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If an incredible flavor-to-ease-of-preparation ratio is something you seek, this romesco sauce is for you. Originating from the Catalonia region of Spain, fisherman first devised this superb sauce as an accompaniment to their fresh catch, but it truly goes with just about anything. Fish, grilled vegetables, pork... other things. You get the idea.
With the aid of a food processor or blender you'll be done in a quarter of an hour, leaving you with plenty of time to contemplate time itself. Our relationship with it, the constant push yet perpetual lack of it, our propensity to squander it... also, you can make the sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for up to a week.
1. Pulse the first 8 ingredients in a food processor until finely chopped. Then, with the motor still slowly running, add the olive oil with similar slow determination and continue to process until as smooth as desired.
2. Above is it. No more directions. You're on your own, henceforth.
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Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit.
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If you're visiting this website, odds are good you're into tinned seafood or piquillo peppers or both. Good news: Donostia Foods Small Sardines in Olive Oil with Piquillo Pepper are now available for order. Yes, that's right, both delectable foods paired together in one tin. Enjoy.
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photo by Andy Suarez
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If you've found our Cod Fish in Biscayne Sauce delightful, you're right. If you're thinking you have a moment to put together something in the kitchen and want to experience it a a new but still delightful way, look no further. This recipe from chef Andy Suarez will take very little time and make you feel good about life in general.
Total Time: 10-15 minutes. Makes a couple servings.
1. Use a rice cooker to cook the rice. If you don't have one, consider buying one. Quite useful. Mix saffron, turmeric, salt, pepper, and add stock or water to the rice cooker. Cook.
2. Slice the green onion, mince the garlic.
3. In a pan, warm the minced garlic, then add the cod fish. As the cod fish is already cooked, all you need to do is warm it up a little.
3. Add the sliced green onion last, and for only a minute or two.
4. Chiffonade parsley leaves so you have some nice long, thin parsley strips to lay atop the bacalao which you have already placed atop the perfectly cooked rice. Enjoy.
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recipe by chef Andy Suarez
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Perhaps the first cookbook of vegan recipes from Spain is aptly titled Vegan Recipes from Spain. Chef and author Gonzalo Baró embarks on a challenge to concoct vegan dishes from the land of ham and fish and cheese and calls upon both traditional and contemporary Spanish gastronomy for the recipes included. But, he most relies on his own creativity. From an interview with the chef:
I think creativity was the most significant element in the elaboration process, and the one that brought me the most headaches, given that I found myself in absolutely new territory. If I’m not mistaken, I think that this is the first book of vegan Spanish recipes ever published. Good ideas and inspirations almost never come when you sit down at the table with paper and a pen. I frequently came up with ideas at the most unexpected moments – while in the bathtub, or first thing in the morning. As with other European cuisines, animal products have an important presence in the Spanish recipe book, which is why the creative process was such an important part of writing this book. How do you manage to capture a country’s gastronomy without using meat, fish, eggs and dairy products, and also without losing its soul. It is no small task.
Read more at Foods & Wines from Spain.
Available for pre-order now.
PTX Lounge is a new bar with a vintage nautical theme in Cranston, RI well worth a visit. From Jamie Coelho for Rhode Island Monthly:
PTX Lounge has an underwater atmosphere, like you’re submerged in a submarine or on a ship in the middle of the ocean. A deconstructed kayak on the left wall looks like an aesthetically pleasing shipwreck, while a giant round part of a ship serves as a conversation piece behind the bar.
And there's a magnificent mermaid on the side of the place. Stop in for craft cocktails, tinned seafood, and to see the mermaid in person, obviously.
Read more at Rhode Island Monthly.
photo credit: PTX Lounge Instagram
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It's reasonable to assume people have been mashing avocado onto toast for eons. If you have both available in the morning, it's just sensible to combine them for a nice quick meal. But, it hasn't been until recently that avocado toast has become a breakout superstar of the breakfast scene, to the point of having multiple New Yorker articles touching on the subject. You know you've made it as a breakfast food when this happens. As Nathan Heller states in one such article, "it is the ultimate cosmopolitan food, a dish for familiar pursuits in unfamiliar settings". Don't let the doubters fool you, avocado toast in all it's variations is here to stay.
What's one such variation? Top your avocado toast with sardines as directed below. With a simple sherry dressing and the added protein it's quite a good one; you can charge everyone at the breakfast table as much as you'd like.
Total Time: 10-15 minutes. Makes about 4 montaditos or 2 superior sandwiches, if that's the way you want to go.
1. Drain the oil from one tin of sardines into a small bowl and set aside. This will come into play momentarily. Wait for it.
2. Drain the oil from that other tin into yet another bowl and mix in one tablespoon of parsley, vinegar, lemon zest, and black pepper, then add the sardines from both tins and let sit. Again, wait for it.
3. Continue to wait for it.
4. Leap into action. That first bowl of drained olive oil comes back with a vengeance. Coat your sliced bread in it and broil that crackling, crusty bread until golden brown.
5. Mash and spread avocado onto the toast and top it with the sardine mixture.
6. Garnish with remaining parsley and season with sea salt and a squeeze of lemon. Savor every bite.
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Recipe from Alton Brown found on seriouseats.com
The Interprofesional del Aceite de Oliva Español, working with Héctor Henche, creative director of the consulting firm Fizz Bartenders and a barman of renown in Spain answers the question above with a resounding, yes.
From Foods and Wines from Spain:
The idea was to create original cocktails that would highlight the different personalities of Spanish extra virgin olive oil. From the start this proposal was, at the very least, an amazingly ambitious one. I spoke to Héctor Henche about this experience, starting off with a question as basic as it was necessary to ask. What does Spanish EVOO contribute to the incredibly creative world of mixology? “Olive oil lends us significant doses of flavor, texture, shine... as well as originality. There are two keys: Spanish extra virgin olive oil has a silky texture and sheen that infuses our cocktails with vibrancy.”
If you fancy yourself a skillful and experimental bartender, let us know what you come up with in your cocktail laboratory.
Straight from the tin, the simplest of all tapas, cockles will still impress. Harvested off the coast of Galicia in northwest Spain where conditions are ideal for producing sweet and delicate mollusks such as these.
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The first in our recommended reading list of books that will stoke your desire for Spain or food or just a cracking story well-told, is Michael Paterniti's THE TELLING ROOM. A work of literary non-fiction, it's a book about a cheese so spectacular it induces a state of reverie upon tasting it, yes. But, it's more a book about an impossible character, Ambrosio Molinos de Las Heras, the man responsible for recreating a long-lost family recipe for this cheese of dreams that brings "... a moment of pure, gustatory pleasure..."; the mystery of how it all goes wrong; and the power of stories.
The author himself becomes entangled in the tale, moving his young family to Ambrosio's tiny village of Guzmán, Spain in pursuit of a new, old-way of life and to uncover the truth of the treachery at the heart of the story.
But, the story is always changing.
The book's title comes from a cave carved into a hillside overlooking the town, where a timeworn door opens onto a small room containing only a wooden table and two benches. Here, in "the telling room", Ambrosio and his family convene in the evenings to sustain themselves with cheese, wine, and stories. Paterniti first encounters the enormous cheesemaker in this place where fact and fiction intertwine. Along with the extraordinary cheese he's treated to an hours-long history of love, betrayal, and revenge that inspires him to write the memoir, travelogue, mystery, adventure that is this enthralling book.
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Pintxos are perfect for any party. This pintxo in particular is the easiest to prepare. All the work has been done; olives and peppers and onions and gherkins have already been skewered so you can spend ample amount of time taking part in the revelry you've created.
Total Time: 1 minute or so, depending on your strength and the ease with which you open the jar.
1. Open the jar of banderillas and place them on a plate in the style of your choosing. Job done. Now, partake in the food and drink you've prepared for the evening's gathering. Converse with friends and family in the convivial atmosphere. Share a laugh and lighthearted banter as the sun sets. Lose track of time. The soft glow of the string of lights surrounding the patio illuminates all late into night. Ruminate on topics trivial and universal. Even if answers remain elusive, find a greater understanding of each other. Banderillas are great.
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Sear the small squid (chipirones rellenos) over high heat, and place them atop the previously made pisto (full recipe in this previously posted post).
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