Paté de hígado de pollo (or Chicken Liver Patê)

  This chicken liver pate is easy and quick to make and combines great with crackers and a charcuterie board.  The recipe is from a friend of the family, Ofelia, that prepares it during Christmas times as an appetizer.

  This recipe does not require baking and it takes less than 45 minutes to prepare. So let's get started!!

Here's what you'll need:

MATERIALS

-  Small pot

- Vegetable peeler and knife

-  Hand blender

-  Jar or tupperware to store


INGREDIENTS

- 6 to 8 chicken livers

- 1 cup of ground pork

- 1 carrot

- 2 garlic cloves

- Spices (rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay leaves, pepper)

- 1 teaspoon of Paprika

- Salt

- Olive oil (2 tablespoons)

- 2 tablespoons of water

- White wine, sherry or cognac (about 2 tablespoons)

- Butter (1-2 tablespoons)

HOW TO PREPARE IT

1. Start by peeling and dicing the garlic and the carrot

2. In a small pot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the garlic, carrot, ground pork and livers.  In that order and over slow heat.

3.  Add the paprika and before if burns add the wine or liquor.  Add a couple tablespoons of water and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.  Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.

4.  Add salt and pepper and the desired spices.  Turn of the stove and let it cool for a little bit.

5. Blend all ingredients well together making sure it gets the patê consistency.  If it seems too dry, add one or two tablespoons of butter.  Keep in mind that the consistency will be much thicker once is cool.

6.  Place in container or serving jar.  Keep in the refrigerator until 1 hour before serving.  

7. Serve with your favorite crackers and charcuterie board.

Enjoy!!

Bocaditos de Espencat

  Espencat is a very typical dish from the south of Valencia, my region in Spain.  It essentially consists of grilled eggplants and peppers (red or green), some type of salty fish (traditionally dried codfish) and olive oil. 

  The term espencat means "teared longitudinally", which basically refers to the way you break the eggplant and pepper once grilled.  You do so by using your fingers and tearing it apart, instead of cutting it with a knife.  Ideally you want to grill the veggies (whole pieces) on the stove for best flavors, however it's sometimes easier to put them in a tray in the oven and turn them when they're halfway done.

  Whenever I have dried codfish available that's what I use to make the Espencat.  When that's not an option I use canned Bonito del Norte (a very high quality type of tuna fish- much smaller - that comes from the Cantabrian Sea at the North of Spain) or canned tuna fish.  If you are using dried codfish you'll need to soak it in water for a few hours before adding it to the dish.  Follow the instructions of the vendor.  Usually soaking over an 8 hour period - changing the water every 4 hours- is enough.

Sometimes, like in this tapa in the picture, I also serve the Espencat with hard boiled eggs (quail eggs in this case).

  
Here's what you'll need:


MATERIALS

- Oven tray or grill pan

- Plate to serve, or spoons depending on how you want to present it


INGREDIENTS

- 2 eggplants

- 2 red peppers (or green)

- Dried codfish (could substitute for Bonito del Norte or Tuna Fish)

- And if you wanna do the presentation like I did you'll need hard boiled Quail eggs 

- Olive oil and salt (if needed)


HOW TO PREPARE IT

1. If you're using dried codfish, remember to soak it in water the day before.


2. Start by making a few cuts in the veggies (kind of like stabbing them a couple times) so they won't blow up while cooking.  Continue by grilling the vegetables over the grill pan or in the oven.  You'll need to use a medium to low heat and turn the vegetables regularly to make sure they cook well throughout.  I like to cover them with a lid.  If you use the oven, set the temperature to 375ºF and turn them a couple of times until they feel cooked.

3.  When the vegetables are ready, allow them time to cool completely.  The next step is to peel them.  Use your fingers to remove the thin skin of the pepper and use a spoon to detach the flesh of the eggplant from it's skin.

4. Now use your fingers to tear thin strips of eggplant and pepper and set them on a plate.  Continue until you are done.

5. Decide on your presentation.  You can serve it all mixed together (veggies, fish and olive oil) on a plate or make little bites out of it if you wanna get fancier!

6.  This is a COLD (or room temperature) dish, so keep in the refrigerator or cool place until ready to serve.



Serve with grilled bread!

Tortilla Rellena

  Here's another way to serve the Tortilla Española when you want to surprise your guests!  I got this recipe from some friends from Galicia (northwest of Spain) about 10 years ago.  All you need to do is make a traditional potatoes omelette and let it cool.  Then, you are going to cut it in half (like you would cut a baguette) and stuff it.  I usually do mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, ham and cheese cause you can find that anywhere.  In Spain, I used sobrasada (a raw, cured sausage made with ground pork, paprika and spices), smoked salmon or espencat (grilled eggplant and pepper - recipe coming soon).

The possibilities are endless!!

INGREDIENTS:

Start by making the regular potatoes omelette (recipe here).  In addition to eggs, potatoes and olive oil you will need:

• Sliced ham

• Sliced tomato

• Sliced cheese

• Fresh lettuce

• Mayonnaise

HOW TO PREPARE IT:

Follow these steps.

1. Open the omelette in half and spread mayonnaise on each of the two halves.

2. Uniformly place the tomatoes, the lettuce, the ham and the cheese over one of the halves.

3. Place the other half on top to close the omelette. Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!!  

Steak Tartare

   I've been wanting to give this recipe a try for quite a while.  I saw it in Robin Food - a spanish cooking show -  a couple of months ago and finally my cousin Paco made it in his house and they loved it, so he encouraged me to try it.  I followed the recipe just as they did in the show (you can watch the show here).

  

  A few of you asked me what´s the best cut of meat to use.  I went to the local butcher and told him I wanted to prepare a steak tartare.  He recommended I used round steak or flank steak and that it would be best if I could give him about 30 minutes so he would put the meat in the freezer before grinding it.  I decided to go with the flank steak and picked it up about an hour later.  One thing I would ask him to do different next time is to use a wider grinder, as I think the tartar would be better with bigger chunks of meat - and not as much as a paste.  You can also take the steak home, put it in the freezer for 30 minutes, and cut it yourself in little cubes. 

Here´s what you´ll need:

MATERIALS

• Stainless steel ring (to give it the round vertical shape)

• Chef knife and cutting board

• Serving plate

•  Mixing bowl (and bigger bowl with ice to keep meat cold while preparing it)

INGREDIENTS 

• 1/2 pound of ground flank (or round) steak

• 1 teaspoon of mustard

• Olive oil, salt and pepper

• 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tablespoon of diced capers

• 1 tablespoon of diced pickles

• 3 egg yolks

• 1.5 tablespoons of mayonnaise 

• 1/2 shallot diced

• 1 teaspoon of ketchup 

• A few drops of Tabasco sauce

HOW TO PREPARE IT

1. Add the meat to a mixing bowl and set over a bowl with ice to keep meat very cool while preparing it.

2. Chop the shallot, pickles and capers.  Add all ingredients to the meat and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add a little olive oil and mix it all well together.  Keep meat over ice until ready to serve at the table.

3. Fill the stainless steel ring with the meat and decorate with pickles - or you can save an egg yolk an use it to top the tartare.

Here I served paired with Tapenade (recipe here)

Tapenade

  Tapenade is a provençal french dish made of pureed olives, anchovies and capers.  The name tapenade comes indeed from the word tapenas which means capers in provençal language.  It was last christmas when I first attempted to make it at home.  I followed the recipe of the Larousse Gastronomique encyclopedia and, even though I liked it, I have to recognize that it was quite strong - lots of anchovies and capers.  Thus, I decided to play with the recipe a little bit until I got the "clean plate" sign (people liked it when you end up with an empty plate at the table).

 In my version, I increased the amount of black olives and went lighter on the anchovies and capers.  I also added a bit of grated parmesan cheese as a signature touch and we loved it! 

Here is what you will need.

MATERIALS:

 - Hand chopper or food processor

 - Bowl or plate to serve

INGREDIENTS:

-  1 cup of black olives (pitted)

-  3 anchovy filets

-  1 garlic clove

-  1 tablespoon of canned tuna (well drained)

-  2 teaspoons of capers (well drained)

-  Juice of 1/4 lemon

-  1 tablespoon of grated parmesan

-  1 tablespoon of olive oil

HOW TO PREPARE IT:

  Add all the ingredients in the chopper or food processor and blend until you get a paté consistency.

You can serve it in a little bowl as a spread or in a vertical cylinder (using the stainless steel ring). 

Here I served paired with steak tartare (recipe here)

Enjoy!!

Tartar de Salmón Marinado

Some people don't like the idea of eating raw fish or meat - my Mom being one of them.  I think part of it may be the texture that raw flesh has and part of it may be the concept of eating the uncooked animal.  To keep everyone happy at the table, I decided to make a marinated salmon tartare - which most people like.  For this recipe I used the marinated salmon I showed you how to make a few months ago.  

This recipe takes about 7 minutes to prepare (because of the cutting and dicing) once you have the salmon marinated (which takes 24 hours).  I usually marinate a big piece and keep it in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.

Here´s what you´ll need:

MATERIALS

• Stainless steel ring (to give it the round vertical shape)
• Chef knife
• Serving plate

INGREDIENTS 

• Marinated salmon (recipe here)
• 1/2 avocado
• Olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Juice of 1/4 lemon
  
  

HOW TO PREPARE IT

1. For this tapa I like to cut the salmon into thick slices and then I carefully dice them, making the salmon pieces look almost like cubes.  Fill the stainless steel ring just over half way with the salmon.

2. Cut the avocado in half and dice it.  Add lemon juice to prevent it from turning black and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add a little olive oil and make a layer of avocado over the salmon in the ring.

Remember that if you are saving the other 1/2 avocado in the fridge is best to keep the avocado pit inside and use the skin of the half you just used to cover the remaining avocado.  If you save it like this it will be almost perfect for the next 24 hours.

3. Cover the avocado layer with a top layer of salmon and push the tartare in the ring so that it's nice and even.  Garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro if you want.

4. Keep refrigerated and in the ring until ready to serve.  Remove ring and drizzle a bit of olive oil on top.  Serve with crackers.

Enjoy!

Huevos Rellenos

¡Hola amigos! 

Today I'm bringing you a recipe for eggs that is easy to prepare and really filling.  Huevos rellenos - or stuffed eggs - are hard boiled eggs that we stuff with a mix of the egg yolks, mayonnaise, and Serrano ham, tuna, anchovies, olives or Piquillo peppers. 

At home, my mom has always prepared them with Serrano ham and a touch of Piquillo peppers.  I made some last weekend and used also tuna and anchovies to add some variety.

Here´s what you´ll need:

MATERIALS

• Large boiling pot 
• Scissors
• Grater
• Egg serving plate

INGREDIENTS (depending on the size of your serving plate)

• As many eggs as your selling plate can hold (mine had 15 slots, so I boiled 9 eggs in case some didn't turn out right)
• Serrano ham (I used about a slice for every 2 whole eggs)
• Mayonnaise (1 tablespoon for each whole egg)
• Anchovies or Tuna (from a can, well drained and mixed with olive oil)
• Piquillo peppers or Italian style peppers. These come in a jar ready to use.
  
  

HOW TO PREPARE IT

1. Start by boiling the eggs and let them cool. I did this the day before and left them in the fridge until I was ready to prepare them.  You can also peel them and cover them well in the fridge to save yourself some time the next day.

In order to boil the perfect egg I used these directions on how to boil an egg and it actually worked!

2.  Peel and cut the eggs in half.  Remove egg yolks to make space for the stuffing.

3. Separate 1-2 egg yolks (depending on how may eggs you are making) and grate them to use to cover the stuffed eggs. This is gonna help protect the eggs from turning yellowish (the mayonnaise starts to oxidate) and will make them look beautiful!

4. In a mixing bowl, cut up the Serrano Ham in little pieces (use the scissors to save time) and grate the egg yolks on top.  Add the mayonnaise and mix it well.

If you decide to make other stuffings you can go for tuna, anchovy-tuna, black or green olives, pickles, or Piquillo peppers.  Just mix with the egg yolks and add some mayo!

5.  Stuff the eggs with the mix and cover with the grated egg yolks

6. Decorate as you like! Here I used the Piquillo pepper to differentiate the eggs stuffed with Serrano ham, the capers to mark the ones with tuna and the anchovies to decorate the ones with anchovy-tuna mix.

¡Buen provecho! and let me know how they turn out.