic, onion and bay leaves, all the cod and kept frying adding a peeled and very finely sliced potato. Finally I poured in the egg mix, chopped parsley and 12 pitted black olives. 

Ready to serve and enjoy codfish heaven ;)

https://www.saborintenso.com/f17/bacalhau-bras-495/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czc5sKgH1nM

Chipotle black bean soup

Nothing better for the cold of this winter season than a sinple black bean soup with a chipotle pepper twist. 

Ingredients:

- A can of black beans

- 1 clove of garlic, chopped

-1 small onion, chopped

- 1 small carrot, chopped

-7 tablespoons of Chipotle sauce (San Marcos Brand)

- 10 pieces of queso fresco (La Michoacana)

- Cilantro

- Parsley

-Basil

- Water

- Spaish olive oil

Preparation:

In a medium pot start frying the garlic, onion and carrot in olive oil. Add the can of black beans and some water. Sprinkle with cilantro, parsley and basil. Garnish with queso fresco. It will be ready when you see an orange foam form on the surface under the pot cover and you smell the heavenly dish scents. Enjoy!

Potato leek soup with a twist

Ingredients:

1) 2 cloves of garlic

2) 2 potatoes

3) 3 leeks

4) 1/2 cup of Spanish olive oil (Extra Virgin from Andalucía)

5) Salt

6) Serrano ham and manchego cheese pieces to garnish

Preparation:

Put a little bit of olive oil in a pot and fry the garlic cloves until brown. Add the leeks and potatoes and cook them golden. Add 2 liters of water and simmer for 45 minutes. Put the mixture in a blender and blend it with 1/4 cup of olive oil. Season with salt and serve it in bowls garnished with Ibérico or Serrano (Jabugo) ham and Manchego cheese from Spain.

Enjoy with good company and a glass of Albariño white wine from Galicia ;)

P.S.: Thanks José Andrés for your constant inspiration!