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!