RECIPES

1 - APETIZERS

“Boquerones en vinagre”

• Ingredients• 1 kilo fresh anchovies• good Spanish virgin

olive oil • white vinegar • 3-4 garlic cloves • fresh parsley • sea salt

1Clean the anchovies/boquerones under water. Get rid of the heads and open the clean anchovies/boquerones as if they were books. Get rid of the insides of the fish and after rinsing them, place them in in a deep tray.

2Once you have the tray covered with "open book" fish, sprinkle some sea salt and cover them with the white vinegar.

3Put them in the fridge for a minimum of 12 hours. I usually let them sometime between 12 to 18 hours.

4Once the macerating is done, cut a couple of cloves of garlic in really thin slices (it depends a lot on how much fish you have and how much you like garlic). Put aside.

5Chop parsley in really small pieces. 6Get each fish out of the tray where they have been macerating.

Arrange them nicely in another tray. 7Once they are arranged sprinkle the cut garlic and the parsley over the

fish. 8Cover with good Spanish virgin olive oil. 9Enjoy with white wine and bread or a baguette. 10The prep time varies depending on your fish cleaning and cutting

skill.

Steps:• 1: Wash and cut the potatoes into thin slices. Heat the oil in the pan,

and add the potatoes and salt. Fry, stirring occasionally. Tip: If you prefer the potatoes to be soft, use a spatula to mash them as they are frying. As soon as they are a golden colour, remove from the pan and put the potato mixture either in a sieve or on kitchen paper, so that as much oil as possible drains away or is absorbed.

• 2: Beat the eggs well with a pinch of salt, and add to the potatoes. Mix well.

• 3: Put two small spoonfuls of olive oil in the frying pan, so that the bottom of the pan is covered with a thin layer of oil. Once the oil is hot, add the potato and egg mixture. Tip: shake the pan gently as you move the mixture, so that none sticks to the bottom. Once the omelette seems to be cooked, use the lid of the frying pan (or a large plate) to tip the omelette out of the pan, add a little more oil and slide the omelette in again, this time putting the less cooked side first into the pan. If you need to repeat this step, so that the omelette is perfectly cooked and golden on both sides, you may do so. This omelette is delicious hot or cold

“Pulpo á Feira” (boiled Octopus, Gallician style)

Ingredients

• A big Octopus

• A lot of Water

• Onion

• Potatoes

• Laurel

• Cooking Salt

• Spanish Spicy Red Pepper (Pimentón)

• Spanish Virgin Olive Oil

Steps

1 Boil water in a big pot with a peeled onion. 2 Get the big octopus and drown three times into the boiled

water. This is because we don't want to remove the octopus peel.

3 After 30 minutes we have to look if the octopus is not too soft, and move it away.

4 The boiled potatoes have been cooked in slices before (thickness: +-1 cm,) during 15 minutes with laurel.

5 Cut the octupus in little pieces with scissors and put in a wood plate.

6 Sprinkle the cooking salt, Spanish spicy red pepper, and add virgin olive oil. Serve hot and enjoy it.

Note:This delicious recipe is better with an Alvarino white wine and home-made bread.

2 - FIRST COURSES

“Sopa de Ajo” (Castillian Garlic Soup)

• Ingredients:• 1/3 cup olive oil • 3 cloves garlic, sliced • Spanish cured ham, cut

into 1/4” cubes • 2-3 slices of day-old

bread, medium size • 1 tbsp sweet paprika • 1 quarter of water • salt • 6 eggs

Steps:1. Serves 6.2. Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan. Add not-too-

thinly sliced garlic. Before the garlic turns brown, add the cubed ham and the slices of bread. Sauté for a few minutes on medium heat.

3. Add the sweet paprika, followed by the water and salt. Bring to a slow boil. Boil for 5-10 minutes.

4. To poach the eggs, carefully add eggs to the soup one at a time.

5. Scoop out poached eggs one at a time into soup bowls. Then, slowly ladle the soup into each bowl.

“Gazpacho”

Ingredients (for 4 people):

• 1 Kilo tomatoes (preferable plum tomatoes)

• 1/2 small onion (60 grams) • 1 small green pepper • 1 small cucumber (the small

chubby Spanish type) • 1 small cup of olive oil• 2 desert spoons of vinager • 200 grams of bread from the day

before, soaked in water • Small portions of diced tomatoes,

red and green peppers, cucumber, onion and bread or croutons to sprinkle on top.

Steps:1: Put the tomatoes, onion, pepper, cucumber,

vinager, oil and bread into a liquidizer. If you want to dilute it, add a glass of water. Tip: if you want to go for a tangy garlic taste, add a small amount of fresh garlic to the mixture before liquidizing.

2: Put the mixture into a bowl, add salt and pepper and leave the gazpacho to chill for at least an hour. If you want to eat it straight away, you can put some ice cubes in to cool it down.

3: Serve the gazpacho en soup bowls, with the portions of diced tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion, croutons etc on the table, so that everyone can add them to their bowl as they prefer. Tip: you can also sprinkle diced serrano ham or hard boiled egg.

(Spanish Potato Salad) “Ensaladilla Rusa”

Ingredients:

• 7 medium potatoes

• 2 roasted red peppers (bottled is fine)

• 1 16 oz can of peas and carrots, drained

• 2 hard-boiled eggs

• 1 6 oz can tuna, drained

• mayonnaise – For home-made, see recipe link below.

• Optional:

• 4-5 spears white asparagus for garnish

Steps:

This Spanish potato salad recipe makes 6 servings.

1. Scrub the potatoes to clean off any lose dirt and sand. Pour water into a large pot, cover and bring to a boil on high heat. Place potatoes, eggs and carrots in the pot and boil them with skins until they are cooked, but not too soft. Test the doneness by pricking with a fork to make sure they are cooked, but still firm. Don’t overcook the ingredients or when mixing the salad, you’ll end up with mashed potatoes.

2. If you are preparing home-made mayonnaise, do so while the ingredients are cooking.

3. Drain the water from the pot and add cold water to the pot, covering the ingredients. Change every few minutes until everything is cool enough to handle with your bare hands. Refrigerate for a few minutes to cool further.

4. Remove from refrigerator and peel potatoes, eggs and carrots. Cut into small (approximately 1/2") cubes. Return to refrigerator while you prepare the other ingredients.

5. Cut all ingredients into small cubes and mix all together.

6. Add the mayonnaise mixture and mix thoroughly. If necessary, add more mayonnaise. Smooth top of potato salad, preparing for decoration.

7. Presentation

8. Put the mixture on a try and put some more mayonnaise over it. Then decorate with some red boild pepper, olives and asparagus.

3 - MAIN COURSES

“Merluza a la vasca”(basque hake)

Ingredients

-Flour, for coating-black pepper-900g hake steaks, cut into large chunks-Olive oil, for shallow-frying-1 Onion, chopped-6 clove Garlic, chopped-225ml fresh fish stock-225ml White wine-12 Asparagus-12 small fresh clams-12 raw mussels-100g fresh or frozen peas-4 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and halved-juice of 1 Lemons-50g chilled Butter

  Steps 1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5.

2. Season the flour with salt and freshly ground pepper. Coat the hake pieces in the seasoned flour.

3. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan. Add in the hake and fry for 1 minute each side.

4. Place the fried hake in a single layer in an ovenproof dish.

5. Add the onion and garlic to the frying pan and fry gently until softened. Layer the fried onion and garlic over the hake.

6. Add the fish stock and white wine to the frying pan, scraping the pan with a spatula to deglaze the pan. Bring to the boil and cook briskly until reduced by a third.

7. Pour the fish stock mixture over the fish and layer the asparagus on top.

8. Press the clams and mussels into the gaps between the hake. Cover the dish with kitchen foil and bake for 8 minutes.

9. Add the peas and halved eggs to the hake. Bake for 2 more minutes.

10. Carefully strain the hake cooking juices into a pan. Bring to the boil and reduce by half.

11. Add in the lemon juice and whisk in the butter to make a smooth sauce.

12. Divide the hake mixture among 4 serving plates. Spoon over the sauce, sprinkle with parsley and serve at once with lemon wedges

Burgos Roast Baby Lamb

• Ingredients:• 1 baby lamb (8-9

kilos)• water• Olive oil• 1 glass of white wine

Preparation:1. Place the salted lamb on a roasting pan

and paint it with some olive oil. Roast for 40 or 50 minutes turning the meat once brown on both sides. Pour the white wine. Let it roast until the meat is tender. Pour some water over the meat from time to time.

2. It must be juicy when served.

Bacalao al Pil-Pil

• Ingredients• 1 kilo salted cod, then

desalted • 1 1/2 cups olive oil • 3 cloves of garlic,

thinly sliced • 1 small dried hot chile

pepper, seeded and cut into rings

Preparation:

1. Drain the salt cod and pat dry with paper towels. Cut into 3-inch squares, leaving the skin intact. When cooking later in olive oil, the skin will release the needed gelly to help emulsify the sauce.

2. In a 12-inchpan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and the chile and fry, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the garlic starts to turn golden. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic and chile to a small bowl and reserve for garnish. Reserve the oil in the pan.

3. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the cod pieces to the oil. Simmer for about 10 minutes, being careful not to let the oil become too hot. The oil should just barely sizzle around the edges of the fish pieces. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cod to a plate and then pour the olive oil into a wide heatproof bowl to cool. When the cod is cool enough to handle, remove any errant bones, leaving the pieces as intact as possible.

4. Return the cod pieces, skin side up and in a single layer, to the pan. At this point, make sure that the pan, the cod, and the reserved olive oil are all lukewarm.

5. Place the pan over medium heat and begin by spooning 2 or 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over the cod. It its here that the dance begins: using both hands, rotate the pan in circular motions over the burner. Continue the motion until the first drops of oil start to emulsify. You will know that the emulsion is beginning when the oil drops turn pale and cling to one another. Eventually the whole sauce will turn pale white.

6. Continue to rotate the pan, interrupting only to add the olive oil gradually, spoonful by spoonful, until all the oil is incorporated into the emulsion. Depending on the quality of the cod and the gelly content of its skin, it will take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes to make the sauce.

7. Divide the cod evenly among individual plates and spoon the sauce over the top. Garnish with the reserved garlic and chile. Serve hot or warm.

4 - DESSERTS

“Arroz con Leche” (Rice Pudding)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk

• 1-1/2 cups medium grain or pearl rice

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 stick unsalted butter or margarine

• peel of 1/2 lemon

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon

Steps:

1. Pour approximately 3 cups of water in a large pot and bring to a boil. When it begins to boil, add the rice. Reduce heat a bit and simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn off burner and allow rice to sit in pot of water.

2. Pour milk into another large pot and add sugar. Turn burner on low to medium heat. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Bring milk to a boil over medium heat, being careful that it does not boil over. While you are waiting for the milk to boil, drain the water from the rice.

3. Once the milk boils, add drained rice, butter, cinnamon stick and lemon peel. Allow to gently boil for about 15-20 minutes, until rice is soft. Remove cinnamon stick and lemon peel. Remove from heat and pour rice pudding into a serving dish. Sprinkle the top with ground cinnamon. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving because the mixture retains the heat.

4. Arroz con leche can be served warm or cold. If you want to serve it cold, allow the rice mixture to cool down in the serving dish for 20 minutes, then refrigerate at least 1 hour.

5. In the region of Asturias in Northern Spain, this dish is served with a crust of carmelized sugar on top. The traditional method for forming the crust is to liberally sprinkle sugar on top, then place a very hot iron on top of the rice to caramelize or burn it. You can accomplish the same thing by placing it under the broiler for a few minutes after sprinkling the top with sugar.

“Flan de huevo”(Caramel custard)

Ingredients• 2 whole eggs • 10 egg yolks • 1 liter (4 cups) milk • Peel of 1 lemon, in

pieces • 6 tablespoons sugar • Caramelized sugar • 8 tablespoons sugar

Steps1 To make the caramelized sugar, heat sugar in an ovenproof (1 liter, 4

cups) plan mold, over low heat, stirring constantly. Cook until sugar has melted and is golden brown. Tilt pan to coat bottom and sides. Remove from heat and let cool for at least 30 minutes, tilting pan occasionally to coat sides. To make the custard, mix half of the milk with 3 tablespoons sugar and peel of 1 lemon. Cook slowly over low heat for 1/2 hour, stirring constantly. Set aside.

2 Remove lemon pieces and discard. In large bowl beat whole eggs and egg yolks lightly. (Egg shells can be saved and added later to water of the Baño María to prevent from splashing into flan while cooking). Blend in 3 tablespoons of sugar and remaining milk.

3 Gently add the boiled milk and stir. Pour custard mixture into mold on top of caramelized sugar. Place mold in pan of hot water (Baño María). The water should cover more than half of mold. Cook on top of stove over a medium flame for 30 minutes. Transfer to a preheated F (180 C) oven and continue cooking for another 30 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Immediately remove from water and cool, covered, at room temperature.

4 Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve. Unmold by loosening sides of custard with a knife and place a serving plate over mold. Turn over on to plate.

“Leche Frita” (fried milk)

Ingredients

• 1l milk

• 180ml olive oil

• 1 spoonful of sunflower oil

• 2 eggs

• 60 gr corn flour

• 60 gr of light flour

• 1 stick of cinnamon

• 120 gr sugar

Preparation

1. Dilute the flour together with the corn flour and sugar in 1/4l of milk. Boil the rest of the milk with the cinnamon stick for ten minutes and add it, after straining, into the paste made earlier.

2. Simmer the mixture on a low heat, without stopping stirring, for a period of 10 minutes. Put it on a tray greased with sunflower oil and allow it to cool.

3. Once the mixture is cold, cut it into rectangles of about 10 x 5cm, putting them into flour and beaten egg and frying them on a medium heat in the 2dl of olive oil. Dry off the excess oil and sprinkle them with sugar and ground cinnamon. 

CURIOSITIES

Jamón Serrano peculiarities The pigs are often black, giving this

supreme jamon its familiar name in Spain: pata negra, or black hoof. They are 14 to 20 months old when killed and weigh 160kg to 170kg. They have led a relatively long, calm life, ranging freely and eating well. This is the second point about the Iberian pigs: their diet.

Iberico ham is graded in three categories according to the pigs' diet. From our point of view they start at luscious and range to the sublime: jamon iberico de pienso is fed entirely on grain; jamon iberico de recebo has a free-range diet of acorns, grain and pasture foraging and is fattened to its final 20kg to 30kg with grain; and jamon iberico de bellota, the pinnacle of Spanish pork, is fed in its final stage, from 90kg to 165kg, on acorns and natural pasture.

Eating 12 Grapes on New Year's Eve in Spain.

For a long time, Spanish people have had a traditional custom of celebrating New Year's Eve. On the last day of the year, the 31st of December, they wait until twelve p.m. Everybody has to have twelve grapes ready to eat when the clock starts to chime. It is traditional to eat them as you hear the clock from Puerta del Sol in Madrid chiming.

When it is midnight, each time the clock chimes, they put a grape in their mouth. By the time the clock has finished chiming, everybody has to have finished their grapes and the New Year starts, but hardly nobody ever finishes eating the grapes on time.

This tradition started in Spain because one year when there was a big grape harvest, the king of Spain decided to give grapes to everybody to eat on New Year's Eve.

TurrónTurrón is a very old, traditional sweet of Moorish (Arabic) origin. Turrón has been a popular sweet for centuries, even outside Spain’s borders. It is said that the Moors invented turrón over 500 year ago in Jijona, a small town about 30 miles or so north of Alicante. Jijona’s economy is focused on the production of turrón and there is even a museum of turrón that chronicles the process and history of the sweet. In addition, it is located within the factory that makes both “El Lobo” and “1880” brands of turrón. If you are lucky enough to visit the museum from mid-June to mid-December, you can watch the turrón production from a balcony high above the factory floor. (For more information on the museum, please see the end of the article.)

There are two traditional basic types of turrón. Soft Jijona or turrón blando, which is so smooth it has the consistency of peanut butter and hard Alicante or turrón duro, which is like a thick almond nougat candy, similar to peanut brittle.

The wild flowers that bloom in the mountainsides all around the town of Jijona are food for the bees that produce the honey, which is such an important ingredient of turrón. The honey, together with the almonds from nearby orchards forms delicious turrón in the hands of artisan candy makers, called turroneros. In 1939 a Denomination of Origin for turrón from Jijona was created and in 1991 the rules of the denomination were revised.

Castillian Garlic Soup Story

In Spain, it is common in northern areas and specially in Castilla. In rural places, Sopa de Ajo was taken some three hours after breakfast, to recover from hard work and cold weather. It used to be cooked using some types of meat or fat but today these two ingredients are not used any more. You can find it as a typical recipe cooked in Burgos where the winters are cold and soups and stews are eaten daily. Castilla is the "land of bread" and it is bought fresh daily. However, a Spanish cook would never serve it stale, so this recipe is a good way to use any stale bread that is left over from the day before’s meals.

OTHER RECIPES

LENTILS AT THE GARDENER STYLE

Ingredients:• ( 4 servings):• 200 g. Lentils• 50 g. Bacon• 1 green pepper• 2 carrots• 2 ripe tomatoes• 1 medium onion• 1 leek• 1 cube beef broth• ½ dl. Olive oil• salt• water• white pepper• 4 medium potatoes

PEPARATION:• - Put the lentils to skoak the night before.• - Wash and peel the carrots, rhe onion and the leek.• - Wash an peel the potatoes. Wash the peppers well.• - Wash the tomatoes and peel them as follows: make in incision in

the shape of a cross in the center of its top, dive them in boiling water for 30 seconds, remove them and remove the skin with a thin knife.

• - Cut all vegetables into veryfine dices.• - Cut the bacon into 1 cm cubes. Aside.• - Heat olive oil in a pan of high walls and skip the vegetablesat low

heat for 2 or 3 minutes.• - Add lentils and mix everything well.• - Inmerse the prepared water and add de beef broth cube crushed.• - Season to taste.• - Cook the stew at low heat for approximately 2 hours.• - Serve in bowls, previously heated.

POTTAGE OF CHICK-PEAS WITH COLD FISH AND SPINACHS

INGREDIENTS:• 400g of coldfish• 300g of chick-peas• 400g of spinach• 2 onions• 1 leek• 1 carrot• 1 small cup of olive oil• salt

PREPARATION:• Desalt the coldfish in pieces and take out the bones.

Soak in water during 24 hours, changing the water 3 times.

• Cook the chick-peas in water and salt, with a slightly fried leek, carrot and onions. Put some salt.

• Boil the spinach in a pan with water and salt during 5 minutes. Drain and cut.

• Put one frying-pan with oil and onion and cook aver a low heat, then salt the onions until brown.

• When the onions start to be brown, add the coldfish and cook at low heat, the necessary time.

• When the chick-peas are boiled, drain and add the spinach and the coldfish, and cook it slow heat during 2 or 3 minutes all together. Then serve it.

MEDITERRANEAN SALAD WIHT PASTA

INGREDIENTS:• 125gof mozzarella• 80g of tuna in olive oil• 12 black olives• 1 tablespoon of

capers• 10 cherry tomatoes• 1 teaspoonful of

oregano• 3 tablespoon of oil

PREPARATION:

• Boil the pasta with a lot of water, drain and empty water over.

• Cut the mozzarella cheese in dices and put them into a bowl; add the tuna, the olives cut, the cappers, the tomatoes, the oregano, salt and pepper.

• Dress the pasta with this mixture

MUSHROOMS SCRUMBLE

INGREDIENTS:• 500g of mushrooms• 8 eggs• ½ of onion• 2 cloves of garlic• 3 spoonfuls of olive oil• 1 spoonful of parsley• 1 pinch of white

pepper

PREPARATION:• Cut the onion and into the pieces, cut them into

a frying pan with the three spoonfuls until the onion is transparent.

• Wash the mushrooms and cut them into pieces, put them into the frying pan and boil them for ten minutes .When they haven’t got any water season them.

• Beat the eggs, add the one pepper and put it into the frying pan with the mushrooms. Wait until they are set. Serve it freshly cooked.

VEGETABLES MASH

INGREDIENTS:• 3 spoonfuls of oil• 1 spring onion• 1 green pepper • 1 leek• 1 courgette• 3potatoes• 1 clove of garlic• Salt

PREPARATION:

• 1. Fry the spring onion, the garlic, the green pepper and the leek.

• 2. When it’s fried add the courgette and the potatoes. Fry lightly for a few minutes. Add ½ litre of water and cook it during ¾ of an hour.

• 3. After that, beat with the mixer and add a bit of liquid cream.

MOUNTAIN SOUP

INGREDIENTS:• 50g macaroni• 1 cabbage• 100g onion• 100g tomatoes• 150g oil• a pinch of salt• 2 carrots• 3 leeks

PREPARATION:• Cut some water in a pan according to the

quantity you want.• Put the cabbage in the pan and boil it. Cut the

carrots and the leeks into small pieces and put them into the pan. Add a pinch of salt.

• After half an hour adds the macaroni and the potatoes, you must peel them and cut them into squares.

• In another pan put the onions with oil to cook.• When the onions are golden, add the tomatoes.• Add the onions to the tomatoes and the

macaroni, potatoes, etc. Get them all to boil.• It‘s ready to serve.

GALLEGO BROTH (4-5people)

INGREDIENTS:• - 1 pork tail• - 1 piece of bacon salt • - 1 pig’s chop• - 1kg of salted lacon• - ½ kg pork chop• - 4 sausages• - 1/2kg chick peas• - Half kg of beef• - Half chicken• - 1 cabbage• - 8 peeled potatoes• - Olive oil

PREPARATION:• Boil the hard ingredients in a pressure cooker for

about 3 quarters of an hour. That is: the pork chop, the pig’s ear, the sausages and the chick peas (previously soaked in water for 8 hours). When is cook, let it cold and take out the fat over.

• Add the rest of the ingredients and cook them all for about a quarter of an hour more. Ready serve!

PRESENTATION:• Serve the chick peas and vegetables as a first

course and the meat as a second course