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| Duet of Gazpachos |
The plot was simple: invite seven of my best friends over for an
afternoon of Flamenco music and a Taste of Spain. What followed was reminiscent of an all-female
version of the Algonquin Round Table. Intelligent,
interesting, witty women with a passion for food, wine, the arts and men conversing
over a leisurely six course lunch.
The cast of characters included my favorite doctor, a
fashion editor, a fashion consultant, a documentary producer, the liaison to
the likes of Roger Federer & Rafa Nadal at the BNP Paribas Open here in
Indian Wells, and three fanatical foodies of indeterminate occupation. It was a diverse and animated group of women
capable of producing high decibel banter.
These women know I am capable of excess when it comes to food and
wine. So like proverbial girl scouts,
they came well prepared for the expected
Bacchanalia—each wore an outfit with an elastic waistband.
The setting was originally to be poolside given the weather
forecast of a balmy, but hardly wintery, 80 degrees. But a high wind warning made me cautious for
in similar conditions the previous weekend our patio furniture vacationed at
the bottom of our pool. Because we intensely
decorate for Christmas, years ago we agreed to keep the holiday decorations up
at least through Chinese New Year. So
the lunch was held amidst Santa’s of all ilk, Department 56 villages, and Mark
Roberts fairies, elves and monkeys. It
made for a rather festive setting and I revised the theme to “Flamenco music
and a Taste of Spain at Christmas.”
The Menu
First Course
Pane with Tomato
& Serrano Ham
Second Course
Paired with La Cana
Albarino 2010
Third Course
Paired with La Cana
Albarino 2010
Fourth Course
Seafood Fideua or
Fideuada – Catalonia and Valencia
Paired with Alto
Moncayo Varaton 2009 Garnacha & Montebuena Rioja Cosecha 2009
Fifth Course
Campo de Montalban,
Zamorano, La Serena Cheese Sampler with Marcona Almonds and Migos Figs
Sixth Course
and
Paired with whatever
wine remained
To my sous chef’s constant chagrin, I tend to over serve and
underestimate the time for preparing a meal.
Event preparations started on Friday, and we did what we could. But many of the dishes needed to be freshly
prepared to be at their best, so there was much work left on Saturday
morning. Ellen, my good friend and
fellow foodie, arrived bright and early to assist in preparations. My sous chef, who is a very busy attorney at
this time of year, was not intending to help further. But when he stopped in to see how Ellen and I
were doing, he grabbed a knife and, like an attorney, started barking orders
and calling out the time remaining. At
this point it felt like a Top Chef competition, but the buzzer would have
sounded and I would have been eliminated for not completing my dishes without
their help. With only moments to spare,
I was ready to greet my guests with a Manzanita cocktail and a platter of Pane
with Tomato & Serrano Ham.
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| Manzanita Cocktail |
The cocktail is inspired by a drink I had at Julian
Serrano’s Tapas Restaurant in Las Vegas.
The unique flavor of the Hendricks’s Gin (cucumber and rose), when
combined with the green apple puree and Lillet, creates a perfect balance of tartness, savory herb,
sweetness and floral notes. It is very refreshing cocktail and a great way to start the
festivities.
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| Pane with Tomato & Serrano Ham |
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| A couple bites in and rave reviews |
My guests raved about the Pane with Tomato & Serrano Ham. It is simplicity personified. Crisp, toasted bread (I used sourdough) is
rubbed with a garlic clove and tomato.
This infuses the bread with the essence of garlic and tomato but does
not make it soggy. Serrano ham is thinly
shaved and placed in ribbons on top of the bread. Manchego cheese curls garnish the finished
tapas. The ladies each ate one and
one-half servings, so there were no leftovers or even crumbs on the plates.
Next up was the Duet of Gazpachos. The first was Tichi’s Gazpacho and it has
been a tried and true favorite in our home ever since we first had it at Jose
Andres’ restaurant, The Bazaar, in Los Angeles.
Jose claims his wife Tichi captured his heart with this Gazpacho recipe. I am still waiting for my sous chef’s
proposal, but I have had many requests for the recipe. Ingredients are the key to great food and I
think it particularly important to use a suitable product when preparing a
regional recipe. To achieve the correct
balance and flavors of Spain, use Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Spanish
Sherry Vinegar.
The second gazpacho was another Jose Andres dish, Ajo Blanco
Malagueno, and it is the yang to Tichi’s Gazpacho’s yin. The flavor profile is completely different as
it consists of almonds and garlic with a garnishment of grapes. Since the texture and flavor are more on the
sweet side (since the heat of the garlic was dissipated by blanching), it was served in a shooter glass, milkshake
style. This sweetness offset the
tanginess of Tichi’s Gazpacho making them an irresistible pairing.
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| Rivera Inspired Cabbage Salad |
Rivera Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles has been a
favorite of mine since it opened, and anyone who has gone there on my
recommendation has not been disappointed.
I knew I was walking a tight rope with my next dish as I didn’t exactly
have a recipe for it and some of my guests may have tried this at Rivera. Not to worry, however. My ravenous ladies consumed all of the
Rivera-Inspired Cabbage Salad. Whew! This
salad is a flavorful combination of julienned red cabbage, chopped green
apples, crumbled Cabrales cheese and crispy lardons with a simple dressing of
Spanish Sherry Vinegar and Spanish Olive Oil.
The crunchy red cabbage, tart apples and the saltiness of the lardons
when combined with the strong, spicy flavor of the Cabrales cheese creates a burst
of flavors in your mouth that keep going and going. It’s kind of like a German symphony, only
shorter and more enjoyable.
I know that it is risky to try new recipes when
entertaining, but I cannot help myself and the Fourth Course is an
example. I have wanted to try many of
the recipes in Claudia Roden’s book “The
Food of Spain” and felt that today’s Round Table was a sufficiently adventurous group of foodies to
comprise the perfect venue. I have made paella
several times in the past, so the method was familiar. Valencia Paella includes rabbit, which is a
meat that I order frequently but had not prepared previously. It is a very lean meat with little fat. This paella also includes chicken thighs,
lima beans, saffron, tomatoes and
snails. Ellen and I followed Claudia Roden’s
recipe to the letter, with no improvisation as we home cooks normally do. The flavors were good, the paella rice was cooked
perfectly, and no one balked at the inclusion of snails and rabbit. However, we each felt it needed a little more
pizzazz. There is a strong Mexican
influence in Southern California cooking, so maybe our taste buds simply were
calling for a little spice through the addition of chorizo or pepper. Or maybe we don’t yet fully recognize and
appreciate the sophistication of Spanish cooking? One other note about this dish, after
browning the chicken and rabbit it looked like a grease bomb had exploded in
the kitchen – probably why they best paellas are made over an open flame in the
great outdoors.
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| Seafood Fideo |
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| Valencia Paella & Seafood Fideo |
It’s not a frequent occurrence when women take seconds, even
if they are starving. Something about
women suffering through hunger pangs in order to promote the perception of
dietary moderation. But in a most
unladylike fashion the group plowed through first and second helpings of the Seafood
Fideua like Sherman through Georgia, making it the clear winner of the paella
cook-off. This paella is a combination
of fideo (short pasta noodles found usually in the Hispanic food section) and a
panoply of seafood, including calamari, scallops and shrimp. The recipe called for monkfish, the “poor
man’s lobster,” but I could not find it locally and substituted langoustines
instead of the much more costly lobster.
The fideo noodles are cooked in a simple tomato and garlic sauce to
which I added some of the broth from the Paella Valencia. This married the two dishes nicely and gave
the fideo sauce a richness that you won’t get from chicken stock alone.
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| Spanish Cheeses with Wine - what could be better? |
Sated and grateful for elastic waistbands, the ladies needed
a respite to get their second wind.
Cheese course time! Cheese is not
normally used as a palate cleanser, but I felt it would be the perfect
transition from the Fourth Course as the cheeses matched well with the three
wines and had enough character to clear the taste buds. Zamorano is a sheep’s milk cheese that has
nutty characteristics and gets its dark color from being rubbed in olive oil
while being aged for six months. La
Serena Cheese – the most pungent of the group-- is made from sheep’s milk that
has been curdled using the coagulant found in the pistil of the artichoke, and
has a slightly bitter and salty taste.
This is not for the lighthearted, but is a great cheese when paired with
an appropriate glass of wine. Campo de
Montalban was mistakenly thought of as Manchego cheese up until 1985. It has a similar taste and texture, but is
unique as it consists of cow, goat and sheep’s milk.
After nearly four hours of dining, it was time for the
finale, a duo of desserts. Arnadi de
Calabaza is a traditional dessert that is served at Easter in the region of
Valencia. It has very complex flavors that
graduate from the sweetness of the pumpkin (or squash) and almonds to a finish
of lemon with a hint of cinnamon. It was
incredible and there was only one piece left at the end of the day. Crème de Manzana, or apple cream, was the
second dessert. It was a match made in
heaven for the slight tartness of the apples offset the sweetness found in the
other dish. Plus it was creamy and
elegant to boot. These desserts were
consumed with gusto and the plates were left clean as a whistle, always a good
sign that a dish was a success. Ellen
and I each thought that the Crème de Manzana would be a terrific base for a
rice pudding. And while the Arnadi de
Calabaza may not be our typical Easter fare, I can see this dish as an
alternative to pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving!
Five and one-half hours, six bottles of wine and six courses
later it was siesta time.
Not to brag, but my seven guests said their “number one pick
in the desert for dining” was my house.
Aren’t they a polite group? Flamenco,
A Taste of Spain at Christmas was officially a success.
Throwing an ambitious luncheon for eight is a team
effort. My sous chef and financier did
the shopping, paid for the ingredients, and assisted me in the kitchen. He was not particularly happy about having to
visit five markets to obtain the necessary ingredients and assuage my desire
for Spanish inspired table linens and decorations. (Note to everyone – it is probably easier to
find these amenities closer to Cinco de Mayo.)
Ellen assisted greatly in the
entire cooking process – it’s not often that you find friends who are willing
to be a co-hostess with you. Judy supplied
a terrific Albarino for our first two courses for which I am most grateful. And equally important to a great party are the
guests. I don’t have many shrinking
violets for friends, so lively conversation is always in store and adds to the
dynamic of a successful party. I’m
thankful to have such a great sous chef and friends in my life.
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| Wonder who will get the last serving - Sous Chef or Me???? |
Recipes:
Musical
Accompaniment:
Spanish Dinner Party
Music – available on iTunes for $9.99
Flamenco Guitar –
Carlos Montoya – available on iTunes for $24.95
To clean up:
Zac Brown Band - You Get What You Give - available on iTunes for $10.95
