BF continues to pamper me through this cold and the Spain withdrawals. We had this dish at a tapas bar, so simple, yet so good and flavorful, and even though I’ve made many versions of it myself in the past, it was never like the one we had in Barcelona. Espinacas con garbanzos - spinach and garbanzos. I’ve made it with chorizo, smoked paprika, Jerez sherry vinegar, etc. But the one on our trip was just beans, spinach, and pine nuts - very bland, yet fantastic! Just the good, homey flavor of the beans and the spinach, so satisfying. So he said he would make it, and I found him a recipe that seemed really basic. But i told him to do what he wanted, if he wanted to add chorizo, he could. So he did, and it was delicious, but it wasn’t the same, of course. Pic of the two versions. His was a little soupier too. And I know that I couldn’t replicate it either, but I really want to try!
@Saregama - Hi - so he says he simply cuts into planks, thick fries size (like in the pic above), boils until very tender, until almost starting to fall apart. Then he takes them out of the water very carefully, and at that point cuts out that tough middle core from each piece - comes out much easier than when they’re raw. He puts them on the cutting board and lets them cool down and completely dry out. He says that they’ll be kind of ragged, but you can kind of form them, since they’re so starchy, push them together, and the ragged edges will stick to the main piece. Then he deep fries them until golden, and salts. That’s it! He says the key is getting them tender enough first, through boiling, because then they puff up the most with the frying. And he fries in very small batches - we don’t have a deep fryer. He uses this little pot we have that holds maybe 2 cups of oil? Anyway, good luck! They’re delish, and as good or better than I’ve had in a lot of Cuban restaurants.
One of Andalusian classics with deep Moorish roots.
Your BF’s and Barca restaurant’s versions are what I had in mind but what I got was overcooked spinach with 5 chickpeas on a bed of chips/potatoes! Ate it twice last week in 2 different towns and it was the same. I guess that’s how Andalusians like theirs.
I went to the link to check out your hiking and food trip report. Did you have tomatoes every meal? Showed the pics to the mister and I don’t think he could stomach even 2-3 slices of tomatoes.
I’m the only one at home who loves snacking on tomatoes, even more whenever I’m in Japan.
Yes, I ate tomatoes at almost every meal. Even if I didn’t order them I ate them later in my room. I love tomato-heavy cuisines.
There are so many varieties in Spain. The signs state name of each type. I brought home 3kg in my hand baggage, just ate the first meal yesterday with them. Only a tiny bit of water was released when sliced. Greenhouse kind we have here is water bombs. Spanish tomatoes are dense and heavy, not to mention flavourful.
Picked up these beautiful boneless short ribs at Costco this afternoon. The BF and I enjoyed the red curry/ginger rub so much from last week that we are doing it again with these. They have already been pan-seared and are now sitting in that rub/sauce in the slow cooker for 8 hours.
Dinner was stir fry chicken breast marinaded with chili crisp, black beans with garlic, shrimp paste, shaoxing wine, sesame oil then dry fried with garlic, ginger and caramelized onions. Chicken set aside, same wok, added snow peas, asparagus and bell peppers, oyster sauce and the same chinese spices used for chicken, added some more sesame oil served with rice. ( bell peppers were from garden mostly purple colored ones not showing in pictures )
Worked late tonight so popped into my local on the way home. A pint of Adnams’ Ghostship and a lovely sausage roll. I especially liked the fennel seeds in the pastry.
I slow cooked canned chickpeas and artichoke hearts in the Instant Pot with diced tomatoes and tomato paste, garlic, browned onions, smoked paprika, plenty of olive oil, and a splash of Sherry. They turned out so well! I hedged my bets with some grilled smoked Texas beef sausage on the side. The pan con tomate I attribute to @mariacarmen and @Barca
Naw, just kidding. Cut up left over Chicken Cordon Bleu breast pieces with just a bit of ham & Baby Swiss left in the leavings, and brewed up a nice Chicken Noodle Soup…
Thankful I didn’t lose power overnight into today with the bombogenesis nor’easter storm. Wind was still pretty powerful driving home tonight. I was pretty wary of the many 18-wheelers barreling down the highways.
Dinner was a relatively quick bowl of sausage, broccoli and penne patterned after this recipe. I used a handful of Aleppo and it gave a nice bit of heat.
My grandfather had a pelmeni press out mold exactly like that when I was a child. It’s the only item of his I kept when he died. I’ve never used it - just keep it as a memory of him. I didn’t know anyone else out there had one like that, although I don’t know why not. He brought his from Russia to the US when he immigrated.
