Veggie by Season: Spanish

Manchego and Porcini Risotto

I felt like our Spanish dinner wouldn't be complete without paella, but I don't like seafood. I decided to still make some sort of rice dish. Risotto is always a favorite of my husband, so I went with it and made it with Spanish add-ins. What I love most about risotto is the versatility. Basically you can add any cheese and fruit or vegetable, and you get a totally different dish each time.
I found some dried porcini mushrooms, which are Italian, but have great flavor. I looked at the Spanish cheese section and found manchego, so Manchego and Porcini Risotto was born.
Porcinis are pretty expensive, about $10 for 1 oz. I used .5 oz. and utilized the rehydrating liquid (stock) as well.
The manchego was very similar to parmesan at first, it's somewhat crumbly and dry, but then it begins to melt in your mouth as it heats up. It was delicious, but far more expensive than parm.
Because there were so many elements to the entire meal, and especially this dish, I cooked the risotto ahead of time, about 90% through, and then reheated it in the oven. It came out perfectly!

Manchego and Porcini Risotto

.5 oz. porcini mushrooms, reconstituted in 2 c. boiling water

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. EVOO

1 small yellow onion, minced

1 1/2 c. arborio rice

1/2 c. dry white wine

2 c. warmed vegetable stock

about 20 saffron threads

4 oz. Manchego cheese, grated

Salt and pepper

Bring 2 c. water to a boil, add mushrooms.

Let them sit for 5 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon.

Drain stock through a coffee filter, set aside.

Heat a skillet over medium heat, add EVOO and butter.

Sautee onion for a minute, add rice and sautee for 2-3 minutes, or until toasted.

Turn heat to high, add wine and reduce, turn to medium-low.

Every 2-3 minutes, add 1/4-1/2 c. stock (porcini and vegetable).

Stir well after each addition.

Add saffron with one of the stock additions.

Cook for about 25 minutes, or until rice has a little bite to it.

Mince the reconstituted mushrooms, add to risotto.

Add most of the grated cheese, stir well.

Serve or portion into ramekins.

If cooking ahead and warming later:

Place ramekins into a baking dish, fill 3/4 the way up with water.

Add 2 tbsp. stock to the top of each ramekin to keep the risotto moist.

Cover the dish with foil, place in the oven at 300 for 30 minutes to warm through.

Paprika Chicken and Chorizo Skewers with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

I couldn't make a Spanish meal without making chorizo! I usually am not a huge fan of it though, because it tends to be greasy. We went to Bloomingfoods, a market that has organic, local food, and I found chorizo that was locally made and with 65% less fat than standard! Since it can also be heavy and salty, I thought pairing it with some spiced chicken would balance it out.

Red peppers are also very traditionally used in Spainsh cooking, so I decided to make a thick sauce/condiment to top these with. The sweetness of the peppers was great with the spicy, salty chicken and sausage.

These skewers would be great over a bowl of saffron rice with peas for a complete meal!

Spiced Chicken and Chorizo Skewers with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

1 lb. chorozo, sliced in 1" rounds

1 lb. chicken tenders, cubed

1 tbsp. smoked paprika

salt and pepper

2 tbsp. EVOO

2 garlic cloves, grated

10 skewers, soaked in water

sauce:

1 fresh roasted red pepper (fresh tastes so much better than jarred)

1 yellow onion

1 tbsp. EVOO

salt and pepper

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (1 tbsp)

1 tbsp. fresh oregano leaves

parsley, for garnish

Add chicken cubes, paprika, salt, pepper, EVOO and garlic to a bowl, toss to coat and marinate chicken for a few hours.

Alternate chicken and chorizo on skewers, place on a baking sheet or grill.

Cook at 350 for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked and chorizo has a light brown crust on the edges.

While skewers cook, in a small pan, saute onion in EVOO over medium heat until softened.

Add onion and remaining sauce ingredients to a blender and puree.

Plate skewers, top with sauce and parsley.

Hericot Verts with Serrano and Garlic

This dish is another that I took off a restaurant's tapas menu. It sounded simple and delicious, some of my favorite flavors. If you can't find serrano, prosciutto is similar and widely available.

Hericot Verts with Serrano and Garlic

1 lb. hericot verts, trimmed

1/4 lb. serrano ham, sliced thin and diced

2 garlic cloves, grated

parsley

cracked black pepper

Steam green beans until tender, but with a bite.

In a skillet over medium, sautee ham with garlic for 10 minutes, or until brown and a bit crisp.

Drain, if necessary, add green beans, season with pepper.

Plate and top with chopped parsley.

Spanish Spiced Chick Peas

Roasted chick peas have been on my "to-make" list for a long time. While so many of the dishes I made took a few steps and ingredients, these were simple and no hassle. They were great, I could snack on them like popcorn! Again, I just played around with the seasonings using traditional Spanish flavors.

Spanish Spiced Chick Peas

1 15 oz. can organic garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp. EVOO

Sprinkle of smoked paprika

Sprinkle of paprika

Salt and pepper

Sprinkle of rosemary

Place beans on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Toss in EVOO and spices.

Roast at 350 for 25 minutes.

Plate and serve.

Heirloom Tomatoes with Goat Cheese and Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

For this dish, I copied it straight off a tapas menu from a restaurant I found online, but I used Heirloom tomatoes rather than beefsteak. I love goat cheese with tomatoes, and balsamic dressings are my favorite. I made up the dressing recipe, it's pretty simple, like any standard lighter vinaigrette. I always buy organic goat cheese, which unlike most products, is the same price as regular! I guess this is sort of the Spanish equivalent of an Italian caprese, another one of my favorites!

Also, I have found that putting the goat cheese in the freezer for 5 minutes and crumbling it with a fork is the best way to get it out and not all over your fingers!

Heirloom Tomatoes with Goat Cheese and Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

4 large heirloom tomatoes, sliced

2 oz. organic goat cheese, crumbled

Vinaigrette:

1 tbsp. honey

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp. EVOO

handful of flat leaf parsley

salt and pepper

Add dressing ingredients to a blender, whirl to combine.

Arrange tomatoes on a plate, top with goat cheese and dressing.

Valencia Orange and Spanish Olive Tapenade

One of my favorite appetizers is tapenade with crusty bread. I love to make tapenade at home because it's so easy, and it's much cheaper. I often see tiny 3-4 oz. jars of tapenade for close to $10!
The olive bar at Kroger is pretty nice, it has maybe a dozen olives and there are tags that say where they're from. I saw the green spanish olives with herbs and knew those would be perfect. I also grabbed a few kalamata olives for some variety. Usually I add a bit of lemon to my tapenade, but to keep it especially Spanish, I went with Valencia oranges. I also read parsley is all over Spanish cooking, as well as anchovies, which are traditional in many tapenades.
I am so happy with how this tapenade came out, I will definitely make it again in the future!

Valencia Orange and Spanish Olive Tapenade

Zest of a Valencia orange (1 tbsp)

1 garlic clove, smashed

1 c. parsley leaves

1 c. mixed Spanish olives in herbs

(or plain plus extra oregano and crushed red pepper flakes)

1 tbsp. White wine vinegar

1 tbsp. anchovy paste

2 tbsp. EVOO

Fresh cracked black pepper and salt to taste

Orange segments, for garnish

Bread of choice, sliced and toasted

Add zest and garlic to a food processor, pulse until garlic is minced.

Add parsley, olives, vinegar, anchovy paste and pepper.

Pulse until it's finely minced.

Add 1 tbsp. EVOO, pulse.

Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Pour into a bowl, top with orange segments.

Refrigerate until ready to serve, drizzle 1 tbsp. EVOO over the top before serving.

(close up of the herbed olives)

Traditional (or Sparkling) Sangria

I absolutely love Sangria. I love a nice dry red wine and a splash of citrus and a bit of sweetness. I usually add a bit of sparkling water to mine to stretch it out (so I can drink more) and it also makes it much cheaper for a group. I decided to set up a little bar so people had the choice of regular or sparkling.
This is a pretty traditional recipe, it's really a personal preference thing. Recently a new, huge market called Sahara Mart opened in Bloomington. They had a big wine tasting event last weekend that JJ and I went to. We then went over to the store and checked out their wine selection, which was HUGE. Like most wine shops, it's sorted by country of origin. What I love about Sahara Mart is they also carry a large selection of organic wines. I decided to grab 2 bottles of an inexpensive Spanish Organic Red.

Traditional Sangria

1/4 c. Brandy

1/4 c. powdered sugar

3 lemons

3 limes

2 oranges

2 bottles of Red Wine

Sparkling water (optional)

Pour brandy and powdered sugar into a pitcher. Whisk until sugar dissolves.

Juice 1 lemon, 1 lime and 1 orange. Add to pitcher.

Add 2 bottles of wine.

Slice the remaining orange, a lemon and a lime. Add to the pitcher, stir and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, or overnight.

Before serving, fill pitcher with ice and slice remaining lemon and lime for garnish.

Tapas Dinner Recap

For the past few weeks, everywhere I look in magazines and ads, there is Sangria. We had planned to have Allison and Will over for dinner, so I asked her if they like sangria and the said YES, so I decided to plan the dinner around it.
I've never done a tapas dinner before, so I decided to give it a try. I love making lots of little dishes and sides and having tons of variety, so tapas were right up my alley.
I decided to google tapas menus and I looked at some restaurants options to get a general idea of some of the dishes. Then I decided to look up traditional Spanish flavors, and sort of wing it.
I think that my dishes are pretty traditional, I tried to use as many Spanish imported products and flavors as possible, like parsley, paprika, saffron, chorizo, serrano, EVOO, olives, valencia oranges, and manchego.

(The inspiration)