Simple Spanish Food

¡Rosquillas! (Litttle Spanish Doughnuts)

To be honest, the first time I tried a rosquilla, I didn't like it much.  As with the roscón de reyes (Spanish holiday bread), the shape fooled me into thinking it would taste like an American-style doughnut, so I was totally unprepared for the reality of the rosquilla.

The fried variety of rosquilla, usually made for San Isidro, is especially doughnut like in appearance.

But the texture is different, partly because they are (usually) made with olive oil, rather than shortening or butter.   And the flavor is certainly different.  Rosquillas for San Isidro are less sweet and, more importantly, heavily spiced with anise.  Recipes for this style of rosquilla call for not only anise seeds (both ground and whole, toasted and green) but large amounts of anise liquor. When someone is frying rosquillas outdoors (as madrileños do for the festival of San Isidro), the licorice-like aroma is overwhelming, and the flavor, for the uninitiated, can be startling.

Like many old-fashioned Spanish olive oil pastries, rosquillas seem to come from a time of bolder flavors.

There are many other types of rosquillas.  Some are lemon flavored. Others are dusted with powdered sugar.  Some are called tontas (silly ones) and others are called listas (smart ones).  I can never remember which are smart and which are silly.  They may be fried, like rosquillas de San Isidro, or they may be baked. The baked sort tend to have a brittle, even slightly hard texture, similar to (but different from) biscotti.  

Here's the display window of the famous old Madrid pastelería (pastry shop) Viena Capellanes, during San Isidro.  Look at all the rosquillas (and the chulapo doll watching over them)!

Most rosquillas should be enjoyed with coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or (most traditional of all) a sweet wine such as moscatel or Málaga.

The harder, crunchier baked rosquillas are best for dipping.

In the future I hope to post recipes for many types of rosquillas. Today I'll focus on the simplest, and one that also happens to be vegan: like many Spanish olive oil pastries and cookies, it contains no dairy products or eggs. It also has zero cholesterol. This is a crunchy, biscotti-like rosquilla best for dipping.  

For Cinnamon Rosquillas

1 stick of cinnamon

2 cloves (optional)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup of brown sugar

scant 1/2 cup of brandy or cognac

2 cups of flour (I have substituted whole wheat with good results)

ground cinnamon and sugar for dusting

First "fry" the cinnamon stick and the cloves, if you're using them, in the olive oil. When fragrant and toasted, set the pan aside and let the oil cool.

Remove the cinnamon stick and cloves from the oil. Blend the oil with the sugar and brandy. Mix in the flour, bit by bit.  It should form a fairly stiff dough. 

Take a golf ball sized amount of dough. Roll it between your palms to form a 4 or 5 inch rope.  Connect the ends together to form a small ring or rosquilla. Place them on baking sheets. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, and bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes.

***Caution: the amount of alcohol in these can cause a small explosion in the oven, so open the oven door with extreme care***

Cool them on racks and serve with tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or a sweet wine.

Variations

For traditional, intensely anise-flavored rosquillas, use white sugar, substitute an anise-flavored liquor for the brandy, and top each rosquilla with green anise seeds just before baking.

For untraditional (but good) chocolate rosquillas, just add 1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa and 1/3 cup of chocolate chips to the dough before shaping the rosquillas.

 

 

A Word about Paella, and a Recipe for Seafood Paella (paella de mariscos, arroz a la marinera, o arroz pescador, et cetera)

In his mammoth travel book Iberia, James Michener complained that even after regularly traveling in Spain for forty years, he'd never had a great paella.  (He also said he'd never seen decent Flamenco or a good bullfight.)  While I can't say I've never had good paella, I do admit: a good paella is hard to find, even in Spain.

Many non-Spaniards seem to think paella is the "national dish" of Spain. It isn't.  Originally, paella was very much a regional dish (from Valencia).  Andrés, my father-in-law, who was from Galicia (nearly the opposite side of the country from Valencia) regarded paella--and Valencian rice dishes in general--as an odd kind of food from the south, much as in the U.S. a  New Englander might view grits.

That said, there is something like a pan-Spanish or national version of the paella,  the "mixed paella"--a relatively recent invention, I suspect. This is the bright yellow-orange (usually artificially colored) rice dish cooked with chicken, chorizo, and shellfish, in a wide, shallow pan, and decorated with pimientos.  According to Penelope Casas' Paella! Spectacular Rice Dishes from Spain, this "mixed paella" is not an authentic Valencian dish at all. A true Valencian, she says, keeps his paella much simpler--just seafood and rice, or just rabbit and rice, or snails and rice, and so on.

When Ana and I are in Madrid, the main places I see "mixed paella" are in restaurants at the Plaza Mayor and at the airport.  This is to say, mixed paella is for tourists, and serious food people often sneer at it much the way they do at sangria.  

If you want authentic Valencian (or Murcian, or Cordobés) rice dishes, it's usually necessary to go to a restaurant specializing in them, where,  most likely, they will not be called "paella" at all but simply arroz (rice):  arroz con calamares (rice with squid),  arroz con calabacines (rice with summer squash), and so on. The rice may be cooked in a wide flat paella pan or in a deeper pan that looks a little like a flat-bottomed wok, or even in a pot.  The rice may be light and fluffy or moist, risotto style, or something in between. There is a very wide variety of Spanish rice dishes.

I have nothing against the mixed paella. I can understand why it has become something of a symbol.  It's pretty and festive. The colors are not only bright, they suggest the Spanish flag. The chorizo is not on my low-cholesterol diet, but I still hope to post a recipe on a good mixed paella in the future.

My main problem with paellas, authentic and not, is that the seafood in them is almost always overcooked. The traditional way of cooking paella--cooking fish and shellfish together with the rice--is to blame.  Spanish rice takes twenty minutes to cook, and it then needs a ten minute rest before serving.  So any fish or shellfish you add will cook at least half an hour. In most cases this is way, way too long.

My brother-in-law Antonio once told me that a true paella aficionado would not care about overcooked shellfish. For him, it's the flavor of the rice that matters.   Personally, I would much rather cook the paella in such a way that both the rice and the seafood come out just right, even if it means resorting to less-than-authentic techniques.

My approach to seafood paella is simple. I simmer clams, mussels, shrimp, and other shellfish separately until each is just barely done. (The one exception is the squid, which needs longer cooking anyway, and so is cooked with the rice). I reserve the simmering liquid as the broth base for the paella. When the rice is cooked, I decorate it with the seafood. The ten minute "rest" after cooking is a good time to do this.  The heat of the rice warms the shellfish through.

This way, the rice comes out flavorful, and the shellfish and fish  are cooked perfectly.  

A Recipe for Seafood Paella (arroz a la marinera, o arroz pescador)

 Ingredients:

1 cup of Spanish rice (Calasparra, Bomba, a paella rice such as La Marjal, or Italian arborio)

***Note: the rice is important! Read my posts on Spanish rice dishes for more info on rice)***

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon of pimentón  (see my post on pimentón)

a dozen shrimp (for this post, I used Florida rock shrimp), with shells on. With heads on, they're even better

a dozen littleneck clams

a dozen mussels

2 medium squid, sliced into 1/4" thick rings

a small pinch of saffron, ground with a little salt in a mortar

1 onion, chopped

1 medium tomato, chopped

1/2 cup of English peas

2 cloves of garlic

3-4 cups of water

chopped parsley

1/4 cup of flame-roasted red peppers, cut into slivers (see my post on flame-roasted red peppers), or piquillo peppers

2 bay leaves

a slice of lemon with peel

a dozen peppercorns

Clean the shellfish. Soak the clams in water for an hour or two. Scrub them.  Scrub the mussels and pluck out the beards with tweezers.

Meanwhile, heat up about 3 cups of water in a large pot. Add the bay leaves, whole peppercorns, and the lemon slice. Let the spices barely simmer in the water while you're cleaning the shellfish.

To cook the shellfish, work in batches. I like to start with the clams because they add salt to the broth (and usually all the salt that's needed for the paella). Add the clams to the simmering liquid and cover the pot. Check on them after five minutes. Remove any that have opened and put them on a plate. Continue steaming 3 to 4 minutes more until all the clams have opened. Throw away any that don't.

Steam the mussels in the exactly the same way, removing them from the pot as they open. 

Now steam the shrimp.  For medium-large shrimp, this usually only takes 3-4 minutes. Don't overcook them.

Strain the broth through several layers of cheesecloth and reserve.

Reserve all the steamed shellfish.

In a large heavy skillet or a small paella pan, fry the chopped onion in the olive oil until it's soft and translucent.  Add the chopped tomato, chopped garlic, and about a tablespoon of chopped parsley.  Add the sliced squid. Cook for three of four minutes, stirring.

Add the  saffron.  Add the pimentón.

Add the rice and stir. Let the rice "fry" three or four minutes. Keep stirring.

Add the peas and the strained broth. Give the paella another stir, but don't stir any more after that.

Let the paella simmer, uncovered, over medium heat, for 20 minutes. Around the fifteenth minute, you may want to check the rice at the bottom of the pan to make sure it isn't burning. Just insert a wooden spoon and peek.  You want a crust to form on the bottom, but if it looks like it may burn, add a little more broth or water.

After twenty minutes, remove the paella from the burner and let it rest ten minutes. While it's resting, decorate the top with the steamed seafood, flame roasted peppers, and fresh chopped parsley.

 

 

 

 

 

An Elegant Spanish Salad: tomato, piquillo peppers, and tuna belly, drizzled with olive oil and thyme (ensalada de tomate, piquillos, y ventresca, con aceite de oliva y tomillo)

Ana and I discovered this elegant salad at a neighborhood bar during out last trip to Madrid, and now I've begun making it at home.  Nothing could be simpler.  You can throw this together in minutes. All you need are piquillo peppers, ventresca (tuna belly fillets), and a quality virgin olive oil (all available at La Tienda), along with a good tomato and a little thyme.  Serve it with good bread (see my recipes for easy no-knead Spanish style breads).

Ventresca has a flavor similar to regular bonito del norte (albacore tuna tinned in olive oil) but it's richer and has a different texture. If you've never tried it, you're in for a treat. 

 

Piquillo peppers are similar to other mild, red,  fire-roasted peppers (see my post on flame roasting peppers), but even better.  They have thinner walls than bells or regular pimentos,  yet a firmer texture, even when tinned. They are not as sweet as most red peppers. They are more complex in flavor. They have a hint of spice, but they're not piquant. There's really nothing quite like them.   

By the way, piquillo peppers and other products from Navarra are on sale at La Tienda until the end of June.

Here's how to make the salad:

Ingredients

1 small tin or jar of ventresca

1 piquillo pepper, sliced

1 large tomato of the best quality you can find (or several smaller ones)

1/4 cup virgin olive oil

a pinch of dried thyme

kosher salt to taste

Stir the thyme into the olive oil.

Wash and slice the tomato. Sprinkle the slices with a little salt.  Arrange them on a plate with the piquillo pepper slivers. Top with fillets of ventresca.

Drizzle the thyme and olive oil mixture over the salad and serve.

 

 

 

Asturian Cider, sidra asturiana

Asturias, the region in the north of Spain, is cider country.  Good Asturian cider is very slightly effervescent, and most of the bubbles come from the way it's poured. The bottle is held high, the glass low.  The cider comes down in a thin stream.  See the above picture.

This is to say, true Asturian cider is not supposed to bubble like beer, much less cava.  Nor is it supposed to be sweet.  It's usually fairly dry. The experience of drinking a good sidra asturiana is much like drinking ribeiro, the slightly fizzy white wine from neighboring Galicia. Asturian cider is in fact an alternative to a simple country wine, and the perfect accompaniment to Asturian foods.

Jeannie, a reader of Simple Spanish Food, recommended to me a great cider bar, sidrería, called El Ñeru. While Ana and I were in Madrid in May, we swung by and had cider and toast smeared with cabrales cheese--the blue cheese from Asturias, one of the best possible tapas to go with Asturian cider.  Thanks for the tip, Jeannie! El Ñeru is at Bordadores 5.

Another good sidrería in Madrid is Casa Mingo, at Paseo de la Florida 34, not far from the chapel San Antonio de La Florida. See Goya's frescoes of Madrileña angels,  and then drink some cider.

The on-line Spanish food store La Tienda sells natural Asturian cider and cider glasses to serve it in. These glasses are not only authentic, they make it easier to pour the cider in a high arc without spilling too much. (Even pro cider pourers in Spain always seem to spill a little).

An Asturian-themed tapas party might include sliced chorizo quick-fried in olive oil, cabrales cheese, hazelnuts packed in Asturian honey, plenty of good bread (see my recipes for easy, no-knead Spanish-style breads), and Asturian cider.

A word of warning: you may come across the inexpensive, sweet, artificially carbonated bottles of Spanish cider. This is a completely different drink. This cider also comes from Asturias, but it is not traditional Asturian cider. It is sometimes used as a dessert wine, like a sweet cava. To be honest, I don't like it.  This type of cider has a plastic champagne cork wired to the top of the bottle.

 

 

 

Anchoa y Boquerón: A Classic Tapa

One of my all-time favorite tapas is anchoa y boquerón.  You can find these in bars all over Spain. They're also easy to make at home.

As I explain in my post All About Anchovies, anchoas are cured anchovies. In Spain they  are typically of much, much higher quality than the tinned anchovies found in U.S. supermarkets.

The boquerón is the same fish, but uncured. A  boquerón may be fresh or, in this case, pickled in vinegar, olive oil, garlic and herbs.

The flavor of a boquerón is completely different from that of an anchoa, but the two perfectly compliment each other, and when placed together on top of a piece of good garlic toast, the combination is out of this world. 

If you'd like to make a tapa of anchoa y boquerón at home, the on-line Spanish food store La Tienda sells top-quality boquerones, anchovies, and even a selection of Spanish breads to make the toast with.  Or you can make your own bread. See my recipes for easy, no-knead Spanish-style breads.   Once you have the three main ingredients, all you have to do is slice the bread, toast it, and brush it with a quality virgin olive oil and crushed garlic, and top it with a fillet of anchoa and another of boquerón, and there you have it.

If you are in Spain, you can find a tapa of anchoa y boquerón in bars just about anywhere in the country.   It goes under various names: canapé de anchoa y boquerón, montado de anchoa y boquerón, montadito de anchoa y boquerón, pincho de anchoa y boquerón, pintxo de anchoa y boquerón, or simply anchoa y boquerón. 

As with any tapa, the quality varies from bar to bar. The very best use salt-packed anchovies, anchoas en salazón, and top-quality boquerones.

To me, this tapa goes best with a simple Spanish red wine, such as a Valdepeñas or a young Rioja, or a glass of cold lager. See my posts on Spanish wines and other drinks.

 

Easy Summer Squash Paella--arroz con calabacines

This summer squash paella makes a great vegan/vegetarian one-pot meal.  We often serve it with a bean salad, or with vegetarian or vegan "chorizos." It can also be served as a side dish with seafood or game.

As with any Spanish rice dish, it's extremely important to start with the right rice. Use Calasparra or Bomba, or a paella rice such as La Marjal. Italian arborio rice makes a pretty good substitute.  Whatever you do, don't try this with the regular short- or long-grain rices usually found in grocery stores. The results will be disappointing.  I cannot emphasize this point enough: the rice really does matter.

Ingredients

1/4 - 1/3 cup olive oil

1 cup of Spanish rice (Calasparra, Bomba, a paella rice such as La Marjal, or Italian arborio)

2 to 2 1/2 cups hot water

1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch wedges.

1 medium yellow squash, cut into 1/2 inch wedges

1 large onion

2 cloves of garlic

1/3 cup chopped parsley

1 medium tomato, chopped (or a few cherry type tomatoes)

a small pinch of saffron, ground with a little salt in a mortar

1 teaspoon of pimentón  (see my post on pimentón)

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

1/4 cup of flame-roasted red peppers, cut into slivers (see my post on flame-roasted red peppers), or piquillo peppers

Heat a heavy skillet or a paella pan. Add the olive oil and the  chopped onion.  When the onion is soft, add the squash, the tomatoes, the garlic, and all but one tablespoon of the parsley. Cook the vegetables, stirring occasionally, for five minutes or so.

Add the rice. Stir until it is well blended with the oil and vegetables.  Let the rice "fry" for 3 minutes or so.  (This helps the grains to stay separate). Add the pimentón.  Stir.

Add two cups of hot water, the salt, and the saffron.

Stir. Let the rice come to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium. Let the rice simmer for twenty minutes.  During the last 5-7 minutes, you may want to insert a wooden spoon into the rice to see how it's cooking on the bottom of the pan.  Ideally, a paella develops a crust on the bottom, but you don't want it to burn, so add a little more water if necessary.

Remove the rice from the heat and let it rest for 10 minutes. (This rest is important to the texture of the rice, so don't skip it).  Garnish the paella with the remaining chopped parsley and strips of roasted red peppers or piquillos.

 

 

 

Simple Spanish Grilled Asparagus (espárragos a la brasa)

When Ana and I were in Granada last year, one of our favorite  dishes was the grilled vegetables at Taberna Salinas.  Ever since I've been grilling vegetables at home much more than I used to. One of our favorite grilled vegetables at Taberna Salinas--and at home--is asparagus.  Nothing could be simpler. All you need is good fresh asparagus, olive oil, coarse salt and black pepper.

Grilled asparagus are great with all sorts of grilled fish (see my post on Spanish grilled trout), or with grilled loin of venison. You could also serve grilled asparagus as a side with empanadas or with paella or some other Spanish rice dish.  I usually prepare grilled asparagus when asparagus is in season and when I'm lighting up the grill anyway. 

Here's how to do it.

Light the grill.

Wash the asparagus well and clip off the tough parts of the stems.

Toss the spears with olive oil.

Heat the grill to medium--about 425.

Grill the asparagus 7-10 minutes, turning them occasionally, so that they brown evenly.

Remove the asparagus from the grill. Toss them with a little fresh virgin olive oil, coarse salt, and ground black pepper to taste.