I have a little problem. I'm addicted to cookbooks, food writing, recipe collecting, and cooking. I have a lot of recipes waiting for me to try them, and ideas from articles, tv, and restaurants often lead to new dishes. I started losing track of what I've done. So now I'm taking photos and writing about what I've prepared—unless it's terrible in which case I forget it ever happened.
I’m declaring this cod dish a perfect recipe for January. It’s lean and not too indulgent, but the smoky pimenton will help warm you up if your weather is a bit chilly as it is here. Just smelling the lovely pimenton in the simmering sauce makes the house seem warmer. And, this is a pretty quick dish to prepare if you’re looking for simpler meals after lots of holiday cooking. It’s from Cúrate: Authentic Spanish Food from an American Kitchen by Katie Button, and I received a review copy. Katie Button’s career in cooking began after she first studied biomolecular engineering. Rather than completing her PhD program, she opted to go to work for Jose Andres in Washington D.C. That position led to a stage in elBulli’s pastry kitchen which was followed by opening a Spanish restaurant with her husband in North Carolina. The book is named after the restaurant, and both offer home-cooking from all the regions of Spain with some interpretations for what’s available here in the US. There are classic dishes like Gazpacho, Tortilla Espanola, and Sauteed Shrimp with Garlic as well as fresh ideas like Roasted Beet Salad with Candied Orange, Manchego, and Marcona Almonds. One section that really got my attention was Sandwiches. The wonderful preserved products from Spain are mentioned in a few places in the book, and they come into play with some of the sandwiches. For instance, the Tuna Sandwich is made with homemade Arbequina Olive Oil Mayonnaise, canned Navarra white asparagus, roasted piquillo peppers, tuna jarred in olive oil, and sliced hard-boiled egg on split baguette, and it looks delicious. The very next chapter is Desserts, and I’d love to try them all. The White Chocolate Saffron Roulade may become my birthday cake this year. And, the Frozen Meringue with Candied Marcona Almonds and Grand Marnier sounds delightful. First, I tried the flaky cod with the hearty, chunky sauce with garbanzos.
Seafood stock is called for in the recipe for the sauce. I usually have some shrimp shells in the freezer and whip up some seafood stock fairly quickly. However, there is a lot of great flavor in the other ingredients, and water would work instead of stock. To begin, garlic and onion were sauteed in olive oil until golden, and canned crushed tomatoes, a bay leaf, and a sprig of rosemary were added and left to simmer for a few minutes. Next, the stock or water and rinsed and drained canned garbanzo beans were added with smoked pimenton. The mixture was brought to a boil and then reduced to a simmer for another few minutes. Last, chopped parsley was added. The cod was simply seared in a skillet until just cooked through. The fish was served with the sauce spooned over and around each piece.
Sauteeing onion and garlic makes the kitchen smell amazing, but adding the smoked pimenton took it to another level. With the garbanzos in the sauce, this was a hearty but not too filling dish all at once. Like the other recipes in this book, this was straightforward to prepare with some smart touches to bring about great flavor. It’s a nice guide for bringing Spanish dishes to your table.
I am a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program. Tweet
Baked brie makes a perfectly rich and gooey snack or first course. I received a double-cream brie from Ile de France and immediately knew I wanted to bake it to a state of molten goodness. I found this recipe on Epicurious, but I omitted the garlic to keep the flavors a little simpler.
Softened butter was combined with pimenton de la vera, and I really could eat that on everything. Here, it was spread on small pieces of bread and toasted for about 10 minutes in the oven. Meanwhile, the brie was taken out of its wooden container, the covering was removed, and it was returned to the wooden container. It went into the oven for 20 minutes. Then, the top rind was cut away to allow for dipping. The hint of smokiness in the pimenton was a nice accent, but I used a small enough amount to let the brie flavor take the lead. Melty, drippy, beautiful brie was made so easy to scoop onto the bread delivery system. This may be the simplest yet most satisfying cheese recipe there is.
This dish caught my eye in the January issue of Food and Wine. It was part of the 50 trends to try this year, and the trend in question was new sparkling wines. Three wines including a lambrusco bianco, a sparkling chenin blanc, and a sparkling gruner veltliner were suggested, and all would pair well with the mussels. We never have much luck locating exact bottles that appear in articles and that proved to be the case last weekend. So, we chose a prosecco instead. Therefore, I suppose we failed to experience this trend set by these new sparklers, but the mussels were outstanding with the bubbly wine we did procure.
This was served as a first course prior to the eggplant salmon entree. The mussels are quick and simple to prepare, and smoked, hot paprika is always welcome. Breadcrumbs were tossed with butter-cooked garlic and paprika, and then thyme, lemon zest, and salt and pepper were added. This mixture was spooned over steamed, opened mussels which were then set under the broiler for a couple of minutes.
Simply delicious. Of course, we wished we would have bought more mussels. When paprika, butter, and breadcrumbs are involved, always plan to serve more than you think you’ll need. The prosecco was lovely as both the steaming liquid and as the beverage served with the finished dish, but the Szigeti Gruner Veltliner Brut sounded interesting. We’ll have to keep looking for it so we can properly experience this particular trend.
About a month ago, I attended a Central Market cooking class taught by remarkable baker and teacher Nick Malgieri. For this class, he prepared sweet and savory pastries from his new book The Modern Baker. This book provides time-saving techniques for all types of baking. Throughout the class, Malgieri’s vast experience was evident as he demonstrated multiple ways to complete several tasks. One technique he explained was taking the base out of a removable bottom tart pan and rolling pastry right on it. That way, you know exactly when you have rolled it to the proper size. He also demonstrated his general technique for rolling pastry and making quarter turns between rolls to arrive at a perfect circle. Both demonstrations took him about two and a half minutes total and couldn’t have appeared any easier. He also had great insight about baking times and temperatures. His preference is for well-done, flaky, and crisp tart and pie crusts. He mentioned that he sometimes bakes them directly on the floor of an oven to achieve such a crust. Interesting.
One of the savory items he prepared that night was this paprika palmier. Now I have to mention a detail that stuck in my craw. Malgieri prepared and included in the book a recipe for instant puff pastry. This pastry was prepared in a food processor and was then rolled and folded. For me, it was not puff pastry. This is what he used for these palmiers, and the sample was delicious, and he did point out that the pastry would not achieve the volume of a true puff pastry. So, maybe if it were called quick pastry that tastes good but isn’t quite like puff pastry, then I would have accepted it and moved on. For a palmier, savory or sweet, I wanted the pastry to be of the real puff variety. That’s why I chose purchased puff pastry to prepare this quick hors d’oeuvre for a holiday party this past weekend. Great news: Whole Foods now makes their own brand of all-butter puff pastry, and it’s found in the freezer section.
These little gems came together incredibly simply. Roll out pastry. Brush an egg wash over entire surface. Sprinkle on grated parmigiana reggiano, smoked Spanish paprika, and sea salt. Roll, chill, cut, and bake. Smoky, nutty, salty, and buttery flavors melded into lovely, little cocktail snacks. I’d love to attempt making my own pate feuilletee, but the pre-made all-butter version is a great alternative. I’ve flipped through The Modern Baker, and every recipe in it looks like a winner. There are a few cookies from it that are already on my Christmas baking list and several tarts and cakes that I look forward to trying too.
I was in need of inspiration for a vegetable-filled soup, so I looked through a few different books to get ideas. It was Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian that offered just what I was hoping to find. This book is a terrific reference for just about any vegetable cooked in just about any style. You can use the index to locate the vegetable in question, and then you’ll find several options from all around the world. As I flipped through the book, I made repeated mental notes on other dishes ranging from El Salvadoran to Indian that I want to try as soon as I can.
While vegetarian caldo gallego may be an oxymoron, it is definitely a full-flavored and satisfying soup. Traditionally, chorizo would be the source of rich flavor. Jaffrey’s recipe included onion, garlic, potato, white beans, chopped greens, and vegetable broth or broth from cooking beans. I felt that the essence of a traditional taste would be found in Spanish paprika, so I added a healthy dose of pimenton de la vera to the onions and potatoes as they cooked. Since time was at a premium this weekend, I resorted to using canned white beans instead of cooking dried ones, but I did use some homemade vegetable broth. As the potatoes, onions, and garlic cooked with the pimenton, the aroma was transfixing. I decided pimenton is my new best friend. It’ll be in everything I cook for the foreseeable future.
The finished soup was hearty and delicious. The smoky quality was there, and the potatoes, beans, and greens were a nice trio of tastes. We lunched on this soup with some chunks of manchego cheese. It might not have been completely traditional, but it was just what I was looking for this weekend. I made a double batch and can freeze some for future quick meals unless it disappears in the next few days.
Posts
by Katie Button, and I received a review copy. Katie Button’s career in cooking began after she first studied biomolecular engineering. Rather than completing her PhD program, she opted to go to work for Jose Andres in Washington D.C. That position led to a stage in elBulli’s pastry kitchen which was followed by opening a Spanish restaurant with her husband in North Carolina. The book is named after the restaurant, and both offer home-cooking from all the regions of Spain with some interpretations for what’s available here in the US. There are classic dishes like Gazpacho, Tortilla Espanola, and Sauteed Shrimp with Garlic as well as fresh ideas like Roasted Beet Salad with Candied Orange, Manchego, and Marcona Almonds. One section that really got my attention was Sandwiches. The wonderful preserved products from Spain are mentioned in a few places in the book, and they come into play with some of the sandwiches. For instance, the Tuna Sandwich is made with homemade Arbequina Olive Oil Mayonnaise, canned Navarra white asparagus, roasted piquillo peppers, tuna jarred in olive oil, and sliced hard-boiled egg on split baguette, and it looks delicious. The very next chapter is Desserts, and I’d love to try them all. The White Chocolate Saffron Roulade may become my birthday cake this year. And, the Frozen Meringue with Candied Marcona Almonds and Grand Marnier sounds delightful. First, I tried the flaky cod with the hearty, chunky sauce with garbanzos. 
. This book provides time-saving techniques for all types of baking. Throughout the class, Malgieri’s vast experience was evident as he demonstrated multiple ways to complete several tasks. One technique he explained was taking the base out of a removable bottom tart pan and rolling pastry right on it. That way, you know exactly when you have rolled it to the proper size. He also demonstrated his general technique for rolling pastry and making quarter turns between rolls to arrive at a perfect circle. Both demonstrations took him about two and a half minutes total and couldn’t have appeared any easier. He also had great insight about baking times and temperatures. His preference is for well-done, flaky, and crisp tart and pie crusts. He mentioned that he sometimes bakes them directly on the floor of an oven to achieve such a crust. Interesting.
These little gems came together incredibly simply. Roll out pastry. Brush an egg wash over entire surface. Sprinkle on grated parmigiana reggiano, smoked Spanish paprika, and sea salt. Roll, chill, cut, and bake. Smoky, nutty, salty, and buttery flavors melded into lovely, little cocktail snacks. I’d love to attempt making my own pate feuilletee, but the pre-made all-butter version is a great alternative. I’ve flipped through 
The finished soup was hearty and delicious. The smoky quality was there, and the potatoes, beans, and greens were a nice trio of tastes. We lunched on this soup with some chunks of manchego cheese. It might not have been completely traditional, but it was just what I was looking for this weekend. I made a double batch and can freeze some for future quick meals unless it disappears in the next few days.