Simple Spanish Food

Instant Tapa: mejillones de lata, Tinned Mussels from Spain

As I have said in a previous post, tinned seafood from Spain-- Galicia, in particular--is so high in quality it can be even better than fresh. Hard to believe? Think of the way a confit can be better than fresh duck, or how a first-class homemade pickle can beat a plain cucumber. Neither comparison is an exaggeration.The best tinned seafood from Galicia is an artisan product (with a price to match). It has nothing to do with the smoked oysters and canned clams you find on supermarket shelves here in the U.S. 

I love mussels prepared in all different ways (see my posts on mejillones a la marinera and also  arroz con mejillones), but Galician mussels tinned in escabeche have to be my favorite.  Preserving the mussels in the spicy sauce transforms them into something completely new (again think of confit or an excellent homemade pickle).  And nothing could be easier.  Just open the can,  put a mussel or two on a slice of good toast along with a drizzle of the escabeche, and you have a first-class tapa, almost instantly.

For a great (and authentic) tapas party with almost no work, serve mejillones en escabeche along with other ready-to-serve Spanish foods, such as Cantabrian anchovy fillets in olive oil, queso manchego, jamón serrano and of course olives. This is what Spaniards do at home.

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Esperanza's Albóndigas: a Simple Spanish Recipe for Meatballs with Saffron Sauce

Albóndigas--meatballs--are one of the first things  Esperanza, my mother-in-law, taught me how to cook.  She always uses equal parts ground pork and ground ternera (veal, which in Spain is simply meat from a young cow).  Here in the States I use straight ground venison or ground bison or ground grass-fed beef.  

Ingredients:

1 lb of ground meat of your choice

1 egg

3/4 cup bread crumbs

a handful of chopped parsley

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon of thyme

1 glass of dry white wine (drinkable, but nothing special)

3/4 cup flour (for dusting)

1/2 cup olive oil

4 cups of water, or chicken stock if you prefer

a pinch of saffron

salt

In a large bowl, combine the meat, egg, parsley, garlic, thyme, breadcrumbs, and a pinch of salt.  Mix well. Let the mixture sit in the fridge at least half an hour.

Now shape the meatballs, about 1 inch or a little less in diameter.

Roll the meatballs in flour until they are well coated.

Heat up a large pot. Working in batches, quickly brown the meatballs on all sides in the olive oil, and set them aside. 

When you have browned all of the meatballs, add the wine, the water or broth, and the  saffron to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add salt (about a teaspoon if you have used water, little or none if you're using broth).

Add the meatballs and, if necessary, more water so that they are covered with liquid.

Simmer for 25 minutes, and they're ready. Serve the albóndigas with the sauce sauce spooned over them.   

Esperanza always serves albóndigas with patatas fritas--french fries, a green salad, and of course good bread for mopping up the sauce.

Bracito de gitano: A Quick & Delicious Spanish Dessert

In Spain, home cooks use Maria cookies as a base for all sorts of easy, last-minute desserts, including brazo de gitano (which translates to "Gypsy's arm," probably because the swirls or rings inside resemble bracelets) and tronco de chocolate--the Spanish equivalent of the Bûche de Noël.  

The basic idea is always the same: first you dip the Maria cookies in milk or cream to soften them. Then you spread sweet things on them (chocolate, jam, frosting, etc.). Stack them to form layers, and spread yet more good things on top.   In the finished dessert, the Maria cookies take on an  almost crepe-like texture.

For this post I made some extremely simple bracitos de gitano ("little gypsy arms": great for individual servings). They contain nothing but Maria cookies, chocolate, and coconut milk, but you can make them as complicated (or rich) as you like.  Sprinkle chopped nuts between the layers, or alternate the chocolate with whipped cream or raspberry jam.  Or dust them with powdered sugar. There are all sorts of possibilities. 

Keep in mind: all Maria cookies are not created equal (and some brands are quite bad), so it is important to start with good ones. Ana, a connoisseur of  Maria cookies, swears by Cuétara.

Latin supermarkets carry Cuétara. La Tienda also sells Cuétara Maria cookies.

Next you'll need something to dip the cookies in to soften them. I used coconut milk, but feel free to use regular milk, cream, or almond milk. Even cold coffee would work.

Here's how to do it:

Melt a bar of chocolate.

Dip the Maria cookies in the milk or coconut milk.  Just a second or two is usually enough. They will feel crisp but they will continue to soften as you assemble the dessert.

Put the dipped Maria cookie on a piece of waxed paper or parchment. Spread melted chocolate over it. Dip another cookie, place it on top of the first, and spread some more chocolate. Or add layers of other good things in between if you like. (But it's quite good with just chocolate).

Chill the bracito de gitano in the fridge, and serve.

 

The Best Sherry Bar in Madrid? La Venencia

Whenever in Madrid, we make a point of going to the sherry bar La Venencia at least once. We go partly out of tradition (Andrés, my father-in-law, loved La Venencia), partly for the atmosphere (very "old school"), but mainly because the jerez and food are fabulous.  The prices are also very reasonable.  At La Venencia you can enjoy a truly world-class glass of sherry and a tapa for a few euros.

La Venencia is the only place that I know in the city that serves sherry the traditional way--from barrels--and this makes all the difference. Bottled sherry is great, but sherry stored in the barrel is even better.

Keep in mind, the sherry is not drawn directly from the barrel into your glass. It has to be chilled first.  So when the bartender pulls an unmarked bottle from the fridge to serve you, don't worry. He filled it up only a few hours ago from the barrel.

The varieties of sherry at La Venencia include fino  (a tangy light sherry), manzanilla  (an especially delicate type of fino), palo cortado, amontillado,  and--probably my favorite--oloroso (dark, nutty, and complex).   All of these are dry.  (Unfortunately, I have yet to find  in the U.S. any brands of oloroso or amontillado that have not been sweetened for the export market, and I rarely see palo cortado at all--so for these I give no links to sources).

The menu of pinchos or tapas at La Venencia is short and simple, but everything on it goes beautifully with these wines: salt-cured anchovies, anchoas en salazón (see my post "All About Anchovies"), paper-thin slices of smoke cured beef (cecina),  manchego cheese , cured pork loin (lomo), and of course Spanish ham (jamón) .  When you order a glass of sherry, you will receive a  complimentary tapa of aceitunas de Campo Real, probably my all-time favorite olive. 

La Venencia is located in the old city center, Echegaray 7, Madrid

 

 

New York Chefs Embrace Spanish-style Anchovies

“Anchovies were the thing we joked about as kids," says  Seamus Mullen (chef at the restaurant Tertulia) in a recent article in The New York Times. "In Spain, it was completely the opposite. In Spain they were revered as this delicacy.”

“We’ve turned so many people on to anchovies,” Mr. Mullen goes on to say. “Ninety-nine percent of these people will say, ‘Oh, my God, I never knew anchovies could be so good.’ ”

Other New York chefs, such as Renae and Neill Holland at Smorgasburg, are also embracing Spanish-style anchovy preparations, such as fresh fried anchovies or boquerones.

See my post "All About Anchovies" for more information on different  Spanish anchovy preparations.  Another post,  "All About Anchovies II" , focuses on Spanish anchovy fillets packed in olive oil--and just how different they are from the anchovies sold in most U.S. supermarkets.

Click here to see Jeff Gordinier's article "The Lowly Anchovy: Customers Finally Take the Bait" in The New York Times.

 

Wines Under $10: Pinord Clos de Torribas Tempranillo Crianza 2007

As I  pointed out a few months back in my post on a little-known red wine from Spain,  one of the best ways to find a good wine at a low price is to avoid the famous D.O.'s (Rioja, Ribera del Duero, etc) and instead explore wines from lesser known regions, such as Navarra, Castilla y La Mancha, or Tarragona. 

Pinord's Clos de Torribas Tempranillo  Crianza 2007 is another example. It comes from Penedés, a D.O. usually associated with sparkling cava, not red wine. Just a few years ago red wines from Penedés were usually dismissed as ordinary. Now things are changing.  I enjoyed this Penedés more than any Rioja I've had in recent memory (except maybe a nice reserva Esperanza, my mother-in-law, served during our last trip to Spain). The cost? Only $6.99, a fraction of the price of almost any decent Rioja.

Pinord Clos de Torribas Tempranillo Crianza 2007 was selected as one of The Wine Enthusiast's best buys. 

 

Empanada de vieiras, a scallop empanada

 

Many of the best Galician empanadas are made with exotic seafood ingredients, such as fresh berberechos (cockles) or congrio (eel) that are difficult if not impossible to find in the U.S. Empanada de vieiras (scallops) is an exception.  It's delicate, rich, almost buttery (though there is no butter in it), and yet can be made with the previously frozen scallops available in most supermarkets. It tastes like the best seafood empanadas of  Galicia, and it's easy to make. 

Ingredients:

For the crust

2 cups of flour

1 egg

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of water

 salt

For the filling

1 onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced

1/3 cup of olive oil

1/2 pound of scallops

saffron

salt

First  mix the ingredients for the dough in a large bowl.

Knead the dough until it forms a ball. Let it rest an hour or so.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 525. 

Saute the onion and pepper in the olive oil. When the onion is soft and translucent, add a pinch of saffron and a pinch of salt.

Divide the dough evenly in two. Roll out each piece into a round or rectangular shape until the dough is the thickness of a coin. 

Place one sheet of the dough on a baking pan.

Spread the onion and pepper mixture evenly onto the dough. Slice the scallops 1/4 thick and arrange them on top.

Put the other piece of dough on the top. Crimp the edges. Cut some vents.

Bake the empanada for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cut the empanada as you would a pizza and serve it as main course or as a tapa.

Pan-fried Artichokes, alcachofas a la plancha

 

 

Whenever we're in Spain early enough in the spring, we go to the old Madrid tavern La Trucha and order alcachofas a la plancha--artichokes pan-fried in olive oil.  It's the simplest way I know of to prepare fresh artichokes, and one of the best.  It does  require tender "baby" artichokes, which are rarely available here in Central Florida, but last fall a kind gardening friend gave me an artichoke seedling. I raised it in a split-barrel container, and now we're harvesting beautiful little artichokes and enjoying tapas of alcachofas a la plancha here too.

Here's how to do it.

Ingredients:

Fresh artichokes  (Small, tender artichokes are best for this.)

Olive oil

a lemon

salt

 

Heat up a pan.

Trim the artichokes minimally, removing only the hard pointed tips, if any.

Rub them with lemon juice as you work to prevent them from turning black.  The touch of lemon also brings out the full flavor of the artichokes.

Cut the artichoke into 1/4 inch slices.

Rub the slices with the lemon. If you see a fuzzy "choke" inside, cut it out, but if the artichokes are small, you usually don't have to worry about it.

Pour a little olive oil in the hot pan. Add the artichoke slices. Pan-fry them for 2 or 3 minutes per side, or until tender. If they get a bit crisp at the edges, they're even better.

Sprinkle with salt and serve hot.

 

Arroz empedrat, o empedrado: a Colorful Rice & Bean Paella

Arroz empedrat (Catalan) or empedrado (Castilian) means "pebbled rice."  In this case the rice is "pebbled" with beans. I used black beans, red kidney beans, and green peas, which together with red peppers, parsley and saffron-tinted rice, make this a colorful dish. It tastes good too.

I got the idea for this recipe from Penelope Casas' Paella! Spectacular Rice Dishes from Spain, but I've changed it quite a bit.  This is basically a vegetable paella with an emphasis on beans.

Ingredients:

1 cup of Spanish rice  (Calasparra, Bomba, or a paella rice such as La Marjal are best. Italian arborio will do. But regular long-grain and Asian rices just won't work.)

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup of canned red kidney beans, rinsed

1/2 cup of canned black beans, rinsed

1/2 cup of frozen green peas, rinsed

7 cloves of garlic, peeled but left whole

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon of pimentón  (an important ingredient: see my post on pimentón)

1/4 cup of flame-roasted red peppers, cut into slivers (see my post on flame-roasted red peppers), or piquillo peppers

a small pinch of saffron, ground with a little salt in a mortar

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, or to taste (keep in mind that canned beans are often salty)

coarsely chopped parsley

In a large heavy frying pan or a medium paella pan, saute the onion in the olive oil. When the onion turns translucent, add the whole garlic cloves. Saute two minutes more.

Add the rice. Stir until it's well coated with oil. Add all of the beans, the peas, and the pimentón.

Stir. Add  two and a half cups of water, the salt, and the saffron. 

Stir. Bring the rice to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Let the rice simmer uncovered for 18 minutes.

Toward the end of the cooking, check with a wooden spoon to make sure the rice isn't burning.  A crust at the bottom is ideal, but it should be brown, not black. If it seems the rice may burn, turn off the heat and cover the pan. 

After cooking, let the paella rest for ten minutes.  In the meantime, decorate the  paella with parsley and  flame-roasted red peppers or piquillo peppers.

After the ten minute rest, serve the paella.