This is a celebratory post, Matthew’s high school graduation, and as such, it calls for a celebratory (and party appropriate!) recipe: dried cherry and candied pecan cheese torta.
But let’s begin at the beginning.
It took me a few months to (more…)
There once was a field planted with orange trees, rows upon rows of orange trees, that soaked up the sun most every day of the year. One large round basin kept a watchful eye, collecting both well and rain water, and letting it go, flooding the fields where the orange trees lived. The trees grew blossoms that perfumed the air, that turned into oranges that hung from the trees, clusters of them, weighing the branches, until harvest, around Christmas time.
I find it hard to define gazpacho. In general, you’d see it classified as a cold soup —like what one usually eats with a spoon, served in a bowl or in a soup plate. Yet, that’s not how I remember my mom having gazpacho in the summers of my youth. And she should know, because (more…)
I thought by the time I wrote my first post on this blog, all the tabs in the navigation bar would be filled with information. But that hasn’t happened (yet), and I just couldn’t wait! I’ve been writing and collecting family recipes for years—of course also preparing them!—, and the many notebooks and binders where they now sit were starting to burst at the seams. (more…)
I have to confess it has not been easy to develop a recipe for seafood stock that would resemble the ones you can make in Spain, and particularly in my region of Valencia. The availability of a wide variety of white fish and shellfish, that one can purchase not only at fishmongers but (more…)
A picada is one of those “idiosyncrasies” of the Spanish kitchen. A very original way to thicken soups and stews while at the same time giving the dish a deep flavor. Similar to the majado, it incorporates an added ingredient, almonds (sometimes hazelnuts instead), and even toasted bread. (more…)
Growing up in Spain —where it was years before I ever saw snow for the first time—, makes me ever excited to see the first winter snowflakes fall in Fort Wayne. For my children, the sight means the anticipation of a school cancellation the next day. For me, it’s a reminder that the time of year has come to live more indoors than out, that the homey cooking season has arrived, the time of stews. Of churros for breakfast on Sunday mornings. (more…)
There was always a jar of majado at my mom’s fridge in Onteniente, and that’s a staple that I brought to my American kitchen. Majado (also called picadillo or picada in other regions of Spain) is a paste usually made in a mortar, of garlic, parsley, salt and olive oil. 