THYME ON MY HANDS

Wild thyme in bloom on a hillside.

Clumps of flowering thyme on the sun-baked hillside near my house give off a powerful scent. They attract me and the bees. I pick handfuls of the herb to use in the kitchen, to dry for future use. I think thyme is my most favorite herb, so redolent of Mediterranean landscape. I scatter it over simple roast chicken, pork and lamb, add it to soups and stews.

With thyme on my hands, I’m looking for other ways to cook with it. In spite of its availability, thyme is not widely used in the traditional Spanish kitchen. Parsley is absolutely the favorite herb in Spanish cooking. Oregano is widely used, especially in marinades such as adobo. While pots of basil are kept for perfuming the kitchen, the herb is never used in traditional dishes. Although, with TV chefs showing dishes from other countries, more venturesome housewives might experiment with basil.

Rosemary,  which also grows wild in the Mediterranean landscape, may be used to fuel a bread oven, but is rarely added to the cook pot. However, in Valencia, a sprig of rosemary is often added to paella when there is no wild rabbit or snails to provide the subtle herbal flavor.


Thyme is an essential flavoring ingredient in home-cured Spanish olives (the recipe is here). And, it almost always goes into dishes with rabbit, whether wild or farmed.


 Rabbit with Beans and Pasta
Conejo con Gurullos

This dish is typical of Almería in eastern Andalusia. The simple pasta is made by rolling thin cords of dough, then twisting off short, pea-sized bits. The pasta is cooked right in the broth with the rabbit. If you don’t want to make the pasta, substitute packaged orzo or Israeli cous cous (which is pasta shaped in round balls).

 Serves 4.

For the pasta:

Pasta to cook with rabbit.

1 cup flour, preferably hard wheat
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 tablespoons water
a few drops of yellow food coloring (optional)

Combine the flour and salt in a bowl or on a pastry board. Make a well in the center and add the oil, water and food coloring. Mix the flour into the liquid until combined. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover it and let rest for 1 hour at room temperature.

Take small balls of dough and roll them 1/8-inch thick cords. Twist off ½ -inch pieces (or cut the cords into ½- inch lengths). Spread on a clean cloth to dry until ready to use. The pasta can be thoroughly dried and stored or used fresh.

For the beans and rabbit:

¼ pound white beans, such as cannellini beans, soaked overnight, or
      a  large can cooked beans
bay leaf, thyme sprig, slice onion, salt

6 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons pimentón (paprika)
½ cup white wine
1 rabbit, about 2 ½ pounds, cut into serving pieces
salt and pepper
1 onion, chopped
2 ounces chorizo, skin removed and chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 cups water or bean liquid
sprigs of fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
pasta (recipe above) or ½ pound packaged pasta

Rabbit cooks with beans.

Drain the soaked beans, add water to cover and cook them with the bay leaf, sprig of thyme, onion and salt until tender (30-90 minutes, depending on beans). Drain and reserve the liquid. (If using canned beans, drain them and reserve liquid.)

When the beans are cooked, heat the oil in a cazuela or flameproof casserole and fry the garlic. Remove garlic and crush it in a mortar. Blend in the pimentón, then the wine.

Sprinkle rabbit pieces with salt and pepper. Brown them in the oil. Add the onion and chorizo and fry for 3 minutes. Then add the tomato. Stir in the garlic-wine mixture, water or bean liquid, ½ teaspoon salt and thyme.

Cover and cook 30 minutes. Turn the pieces of rabbit and add the cooked (or canned) beans. Continue cooking until the meat is tender, about 20 minutes longer. Remove the sprigs of thyme.

Uncover the cazuela and turn up the heat so the liquid begins to bubble. Add the pasta and cook until it is tender, about 8 minutes for home-made pasta or 8 to10 minutes for packaged pasta. Allow the cazuela to rest for 5 minutes. Serve in wide soup bowls.

Thyme-scented rabbit, beans and pasta.

Notes on the above: Because I was in a hurry, I bought supermarket packaged rabbit. It is hacked up into small pieces, para paella. Awful, because the bone chips are seriously dangerous. Better to buy a whole rabbit and cut it up yourself or know a trusty butcher who will prepare it for you.

TOMATO GLORY DAYS

The first really ripe tomatoes in my garden appeared only a week ago. I sliced them, drizzled them with fine olive oil and ate them with pleasure. Now, they are coming fast and furious. Of course, I’m making gazpacho (see my favorite gazpacho recipe here). I also have a weakness for BLTs, made with toasted whole-grain bread, homemade olive oil mayonnaise, crisp bacon, lettuce, sliced sweet onions and thick slices of just-picked, sun-warmed tomatoes.

Later in the season, when the tomato wave threatens to inundate me, I’ll start packing tomatoes into freezer bags. But, now I’m looking for ways to use my daily harvest of ripe tomatoes. Finally, I’m ready to turn them into sauce.

One of my favorite tapa bar dishes is magro con tomate, chunks of pork braised in fresh tomato sauce. Without embellishments, it satisfies the “five ingredients or less” rule—pork, olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, salt.  Nevertheless, I like to add fresh herbs to change the basic recipe—thyme, fennel, rosemary, oregano or basil.

To prep and skin tomatoes for making sauce: Either drop the tomatoes into a deep pot of boiling water or—my preferred way—cut out the cores, place the tomatoes on a plate and microwave them at full power for 2 minutes. Turn the tomatoes and microwave 2 minutes more. Remove the tomatoes and allow them to cool. Strip off the skins. (Do not use this method to skin tomatoes for gazpacho, because raw is part of the gazpacho flavor. Instead, after pureeing the tomatoes, press them through a sieve to remove skins and seeds.)

MAGRO CON TOMATE
PORK WITH TOMATO SAUCE

Magro means “lean,” to distinguish the meat from fatty cuts such as panceta. In fact, the dish is best made with a slightly fatty cut from the shoulder. Cut the meat into 1-inch cubes.

In this version, I substituted pork cheeks (pictured at right), dollops of flesh that, slowly cooked, become wonderfully tender. You can turn this into a sandwich by spooning the pork and sauce onto a split roll or into a main course by serving it with rice, pasta or potatoes.

Makes 4 tapas or 2 main dishes.

1 pound pork cheeks
¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 pounds tomatoes (about 8), peeled, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
Pinch of cumin seed
Pinch of oregano
Pinch of cayenne

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and brown the pork cheeks on a moderately high heat.

Add the garlic, then the tomatoes. Turn up the heat. Add the salt, bay leaf, cumin, oregano and cayenne. When tomatoes are bubbling, cover the pan and simmer 45 minutes. Remove cover and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until meat is fork-tender and tomatoes are almost syrupy, about 45 minutes. Stir constantly during the last few minutes, so the sauce doesn’t scorch. Serve hot.

OCTOPUS ORACLE

The oracle has spoken. A German octopus named Paul gained fame by predicting that Spain would win the soccer World Cup last Sunday, and, so, it has come to pass.  (Paul's picture here).

VIVA ESPAÑA!

In spite of the respect for a cephalopod so savant, so sporting, consumption of octopus tapas in Spain has skyrocketed in the past week or two. Especially in Galicia (northwestern Spain), where it is a favorite in tapa bars and at summer village festivals.

Luckily for me, as I hadn’t come up with another connection between food and football. To celebrate the victory, here’s a typical Galician recipe for preparing octopus and a Mediterranean one for a chopped salad.

Octopus and Potatoes, Galician Style
Pulpo con Cachelos a la Gallega

Makes 8 tapa servings.

1 whole octopus, weighing about 2 ½ pounds, fresh or frozen
        (or about 1 pound frozen cooked and cleaned octopus, thawed)
1 slice onion
2 bay leaves
2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 ½ tablespoons pimentón (paprika)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Blanch the thawed octopus in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain. Bring another pot of water to a boil with the slice of onion and the bay leaves. Add the octopus and let it cook at a simmer for about 1 hour. It should be tender, just a little chewy.

Remove and let it cool slightly.

Cut the potatoes in half and add them to the same water in which the octopus cooked and cook them until tender.

When the octopus is cool enough to handle, slide off the pinkish skin and discard, if desired. This is optional; many prefer to leave the skin. With scissors, cut the octopus into bite-size pieces. Arrange them on wooden plates with the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pimentón, garlic and drizzle with the oil.

Octopus Salad
Ensaladilla de Pulpo

Once you’ve cooked your octopus, you can serve it in quite a few guises. This salad, sometimes called salpicón, can also be made with shrimp or other shellfish.

Serves 8 as a tapa; 4 as a starter.

1 whole octopus, weighing about 1 ½ pounds OR 1 cup cooked and diced
    octopus
1 ½ cups diced fresh tomatoes
½ cup chopped green pepper
½ cup chopped green onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons extra virign olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Cook the octopus as in the preceding recipe. Use scissors to dice it. Combine in a bowl with the tomatoes, pepper, onion, garlic, parsley, salt, oil and lemon juice. Stir to combine.

The salad can be prepared in advance, omitting the tomatoes, and refrigerated until serving time. Add the diced tomatoes at the last minute, as refrigeration dulls the taste of fresh tomatoes.