Fried eggplant sticks, Mama Ía blog

Fried eggplant sticks —and the university city of Salamanca

Fried eggplant sticks, Mama Ía blogI never imagined when I planted two small eggplant plants in my vegetable garden that they would grow to give such generous production for our family. I get 2 to 4 eggplants every couple of weeks, just enough to supply us with produce to make some of the dishes we are familiar with, like pisto, (check the recipe here) or fried eggplant sticks. Soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside, they are so addictive that you will not be able to stop at just a few!

Eggplants, Mama Ía blogUniversidad de Salamanca, Mama Ía blogI leave you with a few photos of the eggplants in the garden, used to prepare today’s recipe, fried eggplant sticks. But I wanted to add some more to this post. Today is National Teaching Spanish Day, and I couldn’t help talking about it. Why? Because (more…)

Meat barbacoa parrillada, Mama ía blog

Meat barbacoa, parrillada

Meats barbacoa parrillada, Mama ía blogIt’s only fitting that today’s post be a follow-up to the last one, Cooking a la Plancha, Seafood the Spanish Way!, given that that’s a customary cookout when we are in Spain. It’s common with meats too! On this long, Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer and a popular weekend for cooking outdoors, try meat barbacoa, parrillada! 

Meats barbacoa parrillada, Mama ía blogBarbacoa, Mama ía blogOnly the temperatures outdoors indicate that summer is still here, because the Fall routines started a few weeks ago with the start of school. Granted, not very many (more…)

Cooking seafood a la plancha, Mama Ía blog

Cooking a la plancha —Seafood the Spanish way!

Cooking a la plancha, Mama Ía blogI’ve been wanting to write a post about cooking a la plancha for the longest time. In fact, I started it a couple of years ago, only to shelve it and pull it out again the following year, with new photos of our family gathering for a la plancha cooking in Spain in the summer. Then I put it aside once more, and here we are, the summer of 2023, with new photos but the same gathering —same people, just a little bit older. Because no matter how many years go by, a la plancha cooking is a given and a favorite in our summer gatherings.

Cooking a la plancha, Mama Ía blogA la plancha is a type of cooking that is light, flavorful, intense and generally regarded as healthy. The secret is la plancha, which loosely translates to “the griddle.” Unlike the stainless (more…)

Arroz del senyoret, Mama Ía blog

Arroz del senyoret, gentleman’s rice —and my family’s link to Calpe and the dish

Arroz del senyoret, Mama Ía blog

The word “senyoret” means gentleman in the Valencian language. Arroz del senyoret (where the consonants ny combined are pronounced as a Spanish ñ in the Valencian language) is a seafood paella where all the seafood shells have been peeled off and therefore the person eating it will not have to bother removing the shells from the shrimp or the mussels —hence “del senyoret”, for the gentleman.

Parador de Ifach, Mama Ía blog

El Peñón de Ifach, Mama Ía blog

El Parador de Ifach, hoy: una torre de apartamentos y una zona común de recreo a imagen del antiguo parador

The story of this dish is peculiar and very familiar to me and my family, as it started out at the restaurant where we enjoyed many meals during my childhood. I’m talking (more…)

Coca de llanda, olive oil lemon cake, Mama Ía blog

Coca de llanda (olive oil lemon cake), a Valencian merienda, after-school snack

Coca de llanda, olive oil lemon cake, Mama Ía blogCoca de llanda is one of the most popular after-school snacks in the region of Valencia homes, what we call “la merienda”.

A walk after la merienda, Mama Ía blog

A walk in the neighborhood after la merienda

Coca de llanda, olive oil lemon cake, Mama Ía blogLa merienda —merendar— is that mid afternoon “tentenpié”, a bite to eat between lunch and dinner, sometimes sweet, sometimes savory, a simple but (more…)

Mandarina stuffed salmon with thyme, Mama Ía blog

Mandarina stuffed Salmon with Thyme, and the countdown to Spring

Mandarina stuffed salmon, Mama Ía blog

It is safe to say that we can start counting down to spring. It’s just over two weeks away! And while the winter hasn’t been one of the coldest ones we remember in this part of the world, I am very much looking forward to the warmer temperatures, to walks outdoors and to the first flowers blooming in our garden.

Mandarinas, Mama Ía blogMiami, Mama Ía blogAt the same time, I am still enjoying orange season —and winter is orange season. The recipe I’m sharing today, mandarina stuffed salmon with thyme, takes (more…)

Lemon coconut mini tarts with passion fruit frosting, Mama Ía blog

Lemon coconut mini tarts with passion fruit frosting —and the Saint Valentines

Lemon coconut mini tarts with passion fruit frosting, Mama Ía blogValentine’s Day or, as it is called in Spain, el Día de los Enamorados or Día de San Valentín, is fast approaching, and as the feast demands, I like to make a beautiful dessert that will entice any sweet tooth. These lemon coconut mini tarts with passion fruit frosting spell love, even if they stray away from the customary red and pink. 

Saint Valentine, Mama Ía blog

German XV century Saint Valentine

Valentine’s Day is the first excuse for gift giving since Christmas. But in this case, and in most countries that celebrate the day, the gifts (more…)

Whole baked branzino, Mama Ía blog

Whole baked branzino, and coastal Alicante: Altea and Calpe

Whole baked branzino, Mama Ía blogIt has been a few weeks now, but we are still enjoying (and trying to finish) some of the sweets from the holidays. Is that your case? I’ve tried to balance  this sugar loaded end of meals with very healthy mains and sides, following the Mediterranean way of cooking I most enjoy, and whole baked branzino is one of those healthy, make-in-a-snap, delicious meals.

Whole baked branzino, Mama Ía blog

La Muralla Roja, Mama Ía blog

Ethan at La Muralla Roja (Calpe)

There’s quite a paradox in this part of the world where I live. On the one hand, lake living is a way of life. Many midwesterners and Hoosiers (the people of Indiana) own lake houses as second homes. Water sports and (more…)

Pears poached in wine, Mama Ía blog

Pears poached in red wine, the link to the Spice Islands and Miami 2022

Pears poached in wine, Mama Ía blog

If there was a dessert that my mom made very often when I was a young girl, that was peras al vino, pears poached in red wine. And I know what you’re thinking, and yes, drinking age is lower in Spain that it is in the US, but no, these pears have essentially no alcohol because all of it is evaporated in the making. 

Phew! Now that we have cleared that up, let’s move forward.

Pears poached in red wine, Mama Ía blogJuan Sebastián Elcano in Miami, Mama Ía blogPears poached in red wine are one of the easiest desserts to make, and now that I mention it, maybe that’s why (more…)

Blackberry tiramisu, Mama Ía blog

Blackberry tiramisu to celebrate the publication of my novel “I Was the First”

Blackberry tiramisu, Mama Ía blogIf you follow Mama Ía blog you may have noticed I’ve been away from this space for a while, but this post hopefully explains why. It’s a good reason, but to make up for my absence, I’ll treat you to a really sweet, beautiful recipe: blackberry tiramisu.

I Was the First, Mama Ía blogAnd I know, too, that this is not a Spanish dessert. But I was looking for a beautiful dessert, not only sweet and tasty but pleasing to the eyes, and this one checked all the boxes—and my current taste buds.

As you probably know —because I’ve posted about it before and it shows in my blog—, I have a second gig (or is that the first?) as a writer. Sure, I write for this blog, but (more…)