COCKTAIL PARTY FOR ONE

 

Home alone for New Year's Eve? A luxurious smoked trout timbale with spinach and a plate of hors d'oeuvres make a fine menu for one or more. Add cava. And hope for good things in 2021. 

How will you be spending New Year’s Eve? In this time of curfews and social distancing, most people will be celebrating—or commiserating, as the case may be—in the solitude of their own homes, with only closest family members. No revelry in the central plaza beneath the church clock tower, nor exchanging kisses; no conga dancing through the streets or sharing a drink from a bottle of bubbly. 

Ok, I confess, it’s several years since I have celebrated the year’s end in the plaza. I’m happy to curl up in my velour robe with something special for dinner and a small bottle of cava. I often fall asleep before the TV announces the midnight bells from the Puerta del Sol in Madrid. (This year, there will be no campanada—bell ringing—to reduce the throngs of merry-makers in this time of pandemic.)

Here are some suggestions for a cocktail party for one, or two. A selection of pintxos to start and an opulent smoked trout timbale make a festive New Year’s Eve menu.

Baby bottle of cava for one.

I make a cava cocktail with a baby bottle of cava (it’s called “un benjamín”), a spoonful of grenadine and a spoonful of Cointreau liqueur.

Pintxos are the Basque version of tapas—small bites skewered on cocktail sticks. 

Gilda--Pintxo of Olive, Anchovy and Pickled Pepper

The Gilda is the primordial pintxo in San Sebastian. It consists of olives, anchovies and pickled green chilies (guindillas, similar to Italian peperoncini) on toothpicks. The tapa was supposedly invented in the early 1950s to immortalize Rita Hayworth in the film of the same name—Hayworth being “hot,” “salty,” “smooth.” The gastronomical equivalent of an Oscar is called the Gilda de Oro—the “golden Gilda,” awarded for the best pintxo. 

Spear olives, anchovies and pickled peppers on cocktail sticks for a Gilda.

Three pintxos--top, cubes of salchichón, goat cheese and beet; center, the Gilda with anchovy, pickled pepper and olives, and, right, Ibérico ham with sherried figs.

Pintxo of Ibérico Ham and Figs

Cut the figs in half or, for large ones, quarters. Put them in a small bowl and add just enough fino Sherry to cover them. Macerate the figs 2 hours.

Remove the figs from the Sherry (save it for use in cooking) and pat them dry. Skewer on picks with folded slices of Ibérico ham or paleta (shoulder-ham).

Smoked Trout Timbale

Pastel de Trucha Ahumada

Line timbale molds with spinach or chard leaves.

Smoked trout timbale is light like soufflé but ever-so-rich and satisfying.

Preceded by pintxos, this rich and savory flan would be a lovely late supper for one or two, accompanied by cava. Or, double the recipe and serve it as a starter for an elegant dinner for four. (If you’re doubling the recipe, use only 1 egg.)

Bake the trout mixture in individual molds lined with spinach leaves. Unmolded, they can be served warm or chilled. I used metal flan cups. Oven-safe glass ramekins, ceramic custard cups or timbale molds can be used. Set them in a pan and add boiling water to come half way up the sides of the molds. 

Smoked salmon or whitefish or cooked shrimp can be substituted for the smoked trout.

Makes 2 (1-cup) timbales.

Chard leaves for molds.

4 ounces skinless, boneless smoked trout, chopped

1 large egg, separated

½ tablespoon Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Pinch of hot pimentón (paprika) or cayenne

2 teaspoons chopped chives

½ cup chilled whipping cream

Olive oil for baking cups

2 fresh spinach or chard leaves

½ cup cooked and chopped spinach

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Baby salad leaves, to serve

Combine the smoked trout, egg white, yogurt and lemon juice in a blender and blend until fairly smooth (a few lumps are fine). Place in a bowl. Stir in the pimentón and chopped chives. (Smoked fish is naturally salty, so the mixture probably needs no additional salt.)

Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks. Gradually fold the cream into the trout mixture.

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Oil two (1-cup) molds.

Line mold with leaf.

Bring a small pan of water to a boil. Dip the spinach or chard leaves into it for a few seconds, to wilt the leaves. Remove, drain and pat them dry. Cut away and discard the stems. Line the bottoms of the molds with the leaves, shiny-sides down.

Squeeze excess moisture from the chopped spinach and place it in a small bowl. Add half the egg yolk (1 tablespoon), salt and pepper. Mix well.

Use a ¼-cup measure to dip the trout mixture into each of the molds. Divide the spinach in half and spread it on each of the trout. Divide the remaining trout mixture between the two molds. Rap them sharply on the countertop to settle the mixture. 

Set the molds in a baking dish and pour in boiling water to come half way op the sides of the molds. Place a sheet of baking parchment on top of them. Bake the timbales until a thin skewer comes out clean, 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let the molds set in the hot water for 15 minutes. Loosen the edges of the molds with a thin knife and invert them onto individual plates. Serve with a few salad leaves. (If timbales are to be chilled, unmold them onto an oiled plate and cover before refrigerating.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR.     FELIZ AÑO NUEVO.

More cocktails here.

More ideas for what to serve for a cocktail party:

Cheese Puffs.

Quail Eggs Stuffed with Tapenade.

Batter-Fried Shrimp.

More New Year's Eve menus:

Consommé of Quail and Wild Mushrooms.

Salmon with Cava Sauce and Grapes.

Duck Breast with Clementine Sauce.

A CATALAN CHRISTMAS FEAST

 

A Catalan Christmas feast--soup followed by platters of several kinds of meat and sausage, vegetables and chickpeas.

Escudella--rich broth with giant pasta shells.

Fiesta means “feast,” the opposite of “fasting.” And Christmas is the grandest feast of the year, when families might regale themselves with sumptuous meals with meat. In Catalonia, the family Christmas Day feast is usually escudella I carn d’olla.

Escudella is a rich broth with the concentrated flavors of several kinds of meat. Embellished with giant pasta shells, the soup is served as the first course. The boiled meats, along with chickpeas and vegetables are served as the second course. It is, of course, the Catalan rendition of Spain’s national cocido, or boiled dinner. 

This year’s pandemic restrictions limit family gatherings to 10 people, rather than a customary 20 or more! The escudella, cooked in an enormous stockpot, is the perfect meal for the occasion.  Once all the ingredients have been gathered, the pot needs minimal tending.

About the ingredients:

Beef shank and ribs and stewing hen for the soup pot.

The beef, stewing hen and porky bits give the soup substance and extraordinary depth of flavor. The beef shank needs long, slow cooking to become tender. Allow 2 to 2 ½ hours. Once having contributed its essence to the broth, the boiled beef is pretty tasteless! The ham and pork bones and aromatic vegetables—celery, leek and turnip---add flavor. Discard the bones after cooking.

Chickpeas, put to soak the night before, need two or more hours to cook. Cooking them in a net bag or wrapped in cheesecloth makes it easy to remove them from the pot. Put the chickpeas in the pot once the water is hot. If you’re using gallina, stewing hen or boiling fowl, it can cook the full 2 ½ hours. If you’re using ordinary chicken, don’t put it in the pot until meat and chickpeas are partially cooked, after 1 hour. 

Beef bone, espinazo and ham; ear and trotter behind.

The pig’s trotter and ear add consistency and flavor to the soup, but can be omitted, if preferred. If using, after cooking, cut the cooked ear into pieces to serve. Remove bones from the trotter and cut into pieces. (I ended up leaving the trotter out, as my soup pot wasn’t big enough for all the ingredients.) Pig’s ear has a cartilage “stiffener,” with a layer of skin/meat around it. The cartilage is edible, but crunchy. 

Chickpeas and vegetables for the pot.

Use large carrots and potatoes, so they don’t disintegrate with long cooking. Cut them into halves or quarters before serving.  Like the chickpeas, the cabbage and carrots can be put into cheesecloth parcels or net bags to facilitate lifting them out of the stockpot.

Butifarra, white and black, are Catalan cooked sausages. Add them to the pot towards the end of the total cooking time. (French boudin blanc or any blood sausage can be substituted for the Catalan versions.) 

The Catalan cocido, in all its glory, includes pilotas, football-shaped meatballs. Mix them while the soup is cooking and add to the pot about 20 minutes before it’s done. Serve the meatballs on the platter with the other meats.

Galets, pasta shells.

Once everything is cooked—about two and a half hours—you’re going to strain some of the broth into another pot and cook pasta in it. For ordinary Sunday escudella, fideo soup noodles or rice might be cooked in the broth. But for Christmas, galets, jumbo pasta shells, are traditional. Sometimes they are stuffed with the meatball mixture, then poached, or, for a very fancy alternative, foie gras. (I’m going to use what’s left of the package to make a gratin of pasta shells stuffed with spinach and mushrooms.)

Day after--serve the soup and pasta with bits of leftover meat, chicken and vegetables.

Traditionally, leftovers from the great pot are used to make canelones (cannellonis) for Boxing Day (St. Esteve, San Esteban, Dec. 26). That recipe is here..I simply served bowls of that fragrant broth with everything—chickpeas, meat and vegetables. I served the boiled beef another day with a sharp salsa verde of parsley, garlic, capers, olive oil and a splash of vinegar. 

Catalan Holiday Soup with Meats and Vegetables

Escudella i Carn d’Olla

You’ll need your largest stock pot (minimum 6 quart-capacity, preferably much larger) plus a smaller soup pot in which to cook the broth with pasta. Have ready a strainer. Ladle the soup into a tureen to serve at the table.  Place all the meats and sausages on one platter; the vegetables and chickpeas on a second platter.  

Serves 6.

Day before cooking the soup

1 ½ cups (10 ounces) dry chickpeas

For the soup pot

3 ounces ham bone

2 ounces salted espinazo (spine bone)

1 pig’s foot, split (optional)

1 pig’s ear (optional)

¼ stewing hen or chicken (preferably leg), about 20 ounces

20 ounces boneless beef shank or shin

8 ounces boneless beef rib 

12-20 cups water (3-5 quarts)

1 tablespoon salt

1 stalk celery

1 white turnip, split

1 leek

3 large carrots 

2 large potatoes (18-20 ounces)

¼ medium cabbage (16 ounces)

6-8 ounces white butifarra sausage

6-8 ounces black butifarra sausage

Ground veal and pork, pork fat for meatballs. 

For the pilotas (meatballs)

1 slice stale bread, crusts removed

Milk

1 egg, beaten

½ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Grating of nutmeg

6 ounces ground pork

6 ounces ground veal

1 ounce chopped fresh pork fat (belly or fatback)

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

2 tablespoons pine nuts

Flour, for dusting meatballs

To finish the soup

3-5 galets (jumbo shell pasta) per person 

Olive oil

Chopped parsley to garnish

1. Day before. Place the chickpeas in a bowl and cover them with warm water. Allow the chickpeas to soak at least 8 hours. Before cooking, drain the chickpeas. If available, place them in a cloth bag so they’re easy to remove from the pot. (Leave a handful of chickpeas loose to make it possible to fish them out to test for doneness.) Set the chickpeas aside until the water in the soup pot is hot.

2. Blanch the salted pork bone and ham bone in boiling water, 2 minutes. Drain and leave them to soak in cold water while preparing the other ingredients.

3. Wash the pig’s ear and trotter, if using, under running water. Parboil them in salted water to cover with 2 tablespoons of vinegar for 5 minutes.  Drain and reserve them.

4. Place the blanched and drained pork bone, ham bone, ear and trotter in a large soup pot. Place the quarter-chicken, beef shank and rib meat on top. Add water so the pot is about ¾ full (at least 12 cups). Add salt. Put on high heat. Begin skimming off froth that rises to the surface.

5. Once the water is hot, add the drained chickpeas. Continue skimming the pot as it comes to a boil. Tuck the celery, turnip halves and leek in among the meats. 

Once the pot is boiling and all the froth has been skimmed off, reduce the heat so the soup bubbles gently. Partially cover the pot. Cook for 1 hour, skimming occasionally.

6. While the soup is cooking, prepare the meatball mixture. Break the bread into small pieces and soak it in milk to cover until softened. Squeeze out and discard the milk. Add the beaten egg to the bread and mash it until fairly smooth. Stir in the salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the two kinds of ground meat and diced pork fat and mix well with a fork. Add the parsley and pine nuts. Shape the mixture into 6 football-shaped meatballs. Dust them lightly with flour.

Keep adding water to keep pot filled.

7. After the soup has cooked 1 hour, add the carrots and whole potatoes. (If using regular chicken, instead of stewing hen, add it at this time.) Add additional water, as needed, so the pot is nearly full. Bring to a boil and skim again. Cook 30 minutes.

8. Cut the cabbage in two wedges and cut away some of the core. Add cabbage to the pot. Prick the two kinds of butifarra sausages with a knife point and add to the pot. Cook 15 minutes.

9. Add the meatballs to the pot and cook 15 minutes. 

10. Use a skimmer or slotted spoon to remove meat, poultry, bones, trotter, chickpeas, vegetables, sausages and meatballs to platters. 

11.Strain 8-10 cups of the soup into a smaller pot. Taste for salt. Bring to a boil and cook the pasta shells according to package instructions (16-18 minutes).

12. Cut beef into chunks. Cut chicken off the bones and discard bones. Cut sausages into pieces. Discard ham and pork bones. Use scissors to cut pig’s ear into 6-8 pieces. Remove bones from trotter and cut the rest into pieces. Arrange all the meats on one platter and spoon a little of the broth over them. Cut the potatoes into quarters, the carrots in half. Place them on another platter with the drained chickpeas, cabbage, turnip and leek. Drizzle a little oil over the vegetables.

Serve the soup and pasta garnished with a sprinkling of parsley. Follow the soup with the platters of meats, vegetables and chickpeas.

Bon Nadal!! That’s Català-speak for Merry Christmas or Feliz Navidad in castellano Spanish. 

More recipes for regional Spanish cocidos:

Madrid Style Boiled Dinner.

Sephardic Meal-in-a-Pot, Toledo Style.

Everyday Soup Pot, Andalusian Style.

Canary Islands Vegetable Pot.

HOLIDAY BAKING, WITH OLIVE OIL

 

Extra virgin olive oil, for baked goods.

        Did I mention that I came home from the mill with 22 liters of new extra virgin olive oil, the rewards from picking my own olives? I’m using olive oil in my continuing quest to convert old favorite recipes for baked goods from butter and “shortening” to olive oil. That seems especially appropriate this week as it is Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights (Dec. 10-18), when olive oil is part of the celebration. 

     Olive oil—and eating foods cooked with it—is part of the celebration to commemorate the lighting of the menorah in the re-dedicated Temple of Jerusalem in the 2nd Century BC.The olive oil for the menorah, enough for a single day, miraculously lasted for eight days and nights.

     This recipe is for Fig Brownies, a favorite of my friend Charlotte who used to make them for every special occasion. Back in the day (some 30 or 40 years ago), Charlotte had heaps of dried figs every autumn. Her gardener picked the figs from a couple of enormous fig trees near the house. He spread them on thatched mats placed in the sun and elevated to prevent bug infestation. Once they were dry, he packed the figs in seretes, baskets woven of strips of palm fronds, and took them to the press. Once tightly cinched and pressed, the figs kept very well for several months. 

Char used the recipe for Butterscotch Brownies (aka Blondies) in the Joy of Cooking, adding chopped figs to the batter. Adapting the recipe some more, I’ve taken the “butter” out of butterscotch, substituting extra virgin olive oil. These fig brownies with a Spanish accent would be a lovely addition to any holiday—Hanukkah, solstice, Christmas, New Year’s, Three Kings.

Olive oil instead of butter makes a moist and chewy brownie. Like "blondies," these fig "brownies" have no chocolate.

Olive oil lamp--a wick floats in olive oil with water below. 

Fig Brownies
Brownies de Higos Secos (Sin Chocolate)

You will need about 12 ounces dried figs. Remove stems and chop the figs coarsely to make 2 cups. Macerate them in a little sweet wine (I used Pedro Ximénez from Montilla-Moriles) or, if you like the flavor, aguardiente, anisette liqueur.

When baking with olive oil, I like to use spices that might not be used in traditional recipes with butter. Here, I’ve used cardamom and a tiny bit of aniseed. Aniseed, so typical of Spanish sweets, complements the figs beautifully. Cinnamon and nutmeg would be good too, or ginger and allspice. 

These brownies can be eaten out of hand (kids love them) or plated with a dollop of whipped cream, crême fraiche or vanilla ice cream. 

Makes 18 (2 ½-inch squares).

2 cups chopped dried figs

¼ cup dried cranberries (optional)

3 tablespoons sweet PX wine

1 ¼ cups flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

2-3 aniseeds, crushed

½ cup extra virgin olive oil + more to oil the baking pan

1 ½ cups light brown sugar

3 eggs

¾ cup chopped nuts

Combine the chopped figs and cranberries in a small bowl. Add the sweet wine and allow to macerate for at least 10 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Oil a rectangular baking pan (approximately 8 X 13 inches) and line it with baking parchment.

Sift the flour with the baking powder, soda and salt. Add the cardamom and aniseed to the flour.

In a mixing bowl, beat the oil with the brown sugar until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the flour mixture until batter is completely smooth. Fold in the figs and cranberries. Fold in the nuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a tester comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Loosen the edges of the brownies and turn them out on a work surface. Peel off the parchment. Use a serrated knife to cut into (approx. 2 ½-inch) squares.  Brownies keep up to a week in an air-tight container.

More recipes for baking with olive oil:

Apple-Almond Olive Oil Crumble.

Orange-Saffron Olive Oil Cake.

Olive Oil Carrot Cake.

Pear Cake with Olive Oil.

Almond Torte.

Crispy Olive Oil Cookies.

Date-Nut Bars.

Fig Pudding.

Olive Oil Pie Crust.

3 versions olive oil pastry dough.

Banana bread with olive oil: 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 3 large ripe mashed bananas,  2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt,  1 cup chopped nuts. Beat oil and sugar. Beat in eggs, then mashed bananas. Stir in dry ingredients and nuts. Bake at 350ºF. 

Peanut butter cookies with olive oil: Beat 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil with 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Beat in 2 eggs. Add 3 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Blend in peanut butter. Form balls, press onto baking sheet. Bake 400ºF. 5-10 minutes. 

SALMON, FOR EVERYDAY AND HOLIDAY

 

Salmon fillets on a bed of leeks and potatoes with crisp frizzled leeks. Special enough for a holiday meal.

Many years ago, I was thrilled when fresh salmon began appearing in markets in Spain. I had learned to love salmon while visiting family and friends in Seattle. Although in my Mediterranean markets I had an incredible array of fresh seafood, I didn’t have salmon.

The salmon shipped to Spain was—and is—farmed Atlantic salmon from Norway. (Where I shop, the label says it is sustainably farmed in Norwegian fjords without the use of antibiotics.) But I gradually became disenchanted with it--it just didn’t compare to the wild salmon from the Pacific Northwest and I stopped buying it. (Some wild salmon are still found in Asturias and Cantabria, northern Spain, but their numbers are diminishing.) 

Now that the price of fresh seafood in Spain has skyrocketed (even more so in the lead-up to Christmas feasting), I find that farmed salmon is a super bargain (€7.50 per kilo, or about $4.15 per pound). I buy a whole fish and have it filleted. Some of it I prepare fresh; some I freeze. Some I poach to use in fish cakes. 

I cook the salmon simply—oven-roasting a whole, thick fillet or pan-grilling individual portions—then I add a sauce—mayo-Dijon-dill-caper being my everyday one. Now that I am eating salmon more frequently, I’m searching for some different ways to showcase it, maybe special enough for holiday meals.

Today, I was inspired by a simple Basque recipe for leek and potato soup, porrusalda, to which bacalao, salt cod, is sometimes added. I turned the leeks and potatoes into a combination side dish/sauce for the salmon. 

A Basque Txakoli would be a good wine with the salmon. If not available, a Galician Albariño. 

Plate the vegetables and salmon with just a little of the pan juices.

Alternate way to prepare the dish: cut salmon in bite-size chunks and cook it with the leeks and potatoes.  Ladle into shallow bowls with lots of the savory juices. 

Serve the soupy version of the leeks, potatoes and salmon with a crisp-fried tangle of sea spaghetti. It makes a crunchy contrast. 

Salmon with Leeks and Potatoes

Salmón con Porrusalda

Individual portions of salmon can be pan-grilled and served atop the mélange of leeks and potatoes or, alternatively, cut into bite-sized chunks and cooked right in with the vegetable mixture.

Crispy fried leeks or fried sea spaghetti (seaweed) as a garnish add contrast in texture. 

Serves 4

4 (5-ounce) salmon fillets

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound leeks (3-4 without tops)

¼ cup olive oil + additional to cook salmon

1 cup chopped onions

2 cloves garlic, chopped

¼ cup diced carrots

20 ounces potatoes, cut in pieces

¼ cup white wine

2 cups chicken or fish stock or water

Pinch of thyme

¼ cup finely chopped parsley

Frizzled leeks or fried sea spaghetti, to garnish

Sprinkle the salmon with salt and pepper and allow it to come to room temperature.

Discard green tops from the leeks. Wash the leeks well. (If making the frizzled leeks, cut 2 (2-inch) pieces of leeks and reserve them.) Slice the leeks crosswise into ¾-inch pieces.

Simmer leeks and potatoes in wine and stock.

Heat ¼ cup of oil in a pan and sauté the onions and garlic on moderate heat, 5 minutes. Do not let them brown. Add the sliced leeks and sauté 5 minutes more. Add the potatoes and carrots and sauté 2 minutes. Stir in the wine. Let the alcohol bubble off. Add the stock or water, pinch of thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook, covered, until potatoes are very tender, 20 minutes. 

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy skillet. Brown the salmon fillets on both sides. Cook the salmon until it just flakes. (Alternatively, salmon can be cut into bite-size pieces and added to the leeks and potatoes.)

Stir the parsley into the leeks and potatoes. Use a slotted spoon to scoop them onto dinner plates. Place a salmon fillet on top of each and garnish with frizzled leeks or fried seaweed. (Alternatively, ladle the leeks, potatoes and bites of salmon into soup bowls.)

For the frizzled leeks:

Slice leeks into matchsticks.

Fry leeks until golden.

Crisp frizzled leeks.

   Cut the white part of a leek crosswise into 2-inch segments. Cut them in half lengthwise. Slice into thin threads. Fry the shredded leeks in ½ inch of hot olive oil until they are golden-brown. Remove with a skimmer and drain on absorbent paper. Sprinkle the fried leeks with salt. The leeks are best prepared shortly before serving, as they do not keep their crispness well.

Dried sea spaghetti, a kind of seaweed.

For the fried sea spaghetti. Soak the seaweed in water for 15 minutes to re-hydrate. Drain well and pat dry. Toss the strands with flour and shake off the excess. Heat 1 inch of olive oil in a heavy skillet. Fry the seaweed, in batches if necessary, until crisp and golden. Remove with a skimmer and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt, if desired. Fried seaweed stays crisp several days.

Sea spaghetti has been floured and fried in olive oil. 

Classic Basque leek and potato soup recipe: Porrusalda.

More recipes with seaweed here.

More salmon recipes:

Salmon with Cava Sauce and Grapes.

Salmon with Spicy Lentils.