LETTUCE HEARTS ARE A THING

 

Wedges of lettuce hearts are dressed with fried asparagus, garlic, and ham. 

I was putting the finishing touches on dinner when Ben, returning from a sunset hike up the mountain, presented me with a bunch of freshly-picked wild asparagus. Autumn rains have brought forth this forager’s delight. 

I sat down to watch the news headlines before dinner. From the kitchen I heard some sizzling and sniffed the mouth-watering smell of frying garlic. In minutes Ben had turned the spindly stalks of asparagus into a gourmet delight, frying them with garlic and ham and spooning it over lettuce hearts. What a terrific starter.

Cogollos are lettuce hearts.

Lettuce hearts with fried garlic are a thing, appearing on restaurant menus everywhere. The most famous variety, from Tudela, Navarra, is a dwarf romaine lettuce that forms a compact head. Other varieties of lettuce such as Little Gem, a miniature Cos, are also sold as cogollos, hearts. (Cogollo actually means “core.” The beating heart of a living being is a “corazon,” not cogollo.)

Adding chopped wild asparagus with its subtle bitterness is inspired. If wild asparagus is not available, use regular green asparagus, cut lengthwise, then chopped. If Spanish ham is not available, substitute diced bacon or panceta. Ben used a balsamic-style vinegar with honey; Sherry vinegar is fine.

The following day I repeated Ben’s salad of lettuce hearts with sizzled garlic and asparagus and added to it a poached egg. Served with crusty bread, that was lunch.

Frying chopped asparagus, garlic, and ham crisps them slightly.

Lettuce hearts with fried asparagus and garlic dressing makes a terrific starter.

Served with a poached egg and crusty bread, the salad is lunch. Use a knife and fork to mix the egg with the lettuce and dressing.

Lettuce Hearts with Sizzled Garlic and Asparagus Dressing

Cogollos al Ajillo con Esparragos Trigueros

Cut small lettuce hearts in half, larger ones in quarters or thirds. If using full-size romaine hearts, instead of presenting in wedges, cut them into thick crosswise slices.

Serves 2.

2-4 lettuce hearts

1 avocado, sliced

Salt flakes

2 teaspoons vinegar, divided

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil + more for drizzling

2-3 ounces wild asparagus (approx. ½ cup chopped)

1-2 cloves garlic, sliced

Minced chile or red pepper flakes, to taste

½ ounce diced serrano or ibérico ham

½ teaspoon table salt

1 poached egg per person (optional)

Crusty bread to serve

Wash and dry the lettuce hearts. Cut them into wedges and divide between 2 salad plates. Arrange the sliced avocado around the hearts. Sprinkle each serving with flaky salt, ½ teaspoon vinegar, and drizzle with oil.

Dressing of fried asparagus.

Heat ¼ cup of oil in a skillet. Chop the asparagus into ½-inch pieces and fry in the oil 1 minute. Add the sliced garlic and chile and fry until the garlic begins to turn golden, 1 minute. Add the diced ham and fry 1 minute more. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the salt and 1 teaspoon of vinegar. 

Spoon the asparagus, garlic, ham, and oil dressing over the lettuce and avocados. Sprinkle with additional flaky salt and drizzle with more oil. 

If desired, place a poached egg in the center of each salad. Serve with crusty bread.

More recipes with wild asparagus;

Asparagus Casserole with Spring Vegetables 

Andalusian-Style Asparagus 

Eggs Scrambled with Wild Asparagus

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FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS 

The Culinary Legacy of Spain

 Ask for Flavors of al-Andalus from your favorite bookseller or click below to order. 

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. Dishes from this era include exotic spices such as saffron, the use of fruits and almonds with savory dishes, and honeyed sweets and pastries. The flavors of al-Andalus live on in modern Spanish cooking and are what makes Spain’s cuisine distinctive from the rest of Europe. (Hippocrene Books)    

 Order on IndiePubs

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

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THESE CAROB BROWNIES ARE GLUTEN-FREE

 

Brownies with carob flour as well as chocolate are gluten-free.

Instead of brownies, shall we call them “morenitos,” in honor of their Spanish ingredients? I made them with a new-to-me product, gluten-free carob flour. The carob, also known as locust bean or St. John’s bread—algarrobo in Spanish—is the seed-bearing pod or bean of a tree native to Mediterranean lands. Carob is used as a substitute for chocolate, which it somewhat resembles in flavor, and as a thickening agent (carob gum) in processed foods. Powdered carob makes a good substitute for flour in gluten-free cakes and cookies. 

Carob pods dangle from branches. 

The edible pod has a leathery husk enclosing a sweet pulp that surrounds the seeds. The pulp is dried and ground to powder. The seeds contain a substance useful for gelling foods. Historically, carobs were known as famine food, consumed by humans only when other food was scarce. They continue to be valued as animal fodder. 

Split pod shows pulp.

I first tasted carobs as a child at Sunday school at my synagogue (Illinois) when it was distributed on Tu Bishvat, Jewish arbor day, along with other fruits from Israel such as figs and dates. When I came to Spain I discovered the tree with its dangling pods growing on rough hillsides and on small farmsteads. The pods were harvested in the fall, brought to town on burros, and heaped at a collection point where they gave off a strong, not entirely pleasant smell before being trucked away to be used as animal feed. More recently, I went out to dump compost in a bin at the edge of my property and discovered a couple of Moroccan youths up in the algarrobo tree knocking off the pods and bagging them. Still valuable enough to “steal.” 

Powdered carob.

Although this recipe has hardly any of the ingredients of traditional brownies—carob  flour replaces wheat flour; cacao is reduced; sugar eliminated (the sweetness of carob plus dates makes sugar unnecessary), and olive oil takes the place of butter—the result is surprisingly similar. 

I bought the carob powder at a health-foods stall in my local market. It is organic and untoasted. Supposedly raw carob powder is more bitter than the toasted, but I did not find it bitter at all. I have not tested the recipe with toasted carob powder. The non-gluten flour I used was a mixture of rice, potato, and chickpea flours. These brownies are more cakey than fudgy. As with all brownies, they are exceptionally delicious served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, dollop of whipped cream, or, my choice, unsweetened Greek yogurt. 

Deep chocolaty flavor is even better with a dollop of yogurt.

Gluten-Free Carob Brownies

Morenitos sin Gluten de Algarrobo

Makes 16 (2-inch) brownies

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

¾ cup pitted and chopped dates

3 large or 4 medium eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup carob flour

¼ cup gluten-free flour

½ cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2-3 tablespoons water

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare an 8X8-inch cake pan oiled and lined with parchment.

Combine the oil and dates in a blender and blend until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

Batter is chocolaty.

Sift together the carob flour, gluten-free flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour the oil-egg mixture into a mixing bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients until thoroughly mixed, adding enough water to lighten the batter. Fold in the walnuts.

Spread the batter in the baking pan. Bake until a skewer comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool the brownies completely before cutting into squares.

Carob pods (algarrobos).

More gluten-free baked goods:

Lemon-Scented Tea Cakes (Magdalenas)

Chocolate-Almond Cake

Sugar-Free Carrot Cake

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FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS 

The Culinary Legacy of Spain

 Ask for Flavors of al-Andalus from your favorite bookseller or click below to order. 

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. Dishes from this era include exotic spices such as saffron, the use of fruits and almonds with savory dishes, and honeyed sweets and pastries. The flavors of al-Andalus live on in modern Spanish cooking and are what makes Spain’s cuisine distinctive from the rest of Europe. (Hippocrene Books)    

 Order on IndiePubs

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

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A CHAT WITH THE FOOD ENTHUSIAST ABOUT FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS

 So, what is al-Andalus? I wrote a whole chapter in Flavors of al-Andalus to explain just that. But when Dara Bunjon asked me the question during our video chat, I was hard-pressed to reply. I needed to condense 800 years of Spanish history into a soundbite in order to set the scene for the recipes that I have collected for this book.

If you would like to listen in to our talk, here is the link: The Food Enthusiast. It was recorded live, me in my kitchen in Spain, Dara from Baltimore. Dara’s show, The Food Enthusiast, goes out weekly on JmoreLiving.com. Dara included a recipe from Flavors of al-Andalus on the JmoreLiving web site. Since I haven’t got a new recipe prepared for this week’s blog, I’ll share that recipe here as well.

Al-Andalus was Moorish Spain. Muslim Spain. Medieval Spain (711 to 1492). It was both a place of shape-shifting borders that, at its most extensive, reached all the way from the rock of Gibraltar to as far north as neighboring France, and a cultural melting-pot made up of Arabs, Berbers, Sephardic Jews, and Mozarabic Christians. Al-Andalus was for several centuries a caliphate, a glittering center of culture and learning whose capital was Córdoba. The caliphate broke up into many separate kingdoms. The last to persist against the pushback of Christian armies was Granada and its emblematic fortress-palace, the Alhambra. During the nearly eight centuries that the kingdoms of al-Andalus existed, the interweaving of cultures embedded the foodways of al-Andalus deeply in Spanish life.

Black-eyed Peas 

Potaje de Carillas

Here’s a recipe from Flavors of al-Andalus  that's perfect for these chilly fall days. In keeping with the heritage theme of the book, the recipe is vegetarian, as neither Muslims nor Jews consumed pork. But it must be noted that the dish as prepared in this day and age usually contains pork sausage such as chorizo plus a spoonful of pimentón (paprika), a spice unknown in Moorish times.

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There were no beans in medieval Spanish cooking. No green beans, no pinto beans, no cannellini beans. These legumes were discovered by Columbus’s explorations in the New World, but did not become known in Spain until the mid-16th century.  

Nevertheless, legumes were an important part of the diet in Moorish times. Chickpeas (garbanzos), lentils (lentejas), and black-eyed peas (carillas, figüelos, judías de carete, or chícharos) were cultivated and were an important part of the diet. 

Interestingly, two of the words for “bean” in Spanish, alubia and judía, come from Moorish times. The Arabic name for the black-eyed pea, lubia, came to be used for all beans when they eventually became available in Spain. The word judía actually means “Jewish,” possibly because the Sephardic people favored the “beans” of the day, black-eyed peas.

For this recipe, soak dried black-eyed peas overnight before cooking. If using fresh or frozen black-eyed peas, you will need about 2 ½ cups. They do not need soaking and should cook in about 40 minutes. 

Crush the whole spices, garlic and herbs in a mortar or substitute ground spices, if preferred.

Serve black-eyed peas hot as a main or side dish or cold as a salad. 

Serves 6 to 8 as a vegetable side dish.

2 cups dried black-eyed peas (1 pound)

3 carrots, peeled

1 leek, white part only

1 stalk celery

1 to 2 bay leaves

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1/3 cup olive oil + more for drizzling

1 cup chopped onions

½ teaspoon coarse salt

10 peppercorns

2 cloves

2 coriander seeds

1/8 teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon oregano

4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

4 cups chopped leaves and stems of chard

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Pomegranate arils, to garnish (optional)

Place the black-eyed peas in a bowl or pan and cover them with water. Leave them to soak for 8 hours. 

Drain the black-eyed peas. Place them in a pan and add 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil and skim off the froth that rises to the top. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook the beans 15 minutes. Add the carrots, a quarter of the leek, celery, bay leaves, and 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Cover and cook the beans 30 minutes.

While black-eyed peas are cooking, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onions until they are very soft but not browned, 6 to 8 minutes. If they start to brown, add a few drops of water and continue frying. Slice the remaining leek, add it to the skillet and continue frying.

Place the coarse salt in a mortar with the peppercorns, cloves, coriander, cumin and oregano. Crush the spices and herbs to a powder. Add the garlic and continue crushing to make a paste. Remove the carrots from the pan of black-eyed peas. Cut one carrot in half. Add one half to the mortar mixture and mash it with the spices. (Reserve the remaining carrots.) Dilute the paste with a spoonful of the black-eyed peas cooking liquid. 

Stir the paste from the mortar into the sautéed onions in the skillet and fry for 2 minutes more. Stir the contents of the pan into the black-eyed peas. Add the chard and ½ cup of cold water. Continue cooking the beans until they are very tender, about 20 minutes. 

Remove and discard the bay leaves, whole piece of leek, and celery. Slice the reserved cooked carrots and return them to the pan. Stir in the lemon juice. Allow the black-eyed peas to sit 10 minutes before serving.

Serve the black-eyed peas in bowls with their liquid or, to serve as a vegetable side dish, remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Garnish with pomegranate arils, if desired.

***   ***   ***

FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS 

The Culinary Legacy of Spain

 Ask for Flavors of al-Andalus from your favorite bookseller or click below to order. 

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. Dishes from this era include exotic spices such as saffron, the use of fruits and almonds with savory dishes, and honeyed sweets and pastries. The flavors of al-Andalus live on in modern Spanish cooking and are what makes Spain’s cuisine distinctive from the rest of Europe. (Hippocrene Books)    

 Order on IndiePubs

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

***

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