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Category Archives: Snacks and Tapas

Tarte Flambee, Langos & Provencale Onion Tart

10 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by fincafood in Main Courses, Snacks and Tapas

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fire bricks, flat breads, Langos, Tarte Flambee

While I am on the theme of flat breads with toppings, I thought I would share with you a small selection from around the world.

I came across a mention of Tarte Flambee in an article recently where the recipe instructed you to buy a ready made pizza base on which to place the toppings. This misses the whole essence of the dish, which is fineness. The bread base wants to be rolled as thinly as you can into a rectangle. When I was cooking this regularly in a restaurant I would use day old dough that was less springy than fresh and consequently easier to roll thinly.

A standard bread dough as in the previous post is used for the base. As I have said roll it thinly into a rectangle to fit either a silicon or metal baking sheet.

????????????The classic topping is a smearing of thick cream, then onion that has previously been sliced thinly and softened in butter and small lardons of smoked streaky bacon.

Preheat the oven to 250 C with the floor lined in fire bricks as in the previous post.

Place the tart on its sheet onto the bricks to bake.

As the dough is thin it will only take five or six minutes for it to be cooked and crisp.

Variations to go on top of the cream –

Sliced mushrooms softened in butter – even better if thy are wild mushrooms – with or without the bacon.

Shredded spinach softened in butter.

Asparagus, either white or green or both.

The onions with thin slices of sauccison sec, or strips of cooked ham, or strips of mortadella.

The Provencale Onion Tart takes the same idea to the south of France and makes it more robust.

Line an oiled shallow tart tin with bread dough rolled to about half a centimetre thick or a bit thicker.

Peel and slice 3 or 4 large onions thinly. Soften in olive oil and continue cooking slowly until the onions are much reduced and starting to caramelise.

Distribute the onions evenly over the base of the tart, drizzle over some cream and decorate with a scattering of black olives.

Bake at 230 C on the bricks for 10 to 15 minutes.

To test if it is done, lift up the tart with a palette knife and check that the dough is cooked to a light brown firmness underneath.

Langos – pronounce the s as sh – hails from Hungary. I was visiting there with some friends, and the family of Zsuzsi prepared this and baked it in the most amazing ancient bread oven in the little house on their allotment.

IMG_0312The toppings for this are put on after the bread is baked. They are laid out on the table in little dishes for each person to serve themselves. There was –

A bowl of sour soft fresh cheese.

Tiny cubes of streaky bacon, fried until quite dry and crisp.

Both sweet and spicy smoked Paprika.

A bowl each of chopped dill, parsley and chives.

The dough for this is made with the addition of mashed potatoes, which makes a very soft and fluffy bread.

Use the bread recipe in the previous post adding 150 grams mashed potato and cutting the water down to 200 ml. If the dough seems too dry at that, then add a little more water. It is impossible to be more precise as potatoes vary so much in their water content.

When the dough is ready, form into individual sized breads about 10 cm across and about a centimetre thick. Put them on a floured tray in a warm draft free place to prove for half an hour.

Heat the oven to 230 C with the fire bricks in. Bake the Langos on the bricks for about ten minutes or until a lighbar brown in colour.

Serve while still warm with the toppings as described.

Other recipes to search out for yourselves are Turkish Pide and Cocas from the Balearic Islands.

Malaga Modern

02 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by fincafood in Snacks and Tapas

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As some of you may have seen on the news we have been somewhat flooded out here. Thankfully the farm is on its own little hill with good walls holding up the terraces of lime trees, so nothing wandered off. One of my neighbours did lose some of his oranges trees to the torrent. The internet and phone were lost for a few days though, so I am catching up now.

The cuisine of a country is like its language, if it stays the same, then it stagnates. The classic tapas of Spain are fantastic, but now with foreign influences and a move away from the heavier dishes that an agricultural society needed, young chefs are experimenting with new flavours and presenting us with some alternatives to the traditional dishes. Here are some of the dishes we tried in Bar La Plaza situated in the Plaza Merced, a couple of doors up from where Picasso was born.

Aubergine Caviaraubergine_caviar

This was a creamy puree of roasted aubergine mixed with chopped almonds, and flavoured with garlic, oregano, olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. The aubergine can be roasted in the oven or microwaved which is quicker. To microwave you must prick the aubergine all over with a fork to prevent explosions, then cook a couple of minutes on the top heat. Turn and cook again. Keep doing this until the aubergine is cooked and soft. Let cool before removing the flesh and mashing to make the puree.

The crisps that it was served with were interesting. I think that they were made from flatbread that was cut into bite sized pieces that were then dusted with the flavourful smoked sweet paprika  from Jarandilla La Vera, and then quickly deep fried until crisp. A perfect spicy foil to the creamy aubergine paste.

Sweet & Spicy Ribsspicy_ribs

Although not photogenic, these little ribs cooked in a sweet and spicy sauce were very tasty. The sauce was made with soy sauce, tomato puree, orange juice and white wine vinegar and flavoured with garlic, ginger, five spice powder, and brown sugar.

Lamb Tagine & Cous Couslamb_tagine_tapa

The classic Moroccan dish in miniature. Little cubes of lamb slow cooked with onions, garlic, cumin and coriander, a little chilli and raisins. Served with cous cous and a yogurt, mint and cucumber relish.

Seared Salmon with Anis Sauceseared_salmon_with_anis_sauce

A perfectly rare cooked miniature salmon steak served with a creamy sauce flavoured with Anis Dulce de Chinchon, Spains answer to the Pastis of France and garnished with fennel fronds.

Malaga Tapas the -Traditional……..

25 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by fincafood in Snacks and Tapas

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Salmorejo – Similar to the famous cold soup Gazpacho Andaluz but left thick enough to spread onto or dip your bread into. It is traditionally made by pounding the ingredients in a pestle and mortar, but is much more easily made in a food processor.salmorejo

Soak some stale bread in water until soft and then squeeze out most of the water.

Roughly chop some good tasty tomatoes and turn them to pulp in the food processor. Put through a mouli with a fine disc or through a sieve to filter out the seeds and skins.

Whizz together in the food processor a clove of garlic, the tomato juice and a generous amount of good fruity olive oil. Season well and thicken with the bread pulp until you achieve a thick spreading consistency.

To serve decorate with chopped raw ham and boiled egg.pepper salad

Pepper Salad – red peppers roasted or seared over a flame to remove the skins. Sliced and dressed with olive oil and seasoned with salt, pepper and chopped parsley.boquerones_al_limon

Boquerones al Limon – Smelts de-headed and de-boned, steeped in fresh lemon juice for half an hour then dried and dipped into thin batter and deep fried until crisp.

Ensalada_malaguena

Ensalada Malaguena – Boiled potatoes, Salt Cod soaked overnight to remove salt and then poached until tender, sliced onions, chopped orange flesh, a few strips of red pepper for colour, all dressed with olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and freshly ground black pepper.berenjenas_con_miel_de_cana

Berenjenas con Miel de Cana – This dish epitomises Malaga for me. In the tropical climate of the area sugar cane is grown and its bitter sweet syrup is used in many dishes of the region. The aubergines are sliced very thinly, dipped in a light batter and fried until crisp and golden brown. We were served them on this occasion with the sugar cane syrup in a little bowl for dipping, but more frequently it is drizzled over the aubergines.salpicon de mariscos

Salpicon de Mariscos – A salad of a mixture of shellfish, prawns, mussels, poached squid or octopus chopped small, finely chopped onions, red and green peppers and tomatoes in an olive oil and white wine vinegar dressing.

Boquerones en Vinagre

25 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by fincafood in Fish, Food for One, Snacks and Tapas, Starters

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boquerones_smelts……..or Smelts in Vinegar.  The word Smelt does not excite the imaginary palate in quite the same way as the word Boqueron. I assume its origin is from the word boca which translates as mouth and that Boqueron means a mouthful. And a delightful mouthful it is, whether dusted with flour and fried whole or marinated in vinegar as in this recipe which I was describing to my friend Andy while in France last week, and so it brought it to mind to share with you too.

This is regularly served as a tapa in Spanish bars. A couple of the fish will be presented atop a slice of fresh stick bread and sometimes with a good dollop of Allioli between the bread and the fish.

Cut the heads off your fresh smelts and open them out flat by opening along the belly and moving the flesh away from the bones on one side. There is no need at this point to remove the bones or the guts.

In a shallow dish that will take all the fish in one layer, pour enough white wine vinegar to cover the bottom of the dish. Lay the fish with the flesh side down into the vinegar.

Continue with all the fish putting them neatly side by side in the vinegar and then add more vinegar to just cover the layer of fish.

Put in the fridge for an hour so that the vinegar can ‘cook’ the fish.

Remove the fish one by one from the vinegar and remove the bones and guts. Lay in a clean dish.boquerones_en_vinagre

When you have done them all, pour over a generous amount of extra virgen olive oil and season the dish with finely chopped garlic and parsley. I added some chopped fresh green chillis as well, which are not traditional, but I like a bit of spice with my fish. Having a lime farm, and consequently having a lime or two lurking about, I have  used lime juice in place of the vinegar in this recipe which works very well and makes it more of a Ceviche, especially if you substitute fresh coriander for the parsley. Lemon juice should work too, although I haven’t tried it.

Put back in the fridge for half an hour or so for the flavours to develop and then serve with fresh bread.

Ensalada Murciana

09 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by fincafood in Food for One, Snacks and Tapas, Vegetable Dishes

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This is one of those wonderfully successful recipes that have been created by a problem. In the hot summers of southern Spain, the skins of vegetable fruits become very tough and unpalatable, so skinning them for salads is essential.  So a salad was created that consisted of skinned tomatoes and red peppers, garlic, olive oil, fresh oregano and salt. The the sum of the parts becoming greater than the individual items.ensalada_murciana

The ideal is to char the skin of your vegetables over an open fire or barbeque so that you get a subtle smokey flavour to the salad. It is just the thing to do on that barbeque fire that is now at its peak, now that you have finished cooking the meal. But to do that requires planning ahead and having the tomatoes and peppers already in the house.

Life is not always ideal so in the event that you don’t have a fire available, then  the tomatoes and peppers can be held over a gas flame turning them slowly until the skins blacken all over. The skin on the tomatoes will split when cooked enough to peel. The red peppers need to be really quite black before they will peel easily. It is almost impossible to have them too black. Put the peppers to cool in a covered plastic container to help retain the moisture in the fruit.skinning_tomatoes

Peel the vegetables as soon as they are cool enough to handle retaining any juice that comes out of the peppers.

Cut into bite sized pieces and put in a dish with the pepper juice.

Very finely chop a clove of garlic and add to the salad.

Season with salt, a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil and plenty of chopped fresh oregano.

Leave – not in the fridge – for about an hour for the flavours to meld before serving.

A Summer Lunch

06 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by fincafood in Snacks and Tapas, Starters

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The sultry summer heat dampens the appetites both for eating and for spending a lot of time preparing food. The mediterranean style of serving several little dishes of fresh and stimulating food is the way to go.

Fresh Figs with Serrano Ham

fresh_figs_with_serrano_ham

Pimientos Padrones Friedpimientos_pardones_fritos

Ensalada Murcianaensalada_murciana

Baby Squid Stuffed with Hazelnuts and Raisinsbaby_squid_stuffed_with_hazel_nuts_and_raisins

Prawn Frittersprawn_fritters_tortillitas_de_camarones

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto with Italian Crispbreadsun_dried_tomato_pesto

Here is the recipe for the Prawn Fritters or Tortillitas de Gambas.

The fame of these delicious fritters has spread from Cadiz where they originate, to the whole of Spain – and now beyond. Once you have tasted one you can see why. 

I first had them in Granada. It was the end of a warm June afternoon spent exploring the Albaicin, the old arab quarter of the city, the narrow streets dividing the beautiful houses full with the scent of orange blosssom and honeysuckle. We came across a rose draped square high up the hill with views out over the city and so installed ourselves outside a cafe with expectations of crisp cool white wine accompanied by a tasty local morsel.

The waiter brought us a list of the tapas available. When faced with such a list I always choose something that I have not tried before. So the toritillitas were ordered.

The ice cold wine arrived and shortly after the Tortillitas. Tiny shrimp still in their shells which add to the crispness of the fritters of light batter flavoured with garlic, onions and parsley. They arrive sizzling hot to your table.

Made with Camerones, a tiny brown shrimp found in the marshy coastline around Cadiz and Sanlucar de Barrameda, these are poor mans food turned  culinary delight. These shrimp do not find their way to the area of spain where I live very often and when they do I have to make the Tortillitas. In the meantime I use small peeled prawns, which are a good enough substitute.

The key ingredient in the batter is chickpea flour. Gram flour to Indians. It is the same flour as used in Onion Bahjis. Chickpea flour has a slightly sour taste to it which goes very well with fish, but its main attribute is that it crisps wonderfully when fried. Use it to coat fish or vegetables before frying. As a bonus it adds extra protein, but that is not why it is there.

As with all recipes, there is no one that is the definitive, and asking my Spanish friends for the best recipe for these fritters, each one gave me a different one. Some use all chickpea flour, some mix half and half chickpea and wheat flour, some swear by using only a coarse ground wheat flour called Recia. So after much experimentation, this is my favoured mix. The chickpea flour for crispness and sourness, the wheat flour for smoothness. The addition of chilli is not traditional, but I love a bit of spice with my fish.

For enough for 6 people

Chickpea flour –  60 gms

Wheat flour     –   40 gms

Shrimp or peel prawns   – 100 gms

Garlic very finely chopped  – 2 cloves

Parsley finely chopped – 1 tablespoon

Chilli finely chopped – to taste

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

water
150 – 180 ml

Oil for frying – either sunflower or olive

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add water to make a thin batter.

If you are not sure about the amount of water try frying a sample fritter.

Heat oil in a shallow frying pan to a depth of about 1 cm. When it is hot put in a tablespoonful of the batter. It should spread out into a thin fritter. If the batter is too thick to spread, then add more water to the mix.

Fry a few at a time on a brisk heat until crisp and light brown.

Serve immediately.

Tapas Lunch – for my friends in St Gervais Les Bains

03 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by fincafood in Snacks and Tapas

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Apricot Gazpacho, Bizcocho de Tres Leches, Gazpacho de Albaricoques, Liver with Peppers, Morcilla con Ajos, Revuelto

While I was in St Gervais I wanted to treat my friends there to a little taste of Spain so decide to prepare a lunch of tapas dishes. This is what we had –

A little glass of Apricot Gazpacho.

I had planned to use Black Cherries for this and had bought some as well as the Apricots, but on trying the apricots they were quite tart to say the least so I swapped for them. See the Nispero Gazpacho post for the master recipe.  There is no need to blanch the apricots, I just needed to add some water to the soup as the puree came out quite thick. And don’t forget to chill the glasses – the condensation on the glass looks pretty as well as keeping the soup well chilled.

Sobresada on ToastsImage

The Sobresada is bought ready made all over Spain, it is almost like a Chorizo rillette if that makes sense. It is pork meat and fat beaten to a paste and flavoured with the same Pimenton and garlic flavourings as Chorizo. You spread it thickly onto stale bread and then bake in a medium oven -160 centigrade – for ten minutes. Sprinkle over some capers if you have them and serve.

Ensaladilla Rusa

Russian Salad – Spanish style. Small diced Boiled potatoes, Garlic Mayonaise or Aliolli, a small tin of Tuna, chopped Green Olives and Gerkins, Green Beans boiled and chopped finely or Sweet Peas all mixed well together. You want to add enough mayonaise to get a smooth consistency – some Spanish cooks mash part of the potatoes to add to the smoothness. The ideas is to get the salad to hold together on top of a piece of bread.

Revuelto De Setas

Revueltos are soft scrambled eggs that hold together whatever is in season. They are also made with Asparagus and Prawns, Spring Garlics, Peppers – the famous Piperrada, Salt Cod……….the list goes on.In good olive oil, fry a couple of cloves of garlic cut small. When slightly golden add the mushrooms – whichever variety you have to hand, stir, cover and stew until cooked. Break the eggs into a bowl, stir to break up the yolks and season. When the mushrooms are cooked add them to the eggs and mix well. Add more oil to the cooking pan, return the egg mix to the pan and cook slowly until just setting. Serve immediately.

Morcilla con Ajos Image

Morcilla is the Spanish version of Black Pudding and there are as many versions of it as chefs who make it. In my area of spain it is flavoured with Pine Nuts and little Anis. One can have it sweet or slightly spicy.Cut it up and roast it with whole cloves of garlic in a medium oven for half an hour.

Liver with PeppersImage

There are two keys to getting this right. The first is to make sure that you fry the onions and peppers long enough that they are starting to caramelise around the edges, and the second is not to overcook the liver. Bear in mind that liver even though it is cooked enough will ooze pink juices like a steak and like a steak if you find that it is undercooked it can always go back to the pan for a few more minutes.

Fry in olive oil a finely chopped onion and a chopped red and yellow pepper. Fry on a medium heat stirring from time to time until the vegetables are well cooked and starting to caramelise.

Meanwhile cut pigs liver into bite sized pieces. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. liver_with_peppers

When the vegetables are cooked add the liver and stir to mix. Season with more freshly ground black pepper. Stir again. As soon as the liver is just cooked, serve. Then try to take a photo without camera shake!

Mixed Salad with Oil and Red Wine Vinegar Dressing

And to finish my friend Conny made a Bizcocho de Tres Leches – Cake of Three Milks – I will leave you to search for the recipe for yourselves. It was wonderfully light and creamy – and so pretty !bizcocho_de_tres_leches

Mini Chicken Pstilla

07 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by fincafood in Snacks and Tapas, Starters

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Obleas, Preserved Aubergine and Red Pepper Salad

I was invited to a lunch last week, and my contribution was to be the “amuse bouche”, a mouthful of something tasty to whet the appetite.  I had been reading one of Claudia Rodens books on middle eastern cooking the night before, and this inspired me to create a dish using the fruit, nut and spice combinations of that area. Also my dish had to be something quick and easy to prepare as the lunch invitation coincided with my day for opening my farm shop – click on the La Micaela Farm Shop at the top of the page for more details.

In the freezer I generally have packs of a local product – Obleas – which are little rounds of pastry a bit thicker than filo pastry. The traditional Spanish filling is a small amount of a thick stew made from fried peppers, garlic, tuna and tomatoes. The rounds are then folded in half to make a semi circle and sealed firmly on the joining edges, then the Empanaditas are deep fried until crisp.chicken_mini_pstilla

For lightness I prefer to brush the pastry circles with oil or butter, put the filling in the centre, fold the pastry upwards and pinch the edges together lightly, and then bake the little parcels. My favourite filling up to doing this one was of crumbly goats cheese and blanched spinach or chard bound together with egg.

MINI CHICKEN PSTILLAS

Filo pastry cut into 10cm squares or Obleas

100 gms cooked or raw lean chicken

small jar aubergine and red pepper salad – see Preserved Salads post for the recipe

50 gms toasted hazelnuts

50 gms golden raisins

a pinch or two of Ras el Hanout spices, or a mix of cumin, coriander, cinnamon and chilli all ground finely

Salt and pepper

olive oil for brushing the pastry

If you have not got cooked chicken and are starting with raw, cut it into small cubes and fry quickly in a small amount of olive oil. If using ready cooked chicken chop it into small cubes about half a centimetre square.

With a pestle and mortar crush the hazelnuts to break them up but not too small.

Put the chicken in a bowl with the nuts, salad and raisins. Season with the spices to taste.

If you have a tin for making miniature muffins or tarts it will be easier to form the little pies.

If you are using filo pastry and it is very thin you may well need to use two layers for your pies. Brush one side of a sheet of pastry with oil, lay another sheet on top and brush this with oil. Cut into squares of roughly 10 centimetres. Turn the two layers of pastry over so that the oily side is to the bottom and gently tuck the centre into one of the indentations in the muffin tin. With a teaspoon fill the pastry cup with the chicken filling. Lift the pastry around the pie and fold over the top of the filling to make a rough lid. Repeat this for each of your little pies.

If you don’t have a muffin tin, then use your hand as a rough cup, lay the pastry on your hand oily side down, put a teaspoon or so of filling in the middle and then bring the pastry up around the filling to cover it. Put the parcels on a baking tray to cook them. They may not look as neat and tidy as the ones cooked in a muffin or tart tray, and you may have the occasional burst, but they will taste just as good.

Cook in a preheated oven at 190 centigrade for 15 minutes or until golden brown and sizzling. Let cool a little before serving.

Spring Greens with a Difference

09 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by fincafood in Food for One, Main Courses, Snacks and Tapas, Starters

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Ice Plant, Samphire

After the rain that we have had and now that the temperatures are warming up, it is not only the greens in the veg patch that are sprouting. The hillsides are not only covered in beautiful spring flowers, little pink wild orchids, tiny bee orchids and miniature wild irises only a few centimeters tall, but there is also wild garlic with delicate pink flowers and wild asparagus which is worth the fight with the thorns from last years plant that protects it.

Along the seashore there are delicacies to harvest as well. Crispy bright green Samphire and the succulent leaves of the Ice Plant which are only tender enough  for a short time in the spring to be harvested. Even at this time of the year the Samphire that is in full sun all day has a tendency to be tough, so it is worth searching out bright green sprouts in shady spots. You need to take a pair of scissors and just trim off the tender ends into your bag. You can see from the photo just how you have to seek out this years tender shoots from last years dried out remains.Samphire

The Ice Plant – Mesembryanthemum Cristallinum – is so call because of the crystal-like cells that it has on its surface, particularly the underside of the leaves. To harvest the most tender of the Ice Plant leaves the same applies as the Samphire, look for brighter green leaves in the shade.

For both plants the uses are the same. You can give them a good wash and put them in your salads, steam them and add butter and a touch of lemon and have them to accompany fish, add them to stir frys and Thai curries. The Andalucian way is to make a Revuelto. This would include the wild garlic greens and asparagus, and if you are a bit flush some prawns. Fry the prawns and all your greens in some good olive oil until the prawns are half cooked and the greens a brighter colour. Add some beaten and seasoned eggs and over a very low heat stir until the eggs thicken into a creamy mass. Turn out onto warmed plates and eat immediately with crunchy fresh bread.

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