Spain

When we think of bite-size foods, naturally we think of Spanish tapas.  As good a place to start as any!  What are tapas?  Basically, Spanish appetizers… Small dishes to share while you’re having a nice cold drink with your buddies.  Delicioso.  There are a variety of types, and different regions have their own.  We chose to make berenjenas con miel (eggplant with honey), tortilla de patata (potato omelet), and gambas a la plancha (pan fried shrimp).  For dessert: churros… but we’ll get to The Churro Debacle of 2013 later.

But first: The drinks!  Sangria, the stereotypical drink of Spain that I’m sure you’re all familiar with, was just what we needed to prepare ourselves for all this fancy cooking nobody thought we could pull off.  Some red wine, fruit, carbonation, and you’re good to go.  I guess brandy is a common ingredient in it too.  I don’t know, I’m more of a tinto de verano girl, myself.  We weren’t looking for super boozy, we did have to cook, after all.

Tapa #1: Berenjenas con Miel. This is a typical tapa in Andalucía.  In fact, the last time I was there, my friend and I, being unsatisfied with our breakfast of bread, tomato, and olive oil,  walked up and down the streets to find a place that served berenjenas con miel (and let’s be real, a bunch of other amazing tapas).  It’s that good.  Got to have it every time.

Tapa #2: Tortilla de Patata is also known as Tortilla Española (Spanish Omelet), that’s how popular it is.  First, dice up some potatoes, onion, and garlic.  Cook in olive oil until potatoes are cooked through.  Drain the excess oil.  Salt and pepper the potato mixture.  In another bowl, scramble a couple of eggs with a little milk.  Add the potato mixture to the bowl to coat.  Then put the egg mixture in the pan over medium heat.  Let it cook until it’s solid (about 5 minutes).  The next part is the trick: Take a plate, cover the pan, flip the omelet over onto the plate, and slide it back into the pan so the other side can finish cooking up. Ta da!

Tapa #3: Gambas a la Plancha.  Who doesn’t love shrimp? Everybody loves shrimp! And it’s so versatile…Shrimp gumbo, shrimp cocktail, fried shrimp, shrimp alfredo, shrimp and grits, shrimp chips… and gambas a la plancha, thank you, Bubba Gump, for your tasty bite.

And what’s a meal without dessert?  Churros… Kind of???  Now we were feeling pretty proud of ourselves after making 3 tapas that turned out deliciously, maybe a little overconfident… and then the churros con chocolate.  We’re not even going to go into how to make them, because clearly we aren’t too sure ourselves, but we can provide you a couple of tips on what NOT to do.  A. Don’t use oil that isn’t hot enough.  B. A Ziplock bag with a hole cut in it are strictly meant for professional use. C. Don’t use a tall pan that you have to stick your hand all the way down to pipe said dough out of said ziplock into said oil. And I can’t “said” that enough.  We may have to try to right our churro wrongs with a churro challenge in the future, so get excited.  To be continued…

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