A Spanish Pantry ...and La Tienda Inspired Tapas

As I browsed the shelves at La Tienda, there were so many delicious and beautiful things to choose from I hardly knew where to start (and that is nothing compared to what you have to choose from on the website!). Since we often have tapas at our house, I wanted to select some items that would allow me to make some of the recipes on the La Tienda website and to recreate the tastes of Spain that Don Harris introduced me to. So I started by asking Don what items you should have in your pantry as a foundation for a good Spanish meal.

Don Harris of La Tienda makes these recommendations:

� Spanish extra virgin olive oil- La Tienda sells several artisan olive oils, and even if you have had fine Italian extra virgin olive oil, you owe it to yourself to give these artisan oils a try. I had sips of two very different oils in Don's shop each with completely different character.

� Sherry vinegar- The very best sherry vinegar comes from Jerez and it has a depth and complexity that adds layers to any dish.

� Chorizo - This is a Spanish sausage. Some of the sausages at La Tienda (like those in the picture of the previous post) are red from the addition of pimenton or smoked Spanish paprika.I bought the little chorizos and they were leaner than any chorizo I have had before. They are great in eggs and cooked with garlic and wine.

� Serrano or Iberico ham- These are both famous Spanish hams and have only recently been imported into the US. These are both served sliced paper thin. Iberico hams are from black acorn-fed pigs giving the meat a unique taste that makes it a prized Spanish delicacy.

� Manchego cheese- A delicious sheep's milk cheese from the La Mancha region of Spain, great in thin slices.

� Pimenton (smoked paprika)-This is one of the ingredients that made the biggest impression on me at La Tienda. Donhad me smell the bittersweet pimenton and it had a depth and richness that made me think of about a hundred ways I could use it. Pimenton comes in sweet, bittersweet and hot.

� Calasparra rice- This is a special Spanish rice used in paella. For a good paella, Don explained,you need a rice that can absorb lots of liquid without disintegrating, and that is where Calasparra rice is unique.

� Olives- We left with a can of olives stuffed with anchovies, neither of which I am crazy about, but Don assured me "These are not the salty hairy nasty anchovies you see on pizza", and when they found their way to our tapas table, they were truly incredible!

� Spanish saffron from La Mancha- I know this is an embarrassing confession, but saffron is not something I have had in my spice cabinet. I learned a lot about this precious spice from Don, and if you can't make the trip to Toano you can benefit from Don's expertise as well.

� Canned bonito tuna-Spanish canned tuna is not chicken of the see and bonito tuna at La Tienda is line caught and packed in oil

Armed with many of these staples I couldn't wait to incorporate then in a tapas meal. I used La Tienda's recipe link to find some new dishes and I did a little experimenting on my own for what was a wonderful tapas menu:

Anchovy-Stuffed Spanish Olives
Green Gazpacho
Shrimp and Chorizo
Artichokes with clams
Magdelena strawberry shortcake

Green Gazpacho- I am posting this as this week's entry to Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Cate of Sweetnicks

This recipe is adapted from a recipe on the La Tienda index and relies on the complex flavor of the Spanish sherry vinegar. Use watercress as a base and play with what herbs and greens you have in your CSA or farm market and each time the dish will have a different nuance.This a delicious and refreshing salad that you should add to your reperatoire.

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

2 bunches of watercress (you can also add or mix other greens such as dandelion, fennel,etc.)

1 bunch of mint (I also added some fresh thyme and sage from my garden,almost any fresh green herb would be good)

1/2 head lettuce shredded

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons Jerez sherry vinegar

Sea salt

Cold water

Preparation:

This gazpacho should be eaten immediately after it is made, so that it is crunchy and refreshing.

Remove the stalks from the herbs, rinse and drain them. Finely chop them and place them in the large bowl. Add shredded lettuce. Add them to the bowl and mix them with the herbs so that you get a uniform mixture of flavors, textures and colors.

Place the garlic and salt in the mortar. Pound them together until you have a smooth paste. Slowly add the oil so that it emulsifies and then the vinegar and a little cold water. When it is clear, continue liquefying for a few more seconds and then pour it over the vegetables and immediately add the remaining cold water. Serve immediately.

This "liquid salad"is reminiscent of the Andalusian countryside, and is a fresh, delicious and light dish that your family and friends will love.You can scatter edible flower petals on top for an even more festive look.

Shrimp and Chorizo

This was a quick and easy invention to showcase these delicious ingredients, and it was a big hit (Eaten before I could get a picture!)

1/2 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 pound chorizo, cut in bite-sized chunks
5 cloves garlic,chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 teaspoon sweet pimenton
1 tbsp olive oil

Cut each shrimp in two. Saute garlic in olive oil, add chorizo. Saute for about 5-8 minutes. Add white wine and sprinkle pimenton on top and stir together until wine is reduced by half. Stir in shrimp, and cook until it just turns pink. Salt to taste and serve with crusty bread.

Magdalena Strawberry Shortcake

Angel food cake and biscuit-based shortcake, move over! The spongecake magdalenas provide the perfect base for the seasons freshest berries soaking up the juices.

For each serving cut a magdalenas in half. Cover with fresh sliced strawberries that have been tossed with just a touch of sugar and cold water and bruise the berries to release the juice. Top with whipped cream, and enjoy!

Weekend Herb Blogging: What to do with leftover...cheese grits!

Between catching up on work, trying to get the kids back in school, preparing for the possible visit of Tropical Storm Gabrielle, and celebrating my 33rd wedding anniversary, I wasn't sure that I would find the time to post to Weekend Herb Blogging, brainchild of Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, and this week hosted by Katie of Thyme for Cooking. However, I made some cheese grits to go with some delicious scallops for our anniversary dinner (Before you say anything, we went out for lunch to my favorite sushi place!), and since I am still cooking for 8, I had leftovers, and being a good southerner, I could not throw out good cheese grits. But what can you do with leftover grits?

I decided to make a casserole to have the next night with some leftover barbecue pork, and in searching for mix-ins I headed to my garden cart (featured on a earlier WHB), which I have to say has been seriously affected by the drought (it is that unruly, cart right). Despite watering from our well,our fennel has gone to seed, we have gotten maybe a half-dozen tomatoes and a dozen cherry tomatoes all season, however I have tons of chives, and my tricolor sage apparently does not need much water. So I decided to take my chives and add them to the cheese grits with some scallions, bacon bits (real, of course), and some eggbeaters. Since I was getting rid of leftovers, I put some steamed broccoli I had leftover on the bottom of the casserole and poured the grits mixture over it and topped with cheddar and parmesan cheese and more chives (I guess you can tell Dowds love cheese!). I baked this in the oven and it was a great hit!

The chives added a delicate flavor to the grits, that was less of a star than an understudy. You could mix in whatever you want to the basic leftover grits, egg base to customize it for your family and tastes (or the Tupperware containers full of leftovers in your fridge. A great alternative to rice and potatoes, particularly when paired with spicy foods!


Leftover Grits Casserole with Chives

2 cups leftover cheese grits

3 chopped scallions

1 cup egg substitute or three beaten eggs

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (reserve 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup bacon bits or three slices cooked bacon broken into pieces

Mix first three ingredients and stir in 1 and 1/4 cups of the cheese and the bacon bits. Spray casserole with non-stick spray or olive oil and pour grit mixture into casserole. Top with grated cheese and some additional chopped fresh chives. Bake in 350 degree oven about 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Taking Inspiration from Kalyn- Weekend Herb Blogging

When I heard that Anna of Anna's Cool Finds was hosting while Kalyn is at the Blogher Convention, I had a recipe from Wednesday night's tapas. I saw a recipe by Kayln for an herb rub for fish and since the theme for this weeks tapas was lowfat, healthy food, I decided to take a page from her book, and make something similar. I used cilantro I bought, fresh basil from my "moving garden", lemon juice, olive oil, and fresh parmagiano reggiano. I ground it together by pulsing it in my Magic Bullet, spread it on mahi-mahi fillets and baked for 15 minutes, then broiled for a couple of minutes to make a bit of a crust.For those of you who have not yet succumbed to the Magic Bullet infomercial, you can use a blender or food processor instead.

This turned out to be delicious, almost like a pesto, but a little lighter than traditional pesto with a citrus-y taste that went very well with the delicate flavor of the fish. This lends itself to a milder flavored fish, but I think it could also be a great base for a salad dressing, or served over hot vegetables like zucchini or cauliflower , or even used on chicken as well. This is more guidelines than a recipe, so grab some herbs, some oil and play with food to come up with your own spin!

Herb-Crusted Mahi-Mahi

1 bunch cilantro, without stems
1 handful fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 lemon squeezed

2-ounce chunk of parmesan cheese

3 cloves garlic minced

6 small mahi-mahi fillets (3-4 ounces a piece)

Put all ingredients together in Magic Bullet or food processor.Pulse until well-mixed, adding more olive oil if necessary to get to the consistency of pesto. Spread on top of fish fillets. Bake in ove for 15 minutes or until fillets flake with a fork. Broil 2-3 minutes to toast cheese and then serve.

Weekend Herb Blogging-Veal chops with white wine and fresh sage

If you are following this blog you know that my days and nights lately have been taken up painting, scraping, priming a rental property that my family owns, and that after 8 hours of said activity, food has to be fast, simple and light. It turns out that necessity is the mother of invention, because some of my dinners in the last week have been, well, inspired (or maybe the food tastes good because we are so hungry!)

Last night, I made a dish that turned out really well and seemed a perfect entry for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging, so here I am! First, let me start with the star of this meal- a pair of veal chops. Okay, call me a bohunk, but I had never had veal chops before, because they don't show up often where I shop, and when they did, they were incredibly expensive. However, with the number of people I have to cook for declining, when I saw a two-pack of these chops at Harris Teeter marked down from $11.45 to $1.97, I bought them and popped them in the freezer for a day when only Gavin, Molly and I would be there for dinner. Last night after 8 hours in rental renovation mode was the perfect night to play with these chops (and for $1.97, I could afford to have fun!)

In the supporting role was some tricolor sage that we have been growing as part of our "rolling garden" (pictured right) Because we do not have a lot of sun in our backyard, my husband started a container garden and put it in out old garden cart which he can move around to get maximum sunlight! The added advantage is that the multitudes of bunnies cannot reach my tender herbs!

I browned the chops in a pan in a little olive oil, salt and pepper and a chiffonade(this means I stacked the leaves on top of one another and cut into thin ribbons) of the fresh sage. Once the chops were browned on both sides I added some white wine and cooked until the chops were medium-rare. The chops were light in flavor (like a moister pork chop, with a more delicate flavor), and really delicious, so if you find some chops marked down to $1.97, you should give veal chops a try! I served these with a mixture of spinach and canellini beans cooked in garlic, and it was a big hit! I just wish I had taken a picture!

Veal Chops with White Wine and Fresh Sage Chiffonade (doesn't this sound really complicated!)

2 veal chops (or one per person if you are cooking for more than two)

12-20 sage leaves

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 cup white wine

Salt and pepper to taste

Put oil in pan and heat until just starting to smoke. Add chops and brown on both sides, adding a grind or two of salt and pepper. Lower to medium heat, add sage leaves and slowly add white wine, and cook covered for 10-15 minutes. Serve chops with the pan juices poured over.