Gazpacho or Salmorejo?

Which one do you prefer? There seems to be a 50-50 distribution to this question. For those not really familiar with spanish cooking: Gazpacho is a cold tomato soup made of green peppers, cucumbers and, obviously, tomatoes; salmorejo is made of tomatoes and bread. Ok, those are the major ingredients, each have oil, garlic, salt... 

My personal preference: salmorejo. I just love it. I don't know if it's because it is usually served with hard boiled egg and jamon but, to me, it wins over the gazpacho :) David, on the other hand, doesn't really seem to have a preference.

I know that summer is over and this is a typical dish to serve when the weather is hot, but my coworker Irene celebrated her birthday last month and made us salmorejo. She got the recipe from her mother-in-law that comes from Cordoba, the birthplace of this wonderful dish. Let's just say that her recipe ROCKS! She was kind enough to give me the recipe and I can tell you that it came up "almost" (I'll never take more credit than the person that gave me the recipe) as good as hers. :)

So without further ado, a taste of a southern spanish dish to you all.

Salmorejo

Ingredients:

1 kg red tomatoes
1/2 or 1 bread with lots of "white"
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup olive oil
salt
1 egg
3 spanish ham slices

In a mixer, place the tomatoes cut into small pieces.

Add the garlic clove, the bread cut up into small pieces and the olive oil.

Blend well. Since my slicer blender did not give it the perfect smooth texture, I switched to the hand blender and worked it.

You can see the smooth texture in the above picture. Keep on blending until you reach it.

You can add more olive oil depending on how liquid you want it.

Add the salt.

Cut into small pieces the hard boiled egg and the spanish ham.

Serve at the table and let your guests dress their soup. I had made two eggs thinking one wouldn't be enough... I was wrong! It is quite obvious from the picture below :)

And there you have it! Super easy, healthy, and, most importantly, delicious!

Thanks Irene! :)

It's Fall Season!

Time for some good stews and warm food :) I love cooking what I call comfort food but, let's just say, that it tends to get pretty hot in the kitchen when I do so. I tolerate it in the Summer but I am grateful when Fall comes rolling in with its cooler weather.

I made this dish a few weeks ago and it is one of my favorite Italian meals. Osso buco with saffron risotto. Most people know this dish and completely understand me :) So here goes!

Saffron Rice is the typical sidedish for the osso buco, although it can be served with pasta as well.

Osso Buco with Saffon Risotto

Ingredients:

4 veal shanks
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 onion
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth
rosemary
2 bay leaves
2 tbsps flour
oil
1 cup round rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp saffron
2 tbsps butter
salt and pepper
parsley

Cut the carrots, celery and onion.

In a ziploc bag, add flour, salt and pepper. Place the veal shanks in the bag and coat them well.

In a large pot, add oil and heat. When ready, add the veal shanks.

Brown on each side for about 5 minutes.

Remove from the pot.

Add the sliced veggies and sweat for a few minutes.

Add the white wine and reduce.

Add the tomato sauce, bay leaves, rosemary and parsley.

Add the chicken broth.

Bring to a boil. When boiling, add the veal shanks back to the pot.

Cover and cook for 1 1/2 hour (or until the meat is tender and falls off the bone).

About 20 minutes before the meat is ready, prepare the saffron rice.

In a pan, add butter and heat. When ready, add the rice.

Coat well the rice and cook for a few minutes.

Add the saffron.

Mix well.

Slowly add the chicken broth little by little. It helps having the broth hot for the cooking process.

As the rice absorbs the liquid, add more broth.

Let the rice finish cooking by continuously stirring it.

The risotto will be done when the broth is fully absorbed.

Serve the dish with the saffron rice on the side of the veal shank. Add the osso buco sauce to the plate.

Just look at that beautiful piece of meat!

Enjoy it :)

And on to the duck we eat...

Ah, who can resist some Canard confit? It is such a wonderful dish that everytime we go to France, I try to get my hands on one duck leg confit :) Since making it involves cooking the duck in fat, I prefer to leave it to the restaurant pros and not cook it at home. I'll make a less fatty version of duck legs.

Duck goes great with beer or cider. I have done both and the beer can be easily replaced by cider in this recipe. If you cook it with cider, adding some cooked apple slices to the plate gives it a nice touch.

Canard à la bière

Ingredients:

2 duck legs
1 beer
1 onion
2 cups chicken broth
4 tbsps butter
2 tbsps flour
parlsey
thyme
salt and pepper
4 potatoes
oil

Slice the onion.

In a large pot, put 2 tbsps of butter and heat. When ready, add the onion.

Sweat for a few minutes.

Add the duck legs skin down.

Brown for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Flip over.

Add the beer and chicken broth in order to almost cover the legs completely.

Add the thyme and parsley.

Cover and cook for about 40 minutes.

Remove the legs from the broth.

Now, let the broth rest in order for the fat to settle. Duck is very fatty and you need to remove the excess from the sauce using a spoon (you can see the fat layer in the next pic).

In the meantime, cut your potatoes and fry them.

In a separate pan, add the remaining butter. Heat and when ready, add the flour.

Whisk to form a roux.

Add about 2 cups of the sauce to the roux and mix well.

If it is still very thick and hard to mix, add some more sauce until you reach the desired texture.

Add salt and pepper to the sauce.

Serve with your fried potatoes and cover with the onion beer sauce.

Un vrai régale!

Rabbit Rice

If you haven't noticed yet, I love cooking rice. It is so versatile and since David is not a big pasta fan (which sucks!), it's another great way to hide some veggies in there :)

For those who didn't know, the original Valencian paella is made with rabbit; although, nowadays, many people substitute it with chicken.

Since we had our friend from France staying with us and that she loves rabbit, I decided it had been too long since I bought some. David likes it but hates the fact that the bones are so small and can easily be eaten. I swear, I really have a picky eater!

Rabbit Rice

Ingredients:

1 rabbit chopped
2 cups rice
5 cups of chicken broth
1 green pepper
1 tomato
1 onion
1 garlic head
saffron
rosemary
parsley
salt and pepper
oil

Chop the onion, tomato and pepper.

In a paellera or large pan, heat some oil. When ready, add the chopped rabbit.

Brown for a few minutes on both sides and remove from the pan.

Add the garlic head to the pan. This is a technique I've seen here before and tried it once. It's a great way of getting the flavor and then as you serve, whoever wants some roasted garlic mixed with their dish, takes a clove, squeezes it out and there you have it.

After a few minutes, add the onion.

Sweat for a few minutes before adding the tomato.

Let the tomato cook for a while before adding the green pepper.

Add the rabbit back to the pan.

Add the rice to the mixture.

Mix well to fully coat it with the juice pan.

Add the broth, saffron, parsley, rosemary, salt and pepper.

Cook in the oven or the stovetop for about 20 minutes or until the rice is fully cooked.

Look at that awesomeness! Doesn't it look simply amazing?!

Enjoy :)

Straight from the Woods

My Nonno goes hunting every year in the Fall. He usually hunts moose or deer. My Mom always ends up with some of the meat in her freezer and the last two times I've been back home, I brought some back :). I had the moose meat frozen and decided to cook some last month. It is so great! Moose has this wonderful leafy taste and, of course, there is nothing like fresh natural meat. Nowadays, getting natural meat is hard to get with the industry.

So, in honor of my Nonno, we enjoyed a flavorful and amazing meal. I decided to cook it with onions and mushrooms in order to enhance the foresty flavors from the meat.

Moose Fillets and Mushrooms

Ingredients:

500gts moose meat
1 onion
200 grs mushrooms
1/4 cup white wine
4 potatoes
parsley
salt and pepper
butter

Slice the moose meat into thin slices.

Slice the onion and mushrooms as well.

Add a bit of butter to a pan and heat.

When ready, add the onion and mushrooms.

Add salt and pepper as well as parsley. Add the wine and let reduce.

When ready, remove and set aside.

Add some butter and the meat.

Lightly cook.

Add the mushroom and onions back.

The juices from the wine, meat, onion and mushroom create the wonderful sauce.

I didn't take pictures but while I was making the meat, I cooked the potatoes in the oven with parsley, salt and pepper.

It was the perfect combination of wood and earth flavors. There is nothing like such a fresh and natural meal :)

Enjoy :)

Peanut Butter Heaven

Gotta love that peanut butter. Spain is not a big fan. They sell it and people eat it but they never heard of the PBJ or PB and banana sandwiches! So I wasn't sure how these cookies would be received; turns out, I had nothing to worry about, they were a hit!

These are the best cookies to eat with a nice cup of coffee, hot coco or tea.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt


Preheat the oven at 180C.

In a large bowl, beat the room temperature butter into cream.

Add the brown and white sugar.

Mix well.

Incorporate the egg, peanut butter, baking soda, powder and salt.

Mix well.

Add the flour and mix well but do not overstir. (I only added 1 cup and realized it wasn't enough, which is why I wrote 2 cups in the ingredients)

Add the vanilla.

Mix well.

Place the cookie dough with a spoon onto a baking sheet.

Using a fork, flatten the cookie dough making a design.

Cook for about 10 minutes or until the required color. I like them light and David likes them dark.

Let them cool down and plate.

Easy, fast and full of Peanut butter flavor!

Enjoy :)