SOME LIKE IT HOT

 

Hot almond soup, quick to make with almond milk.

Last summer when I was sweltering I got the cool idea to make ajo blanco—white gazpacho with garlic and almonds—using store-bought almond milk. Never mind shelling a pile of almonds. The mood passed and I never tried it. Today I see that the expiry date on that carton of almond milk is a week away. I certainly don’t want it to go bad.

Transitioning into spring, I still want hot soup for lunch. Why not hot ajo blanco? Sounds weird, but it’s delicious! 

Almond milk is a product that has been around since medieval times. In Europe it cannot be labelled as “milk” (leche). It is labelled bebida de almendras, or "almond drink". The supermarket brand of almond milk that I purchased contains 4.5 percent almonds. The rest is water. It is fortified with vitamins. Almond milk needs to be refrigerated once opened and used within three days.  Almond milk is available both sweetened and unsweetened. For this recipe use unsweetened, unflavored almond milk. 

Chilled ajo blanco, a Málaga specialty, is usually served garnished with sweet muscatel grapes. I've used D.O. Málaga raisins  instead of grapes for the hot version. Málaga raisins need to be seeded. 

The soup is vegan, but can be embellished with chopped serrano ham or diced cooked chicken if desired. Fried sliced almonds and garlic chips make a crunchy garnish. Serve croutons of fried bread to accompany. The soup makes a lovely starter for a dinner party.

You can make the soup in advance, but you will need to blend it again before reheating as it becomes lumpy in cooling. Thin it with water if needed.

To make croutons of fried bread to accompany the soup: Cut 1 or 2 slices of bread into 3/8-inch dice. In a small skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and fry the diced bread, turning, until golden on all sides. Skim out and reserve the croutons.

I may yet try making chilled White Gazpacho using almond milk. Summer is right around the corner.

Garnishes make the soup: slivered almonds, garlic chips and sweet Málaga raisins.  A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve croutons of fried bread to accompany the soup.

The soup is vegan, but you can garnish with chopped ham if you like.

Hot and Savory Almond Soup

Ajo Blanco Caliente

Swap almond milk for almonds.

Serves 4.

4 ounces bread (6 baguette slices) + more if making croutons of fried bread

6 cups unsweetened almond milk

¼ cup Málaga muscatel raisins

3-4 cloves garlic

1/3 cup olive oil + additional to finish

¼ cup sliced almonds

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar

Croutons of fried bread

Break or slice the bread into chunks. Place them in a bowl or pan and add 3 cups of the almond milk. Let the bread soak until softened, 15 minutes.

Remove stems and seeds from the raisins and set them aside. (If using raisins that are very dry, soak them in hot water to cover for 5 minutes.)

Coarsely chop 1 or 2 cloves of the garlic and add to the bread. Slice remaining 1 or 2 cloves of garlic crosswise. Heat the oil on medium heat in a small skillet. Add the almonds and sliced garlic. Fry them until golden. Remove the skillet from the heat and skim out the almonds and garlic onto a paper towel. Reserve them to garnish the soup. Let the oil cool.

Use an immersion blender to blend the bread, almond milk, and garlic until very smooth. Blend in 2 cups of the remaining almond milk, salt, and vinegar. With the blender running, slowly add the oil. 

Place the pan on medium-high heat, stirring frequently. When the soup begins to simmer, lower heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. The soup will thicken as it cooks. Add remaining almond milk (or water) to thin it to desired consistency.

Ladle the hot soup into bowls. Garnish with raisins, fried almonds and garlic. Drizzle a little oil on top. Serve accompanied by croutons.

More recipes for ajo blanco and other versions of almond soup:

Chilled ajo blanco with grapes.

The real deal, White Gazpacho with Grapes. Chilled almond-garlic soup garnished traditionally, with grapes.

Ajo Blanco Sauce with Grilled Chicken and Figs.

Cold Almond Cream (Mazamorra).

White Gazpacho with Pine Nuts.

Black and White Garlic Gazpacho.

Savory Almond Soup.

Sweet Almond Soup.

Almond-Gazpacho Sorbet.

BEFORE THERE WERE TOMATOES—

Córdoba, capital of the 10th century Moorish caliphate, is known for the dish of salmorejo, a thick tomato-based gazpacho cream. Once a meal for field hands working in the olive groves, wheat fields and vineyards of Andalusia, salmorejo today is served in tapa bars and restaurants with garnishes such as exquisite ibérico ham or chunks of tuna. 

The origins of salmorejo are Moorish. But, hang on. There weren’t any tomatoes back then. Tomatoes, “discovered” in the New World after Columbus, did not become widely cultivated in Spain until the 18th century. Indeed, the original salmorejo contained no tomatoes. It was probably first a simple gruel made by Roman legionnaires, of bread crushed with olive oil and garlic. The Moors, who introduced almond trees to the Iberian peninsula, added ground almonds to the bread, creating a dish far more appetizing and nourishing.

Mazamorra is a savory almond cream, chilled and garnished with ham, egg and olives.

Known as mazamorra, this white almond cream is to salmorejo as the white cold soup with almonds, ajo blanco (“white garlic”), is to tomato gazpacho—its precursor.

Green almonds, before the fibrous shells have hardened. The nut kernel can be used in place of shelled almonds.

Mazamorra was originally made in a wooden bowl by pounding the almonds with a mallet or pestle (the maza). Nowadays it is easily confected in a blender or food processor. It can be made with “green” almonds where available. Or, in place of almonds, pine nuts, dried fava beans, carob, lupin beans or vetch. Originally poor folks’ food, mazamorra was made with whatever was available in season.

Because it is a Cordoban dish, I recommend that you use extra virgin olive oil from Córdoba. The Picual variety has a fresh, fruity flavor with just a little bite. By the same reasoning, vinegar from the Córdoba wine region of Montilla-Moriles would be the preferred choice, although Sherry or other wine vinegar can be used. Unlike ajo blanco, which has “garlic” right in its name, mazamorra has a very gentle hint of garlic. The bread should be a dense crumb country loaf. How much water is needed to convert the bread and almonds to a thick cream depends on the bread and the power of your blender. The consistency of the mixture should be a thick cream or stiff mayonnaise.

Serve the mazamorra in shallow bowls or ramekins.

Variations on the garnish, clockwise from the top, sliced apple, vegetable crisps, and diced ham and melon balls.

Serve the almond cream as a party dip with vegetable dippers.

Vegetable crisps (carrot, kale, beet) add crunch to the smooth cream.

Use the mazamorra as a sauce or salad dressing. Delicious on this salad of diced chicken, nectarines, toasted almonds, chives and salad greens.

Serve mazamorra very cold as a starter in small bowls garnished with chopped ham, hard-cooked eggs and olives. Like ajo blanco which is served garnished with Málaga muscatel grapes, mazamorra also goes nicely with sweet fruits. Try melon, mango or ripe figs. Or turn it into a dip accompanied by vegetable dippers. Or, use it as a sauce or salad dressing.

Cold Almond Cream, Córdoba Style
Mazamorra Cordobesa

Serves 6 as a starter.

Almonds, garlic, bread and oil.

4 cups (8 ounces) fresh bread crumbs
1 ½ cups cold water plus additional as needed
1 cup blanched and skinned almonds (see below)
1 large clove garlic
1 ½ tablespoons Sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup extra virgin olive oil plus additional to finish
Garnishes: chopped serrano ham, hard-boiled egg and black olives

Place the bread crumbs in a bowl and add the water. Stir to moisten the bread and let it set 10 minutes to soften. Add the almonds, garlic, vinegar and salt. Process in a blender or food processor until almonds are ground and the mixture is a thick paste. Blend in the oil. Add additional water, a spoonful at a time, to make a thick cream. Refrigerate the cream.

Serve the almond cream in shallow bowls or ramekins garnished with chopped ham, egg and olives. Drizzle with additional olive oil.

Two ways to blanch and skin almonds: Soak the shelled almonds in water to cover overnight OR drop them in boiling water for 1 minute. Pinch off the brown skins leaving the white almonds.

Green almonds in June. Earlier in the spring the whole almond is edible--outer pod, immature shell and gelatinous kernel. I used a handful of the kernels with regular shelled almonds to make the mazamorra.

Related recipes for salmorejo, porra and ajo blanco:

White Gazpacho (Ajo Blanco con Uvas).

Grilled Chicken with Figs and Ajo Blanco Sauce.

Ajo Blanco with Apples.

Ajo Blanco for Michelle Obama.

Ajo Blanco with Pears.

Gazpacho Cream (Salmorejo).

Fava Bean Cream (Porra).

Gazpacho Cream with Mango (Porra). 

COOKING WITH ANNIE B

Annie pours Sherry in the kitchen.

Annie opens a bottle of chilled manzanilla Sherry and pours a round. It’s our first copa of the day, after completing the messy task of gutting and boning a heap of silvery fresh anchovies.

This is fish day at Annie B’s cooking class in the white village of Vejer de la Frontera (Cádiz province, Andalusia). Annie B is Anne Manson, who left her corporate catering company in London to move to Spain. She fell in love with an 18th century house in Vejer, turned the salon into a big kitchen and has been hosting cooking courses and Sherry tasting classes ever since.

Market orientation with Annie, in Barbate.

We start our day at the mercado de abastos, main market, in the nearby port town of Barbate, tagging along with Annie from seafood stalls to produce stands. Annie selects four gorgeous fish—two types of bream and two types of sea bass. We are going to bake all four in a crust of sea salt, so Annie tells the vendor to gut the fish but leave head, scales and fins intact.

At another stall we buy boquerones, fresh anchovies, and at yet another, clams. At a fruit and vegetable stand, Annie buys bunches of skinny asparagus spears to roast as a side dish and strawberries grown in nearby Conil to serve with cake. The vendor cuts open a small yellow melon and hands out samples to our group. So sweet. I buy one for the next day’s breakfast.

Local produce at the Barbate market.

Back at the capacious kitchen table, Annie gives us the day’s recipes. This four-day course is called “Mediterranean Low-Carb Delicious,” presenting appetizing and healthful summer dishes that are mainly gluten-free. “No bread today,” Annie reminds us. Our first task is to mix up a flourless chocolate and almond cake so it can bake while we get on with other prepping.

“This cake is the only thing I make that’s not with olive oil,” says Annie, as she creams butter and sugar in a blender. One of us whizzes almonds, cocoa and chocolate in a food processor.

Mixing up a flourless chocolate-almond cake.

She shows how to line a springform mold. Annie, who is Scottish, calls it a “spring tin,” with Bakewell paper (baking parchment to Americans). A few “conversions” of measures and nomenclature must be negotiated. We are all women in the class—two Canadians, an American, four from England (one via Hong Kong, another via Almería, Spain). (Two men have accompanied their wives to Vejer, but are not joining the cooking class.)

Once the cake is in the oven (Annie sets a timer, but she advises, “You’ll know it’s done when you press it, it springs back like the tip of your nose.”) we are introduced to a classic Andalusian dish, ajo blanco, a white garlic cold soup made with almonds. Annie’s version is made without bread. Lots of almonds and, a secret ingredient, apples, gives the soup consistency.

Take the center out of garlic cloves.

Annie shows how to remove the inner green shoot from each garlic clove, to avoid any bitterness. She also points out that, once peeled, apples turn dark. “Their skins protect them from oxidizing. It’s like Sherry fino, the layer of yeast that forms on the top keeps the wine from oxidizing.”

Chopping apples, garlic, to blend with almonds for soup.

We taste the soup. Wow! that’s a powerful wallop of garlic! Although only two cloves were used, the flavor is biting. Then Annie adds a spoonful of salt and a splash of Sherry vinegar. Another taste. The vinegar balances the sweetness of the apples and tames the sharpness of the garlic. Annie has her vinegar in a spray bottle and gives us a squirt on the back of our hands to taste. What a good idea, the spray bottle.

The ajo blanco goes into the fridge to chill. It will be served garnished with frozen grapes, a nice touch.

We whip up a quick salsa verde (green sauce) to serve with our main fish dish. Extra virgin olive oil into the blender, then spinach, parsley, mint, oregano, capers, Dijon mustard and a squirt of lemon. “Always start by blitzing the olive oil,”says Annie, “then add the herbs gradually to the oil. That way you’re extracting the herbs’ flavor, not their bitterness.”

Annie shows how to fillet an anchovy.

Preparing fresh anchovies.

And, it’s on to the anchovies. Annie demonstrates how to pinch off the heads, remove the guts and lift out the spines. Easy-peasy, but messy. We are all game to try. “When you finish, I’ll serve the Sherry,” she tells us. The anchovies are layered with salt and white wine vinegar. They will marinate overnight, then get dressed with olive oil and chopped garlic and parsley.

Annie keeps aside some of the anchovies, dusts them lightly with flour and pan-fries them in an instant. Along with mojama, thinly sliced air-dried tuna, we enjoy our first nibbles served with the manzanilla, a Sherry from Sanlucar de Barrameda.

Annie, who is a qualified Sherry educator (she also has a cooking and Sherry course), tells us a little about this famous Andalusian wine. “If you go into a bar and ask for a “Sherry,” they’ll just look at you blankly. You have to be specific—a manzanilla, a fino, an amontillado, a palo cortado.”

The first pour is La Guita Manzanilla from Sanlucar de Barrameda, followed by fino Domecq la Janda from Jerez and Gutierrez Colosia Fino from El Puerto de Santa María. We have triangulated the Sherry region nicely.

Jenny samples the clams with Sherry.

While we are sipping, Annie’s assistant, Pepi, prepares her version of almejas a la marinera, clams in wine sauce. Instead of diced ham, this version has a spoonful of pimentón de la Vera, smoked paprika. The wine, of course, is Sherry. The sauce is so delicious that Annie relents and gives us some chunks of bread to mop up the juices.

Glistening fresh sea bass, one of four fish to be baked in salt.

Now, it’s on to the plato principal! Four fish baked in salt.  Annie does the first one, showing how to place it on a bed of coarse sea salt, then cover it with salt, leaving a fin sticking up and an eye uncovered. “They are your thermometer,” she explains. “If you can easily pull out the fin, it’s done. If the eye is white and opaque, the fish is cooked.”

Hands-on, patting sea salt on the fish. (From left, Jenny, Geraldine, Helen and Sue.)

View from the roof terrace--Vejer spreads out, the Atlantic coast beyond.

While the fish bakes, it’s time to climb the steps to the top of the house, where lunch is served on the roof terrace. What a view! We look out on rooftops of the village of Vejer and, almost visible in the haze, the Atlantic ocean. We enjoy the chilled ajo blanco soup, served into short glasses, garnished with frozen grapes.

Crack the salt crust to spoon out moist fish. (From left, Carol, Annette, Geraldine, Jenny.)

Scooped off the bones, moist fish.

Back in the kitchen, the trays of baked fish are resting. We gather round to crack the hard salt casing, lift it off with the skin and scales, then scoop the moist flesh onto serving dishes.


To finish, we have the chocolate-almond cake with Sherry-soaked raisins spooned over, a dollop of crème fraiche and the sweetest strawberries ever. Gorgeous with a copita of PX, a liquid raisin wine.

Carol enjoys cake and PX wine.

The cooking class and lunch is supposed to finish by 4:30, but it’s almost 6 pm before we wend our way down village streets to our hotels. And, we’ll be meeting again in a few hours for a tapas crawl in Vejer bars with Annie.

Streets of Vejer.

Ajo Blanco
Chilled White Garlic and Almond Gazpacho

Serves 4.

Grapes
½ medium apple, peeled, quartered and cored
100 grams blanched almonds (3 ½ ounces)
2 medium peeled garlic cloves, center stalk removed
300 ml bottled water (1 ¼ cups)
75 ml fruity extra virgin olive oil (1/3 cup)
1 ½ tablespoons Sherry vinegar
Salt

Wash and cut the grapes in half, de-seed and freeze.

Put the almonds, garlic and half the apple in a blender and whiz until paste is formed.

With the motor running slowly, add the water. Add the oil and vinegar. Finally add the remaining apple to allow for some crunchy texture. Season with salt.

Transfer to pitcher or bowl and chill for 2 hours.

Serve with frozen grapes.

Flourless Chocolate and Almond Cake

This dense chocolate cake is served topped with raisins that have been soaked in sweet PX Sherry. Annie keeps a jar of them macerating all the time, adding more wine or raisins as they are used.

Serves 6-8.

50 grams cocoa powder ( ½ cup + 1 tbsp)
100 grams dark chocolate (3 ½ ounces)
120 grams peeled almonds (4 ounces)
100 grams butter (3 ½ ounces)
100 grams sugar (9 tablespoons)
3 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
Icing sugar

Raisins macerated in Pedro Ximenez Sherry
Crême Fraiche

In a food processor, blend the chocolate and cocoa with the almonds into a grainy mixture. Pour into a bowl.

In the same blender, cream the butter and the sugar for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and mix in the chocolate almond mixture until well combined.

Coat a 20-22cms (8-9 in) spring tin with bakewell paper. Fill with the chocolate mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Turn onto a serving dish, cool and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Serve with crême fraiche and PX soaked raisins.

Check out Annie’s web site for dates of upcoming cooking courses.http://www.anniebspain.com/

VEN A LA COCINA (COME INTO MY KITCHEN)

Here I am in my kitchen in Spain. The video clip comes from a TV program, Diez Razones Para Ir a Mijas (10 Reasons to Go to Mijas), that aired recently on Canal Sur television in southern Spain.

I am reason number eight. Well, not me exactly. I along with two other expats (a Swiss and a Japanese) represent the village’s resident foreigners. I am preparing ajo blanco con uvas, white gazpacho with grapes, (the recipe is here) to serve to my guests. We expats sit around the kitchen table and talk about what we like about life here in Andalusia and what we like to eat. It’s all in Spanish!



In another segment on the show, a cook in a local bar prepares salmorejo, a favorite tapa, a salad of oranges, salt cod, onions and olives.  (A recipe for that salad is here. In my version, also called ensalada malagueña, I swapped shrimp for the salt cod.)

Reason Número Uno? The famous Burros Taxis that carry tourists on a loop around the plaza get first place. Should you wish to watch the whole program (about 30 minutes), the link is here.

GAZPACHO FOR MICHELLE OBAMA

Photo from Málaga Hoy/EFE

Michelle Obama is vacationing on the Costa del Sol (southern Spain)! She and younger daughter, Sasha, and some friends are staying at a posh resort hotel in a village just a few miles up the road from where I live.

Although the American press has almost nothing to say about Michelle Obama’s trip—except to wonder why she’s not with the president on his birthday—here in Spain her visit is the story of the week, if not the month. In spite of tight security, crowds are lining up to wave and call out to her: “Guapa, guapa!” (gorgeous). (She did look gorgeous in a flowered belted tunic.)

I am intrigued that she is here and very interested to know if she’s tasting really great Spanish food. Here’s what’s been on Michelle’s menu so far.

Dinner out in the old town of Marbella (Restaurante Buenaventura), Michelle and her party dined on the patio, ordering fresh fish and shellfish, finishing with a warm chocolate cake and torrijas de almendras (custardy fried toasts with almonds).  They drank a red wine from Ribera del Duero and finished with sweet Málaga moscatel. During dinner, she received a call from Barak Obama—and everybody sang Cumpleaños Feliz.

On Thursday, the party traveled by motorcade to Granada. With the temperature at 40ºC (104ºF), they stopped for ice cream (Michelle, triple-chocolate cone) before visiting the Cathedral (which contains the tombs of the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabel, who funded Columbus’s voyages).  Then to the caves of Sacromonte for a private flamenco performance. There, the First Lady reportedly danced a few steps por soleás.

Reversing the usual Spanish timetable, the group had a very early dinner at the Parador San Francisco within the gardens of the Alhambra palace. Then, in the cool of the evening, they toured the Moorish Alhambra.

The tasting menu at the parador reflected the Moorish heritage. To start were a trio of cold soups—traditional Andalusian gazpacho with tomatoes, Moorish-inflected ajo blanco con uvas, a white gazpacho made with almonds and garnished with grapes, and a cold melon soup with fresh mint. Next was a pastry filled with vegetables and spiced chicken, then monkfish in mozarabe style with a sauce of raisins and pinenuts. The main course was cabrito de Guejar Sierra con ajo y piminetos secos, baby kid from the sierra with garlic and dried peppers.

Today Michelle and Sasha are at the beach. On the midday news, I saw video of Sasha splashing in the Mediterranean. I hope they had grilled sardines for lunch!

And, I hope to hear if Michelle enjoyed Spanish food.

Here are two recipes from Michelle Obama’s visit to Andalusia, Spain.

White Gazpacho with Grapes
Ajo Blanco con Uvas

Serves 4.

6 ounces stale bread (about 2 ¾ cups packed bread crumbs)
1 cup almonds, blanched and skinned
3 cloves garlic
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
5 tablespoons wine vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
12 muscatel grapes, halved and seeded

Soak the bread in water until softened.

Place the almonds and garlic in the container of a food processor and pulse until almonds are finely ground.

Squeeze out the bread, discarding the crusts, and add it to the processor. Blend to a smooth paste.

With the motor running, add the oil in a slow stream, then the vinegar and salt. Beat in ½ cup of water, then pour the mixture into a tureen, wooden bowl or pitcher and add the 2 ½ cups of cold water. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt or vinegar if needed. The soup should be fairly tangy.

Serve immediately or chill the gazpacho. Stir before serving into bowls garnished with grapes.

Baby Kid, Granada Style
Cabrito al Estilo de Granada
   
If you are unable to buy kid-goat, try this recipe with lamb chops. Make sure they are well trimmed of excess fat. You really only need the nugget of tender flesh. The dried peppers in the traditional recipe are called ñoras. They are plum-sized, bittersweet (not hot). They are fried or soaked in water, then the flesh scraped. Use a big spoonful of pimentón (paprika) if ñoras are not available.

Serves 4.

2 pounds kid, cut up, or lamb chops
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon pimentón (paprika)
2 slices bread, crusts removed
1 cup white wine
4 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dry oregano, crumbled
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a skillet and quickly fry the kid or lamb chops until browned on both sides. Remove the pan from heat. Drain off excess fat. Stir pimentón into the pan.

Place bread, wine, garlic, cumin and oregano in blender container. Allow bread to soften for 5 minutes, then process until smooth. Pour this mixture into the skillet with the meat. Add 1 cup of water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer the lamb chops for 10 minutes.