Sunday, July 19, 2026

SIX AT TABLE

 
Leo (left) and Nico are off to shoot some hoops. (Photo Eli Searl)

A carton of two and a half dozen eggs goes into the shopping cart. How long will they last? Maybe three to four days if Nico and Leo each eats four eggs a day. If any of the rest of us want eggs—even a normal two per person—30 eggs will be gone in a couple of days. 


Leo makes scrambled eggs on toast.
My grandsons Nico and Leo are 18 and 22 respectively. They are weight-training at a local gym, as Nico, who will play college basketball in the fall, has to keep in shape. Protein, in quantity and frequency, is the order of the day. 

Leo is happy to cook breakfast for himself and his cousin. He’s in favor of Spanish-style revuelto—break the eggs into the pan and scramble them up together. Nico would prefer to have them fried with runny yolks. Either way, plenty of toast is required and bacon or sausage and sliced tomato on the side. (As I am cleaning up the kitchen, I listen while they cook, hand them ingredients or utensils as needed, but stay out of the fixing.)  
Nico with fried eggs and sausage at a local bar.





I am trying to plan meals a day or two in advance and do as much prepping as possible beforehand. Even so, I’m having trouble getting a whole meal for six on the table. What once was easy, now takes concentration. I make the pasta sauce early in the day, but forget it needs to be reheated.  “Oh, who can grate the cheese?” “The grater is in that cabinet.” The salad is prepped but I need to make the dressing. “Help! I can’t open this bottle of olive oil!” There are helping hands.
Daniel and Ben tend the grill.





Meals from the grill are good because both of my sons, Daniel and Benjamin, are practiced grill masters.  The first grill evening it was chicken legs, Atlantic-caught fish, and a variety of vegetables. Next week--win or lose--we will repeat the Argentine asado with three or more cuts of beef. (See last week’s blog for notes on the Argentine asado.)
Pisto vegetable melange with pasta.












One of my favorite meals, pisto (vegetable melange) con pasta, is so easy to prepare with eggplants, zucchini, peppers, and tomatoes from the garden. I augment the vegetarian dish with quickly fried filetitos de lomo, pork loin cutlets. (See this post for pisto recipes and variations.)






Nobody is crazy for sweets so dessert is usually chilled melon or watermelon. Energy drinks fill in between meals. Nico is delighted to indulge in Aquarius which, although bottled by CocaCola, is not distributed in the US. 




It's just hours until the Spain-Argentina World Cup final gets underway. In this blog last week, I speculated about just such a clash and its effect on our mixed-tribe of extended family. The Argentine amongst us has chosen not to join us in the village plaza to watch the game. Hopefully, we will all still be friends when it is over!


 
 

This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. 

Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times.  (Hippocrene Books)    

 Order on IndiePubs (USA) 

Use PROMO CODE HIPPOCRENE40 for 40% off on all Hippocrene titles at IndiePubs online bookstore.




Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, July 11, 2026

DIVIDED LOYALTIES—SOCCER AND DINNER

 
Smiles! Argentina is winning!

At halftime, Egypt had scored two goals against Argentina. Marina, Ben’s Argentine girlfriend, couldn’t stand to watch. She got up and left. As her car pulled away, Argentina scored! I yelled out the door “GOAL!!” She returned, put the Argentine blue and white jersey back on, cheered on her team’s win, and stayed for dinner. 


"Soccer is tribal, and love of one’s own team comes hand in hand with a desire to destroy the other," wrote Latin American soccer specialist, Marcela Mora y Araujo, in the New York Times. "But it also allows for camaraderie and solidarity after the contest."

What if you don’t have just one tribe? As an American, gone much longer from my country than Marina from hers, I was hopeful for that team. Now that the USA has been knocked out of the competition, I cheer for Spain. But I adore Leo Messi, so the Argentines get some love too. (I am posting this before today's Argentina-Switzerland game, which surely the Argentines will win.) As for underdogs, I was rooting for Morocco, knocked out by France, Spain’s next opponent in Tuesday’s semi-final match. Whatever will happen if the final is Argentina versus España?

Ben grills meat, vegetables. (Marina Caviese)
In anticipation of the Argentina game we had a small-scale version of Argentina’s famed asado—a meal of grilled meat. An Argentine butcher was found (Carnes Pampa, Fuengirola, Málaga). And the classic pieces of beef, vacío, entraña, and tira, were acquired. 

With near 100ºF temperature in the afternoon, we decided against a wood fire. We fired up the gas grill as the sun was going down. 

Vacio, roasted to medium.
The vacío is a thick piece with a cap of fat that includes part of the flank, part of the flap and the inner part of the skirt. The idea is to roast it low and slow over indirect heat until the fat is crisped and the meat cooked medium, still juicy. The meat is fine-grained. 

The entraña is skirt steak, a long, narrow strip cut from the outer skirt. Many Spanish butcher shops now carry entraña. Because it is well-marbled, it stays juicy when quickly seared to medium-rare (over high heat, 3 to 5 minutes per side). 

The tira de asado is a cross-cut section of the short ribs, including bone and some fat. It is chewy and juicy, very beefy.

Of course I made chimichurri, the garlicky, herby, slightly spicy, Argentine sauce, to go with the meat. I used the recipe from Francis Mallmann’s Seven Fires. Marina declared my rendition of chimichurri a winner—though, where she comes from, it would be made with sunflower or other neutral vegetable oil instead of olive oil. (With the addition of cilantro, I turned leftover chimichurri into Moroccan chermoula to serve with fish on the day of the match between Morocco and France.) 

For sides, I made my favorite grilled vegetable dish, Catalan escalivada, and smashed potatoes with tapenade crust, a recipe also from Seven Fires. I served a selection of salads—kidney bean-green bean and corn; watermelon-feta cheese, and minted carrot with pine nuts and dates. 

Asado meats, smashed potatoes, and bean salad. (Photo by Marina Caviese)


Grilled meats, chimichurri, and escalivada.



Vacio is grilled to perfection--medium, juicy. (Video by Marina Caviese)


Chimichurri (Argentine Herb and Garlic Sauce for Grilled Meats

(Adapted from the recipe in Seven Fires, Grilling the Argentine Way by Francis Mallmann with Peter Kaminsky and Donna Gelb; Artisan, 2009.)

The recipe in Seven Fires says to mince the garlic and herbs. I chose to use a mini food processor. I used Argentine ají, crushed red chile (fairly mild), instead of red pepper flakes.

Prepare the chimichurri a day in advance of serving so the flavors blend. The chimichurri can be kept in a jar with tight-fitting lid refrigerated for 2 to 3 weeks. Serve it with grilled meat, fish, vegetables, potatoes. 

1 cup water
1 tablespoon coarse salt
8 cloves peeled garlic
1 cup packed fresh parsley
1 cup fresh oregano
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes or ají
¼ cup wine vinegar
½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Bring the water to a boil, add the salt and stir to dissolve. Cool.

Mince the garlic, parsley, and oregano and combine them in a bowl with the red pepper flakes. Whisk in the vinegar and oil. 

More World Cup fare:
Low-Country Shrimp Boil, Costa del Sol Style 




 
 

This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. 

Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times.  (Hippocrene Books)    

 Order on IndiePubs (USA) 

Use PROMO CODE HIPPOCRENE40 for 40% off on all Hippocrene titles at IndiePubs online bookstore.

Posted by at 2 comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Saturday, July 4, 2026

DO YOU EAT RABBIT?

Would you eat rabbit? If you do or if you might, you will be happy to find several recipes for this delicacy in my newest cookbook, Flavors of al-Andalus, The Culinary Legacy of Spain. I include five distinctive recipes for dishes with rabbit: a delicious paella-type rice; rabbit with pasta and fava beans; rabbit cooked with figs and Mudéjar spices; braised in a wine marinade, and with sierra herbs.  


I included recipes for rabbit because in al-Andalus, Moorish Spain, it was a popular meat. Also, I wanted to provide some variation to the much more common chicken (there are also five chicken recipes). If you don’t eat rabbit (besides the pet bunny factor, rabbit is not a kosher meat), I state clearly that you can substitute chicken for rabbit in any of the recipes. And, vice versa. 

In America, the meat is appreciated by chefs and you are more likely to find rabbit on a restaurant menu than in your favorite supermarket. Limited availability may be the main reason rabbit is not more widely appreciated. 
 
Spain eats rabbit with no qualms. Rabbit is a main ingredient in authentic Valencia paella. It can be fried up with tons of garlic, al ajillo; braised in salmorejo, an herby, vinegary sauce; grilled over coals and served with pungent garlic alioli sauce. 

The name “Spain” may be related to its native rabbits. By 1000 BCE Phoenician traders were establishing trading posts on the coasts of Málaga and Cádiz. They called the land i-shphan-im, from which was derived "Hispania" (Roman) and "España". One of the meanings attributed to the Phoenician phrase is “land filled with rabbits.” 

Wild rabbits have been hunted and trapped since time immemorial, providing a welcome source of protein for rural people and a pleasant sport for the nobility (falconry was popular in Moorish times). The animals have been domesticated since Roman times. Farm-raised rabbit can be found year-round in supermarkets everywhere in Spain.  

Rabbit and hare belong to the Leporidae family; they are not rodents. Rabbit is a lean white meat with a mild flavor (hare has dark meat and is fairly gamey). Because it has little fat, rabbit has a tendency, similarly to chicken breasts, to be dry if overcooked. Sometimes in butchering, it is hacked into small pieces, creating nasty bone fragments. If possible, buy a whole rabbit and cut it up yourself. Rabbit is more likely to be raised on a small-scale, making it a more environmentally friendly meat than factory chicken. 

Rabbit with Mustard Sauce
Conejo en Salsa de Mostaza

Tender rabbit cooks in a creamy sauce with mustard.

 


This is a Spanish adaptation of a French recipe, lapin à la moutarde. It reminds me of the spicing used in medieval Spain, when mustard seed was more commonly used than it is in Spain today. The Greek yogurt makes a creamy substitute for crême fraiche.

In Spain a saucy dish such as this would probably be served with patatas fritas—fries. But this rabbit dish is equally good with pasta, polenta, pilaf, or couscous.

Serves 4.

1 rabbit (approx. 2 ½ pounds)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic
4 ounces sliced mushrooms
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
½ cup dry Sherry
1 cup chicken stock
Bay leaf, thyme and rosemary 
2 carrots, thickly sliced
6 small onions
½ cup Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon cornstarch
¼ cup Dijon mustard
Chopped parsley to serve

Cut the rabbit at the joints into 6-8 pieces. Keep the liver and kidneys too. Sprinkle the pieces with salt and pepper and allow to come to room temperature.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil on medium in a heavy pan and brown the rabbit pieces on all sides. Remove them.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and sauté the onion, celery, garlic and mushrooms until onions are softened, 5 minutes. Add the mustard seeds. Deglaze the pan with the Sherry and cook off the alcohol, 1 minute. Add the stock and herbs. Return the rabbit pieces to the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover the pan, and cook 20 minutes.

Remove cooked rabbit from pan while making sauce.
Turn the pieces of rabbit and add the carrots and onions. Cook until rabbit is very tender, 20 to 30 minutes more. 

Remove the rabbit pieces, carrots and onions from the pan. Discard the herbs. Stir the yogurt with the cornstarch until smooth. Mix into the mustard. Whisk into the juices remaining in the pan. Cook 2 minutes until the sauce begins to bubble. Return the rabbit pieces to the pan.

Serve the rabbit with carrot and onion and the sauce. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. 





Finish rabbit in creamy mustard sauce.



More recipes with rabbit:











You will find recipes for both rabbit and chicken in The Flavors of al-Andalus as well as for lamb and beef, but no pork. The recipes are from contemporary Spain, but they are based on the cooking of Moorish Spain. 
 

This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. 

Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times.  (Hippocrene Books)    

 Order on IndiePubs (USA) 

Use PROMO CODE HIPPOCRENE40 for 40% off on all Hippocrene titles at IndiePubs online bookstore.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)