Nibbles:  Pan Con Tomate

Hi there everyone!

Well remember I told you that we would be having my friend from England cook for us – well this is it.  She has spent a great deal of time in Spain so treated us to an amazing Spanish themed menu with the Catalana flavours.  It was a real treat and all the recipes are included here.

To start with we had a board of nibbles called a Pan con tomate.  This is a very simple recipe in Catalan cuisine, known as Pa amb tomàquet – a slice of bread with tomatoes, some salt and olive oil.  Sometimes you can toast the bread and rub in some garlic.  The story is that this is a good way to use up old bread, as the tomatoes and olive oil bring back moisture – makes sense to me!

The toasted bread (we used turkish) is rubbed with a clove of garlic then we rubbed the tomatoes over the garlic bread, add a good glug of olive oil and some salt.   BUT we also then drizzled some aioli over all that and munched away.  Let me tell you this was a revelation.  Imagine adding a few cold cuts to this and you would have a complete meal.  Honestly, I made such a pig of myself.  This was given 10/10 – of course.

Now, I don’t normally talk about the wines we drink but my darling friend included all Spanish wines with the meal and they deserve a mention:

Codorniu (bubbly)
Rueda (2018) the white wine
Rioja the red.

This was a fantastic Wine Wednesday and made so special for me being able to sit down and enjoy someone else’s inspiring cooking.  I will certainly be including these dishes in my repertoire, hope you do to.

Until next week.

From my table to yours with love X

Pan Con Tomate

A board of nibbles uniquely combined. Add some delicious cold meats and you have a meal!

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 6 large slices of turkish bread toasted
• 6 garlic cloves peeled
• 4 ripe tomatoes halved
• sea salt
• extra virgin olive oil to drizzle
• aioli shop bought or home made

Method

 

1. Rub the garlic over the lightly toasted bread. Put the tomato cut side down on the toast and rub and squish it with your fingers, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle aioli.

Chicken stew with Langoustines (Pollo Con Lang)

A classic Spanish sea and mountain dish

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 10 -12 Fresh Lougoustines (scampi) judge the size as you may only need four halved or use large green prawns in the shell
• 8 chicken thigh fillets skin left on
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• good knob of butter
• 4 large onions finely chopped
• 2 ripe tomates diced
• 3 garlic cloves finely sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• 200 ml white wine
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 400 mls chicken stock
• few sprigs tarragon
• olive oil for frying

Method

 

1. Heat a little oil in a large pan with a lid. Add the scampi and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove and set aside. Season the chicken and add to the pan. Brown all over then remove and set aside.
2. Add a little more oil and a good knob of butter to the pan. Fry the onions very, very gently for 20-30 minutes until really soft and caramelised. Add the tomatoes, garlic and bay leaf and cook for 10 minutes more. Add the wine and vinegar and bubble for a minute then add the stock and tarragon.
3. Return the chicken and any juices to the pan, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the chicken is almost cooked. Add the scampi to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes more. Serve with crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Patatas Bravas (fried potatoes)

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• olive oil for frying
• 900 g floury potatoes peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
• flaky sea salt
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1 red chilli blackened
• 400 g chopped tomatoes tin is fine
• 1 tsp smoked pimentón
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• pinch sugar
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Method

 

1. Heat the oil in a pan and gently fry the onion for 15 minutes until really soft.. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more then add the chilli and tomatoes. Stir in the pimentón, vinegar and sugar, season well and simmer for 20-30 minutes until you have a thick, chunky sauce. Set aside.
2. Heat a deep pan with olive to 100°C. Fry the potatoes for 10 minutes - they should not be coloured at all at this point. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Leave to cool completely.
3. Heat the oil to 160°C. Fry the potatoes for 4-5 minutes until they are tender and just starting to turn golden. Drain on kitchen paper and leave to cool.
4. When ready to serve, reheat the salsa brava. heat the oil to 200°C and fry the potatoes for 2-3 minutes until really golden and very crispy. Drain and season with salt. Spoon over the salsa brava. You can serve this with store bought or homemade aioli.

Crema Catalana

Similar to a Crème Brulée

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 litre whole milk
• 1 lemon pared zest
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 6 large egg yolks
• 60 g caster sugar plus extra to caramelise
• 40 g cornflour
• 1 orange pared zest

Method

 

1. Put the milk, zests and cinnamon in a pan and bring to the boil then set aside to infuse for at least 1 hour. When cold and infused, strain through a fine sieve.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar together until thick and pale and fluffy, then beat in the infused milk and cornflour.
3. Pour into a clean pan and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until you have a thick custard. Sieve into a jug and pour into eight dishes or large ramekins. Chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours, or overnight, until completely set.
4. When read to serve, sprinkle a layer of sugar over the top and caramelise quickly with a blowtorch, or under a very hot grill. Chill again for at least an hour before serving.