Brascada, back at University
This recipe, for a bocadillo called brascada in Valencia, where I grew up and went to university, brings back memories. Bocadillo is what we call in Spain any sandwich made with baguette style bread. Baguette style bread, by the way, is the most common type of bread in Spain, and we call it simply pan, bread. Bocadillos are a common fare at all tapas bars and cafés in Spain, and they’re a popular midmorning snack for many. For us, students, bocadillos were an easy and nutritious lunch, or dinner. One of my favorites, brascada, was a typical and frequent meal in the evening (a few times a week) when I studied at the library of the Old University, a majestic building that, in the XVI century, housed Valencia’s University. After a few hours of studying, my friend and I would take a break at a tapas bar on the adjacent square, Plaza del Patriarca, that made the best brascadas in the city. I now make them at home, and my family loves them.
Do you have the feeling that the Christmas and winter holiday season was ages ago? I certainly do, not so much because a long time has passed, but because so many events and activities have happened since. And I’m not talking about out of the ordinary or amazing events. In fact, January is probably one of those months (September would be another one) when everything goes back to normal —the restart of old routines, the beginning of new projects; but more than anything, a month of inwardness, of restarts, of cleaning and organizing, in literal and figurative terms. In one word, January is a month of resetting. This lentil and butternut squash soup, that I make often during winter, seemed appropriate for this time of year (a particularly cold January).
It is true that this blog is dedicated to Spanish cuisine in America; it is also true that some dishes have been made on both sides of the Atlantic, and beyond, for many years. Just like 
Meatballs in wine sauce, albóndigas en salsa, are a classic Spanish dish. Growing up, they were a favorite, and I think it’s safe to say children and adults alike love them. At home, and at most homes in Spain, they are accompanied by potatoes, that marry so well with the sauce they’re cooked in. My mom made them with cubed 
I hope I get to your table in time for you to make these tasty dinner rolls three ways, because they should be on your Thanksgiving menu. I’m serious! They will be a hit. If you can’t fit them into your cooking and baking schedule for the day, plan on making them the day before, freeze them in freezer bags (I vacuum pack them) and defrost outside of the bags a couple of hours before your Thanksgiving dinner. That’s exactly what I am doing.
I made this rhubarb almond cake a while ago, and I was hesitating whether this was the right time to post the recipe, given that rhubarb is not in season, at least where I live. I decided that this was perfect timing: with Thanksgiving next week, pie and cake are words that are dancing in my head, and this rhubarb almond cake is so versatile, you could swap the fruit and obtain the same wonderful result. The traditional ones, pumpkin, apple, and pecan pies, will be on many tables next Thursday, but alongside those, I always like to have something different. My friend Shelby makes coconut cream pie, and I absolutely love it. This rhubarb almond cake could become a pear almond cake, or a plum almond cake, and be a new addition to your Thanksgiving menu. I love it with rhubarb, so if you can find it, by all means, make it! Rhubarb gives the cake a certain tartness that I love, much like I think plums would.
This is not the first time I post a recipe for cod, and it will certainly not be the last. You know that cod is one of my favorite kinds of fish, and I like it in any way and manner: baked, seared, in soups (click 
A pear tree grows in the woods next to my house, and I made a pear tart (actually two!) with its fruit. This pear tree is just one of the wonderful discoveries in my garden this summer and fall. Another one, that I’ve mentioned before, was the “resurrection” of the fig tree I planted last year. And it came out in force. It’s now almost taller than me! The weather is still summer-like, we are having a beautiful, beautiful autumn, but I start to worry about how I will protect it for the winter. I think replanting it in a pot and bringing it indoors is out of the question, the tree is too big. What should I do? Do you have any suggestions? If you do, please tell me! I’d love to see the tree alive and well next spring, and I’m afraid much of it will depend on the kind of winter, less or more harsh, that we have. If there’s a special way of wrapping the tree that will protect it better, I’d love to know.
I like ribs, but never loved them (I can hear you gasping). Of all the different pork cuts, I never found ribs to be tender enough, instead, I always found them kind of chewy, a cut of meat that was too much bone and not enough meat. In Valencia I had them mostly in rice dishes, like in 