Txistorra cooked in Txakoli Wine (Txistorra al Txakoli)

This is a typical Basque "pintxo" or "tapa" (see the difference between them in the entry "pintxo" or "tapa"). It is made of two Basque products: the sausage "txistorra" made of pork, panceta, bacon and paprika which gives the red color, boiled in "txakoli" which is a wine originally made in Basque farm houses for the owners own consumption, made of "green" grapes or grapes that are not ripe yet. If we have to find a similar wine we will be able to use the Portuguese vinho verde. Acidic, fuzzy, light, happy, and young. It needs to be served very cold.

Both of these products have DO (Denomination of Origin)


Ingredients:


1 txistorra
2 cups txakoli


Put the txistorra in a pan and cover it with the txakoli and boil it for about 10 minutes.

Pintxo "Eguzki"

I developed this "pintxo" or tapa (little dish) with three of my favorite products: monkfish, pimientos de Padrón, and quail eggs on top of a piece of rustic bread. I call this pintxo "eguzki" because in Basque it means sun, and the egg looks like a sun.

Ingredients:


6 monkfish medallions
6 Padrón peppers
6 quail eggs
Maldon salt


Dust the monkfish medallions with flour and pan fry, remove from the pan and add a few pieces of Maldon crystal salt. Poke the peppers with a fork and put them in a pan with about half an inch of olive oil and fry the peppers on a low heat until done on all sides. Remove from the pan add salt. Remove the oil from the pan, leaving a little bit. Add the quail eggs to the pan, carefully since they are very fragile. When the eggs are done to your liking, remove from the pan and add maldon salt.


To assemble:


Start with one slice of bread, then add the monkfish on top, then the pepper, and finally the quail egg.

Lollipop quail eggs (Huevos de codorniz en salsa rosa)

It is very common in Spain to find quail eggs in most supermarkets and markets. As a matter of fact, there are stands in the "Boqueria" market in Barcelona, where you can buy any type of egg, from quail and pheasant, to chicken, duck, emu, or ostrich eggs. We serve the quail eggs with a pink sauce, but that doesn't mean you cannot fry them, make deviled eggs, etc...The only difference is the size.

Ingredients:

1 dozen quail eggs

2 tablespoon mayonaise

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 to 2 tablespoons brandy or whiskey

Boil the eggs for about 5 minutes, remove from the pan, and put them in a dish with icy water. When cold, peel them and skew them, one at a time.

For the sauce: mix the mayo, ketchup, and brandy. Stir until everything is mixed evenly. Try and change measurements of any of the ingredients to create the sauce to your liking. Put the sauce in a small bowl.

Serve the eggs on a stick and dip them in the sauce.

Peel-and-Eat Salty Shrimp (Gambas saladas)

If you have been to Madrid, Spain, you may know that there is a famous "cervecería" or a place where they sell beer. Probably, of all these types of establishments "Cervecería Santa Barbara" is the most famous one with 200 years of history. It's where you get to enjoy the "gambas saladas" or peel-and-eat shrimp boiled with sea salt, or in the coast, with sea water. These types of shrimp are sweet, juicy and they taste like the sea. You can serve these salty shrimp as a tapa with a very cold beer.

Ingredients:


1 pound small shrimp
3 tablespoons sea salt per 4 cups water
ice water with 1 tablespoon of sea salt


In a pot, add the water with the salt, stir, and bring it to a boil. Add the shrimp and boil for about 2 to 3 minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp. Strain the water and add the shrimp to a dish with icy water, with another tablespoon of salt to stop the cooking process. Arrange on a plate and keep the shrimp refrigerated until ready to serve.

Mussels with chorizo (Mejillones con chorizo)

Another way to cook mussels, it is a surf-and-turf combination, Spanish style: mussels with Spanish chorizo sausage. Another great staple for summer by the beach. In Spain the mussels are very fresh, with a great flavor of the sea. If they are boiled with sea water, it is just heaven.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of mussels
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 handful of parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil 
water to cover the mussels
1/2 hot chorizo "Palacios", cut in small pieces

In a pan, add the garlic and parsley, cook the garlic until it starts to change color, do not burn it. Remove the pan from the burner and let it cool. In the meantime, cook the chorizo in another pan. Add the mussels to the pan with the garlic and parsley, cover with water, and put a lid on and cook them until they open. They cook really quickly. Add the chorizo. Spoon them out of the pan and serve.

Picadillo Andaluz

El picadillo Andaluz has its origins in Seville, Spain. Unlike other picadillos that have ground beef, this one is made of vegetables soaked in a vinaigrette of Sherry vinegar and good Andalusian olive oil. My aunt, Lolita, always claimed that it should be eaten with a spoon, as she was told by people from Andalusia. It should be served cold as to become a very refreshing salad or to accompany meat or fish. 

Ingredients:

2 cucumbers chopped
3 tomatoes chopped
1 onion finely sliced or finely chopped
1 green pepper
2 parts olive oil
1 part Sherry vinegar
salt to your liking 

An hour before serving, finely chop the cucumber, tomatoes, onion and green pepper, then mix them in a bowl. Add the olive oil, sherry vinegar, and salt. Keep it in the refrigerator for an hour. However if the ingredients have been kept in the refrigerator and are cold it can be made just before serving.

Serve in individual bowls. Everybody will like this dish. It is perfect for a summer lunch or dinner.

Palmiers filled with Pate (Palmeras rellenas de pate)

Palmiers, also known as elephant ears or "Palmeras," are very popular in Spain. They are easy to find in every store and pastry shop with sugar or chocolate, but they also can be made filled with ham and cheese, spinach, paté or foie. Especially today, when you can find the dough already made for you, there is a very laborious step to skip. This is a nice appetizer to make ahead of time. You also can freeze it and have it for a surprise visit.

Ingredients:


Pastry dough (usually there are two sheets per box, so you can make one salty and the other sweet filled with brown sugar)
1 can of good pate o foie
flour
1 egg well beaten


Defrost the pastry dough and dust with flour the surface you are going to work. Unfold it in a vertical position and mark the center. With a spatula spread the pastry generously with the pate or foie.
Start rolling one side towards the center previously marked. Then roll the other side to the center. Both rolls will find each other in the center. It should look like a long tube with two ears. Turn sideways and push the roll down. Cover with plastic wrap and keep it in the freezer for 10 minutes. 

In the meantime crack one egg, beat it very well and add 3 teaspoons water. Take the dough out of the freezer after 10 minutes and with a sharp knife start cross cutting the rolls, placing the palmiers on a non stick tray. Use a brush to wash the top with the egg and put the tray in a preheated oven at 400˚F for 20 minutes or until golden brown.