Espana!

I have to apologize for my long blogging break. Summer is the busiest time of year around here to begin with. This year we added a 16 day trip to Spain!

The Spain adventure began and ended in Madrid. We spent 3 nights total with out wonderful friends Jose and Nena. After taking us for a tour of Madrid and Segovia, we got to spend some quality time with them in their home. They went out of there way to make sure we had wonderful non-meat laden fare and lots of good wine and company. They also gave us a lovely place to stay. As an added bonus Nena agreed to share some recipes and film a little cooking video. The video will be forthcoming as I need time to edit it for your viewing pleasure. In the mean time, I will share pictures of the delights she made for us.

I have already forgotten the name of this incredible beet-tomato soup. Some of you may remember that beets and I do not always see eye to eye, but in the velvety flavorful cold soup, it was delicioso! The earthy flavor of the beets along with the nicely acidic tomatoes, throw in some fresh flavorful garlic and you've got crimsony perfection in a bowl. Nena recommends serving it on an all white table setting to make it the star that it is. Look at that gorgeous color!

 

Nena was born in the Canary Islands. She and Jose lived there when they were first married. She shared with me a very traditional Canary Island dish called Mojo Rojo. Mojo Rojo translates to wet red sauce (according to my lovely translator Laurie). So basically it is a wet dip for savory goodies. It is a relatively easy sauce to make. All of the ingredients are raw and pureed in the blender. Perfect for those lazy days where you want flavor but don't want to work long or hard in the kitchen.

I know I've said it many times before, but I am a total potato fiend, so I was thrilled that Nena's dish featured "wrinkled" potatoes. She has a special cooking method that makes the skin shrivel on the potatoes. She added that it is important to use thin skinned yellow potatoes (I'm thinking fingerlings or baby yukon golds are the perfect selection). She used a pressure cooker, so it only took about 10 minutes total to get these babies on the table.

OK kids, cover the eyes of those who are sensitive to language, these are f@$king awesome! No not just run of the mill awesome...way more than that! I could drink the sauce all on its own. It is smokey, piquant, rich with tomato flavor and has just the right balance of flavors. I had to restrain myself from licking the plate like a dog. Poured over the perfectly tender, creamy potatoes these will surely give you back your MOJO! 

 

 Check back for more Spanish adventures!!