CROSS-CULTURAL FISH BALLS

At a roadside restaurant on the banks of the Guadalquivir, not far from Sevilla, my friends and I ordered the menu del día, a fixed-price meal consisting of primer plato (starter), segundo plato (main dish) and postre (dessert) for €8.50 (about $9.20). There were a couple choices for each course. 

For the primer plato, we chose albondiguitas de pescado, fish balls. Served in shallow bowls with sauce and bread to go with, they were four or five small balls, nicely seasoned, very tasty. I asked the cook for the recipe.

Fish balls in sauce--a Spanish dish that dates from medieval times.

I later discovered almost the identical recipe for albóndigas de pescado in Sephardic (Jewish) cookbooks. Sephardic cooking originated in medieval Spain, when Jews lived in many parts of the Iberian peninsula along with the Moorish (Arab) overlords. The word “albóndiga” comes from the Arabic al-bundaq, meaning “round.” Albóndigas is the word for either fish or meat balls.

You can use any white fish, such as hake, cod, sole, grouper or halibut for these fish balls. Fresh fish is best, but frozen will work just fine. (If you’re in Spain, you might want to try this recipe with the widely available rosada, a fish caught wild in the South Atlantic (Genypterus capensis, pink cusk eel) and marketed frozen or thawed.)

The fish balls are also a good way to use leftover cooked fish. Use about 2 cups flaked, cooked fish and leave off the poaching step.

My current favorite fish is corvina. (More about corvina  here.) Because it is farmed in Spain, the fish is reasonable in cost. I cut two fillets from the lomo, thick center section, for grilling and save the skinny tail ends and thick “belly” section with rib bones for making these fish balls. Once the bony pieces are gently poached, it’s easy to remove any remaining skin and bones.

After frying, the fish balls can be served as a tapa.

Add fish balls to soup with cooked rice and peas.

Serving ideas. Make small fish balls (marble-sized) and serve them, without the sauce, as a tapa. Accompany the fried balls with a garlicky alioli. As a starter, they’re good with bread for mopping up the sauce. If you’re serving them for dinner, make walnut-sized balls and accompany them with steamed white rice, pasta or potatoes. At my house, kids like fries with the albóndigas. Remaining broth from poaching the fish can be saved for fish soup. Add any leftover fish balls to the soup.

Fish balls in sauce on the dinner plate, with new potatoes and snap peas from the garden.

Fish Balls in Sauce

Albondigitas de Pescado

If you’re starting with fish that has some skin and bone, use about 20 ounces fish, as some will be discarded.

Makes 16 fish balls or 32 small ones.

For the fish balls:
1 pound boneless, skinless white fish
4 ½ cups water
Slice of lemon
Sprigs of parsley
Slice of onion
1 bay leaf
Salt
2 ounces crustless bread (about 8 baguette slices)
½ cup milk
2 cloves garlic
½ cup chopped parsley
Pinch of crushed saffron (optional)
½ teaspoon salt
Grated lemon zest
1 egg
Plain flour for dredging the fish balls (about ¼ cup)
Olive oil for frying 

 
For the sauce:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped green pepper
½ cup grated tomato
½ cup fino Sherry or dry white wine
¾ cup reserved fish broth or water
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley to serve

For the fish balls: Wash the pieces of fish. Place the water in a pan with lemon slice, parsley, onion slice, bay and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes. Add the fish to the pan and simmer just until it flakes easily, about 5 minutes. Lift the fish out with a slotted spoon and allow to cool. Strain and reserve ¾ cup of the broth in which the fish was poached. (Remaining broth can be saved for soup.)

After poaching, it's easy to remove bones.

When fish is cool enough to handle, flake or chop it, discarding any skin or bones.

Pour the milk over the bread slices in a small bowl and allow to soak for 10 minutes.

In a food processor finely chop together the garlic and parsley. Squeeze out excess liquid from the bread. Add it and process until bread is fairly smooth. Add the saffron, if using,  ½ teaspoon salt, lemon zest and egg and process to blend. Place in a bowl.

Add the flaked fish to the processor and pulse several times just to chop it. Combine the fish with the bread mixture. Refrigerate the fish mixture, tightly covered, at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours.

Mix chopped fish with bread.

Place the flour in a shallow pan. Shape the fish mixture into 1 ¾ -inch balls (or small ones, half that size) and place them in the flour. Roll the balls to coat evenly with flour.

Roll fish balls in flour.

Add enough oil to cover the bottom of a large frying pan. Heat the oil and fry the fish balls, in two or three batches, turning them to brown on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Remove them as they are browned.

After frying, fish balls are ready to serve. Or, reheat them in the sauce.

For the sauce: Heat the 3 tablespoons oil in a clean frying pan. Sauté the chopped onion and green pepper on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the tomato and fry on a high heat until tomato sweats out its liquid, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and reserved strained fish broth. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 20 minutes.

Add the fish balls to the sauce and reheat gently, about 8 minutes.

Sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs to serve.

Fish balls are light, juicy.

More recipes for meatballs and fish balls.

Chickpeas and spinach with cod dumplings.

Meatballs with leeks.

Meatballs in almond sauce.

Recipes for alioli to accompany fried fish balls: http://mykitcheninspain.blogspot.com.es/2015/03/rice-on-side.html and http://mykitcheninspain.blogspot.com.es/2010/02/jug-of-olive-juice.html.

PURPLE, CONTINUED

Inspired by finding purple potatoes, last week I collected a basketful of purple veggies and fruit, just for the pleasure of putting them all together. I gave you recipes for purple potatoes and for beets then (scroll down to that blog for the recipes). Now I’ve got the eggplant, red onions, red cabbage and purple plums to use up!

Like the potatoes and beets, these vegetables are also good sources of the antioxidant anthocyanin which helps boost the immune system and regulate blood pressure. 

Eggplant pudding bakes in a shell of eggplant skins.

Eggplant Timbale 
Cuajado de Berenjenas  

Eggplant, unlike the other purple vegetables, is only purple on the outside. The interior flesh is a creamy color. So, I chose a recipe that uses the skins to create a case for a creamy, cheesy pudding, called a cuajado.  Made with vegetables, eggs, and cheese, the cuajados are precursors of the Spanish tortilla made of eggs and potatoes. Cuajados come from Spain’s medieval Sephardic Jewish culture, where an all-dairy meal (no meat) was served on some holidays. In fact, modern-day Sephardim call these meatless meals by the Spanish word, desayuno, or break-fast—meaning a substantial brunch or lunch.

This eggplant timbale makes a delightful brunch dish or an elegant starter. It looks quite special, with its shiny, purple-black skin. I made it with whole-wheat bread crumbs and served it, with a tangy sauce, as a vegetarian main.

I used the microwave to cook the eggplant. They can also be baked, roasted under the broiler or over charcoal. Do not let the skins char.

Serves 6 to 8 as a starter; 4 as a main course.

3-4 medium eggplant (2 to 2 ½ pounds)
1 tablespoon grated onion
3 eggs
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
2 cups grated cheese (such as semi-cured Manchego)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon vinegar
Olive oil to grease the pan

Cut off stems from the eggplant. Pierce them through lengthwise with a skewer. Place on a plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Remove and turn the eggplant. Microwave on high 4 minutes more, or until they are soft. (It may be necessary to microwave them in two or three turns.)

Remove and allow to cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Cut the eggplant open lengthwise and scoop out the flesh, reserving the skins in one piece. Purée the flesh in a blender or food processor with the onion and eggs.

Place the puréed eggplant in a bowl and fold in the breadcrumbs, cheese, salt, pepper and vinegar.

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Line casserole with the skins.

Oil the bottom and sides of a 2-quart ovenproof casserole. Place the eggplant skins, shiny side down, on the bottom of the casserole, overlapping them slightly and allowing them to extend partway up the sides. Spoon the eggplant and cheese mixture into the casserole, smoothing the top. Cover with foil. Place in a larger pan and add boiling water to half its depth. Carefully place in preheated oven.

Bake the timbale until set and a skewer comes out clean when tested, about 60 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Loosen the sides of the timbale. Place a serving plate on top and carefully invert the timbale onto the plate.

Serve the timbale warm or cold.

Red Cabbage Slaw

Ensalada de Col Lombarda

Red cabbage slaw has apples and toasted cumin.

Serves 6 as a side dish.

½ pound red cabbage (approx. ¼ of a whole cabbage)
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 apples, peeled and cored
2 carrots, peeled
1 shallot, minced
½ teaspoon cumin seed
½ cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pomegranate seeds (optional)

Shred the cabbage.

Trim away the core of the cabbage and discard any tough outer leaves. Shred the cabbage with a knife and place in a bowl. Add the salt and combine. Allow the cabbage to set 15 minutes.

Place the lemon juice in a food processor bowl. Use the coarse grater attachment to grate the apples and carrots. Add them to the cabbage with the minced shallot.

Toast the cumin in a small skillet just until fragrant. Place it in a small bowl. Whisk in the yogurt, vinegar and oil. Combine the dressing with the slaw. Allow the slaw to marinate, refrigerated, at least one hour or up to 24 hours.

If desired, serve garnished with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds.

Purple plums for spicy chutney.

Purple Plum Chutney

5-6 purple plums
2 slices lemon, chopped
1 shallot, minced
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon raisins
Chile, to taste, minced
¼ cup vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon mustard seed
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons sugar or to taste

Remove pits from the plums and chop them into a saucepan. Add the chopped lemon, shallot, ginger, raisins, chile, vinegar, salt, mustard seed, water and sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer until plums are soft, about 15 minutes. The chutney will thicken as it cools.

Place in a clean jar and store refrigerated.

Serve this easy relish with roast turkey, pork or lamb.

Red onions are more pungent than yellow ones.

The Purple People Eater’s special! Purple-red onions are the garnish for  turkey salad with red potatoes, beets, purple slaw and red-leafed lettuce.

REPORTING FROM ISTANBUL

Turkish flavours cooking class with Selin Rozanes in Istanbul.

Not MY KITCHEN IN SPAIN, but a kitchen in Istanbul, Turkey, where albondigas are on the menu. Albóndigas is the Spanish word for meatballs.Yes, some people (Sephardic Jews, who still speak Ladino, a version of Spanish) call them albóndigas. Otherwise, they are known in Turkey as keftes.

I attended a cooking class in the home of Selin Rozanes in the Istanbul neighborhood of Nisantasi. Selin’s family is Sephardic (the surname Rozanes denotes someone from Roses, the Catalan town where famous chef Ferran Adria had Restaurant El Bulli). Selin teaches classic Turkish cooking, but today she added the albóndigas/keftes and almodrote de kalavasa—zucchini flan, also known in Spain as cuajado—because I was especially interested in the Spanish connection to Turkish food.

Huge artichokes with dill and onions.

Zucchini flan.

                                        

For more about Selin’s classes and market tours in Istanbul, see her web site TURKISH FLAVOURS.

Tastebuds whetted, now I’m going to order a book about Turkish food written by my friend Sheilah Kaufman, THE TURKISH COOKBOOK, Regional Recipes and Stories.

The following recipes are from Selin Rozanes at Turkish Flavours. (For the traditional Spanish way with albóndigas, see my post on THE MEATBALL BLOG.)

Leek and meat patties--called keftes or albóndigas.

Albóndigas de Prasa
 Leek Patties

 Ingredients:
3 pounds leeks
½ pound ground meat (preferably lamb)
2 egg yolks
Salt and pepper
Flour for dipping
2 eggs, beaten
Olive oil for frying



Preparation:
Peel the leeks, wash them well, chop and boil them until they are very soft. After they are cooked, drain and press them between your palms as hard as you can to get all the water out. This is very important in order to make the meatballs firm.

Put the leeks into the food processor and blend to a soft paste. Mix together the leek paste, minced meat,  egg yolks, salt and pepper. Shape into balls about the size of walnuts and flatten them slightly to form 2-inch patties. Dip them in flour. Dip each into beaten egg and lower gently into sizzling oil for shallow frying. Lower the heat, so as not to brown them too quickly, and turn over once. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

Zucchini flan or almodrote de kalabaza.

ALMODROTE  de KALAVASA
Zucchini Flan

In the cooking class, we peeled the zucchini before grating it for this flan, then cooked the strips of peel in olive oil with lemon and dill to make a cold dish. In my own kitchen, I prefer to grate unpeeled zucchini.

Ingredients:
3 to 4 zucchini
1/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs
3 eggs
3 ounces white (feta) cheese, mashed
5 ounces grated kasher cheese or gruyere (or Manchego)
4 tablespoons of olive oil
A bunch of dill, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
Grate the zucchini. Salt it lightly and let it stand 30 minutes in a colander. Press  the zucchini with your hand to squeeze out as much of the juices as you can.

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a mixing bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, eggs, feta cheese and grated cheese. Add the oil, grated zucchini, chopped dill, salt (may not be necessary with salty feta) and pepper. Mix well.

Pour the mixture into an oiled baking dish (rectangular or oval), sprinkle the top with more grated cheese and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until lightly colored. Serve hot or room temperature.

TORTILLITAS--A SPANISH WAY WITH LATKES

Tortillitas of spinach are a Spanish take on latkes.

After I light the first Hanukkah candle at sundown, I won’t be serving potato latkes. I will be frying Spanish tortillitas, vegetable fritters, a Sephardic recipe that also belongs to today’s Spanish cooking.

I have long suspected that traditional Spanish cooking includes many dishes that derive from Spain’s Jewish heritage. While the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, many of them stayed on as converts to Christianity. They may have abandoned the kosher food laws, adding pork to the Sabbath stew pot, but kept many beloved dishes.

In Spain these fritters—always fried in olive oil—are called tortillitas if they are more like little pancakes or buñuelos if they are puffy balls. They are served as a light supper dish, perhaps with a salad. I like them as a side with a meat dish or as a lunch or brunch entree.

Olive oil lights.

I love Hanukkah, “The Feast of Lights”—so appropriate on a dark winter solstice evening to light up the room with candles and good food. I sometimes use old-fashioned olive oil lights on my dining table. These are cups partially filled with water and topped with about a finger’s depth of olive oil on which floats a tiny wick, called in Spain a mariposa, “butterfly.”

Tortillitas de Puerros
Leek Pancakes

This version of tortillitas includes cheese. Use semi-cured Manchego or any not-too-hard grated cheese. This can be made with grated zucchini in place of the leeks.

Fry the pancakes in batches, keeping them warm in a low oven until they are all prepared.

Makes about 15 small pancakes.

Leek fritters.

4 cups chopped leeks (about 1 pound)
3 tablespoons olive oil plus more for frying
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 eggs, beaten
½ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup grated Manchego cheese
¼ cup chopped parsley
Pinch of dried thyme

Sauté the chopped leeks in 3 tablespoons of oil until they are very tender. Season with salt and pepper.

Put the sauteed leeks in a bowl with the eggs, flour and baking powder. Stir to combine well. Stir in the grated cheese, parsley and thyme. (The batter can be prepared 2 to 3 hours before cooking.)

Place oil to a depth of ¼ inch in a heavy skillet and heat on medium fire. Add spoonfuls of the batter to the pan. Smooth them lightly to make discs and allow to cook until golden on the bottom. Turn the pancakes and brown them on the reverse side. Remove and drain on absorbent paper. Continue frying the pancakes, adding more oil to the skillet as needed. Serve hot.

Tortillitas de Espinacas
Spinach Fritters

These fritters can be made with either spinach or chard. I used chard from my garden, both stems and leaves. Cook them until tender so they are easily pureed. Drain well before combining with the other ingredients.

Makes about 20 small pancakes.

Spinach fritters.

2 cups cooked spinach or chard
2 eggs, separated
1 clove garlic
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons water
Pinch of cumin seed
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
Olive oil for frying

Place the spinach, egg yolks, garlic, flour, baking powder and water in a blender. Blend until fairly smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Place in a mixing bowl.

Beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. Beat in the vinegar. Stir a quarter of the egg whites into the spinach mixture and combine lightly. Then fold in the remaining whites.

Heat ¼ inch of oil in a heavy skillet. Drop spoonfuls of batter and flatten them slightly. Let brown on the bottom, then turn and cook reverse side. Drain on absorbent paper. Continue frying fritters, adding more oil to the skillet as needed. Serve the fritters hot or room temperature.