View from the Pomodoro

Click for panorama shot

The view from the pizzería on the beach a couple of hundred yards from my place. More about that later.

Albondigas de Iberica : Iberian Meatballs

With rice. These meatballs are made from the meat of Iberian pigs; the ones they use to make Iberian Ham (much better than Italian Prosciutto).

I hope I find the other phone-cam soon or I’m going to have to invest in some new equipment; the pictures with this substitute phone-cam suck.

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Albondigas de Iberica : Iberian Meatballs

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 T lard (real lard)
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 cup ham/beef broth
• 1/2 C dry white wine
• pepper
• 2 T olive oil
• 500 gr [1#] Iberian meatballs (oh my! they were bought ready made)
• 1/4 C dry white wine
• 2 T tomato sauce
• 1/2 C ham/beef broth

Procedure

1. Melt lard in a pan
2. Chop the veggies and garlic and toss into the hot lard
• Medium heat, to soften the onions and until just picking up some color
3. Add the wine (deglaze if needed and add the up of broth
• Until the carrots are really soft
4. Meanwhile, brown the meatballs in the olive oil
5. Remove the browned meatballs and deglaze with the 1/4 C white wine
6. Puree the carrot/onion mix with a stick blender
7. Put the sauce into the meatball pan, season with pepper
8. Add the tomato sauce, meatballs and the bayleaf
• If needed add some ham/beef broth to make sure they’re 3/4 covered and that the sauce isn’t too thick
9. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes (to cook the meatballs and blend flavours)

Done

Notes

1. Use lard. It really does add something to the flavour
2. I used artisanal, handmade, Iberian pork meatballs; faster than making them myself.
3. Stick-blend the sauce until it’s really fine. This could take a minute or two.
4. Served with rice: 2 parts rice to 2 parts ham/beef broth, 1 part wine and 1 part water
5. This kind of sauce can be used with all sorts of dishes (substitute fish broth for fish dishes or veggie broth for vegetarian dishes). The basic idea of a carrot/onion/tomato sauce is very versatile and it makes a great base to braise things in.

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Revuelto de Morcilla : Scrambled Blood Sausage

Catchy title, isn’t it? 

My good phone-camera is currently missing and I’m using a backup.  One which I have, obviously, not quite figured out.  If this pic looks less than appetizing it might be the camera’s fault (or the user thereof) or it might be what you opine regarding the ingredients  - - or maybe the appearance of the final dish.

It really is very tasty and it’s not just a made up dish.  You can get this in cafés ‘most everywhere.

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Revuelto de Morcilla : Scrambled Morcilla

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• oil, for frying, and lots of it
• 1 very large potato (or 2 medium large)
• 1 morcilla (also large)
• 1 green pepper
• 4 eggs, stirred up with a fork
• a dash of salt or two

Procedure

1. Peel then cut the potato into very thing julienne strips (we’re talking shoestring/straw potato sized)
2. Place in a bowl of cold water, dump the water (essentially a rinse), refill with cold water and into the fridge for 20 minutes
3. Peel the skin from the morcilla, cut into 1cm [1/2”] cubes
4. De-seed the green peppers and cut into julienne [sticks]
• The strips ought to be on the short side; maybe 4-5 cm [2”]
5. Drain the potatoes; fry them up in a lot of hot oil until just turning brown (in a couple or three batches)
• Dump the excess oil once the potatoes are done
6. Fry up the green peppers, in a little oil, medium heat, until just softening
• Add a dash of salt
• set  them aside
7. Fry up the morcilla, in a little oil, until just cooked
8. Add the green peppers back, stir it around
9. Add the eggs, stir it around until the egg-juice is just set (keep it moist – avoid over cooking and making it dry)
10. Salt the shoestring potato straws
11. Serve the scrambled up morcilla over a pile of potato straws

Done
Messy and odd looking but good

Notes

1. I used fresh Morcilla of Burgos (rice and onion based)
2. Chilling the potatoes in the fridge is important.  I think this step gets rid of excess starch so the potato straws stay nice and separate
3. Red pepper works just fine as well
4. Using 5 or 6 eggs would be okay too.  I went really quite light on the egg proportion
5. Potato straws can be made hours in advance, no problem - - and they’re good all on their own.

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Beef Chef Grill

There’s a new restaurant in town (bringing the total here in a suburb of Madrid to five).

Gazpacho

Do you see the chopped various things floating on it? (onions, green peppers, cucumber, tomato) This might or might not have been house-made gazpacho. Fine flavour but missing that special “something” that a real chef would have added to it. Maybe adding some really good olive oil would solve it? The croutins were definitely commercial; leave them out.

Grilled vegetables

Basic but tasty; and healthy too.

Roast beef

Good presentation. Tasty. The gravy might have been a commercial product.

Lomo de buey

Standard Spanish fare. This one was done quite correctly.

Lunch menu: €14,50 including starter, main, café (or dessert) and a glass of house wine (which was either Rioja or Ribera).

Location: Las Matas de Las Rozas de Madrid - and they might have another branch in Leganes.

I think they will do well. I’ll be back; if only to try their hamburger. Good service. Decent price. Looks like it would a kid-welcoming place.

The mobile telephone with the 5 megapixel camera is missing at the moment. This was taken with a simpler phone-camera. I know, in know - if food blogging one should get a decent camera - - and one day I might.

Mid day Cafe

This was the lunch hour rush at a local café/pizzería (3:00). Not that the economy is having an impact or anything like that? It was a nice day, warm, not hot (85 rather than 95 for example) and just a 100 yards down from a hotel.

Maybe it’s not a good moment to be in the hospitality industry.

Hog Roast

The local pub decided to roast a hog on the weekend.  Haven’t had one of these for years.

The cook, alas, elected to cater to the sensibilities if the visiting English clients and removed the head prior to spitting the pig.  Some of the best stuff is in there – brains for example – and the cheeks.

In any case, delicious.  Crackly skin and moist meat.

Recipe: Spit the animal; turn slowly over medium low flame; for 7 hours.

Inside the Pizza Oven

End of the shift at a pizzería.  The fire’s been allowed to die down; although the oven’s still blazing hot.  Shows that you don’t always need flames to cook a pizza in a wood burning oven (although it’s very colorful to have some).  That’s my pizza in there.  Note the nice puffy edges.

Baked Salmon

• Sauté the onions (lots and lots; 4 or 5) until just barely soft.
  Cover the bottom of an ovenproof dish with olive oil & slightly sautéed onions.
  
  
• Sprinkle thyme from your back porch garden on the salmon; salt and pepper (white pepper please)
  Place salmon filets on top of onions
  Sprinkle with white wine (1/4 C; not a lot) and lemon juice.
  
  
• Bake at 150c (300F) for 10-15 minutes – or until just barely cooked.

Ta da!

Wine Selection

And they`re all eco, organic or biodynamic Spanish wines. At my favorite pizzería.

Chives Flowering

I never knew that they did this; though, logically, they must.  Looks a little bit like sweet clover flowers.  I wonder if they’re related.

Cafe Michelangelo - Somerton - Philadelphia, PA

Sliced black olives, artichokes, goat’s cheese pizza.

Pizza okay; too much char on the bottom; good crust; enough goat’s cheese.  Ambiance – not a lot.  I’d go again.

Monkfish Stew

Terraza Carmona again.  A simple cod stew but made with what you’d call monkfish.

Grilled Chicken

 
Terraza Carmona restaurant in Vera (Almería).  Pan grilled chicken breast – not dry and overcooked – and done with garlic. Sitting on some pan fried potato slices under there; some tomato & a slice of grilled eggplant.  Simple enough.  Tasty.  Even kids might like it.

Bananas

In the garden – beginning of March.

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed with cod.