spanish craving

Tapas.  Apparently that was what the man's been craving.  But although it would have been nice to go to the (only) Spanish restaurant in town, I was in the mood to cook; mainly because we just got a set of Chantal Copper Fusion =)   Given what I had in the fridge, the first thing that came to mind was Spanish Omelet (also known as Spanish Tortilla here in America), but apparently "Spanish Tortilla is not really the first thing I had in mind" when thinking about tapas. So, thinking about what he likes and researching on the most common tapas, squid came to mind.  From several Google Image searches, I decided a Spanish Squid Stew would be perfect (though I also decided not to mention it to him in case it is also not what he had in mind!).  Since the stew seemed to be lacking in veggies and since there is kale in the fridge, and another quick Google search suggested a Kale Adobo would be good accompaniment.
The squid stew turned out to be much better than I expected; especially given I don't normally like squid due to its chewy texture.  The kale, on the other hand, was only mediocre and I think that may have been due to the Southern twist in the recipe that I didn't really like -- addition of bacon.  I tried substituting it with Spanish Ham but alas, I was unable to find it within Davis; the best I could do was not use the normal North American bacon (which has an insanely high fat to meat ratio) but instead used another American invention: Turkey bacon.  It was much leaner and from past experience still has a pretty good flavour.  Nonetheless, Spanish Ham would have been much better, I'm sure.


Squid Stew
** This recipe was adapted from http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/512679
Ingredients  
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped
5 fresh sage leaves
3 tomatoes, diced
750g squid steak (~2 medium sized), cubed
500g medium sized prawns, shelled
black pepper
1/2 cup cream sherry (the original recipe asked for 1.7L Manzanilla sherry, but I didn't have any and I wasn't about to use 1.7L of it given my pregnant status!)
1/2 - 1 cup water

Procedure
1. Heat olive oil in a heavy pot (I used the Chantal Copper Fusion 5-Quart Stockpot). Add garlic, sage and tomato, stirring until the garlic has softened.
2. Add the squid and prawns, season with salt and pepper. Stirring until squid & prawns are well mixed with the tomato sauce.
3. Add sherry and water.  Bring to the boil.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for around 1 hour until the squid is tender and the sauce has thickened and reduced.


Bacon and Kale Adobo
** This recipe was adapted from http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1842401
Ingredients
6  ounces (~6 pieces)  smoked cured Turkey bacon, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed & finely chopped
2  bay leaves (I used dried because that was all I had)
1  pound (~400g)  kale, finely chopped
2  to 3 tbsp soy sauce
2  to 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
finely grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Procedure

1. Cook bacon over medium heat in a large pan until crisp and most of the fat has melted into oil.  Remove bacon, draining fat back into the pan.
2. Add garlic and bay leaves and cook over medium-high heat. Toss in kale; cook, stirring, until wilted. Stir in 1 cup water, half the bacon, soy sauce, vinegar, and pepper. Simmer, covered, until kale is to desired tenderness (I cooked mind for ~20-25mins).
3. Serve with remaining bacon & cheese.

angelhair pasta with smoked salmon and yellow heirloom tomato

I made this last night, impromptu with existing ingredients in my fridge.
I do apologise for the lack of photo ( clearly, eating was on my mind at the time and blogging wasn't.. )

Makes 2.

Ingredients
( note: amount is approximate... basically, enough for two people )
150g angelhair pasta
75g smoked salmon
1 large [yellow] heirloom tomato
1 (skinny) branch of broccoli
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper
olive oil

Preparation
1. Boil half pot of water in a medium-sized saucepan. Once boiling, add a couple pinches of salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Add pasta, stirring until pasta is completely immersed in water and water reboils. Turn heat to medium and let boil until pasta is al dente. Drain water. Return to pot and coat with olive oil. Set aside.
2. Multi-tasking step (1), prepare ingredients:
a) dice tomato;
b) remove head of broccoli from stem and break up as usual; [for those of you who don't normally use broccoli stems, here is your chance] peel bark off stem (roughly cut stem into medium-sized stubs; set stub vertically and slice off ~2mm around the stub; or use a peeler) and dice;
c) crush garlic;
d) break up salmon into bite-size pieces.
3. Heat pan on high. Sauté garlic and broccoli in olive oil. Once broccoli begins to brown (burn), add a dash (~1/3 cup) water. Once water has evaporated, remove broccoli from pan and set aside.
4. Using the same pan, set on medium heat. Lightly fry the salmon in a tiny amount of olive oil.
5. Once salmon is slightly golden, stir in the tomato. Then add back the broccoli. Salt & pepper to taste (beware: smoked salmon tend to be salty already).
6. Turn off heat. Toss in pasta and grated cheese. Serve immediately.

Enjoy.