Huevos Revueltos con Rovellons

At our autumn guided Boqueria market visits we stop at the famous Llorenç Pelras stall to buy rovellons.  Here goes a recipe for a very simple and tasteful Spanish dish for breakfast or a starter. The proportion below  serves two for breakfast, and the side-by-side presentation features the mushrooms as a separate flavor. The recipe can also be assembled as scrambled eggs or an omelet. With more cream or half-and-half and doubling the recipe, it easily converts to a quiche filling or a frittata.

2 cups Rovellons (Lactarius rubrilacteus), cleaned and coarsely chopped
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
4 T. olive oil
2 T. flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 T. good dry sherry
4 eggs
2 T. cream
salt and pepper to taste

Beat egg, cream, and salt and pepper. Set aside. Heat 2 T. of olive oil in skillet and saute mushrooms, onions, and garlic over medium-low heat until mushrooms are cooked and liquid has evaporated. Add sherry, salt and pepper to taste, and continue cooking and stirring until liquid has condensed into a sauce. Remove mushroom mixture and keep warm. Clean and reheat skillet. Add and heat remaining oil, then pour beaten eggs into skillet. Stir with wooden spoon periodically until the eggs are cooked soft. Place the scrambled eggs on one side of serving platter and place the mushroom mixture on the other side. Sprinkle parsley over all and serve.

There really is no one recipe for paella. In the same way pizzas are made with endless combinations of ingredients, paella can be made with various kinds of meats and vegetables. The combination of ingredients below, however, is the most typical in Catalonia and the one we use at our Traditional Spanish Cooking Classes, especially along the coast where seafood can be caught and cooked in the same day. But, just in case you feel like experimenting sometime, we’ve helped you out by leaving an asterisk next to all the essential ingredients you should never leave out. Everything else can be left out or substituted as you wish.

Ingredients

• • ½ cup of oil*
• • 3 cloves of garlic*
• • 2 medium tomatoes*
• • 1 tender chicken
• • 3-4 oz. (100 g.) of jamón serrano
• • 20 prawns
• • 2 ¼ lb (1 kg.) of mussels
• • 1lb. (500 g.) of clams
• • ½ lb. (250 g.) of squid
• • 5.5 oz. (150 g.) of octopus
• • 4 artichokes
• • 3-4 oz. (100 g.) of peas
• • parsley
• • 2 cups of rice*
• • ¼ tsp. saffron or 2 saffron cubes
• • 4 cups of broth*
• • 1 hard boiled egg
• • 1 red chili
• • 2 lemons

(*)Essential ingredient

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The simplest things in life are often the best and this is the secret to making authentic Spanish Alioli, which contains two key ingredients – garlic and oil.

How to pronounce it, well it isn´t very difficult… “Al-ee-ohlee”, the Spanish version as opposed to the French aïoli. So then, how much difference is there between the two? Well, you could say that alioli is the less polite relative of aïoli and we mean that in the nicest possible way, because with its pungent garlic flavour combined with fruity extra-virgin olive oil, it’s not for the faint-hearted.

Alioli has a long history. It is mentioned in the writings of Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79), a Roman procurator for a year on the Catalan coast, who favoured garlic for medicinal purposes. He wrote that when garlic is “beaten up in oil and vinegar it swells up in foam to a surprising size”. While not definitive, it’s not hard to make the leap from here to the Catalan classic we know today.

The name of this pillar of traditional Spanish cuisine derives from Continue Reading »

MONA DE PASCUA….EASTER CAKE

Ingredients

For the Sponge

• 4 eggs
• 150g of Sugar
• 150g of flour
• 20g of ground almonds
• 5g of yeast
• 2 beaten egg whites
• 50g of butter

For the Filling

• 300g of Peach Jam (or any other rich tasting fruit jam)

To Garnish

• 250g of dark chocolate
• 125g of butter

Instructions:

1) Beat the eggs and sugar together in a bowl

2) Mix the flour and yeast together in a separate bowl

3) Gradually add the mixture of flour and yeast through a sieve (to avoid creating any lumps) to the egg and sugar mixture

4) Stir constantly while adding the ground almonds

5) Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until they form peaks

6) Once they are half whisked, add 50g of sugar, once whisked blend in with the flour and egg mixture

7) Turn the final mix out into a greased and flour sprinkled mould

8 ) Place in the oven at 180 ºC for about 40-45 minutes

9) Remove the sponge, allow to cool, cut in half and spread with the jam filling

10) Finally, stir and melt the chocolate and butter together, cover the sponge with the chocolate and allow to cool. Why not try adding your own final touch, some decorated or coloured eggs? A few feathers? A few miniature chicks? Or a little rabbit?

Ingredients

• 1 cup orange blossom honey
• 1 cup finely ground almonds
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
• 1 egg whites, beaten stiff

Directions

1. Pour the honey into a saucepan and warm over medium-low heat to 140 degrees F (60 degrees C). Stir the almonds into the warm honey and remove from heat. Mix the egg yolks, cinnamon, and lemon zest into the almonds. Fold the egg whites into the mixture.
2. Line a dish with parchment paper. Pour the mixture onto the parchment paper and smooth to a 1/2-inch layer. Place a sheet of parchment paper atop the mixture and then place a cutting board over the paper; place a few items on top of the cutting board to give it some weight.
3. Allow the turron to dry for 3 days. Cut into 1-inch squares to serve.

Ingredients

1 ½ chicken quartered
2 young fresh onions, grated
3 ripe but firm tomatoes, grated
150 gr dried stoned plums
75 gr sultanas
25 gr peeled and toasted almonds
2 biscuit rusks
A little glass of white wine
300 ml water
8 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Soak the plums and sultanas in warm water for about 20 minutes; after this period squeeze them very well from their soaking water and put apart.
Prepare the onions and tomatoes without removing the peel and seeds of the tomatoes.
Wash the chicken quarters under cold running water, pat dry with absorbent kitchen paper, season to taste with salt and pepper and brown them on both sides in the olive oil in a large pan. Once you’ve browned the chicken quarters, remove them from the pan and put apart.
Now add the plums, sultanas and 40 g (1 1/4 oz) pine nuts in the same olive oil. Let them fry lightly for some minutes; at this point remove the dried fruit from the pan and put apart. Now add the onions and tomatoes; let them fry lightly for some minutes and then add the water, the chicken and fruit you’ve put apart. Keep on cooking for about 30-40 minutes, half-covered, stirring now and then, until the chicken is tender and the cooking juice is well retired.
15 minutes before the end of cooking make this mixture: chop finely the almonds, the remaining pine nuts and the biscuit rusks and dilute this mixture with the wine. Add this mixture to the chicken, stir and let the cooking juice retire very well.
Serve hot.

Approx. 20 squares of cannelloni pasta
2 tablespoons salted butter
¼ lb ground veal
½ lb ground pork
3 oz. Jamon Serrano or prosciutto, finely chopped
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon flour
½ cup grated parmesan cheese plus ¼ cup for topping
½ oz. black truffle, very finely chopped
Pinch of salt
Dash of pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
1 egg, beaten

Béchamel sauce
4 cups of milk
5 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
½ tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. kosher salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt to the boiling water. One by one, add the pasta to the water, cooking until al dente, about 12-14 minutes. Drain the water, and move the pasta to a cheese cloth to cool off. Set aside.

In a large pan, heat the butter on high flame until it melts and becomes foamy. Add the veal and pork and cook on high until it is completely browned. Add the jamon, cooking it until it softens. Drain the fat from the pan. Add the milk, flour and parmesan, combine well. Add the truffles, salt, pepper, nutmeg, combine and bring to a simmer. Cook 10-12 minutes, stirring often. Take the pan off the heat, and let it cool. Stir in the egg.

Once the meat is cool enough to handle, evenly divide the mixture among the pasta. Put the mixture at one end, and roll the pasta up. (If you are using the pasta tubes, simply stuff them with the mixture.) Place the rolls in a 9 inch square baking dish, in a single layer. Cover with the Béchamel, and top with the remaining parmesan cheese. Bake 25 minutes, until bubbling and the cheese is crispy and golden brown.

Béchamel sauce:

Heat milk in a medium pan until almost boiling, being careful not to scorch the bottom.
Melt butter in another medium saucepan. Add flour slowly, stirring out any lumps, until it is smooth. Cook until it is a light golden color, about 5-6 minutes. Add the hot milk to the butter pan, very slowly, rapidly whisking until smooth. Add the salt pepper and nutmeg, continuing to whisk until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

Ingredients:

400 gr. chickpeas
1 piece beef bone
200 gr. bacon
1 pig ear
300 gr. beef
1 black sausage
10 garlics
1 cabbage
Celery
1 turnip
4 carrots
1 onion
Rice
Salt

Directions:
Lave the chickpeas to soak for 24 h.
In a large pot heat the chickpeas together with the bones, pig ear, bacon, unpealed garlics, carrots,  turnip, celery, onion and beaf meat.
Carefully add salt taking into account that some of the ingredients like bacon are salty.
Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Lower heat and allow to slowly cook for 2 hours.
Cook the black sausage on a separate pot for approximately 15 minutes. Once cooked add the cabbage and heat for 10 minutes.
Once the vegetables and meat are cooked, place in a container. Bring the soup to boil and add the rice. Cook for 10 minutes.
Serve all ingredients together.

Panellets, Catalan for “little breads,” is a traditional dessert served in Catalonia on the All Saints Day, which takes place on November 1. These warm, squishy sweets are especially comforting during the cold and crisp days of fall – that’s why we always stop to try some in our favorite Barcelona pastry shops on our autumn tour around Catalonia. To serve in traditional Catalan style, drink some cava (Spanish champagne) or moscatel with them.

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Since the name of this dish comes from the Catalan word escalivar, meaning “to roast over ashes or embers,” it is traditional to cook this over a real flame. If you can’t though, you can bake these in the oven with good results as well. On Gourmand Breaks Spanish cooking classes we frequently prepare this dish as a first course or as an accompaniment to a main course.

Ingredients

• 4 small eggplants
• 4 spring onions or large scallions
• 4 red bell peppers
• 3 tomatoes
• Extra virgin olive oil or brushing, plus 1/3 cup
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• Salt and peper to taste

Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill or preheat the oven to 500ºF. Brush the eggplants, onions, bell peppers and tomatoes with olive oil. If using a grill, place the vegetables directly over the fire and grill, turning frequently, for 15 to 30 minutes, or until the skins blacken and the vegetables are tender. The variation in timing depends on the heat of the fire, and some vegetables, such as the tomatoes, may be ready before the others. If using an oven, arrange the vegetables on a rimmed baking sheet or in a roasting pan and roast, turning every 10 minutes, for 30 minutes, or until the skins blacken and the vegetables are tender. Remove the vegetables from the grill or oven, wrap in foil and let cool for about 1 hour.

Unwrap the vegetables. Peel the eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes, and peel away the outer layer of the onions. Split the bell peppers in half, discard the seeds and stems, and cut lengthwise into strips about 1 1/2 inches wide. Transfer to a bowl. Trim the stems from the eggplants and core the tomatoes, and then cut them into strips of the same size as the pepper strips and add to the bowl. Trim the onions, cut into rings, and add to the bowl along with the garlic.

Add the 1/3 cup olive oil, season with salt, and toss to mix well. Serve at room temperature.