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Beans soup
Hello,
Recently I was doing a bit of tourism and take advantage to buy some local beans from El Barco de Ávila, widely known in Spain for their beans. Using those beans I’m preparing this vegetarian recipe I bring to you today. I call it also the java programmers soup, as long as the term Beans is closelly related to Java. This soup is a good choice for your tupper (but make sure it is watertight)
Ingredients (for 2 people):
- 250 gr of beans
- 1 oni0n
- 2-3 leaks
- 2 celery sticks
- 4-5 tomatoes
- 2 garlic cloves
- Paprika
Before preparing this recipe you need to take the beans on a big recipient with triple of water, and let stay the beans a whole night in the water.
Briefly chop an onion. Chop 2 or 3 leaks, you can cut them on half longitudinally and then they will be easier and faster to chop. Cut in small pieces 2 celery sticks. Remove the peduncle of 4 or 5 tomatoes and cut them in small pieces.
Add a bit of olive oil in a pot, then add the onion as well as salt and ground pepper. Stir regularly and cook until the onion gets golden colour. Add a tablespoon of paprika and then add the leaks, celery, tomatoes as well as 2 garlic cloves cut in about 4 pieces. Move, cover the pot with a lid and cook for 10 minutes. Then move the content and add water, cover again the pot and cook for 30 minutes.
Blend the vegetables and get them back to the pot through a chinese strainer. Help yourself with a spoon or spatula to press the vegetables to the walls of chinese strainer until inside the strainer there is almost only pulp.
Add the beans, add enough water, cover the pot and cook between one hour and half and 2 hours. Check there is still water on the pot, and if you nead heat some water and add to the pot, avoid adding cold water because it will cut the beans baking process.
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
Important potatoes
Hello!
This time I come again with a vegetarian recipe, but a really good one for winter cold days. It’s a typical spanish recipe original from Palencia, and very economic.
Ingredients (for 1 person):
- 2 potatoes
- 1 onion
- Saffron
- 3 garlic cloves
- A bunch of parsley
- 2 bay leaves
- Paprika
- 1 egg
- Flour
- White wine
- About ½ litre of oil to fry
Let’s start peeling the potatoes and then slicing them, having slices about half centimetre thick. Pass each potato slices first through flour and then through a whisked egg.
Add oil in a pan or pot and wait for it to be hot, fry the potatoes in several batches for about 3 minutes. Then reserve them over paper towels in order to remove oil excess.
Chop an onion and put a bit of olive oil in a pot, then add the onion a bit of salt and 2 bay leaves. Stir from time to time and cook about 6-7 minutes. While cooking the onion put in a mortar 3 garlic cloves, a bit of saffron, a bit of salt and a bunch of parsly grinding them until well mixed.
Add a bit of white wine in the pot, the content of the mortar, one teaspoon of paprika and the already fried potatoes. Add enough water to cover the potatoes passing above like 2 fingers and cook for 20 minutes. Instead of stiring it, just shake the pot in order to avoid break the potatoes.
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
Cocido montañés
Hello,
Recently on the video explaining quesada pasiega recipe a youtube user (digbychick) suggested me to show how to prepare another typical dish from Cantabria, and based on the description done by him I supposed it was cocido montañés. Fortunately I bring an apron from my holidays last summer in Cantabria on which is printed the recipe. It’s a really nice recipe for cold days, it’s really easy to prepare, perhaps it’s only difficulty will be bring to home all ingredients, so better write down the list before going to market 🙂
Ingredients (4 people):
- 200 gr white beans
- 200 gr fresh bacon
- 1 pig’s trotter
- 1 pig’s ear
- 250 gr pork chop
- 4 blood sausages
- 1 piece of ham bone
- 1 potato
- 1 turnip
- ½ cabbage
- 2 garlic cloves
- Sweet paprika
On a bit pot add one pig’s trotter, one pig’s ear, 200 gr of fresh bacon, a piece of ham bone, 250 gr of pork chop. And 200 gr of white beans, these beans must be in water all the night before, taking in mind they would double their size. Add also some salt and cover all ingredients with cold water. Cover the pot with a lid and cook for 2 hours, take a look from time to time, and if it’s getting short of water add more water, but heat it first otherwise you will break the cook process.
After 2 hours cooking add ½ cabbage, 1 turnip and 1 potato all them cut in small pieces and cook them for 20 minutes, add also the blood sausages.
While vegetables are cooking add a bit of oil in a pan, and add 2 laminated garlic cloves when the oil is still cold. When garlic becomes golden turn off the heat and add 1 or 2 tablespoons of sweet paprika, then mix them. Put the garlic and paprika in a mortar and grind them. Then add this mix to the pot, you can help with the water to get the most of the mix. Now just wait the 20 minutes from vegetables aggregation and your cocido montañés is ready.
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
Goulash
Hello,
Goulash is a typical recipe from Hungary, and it is really a masterpiece. At least here hungarian gastronomy does not have a powerful marketing as other gastronomies, but if there are more recipes like this Goulash, it will sure worth to take a lookt to it.
Ingredients (for 2 pople):
- ½ kg beef
- 1 onion
- 2 tomatoes
- 3 garlic cloves
- Sweet paprika
- 1 red pepper
- Flour
Start removing the fat from beef, choose a beef with a minimum thickness of 2 cms, cut the beef in cubes of about 4 or 5 cms. Add a bit of salt and ground pepper on the beef. In a dish put a bit of flour put the pieces of beef on it and then remove the excess.
Cut the onion onto stripes, and then loosely cut the stripes, don’t worry we don’t need it to be chopped. Chop 3 garlic cloves. Grate 2 tomatoes, in order to grate them easily cut in half and then just grate until it remains only the skin. Lastly cut a red pepper onto stripes, then the stripes on half.
Add about 1 cm of olive oil in a pan. When oil is hot add beef, and stir it. Keep cooking until it gets a golden look. Reserve the beef. Then add the onion in the same oil and add a bit of salt. Stir it and cook until it gets a golden colour, then remove the excess of oil and add like 2 sweet paprika tablespoons, chopped garlic and the grated tomatoes. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Then add water and wait until water is hot. You need water to be hot if you want a tender beef, otherwise it will stay tough
In a pot add previosly cook beef, the red pepper and the pan content. Mix it well and cover the pot with a lid. Cook with low fire for about one hour and half and 2 hours, until the sauce becomes dense. Be sure to have enough bread when eating this delicious recipe.
Music on the video (Airport Loung) is composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com)
Tuna escabeche
Hello!
On our Spanish blog a reader suggested us to publish some recipe using escabeche. Escabeche is a technique to cook food in order to preserve them, it is very typical to find canned sea food or fish preserved in escabeche, in Spain perhaps the most easy to find are the muscles. I liked very much the result of this recipe, it is really superb on a sandwich bit some cheese.
Ingredients:
- 1 Kg tuna without skin and without spines
- ½ lt olive oil
- ¼ lt white vinegar
- ¼ lt white wine
- 3 garlic cloves
- 20 peppercorns
- Some bay leaves
- 1 sweet paprika tablespoon
Add in a pot ½ litre of olive oil, ¼ litre of white vinegar, ¼ litre of white wine, about 20 peppercorns, some bay leaves, 3 garlic cloves and a tablespoon of sweet paprika, mix it until well combined. Add the tuna without skin and with out spines, and make sure it is well submerged.
Set the fire on at minimum level, and cook for 20 minutes. In 20 minutes it will be cooked rare, cook about 30 minutes if you prefer more done. Let rest for some hours until getting ambient temperature, then put in the fridge like one night. Take off the fridge 15 minutes before eating, it is really great in a sandwich with cheese. You can have it in the fridge for some days, the escabeche sauce will preserve the tuna.
Music on the video (Airport Lounge) is composed by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Porrusalda
Hello!
Porrusalda makes me nostalgic from the days I’ve spent working in Madrid, but I’ve never tasted this recipe, which was a great mistake. This recipe comes from north Spain and it is simple to prepare and great to taste, specially on winter.
Ingredients (2 people)
- 2 leeks (or 1 big leek)
- 2 medium potatoes
- 1 garlic clove
- Sweet paprika
- Small portion of chili (optional)
Hi this porrusalda is a lovely recipe, it’s easy to prepare but with a great taste and it’s a nice choice for winter nights. Cut the leek in pieces of about 3 cms. Add olive oil in a pot, just enough to barely cover the base. Don’t let the oil get to hot before adding the leek, a small portion of chili if you like spicy, one crushed garlic clove, salt and pepper. Move and cook for about a minute. Add sweet paprika, move and quickly add water. It’s important to add water quickly, otherwise paprika will burn and taste bad. Cook for 18 minutes.
Then add 2 potatoes previously peeled cut in regular pieces. Add more water if needed, also taste to check if you need more salt. Cook for 22 minutes and your porrusalda is ready.
Garlic soup
I remember the days I was working in Madrid and in the menu was included the castillian soup, a really nice soup, so I did this recipe to remember those good meals. But this is garlic soup, not castillian soup; at the end castillian soup is a garlic soup with ham cut in really small pieces 🙂
Ingredients (3-4 people):
- 8 garlic cloves
- Bread bought some days ago
- 2 eggs
- 2 beef bouillon
- 1 tablespoon of sweet paprika
Start peeling 8 garlic cloves, to peel them easy cut the base, crash it with the knive blade and then you will be able to remove the peel easily. Cut the garlic cloves in thin slices. Cut the bread in slices.
On a big pot add a bit of olive oil and the sliced garlic cloves; move them for 2 minutes and then add 2 bread slices, movint it all for 2 minutes. Add 1 litre of water, 2 beef bouillons and a tablespoon of sweet paprika. Beef bouillons normally have anough salt, anyway taste it and add more if you think necessary.
Move frequently for 20 minutes and then add 2 eggs. Continue moving so the eggs get a nice texture. Shutdown the fire and add remaining bread slices. If you add ham cut in really small pieces this garlic soup will become a castillian soup. Before serve let rest for 10 minutes at least.
Patatas bravas
This was the recipe used to cook my mother in our bar, and it liked lot of customers. As there are a lot of different ways to prepare “patatas bravas”, this is not “the recipe” but just one of the possible ways to cook them.
Ingredients:
- Potatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Oregano
- White vinegar
- Paprika
We will start cutting the potatoes but instead of using the knife to the end we will break it next to the end. On a pot put oil and let it to get heat, then throw in it the potatoes. Add salt, cover the pot and let them cook about 12 minutes.
While the potatoes are cooking, lets prepare the sauce. On a mortar put 2 garlic cloves and grind them with the pestle. Add oregano and continue grinding. Also add paprika, white vinegar, water to fill the mortar and mix it.
When you can puncture the potato with the knife they are ready, and you can extract them from the pot.
Now mix the potatoes with the sauce and enjoy!
I hope you like the recipe, see you next time.
Recipes from Spain 