abuela Nany
 |
There is a lot of excellent food in Spain (which by the way has nothing in common with mexican food, except the language!)
Paella and sangrĂa are the most internationally known...
Here are the recipes:
PAELLA
for 6 to 8 persons
2 lbs. of fresh mussels
1 lb. of fish, cut in bite size pieces (any white fish will do) (for ex. hake or monkfish)
1 lb. of chicken cut in small pieces
1/2 lb. of fresh shrimp
1/2 lb. of fresh small clams (VONGOLE -CLOVISSES)
1/2 lb. of calamari squid (cut in rings)
1 lb. of rice
2 lemons cut in wedges
1 small can of red pimento slices
1 large or 2 medium green bell pepper
2 large tomatoes
1 large onion
2 or 3 cloves of garlic (or more, depending on your taste)
1 small glass of Olive oil
salt - pepper
saffron or Paella spice mix
2 quarts of fish broth
First of all, boil the mussels and fresh shrimp in 2 qts. of water with a bay leaf and a little salt (to make your broth) This should take about 5 minutes.
Reserve both...
Make the "sofrito" this is the vegetable base...
Chop the green pepper and onion, peel and dice the tomatoes. Chop or finely slice the garlic cloves. Place the olive oil in your paella pan add the garlic, once it turns slightly golden, add the pepper and onion, stir for a few minutes once the onion has blanched add the diced tomoatoes. Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Then add the calamari and chicken pieces and cook another 5 minutes before adding the rice. Stir a few times to coat the rice then add the fish and shellfish, the saffron and finally the broth. stir once to make sure the saffron has blended in, the paella should turn a nice yellow colour.
Once you have done this allow to simmer aprox. 15 to 18 minutes. (Do not stir anymore, it would make the rice sticky). About 5 minutes before the paella is done place the shrimp, mussels and pimento slices on the top to adorn. Mid-way through the cooking if you see that it is getting too dry, add a little more water...At the beginning the rice should be well covered with liquid.
Once you remove from the stove, allow to "rest" at least 5 minutes before serving. This way the rice will finish absorbing any remaining liquid.
A perfect paella will have dry and tender rice, with the grains fluffy and separate.
Place the lemon wedges around the edge of the paella, and when serving put one wedge on each plate.
Sangria
for 6 to 8 persons
2 or 3 bottles of red wine.
2 large bottles of lime or lemon soda (colourless)
2 large bottles of orange soda (1 lt. size at least)
2 oranges (large)
2 or 3 lemons
2 apples (golden delicious or granny smith)
2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar (to your taste)
2 pieces of stick cinammon (crush a little with your fingers to bring out the essential oils flavour)
1 glass of brandy
1 glass of orange based liqueur (Cointreau, Triple Sec, Grand Marnier or similar)
Peel and dice the fruit, place in a bowl with the sugar, cinammon, brandy and liqueur. If the liquid doesn't completely cover the fruit add a small glass of orange juice.
Allow to marinate for at least 4 hours. (I usually make it about 12 hours ahead of time, leaving it that long allows most of the alcohol to evaporate but retains all the flavour, that way it doesn't go to the head so easily).
Place everything together in a large punchbowl, stir and allow to blend for a little while before serving.
You can add icecubes to keep it cold, and if you freeze some orange soda or juice you can keep the sangria from getting too "watery" with the ice cubes.
**************************************...
There is a variant made with white wine instead of red... It's called a KAP
Use the same ingredients, but use half a glass of brandy and the other half of vodka.
Also use peaches with/or instead of the apples. If fresh peaches are not in season, replace with canned ones, and add the syrup to the fruit mixture instead of the sugar.
Another suggestion...if you make juice icecubes add a maraschino cherry to some of them, it looks nice and adds a touch of sweetness..
Also, if you are handy, peel the lemons and oranges in one piece in a spiral and keep the peels to adorn the edge of your punchbowl.
It all depends on how creative you are. |
kebvee
|
pulpo a feira
("the day's octopus" meaning fresh)
boil the octopus, by letting water boil and then dipping the octopus three times until the legs curl
let it all boil until tender
slice the legs off, and slice the head into bits, let it cool a bit
slice the legs into 1/4 inch slices, diagonally, place on wooden platter, add a drizzle of olive oil, coarse salt (not too much) and paprika
nosh on the other bits in the meantime, make sure there's something left!
serve with slices of crusty baguette bread
yum... fabulous! |
Travel
Forum 
Spain 
No Spam
Adult 
Gambling
Unfinished
Deception
Plagiarism
Not English
