Cooking with "Tapas" by Jose Andres

[pedro]

Many of you are already aware of José Andrés’s book Tapas, A Taste of Spain in America, also available in Spanish as Los fogones de José Andrés. In the Spain & Portugal Forum we’ve discussed how well Spanish cuisine travels given the dependency that many dishes have on very specific ingredients available only in Spain or even only in certain regions of Spain. The question lead to an interesting debate and we concluded somehow that the dependency for certain dishes was so tight that without the ingredient in question itself you’d only obtain a pale resemblance –if any—to the original dish, whereas with some others you could actually get pretty good results. I believe that José’s book does a good job collecting dishes that can capture their original soul even if you don’t have access to the genuine products.

In any case, now you have a chance to share your experience and results obtained through cooking your way through José’s book. Rogelio (Rogelio Enríquez), Malawry (Rochelle Reid Myers ), Ronnie Suburban (Ron Kaplan) and I would like to invite you to join us in Cooking with Tapas by Jose Andres.This thread is the place to include your notes, and share with us photos of recipes you have prepared from it. This thread will begin in the Spain & Portugal forum and eventually be moved to the Cooking Forum.

If you don't have the book, you still can cook some recipes from it: José Andrés and his publisher, Clarkson Potter, have graciously contributed three recipes which can be found in RecipeGullet:

• Squid with onions
  
• Potatoes with chorizo
  
• Chickpea spinach stew
  

This is a "cooking with" thread, so please concentrate on the recipes and save general discussion for an eG Spotlight Conversation with José Andrés, which will take place later in the year, or in one of the existing threads of the Spain and Portugal forum.

[Rogelio]

This recipe is also known as Chipirones a la Pelayo in the basque country. I happened to cook it on the mediterranean coast so I used the local baby squids.

The squids just bought at the local Castellón market were so fresh that they had their a nice brilliant dinish and a slightly gray color on so I tried to clean it very carefully to save it and add a fresher taste to the dish.

and then chop them in small slices.

Manwhile at the pan the juliane choped onions, the garlic and the bay leaf, were cooking slowly until the onions are light brown.

The recipe says to cook it for about 10 minutes. Then reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and tender (caramelized), about 20 minutes. But at this time this is how it looked:

An hour and a half later we got what we were looking for:This is the effect of slow heat cooking in three big onions after all this time.

On a different pan some of the squid where added, making sure not to overcrowd the pan--you need to leave plenty of space between them so the heat remains high and the squid is sauteed, not boiled. Saute for 15 to 20 seconds on each side. Remove the squid from the pan and repeat the process with the remaining squid.

Once all the squid were sauteed we returned all the squid to the pan with the caramelized onions and stir together. Pour in the wine (in this case it was a fino sherry) and boil for around 20 seconds. .

I should have sprinkled them with the parsley and serve, but I haven't got any:

This dish tastes even better the following day. Or you can leave it get cold and reheat it again.

[Culinista]

Mm, yummy. I think the baby squid on the Med. coast would still give you far superior results than the same dish with frozen calamari rings, which is the typical product in places I've lived recently.

[MelissaH]

Oh, I wish I could get such nice looking squid! I wish I could get any squid worth buying at all!

MelissaH

[bilrus]

Here are a few I made the first weekend I had the book. Garlic Soup, Tomato Bread with Serrano Ham and Orange, Goat Cheese and Almond Salad.

All were very good, especially the soup. Chunks of bread gave it an interesting body. I need to dive back into it again.

[ronnie_suburban]

I've definitely been enjoying this book and cooking from it. Recently, I made the Quail and Lentil Stew with Smoked Bacon and it turned out fabulously. Since I've been doing my own curing, I was able to use some home-made bacon and that made making this recipe even more fun.

My 9-year-old son who'd never eaten quail before, had more or less requested this dish after we came home one night raving about the quail appetizer we'd had a Custom House in Chicago. He ended up eating 3 of them!

I did make some modifications on the recipe, using what I had on hand. The lentils I used were French, green lentils.

Sorry no step-by-step pics, but here are couple of the final product, which turned out great:

=R=

[Jean Blanchard]

Ronnie, Looks great! I've been tempted by this cookbook - don't tell my husband! Where did you get the quail? I've seen it at Harrison's in Glenview and I know that's in your area.

jb

[ronnie_suburban]

Ronnie,  Looks great!  I've been tempted by this cookbook - don't tell my husband!  Where did you get the quail?  I've seen it at Harrison's in Glenview and I know that's in your area. 

jb

←

Jean, I got it at Zier's Prime Meats. They came in a 4-pack, were frozen, cryovacked, and semi-boned. Very delicious.

I should also mention that, before cooking, I brined them for a few hours in a solution of 1 gallon water and 1/2 cup kosher salt. That's just my preference with poultry. Quail isn't gamey, so brining or soaking beforehand is not necessary.

Do they carry fresh quail at Harrison's? If so, I'd like to try them, although the frozen ones from Zier's were immaculate.

=R=

[Jean Blanchard]

I've only seen them frozen but I'm very impressed with their fresh chicken. I also brine my chicken but on the occasion that I have no time, their chicken is still a good quality. You got me hooked on Reagans (which is right down the street from Harrisons) but one of these days I'll make it to Ziers.

[docsconz]

I have the book and I have quail and lentils. That looks like a great starter to do from the book. I will have to check it out more closely and do a previously uncovered recipe or two.

[Richard Kilgore]

Here are a few I made the first weekend I had the book.  Garlic Soup, Tomato Bread with Serrano Ham and Orange, Goat Cheese and Almond Salad.

All were very good, especially the soup. Chunks of bread gave it an interesting body.  I need to dive back into it again.

←

Those look delicious! Did you folow the recipes closely, or did you tweak or make any substiutions? Did you have wine with it?

[ronnie_suburban]

Had a chance to make the Moorish-style Chickpea and Spinach Stew, which was also delicious. While putting it together, it seemed like an inordinate amount of steps but once the dish was completed, the steps all made sense.

Here are a few pics:

I also love that several of the techniques used to make this dish could easily be applied to other (types of) cooking. The Moorish technique of thickening a dish with bread which has been crisped in oil olive and making a paste from paprika, saffron and vinegar are both excellent 'moves' which I know I can apply in lots of other cooking situations.

Even though I was skeptical and a bit nervous throughout the process, I followed the recipe exactly (except that I didn't include baking soda when soaking the chickpeas overnight because experience tells me that they get too mushy that way) and the dish turned out perfectly. It was quite delicious and I will definitely make it and variations of it in the future.

=R=

[docsconz]

Had a chance to make the Moorish-style Chickpea and Spinach Stew, which was also delicious.  While putting it together, it seemed like an inordinate amount of steps but once the dish was completed, the steps all made sense.

Here are a few pics:

I also love that several of the techniques used to make this dish could easily be applied to other (types of) cooking.  The Moorish technique of thickening a dish with bread which has been crisped in oil olive and making a paste from paprika, saffron and vinegar are both excellent 'moves' which I know I can apply in lots of other cooking situations.

Even though I was skeptical and a bit nervous throughout the process, I followed the recipe exactly (except that I didn't include baking soda when soaking the chickpeas overnight because experience tells me that they get too mushy that way) and the dish turned out perfectly.  It was quite delicious and I will definitely make it and variations of it in the future.

=R=

←

Ron, that looks great. Did you use dried chick peas?

[pedro]

Hmmm. If that's indeed a Moorish stew, then I'd say that the typical potaje which adds some cod fish to it and it's consumed in Eastern would also share a Moorish link.

I'll see if I can find some info on this, but maybe one of our regulars may shed some light.

[chefzadi]

Hmmm. If that's indeed a Moorish stew, then I'd say that the typical potaje which adds some cod fish to it and it's consumed in Eastern would also share a Moorish link.

I'll see if I can find some info on this, but maybe one of our regulars may shed some light.

←

It looks Moorish to me. I can post specific references later.

There are extant recipes in Algeria for example that are the same, minus the Spanish sherry. We would use white vinegar instead or lemon juice.

You can trace the origins and travel of chick peas and spinach.

Another Moorish touch would be to preserved lemon (a little harissa too, but chili peppers obviously came later and it would be something brought by Spaniards and Portuguese into North Africa).

[docsconz]

By looks alone, it would fit in well with an Indian dinner. Of course, the flavor profile of some of the constituent ingredients is very different so it is not an Indian dish at all.

[chefzadi]

By looks alone, it would fit in well with an Indian dinner. Of course, the flavor profile of some of the constituent ingredients is very different so it is not an Indian dish at all.

←

I looked at the recipe ingredients not just the photo of the dish for the flavors before I made my post. Should go without saying.

Let me know when Spanish food historians begin noting Indianish dishes in Spain.

Edited May 31, 2006 by chefzadi (log)

[docsconz]

By looks alone, it would fit in well with an Indian dinner. Of course, the flavor profile of some of the constituent ingredients is very different so it is not an Indian dish at all.

←

I looked at the recipe ingredients not just the photo of the dish for the flavors before I made my post. Should go without saying.

Let me know when Spanish food historians begin noting Indianish dishes in Spain.

←

I can see how you may have taken my post to have been either a counterpoint or rebuttal of sorts to yours, though it wasn't at all meant so. I was simply observing that the look of the dish and the main ingredients (i.e. chick peas and spinach) would have been equally at home on an Indian food table even though the flavors clearly would not be Indian. I should have been clearer.

[Saborosa]

Let me know when Spanish food historians begin noting Indianish dishes in Spain. 

←

Hey, it could happen! There's quite a sizable community in Barcelona from the Sub-Continent, and there's been a sudden burst of openings of vogueish Indian restaurants (none of which have really impressed anyone as far as I know, mind you - do post if anyone's found a good one). Also many of Barcelona's hipster restaurants are fond of slipping a bit of "tandoori" and "hindu" onto their menus, with varying degrees of authenticity and success.

But if there's more integration of the communities in the future maybe the egulleteers of the next millennium will be discussing the roots of tandoori cap i pota!

[ronnie_suburban]

Ron, that looks great. Did you use dried chick peas?

←

Yep. I soaked them in water overnight, but without the recommended baking soda, because I was worried they'd become too soft.

=R=

[Malawry]

Cool nights are ending shortly, so it seemed like the time was ripe to make chorizo braised in cider from the Tapas cookbook while I could still appreciate it. The only semi-challenging part of this recipe is finding Spanish-style chorizo--in most areas of the US, the Mexican sort is easier to locate. Fortunately, D'artagnan makes a delicious Spanish-style product that I found at a nearby Wegman's supermarket. The rest of the ingredients are easily sourced and normally reside in my pantry: Spanish extra-virgin olive oil and hard cider. I like the Goya EVOO, it's inexpensive and tasty and it's available everywhere, even in the crappy supermarkets where I live in West Virginia. There's salt in my picture for some reason (it has a habit of walking into all my ingredients photos), but you don't need it.

Cut the chorizo into coins. Saute them in a little olive oil until lightly browned.

Add some hard cider. I used Woodchuck amber cider.

Let it braise on the stovetop for about a half-hour, until the cider is reduced and a little syrupy.

Jose suggests serving it in soup bowls with crusty bread. We ate ours with asparagus and another dish from the cookbook that I'll cover in a future post.

[docsconz]

That looks easy enough if one can get the right chorizo. As an aside Mexican and Spanish chorizo are two totally different products. Mexican is basically a fresh pork that needs to be cooked while Spanish is a cured product. I believe the spicing is very different as well.

[ronnie_suburban]

That looks easy enough if one can get the right chorizo. As an aside Mexican and Spanish chorizo are two totally different products. Mexican is basically a fresh pork that needs to be cooked while Spanish is a cured product. I believe the spicing is very different as well.

←

Definitely so, John. Spanish (or at least Spanish-style) chorizo is available in a few higher-end, specialty grocers here in Chicago. It's also widely available via the internet. I'm pretty sure a few such sources are listed in the book.

Nice job Rochelle -- it looks delicious!

=R=

[butterfly]

There are so many different kinds of Spanish chorizo--many of which do need to be cooked. The kind that I use for chorizo a la sidra is the smoked asturiano version. It's a very simple dish, but you must use a light, dry cider.

[docsconz]

There are so many different kinds of Spanish chorizo--many of which do need to be cooked.  The kind that I use for chorizo a la sidra is the smoked asturiano version. It's a very simple dish, but you must use a light, dry cider.

←

Are these made with fresh pork? Are the differences regional?