Artisanal Snacking a la Española

Not sure if that title is grammatically correct so native Spanish speakers feel free to call me out. But let's focus first on the delectable dish that is the star of this week's Artisanal Snacking post, straight from a tome that is the cooking equivalent of the bible within the culinary church that is my kitchen: Classic Spanish Cooking by Elisabeth Luard. It is chock-full of recipes that are waaaayyy off the beaten path - delightfully rustic, pastoral, countrified dishes that are the foundation of authentic Spanish cuisine, as discovered by Luard in the many years she spent living in and traveling across the Spanish countryside.

I won't lie - as much as I love the book I will likely never cook half the recipes that are in it, mostly due to the fact that they involve ingredients that I don't think I could handle "handling" in the kitchen: pigeon, chicken livers, tripe, oxtail...(gulp). But I've been cooking and eating my way through the "safe" half of the book with the utmost zeal, and there is one recipe in particular that I keep going back to, each time making it more spicy and pungent. It's almost as though I'm in a competition with myself each time I prepare it, asking "do I dare add more garlic/onions/pepper/sherry?" The answer is always a resounding, "um, yeah....duh." That is how the "kamikaze" version of this recipe was born.

Enough chit-chat. Here is the straight-up recipe for "Ensalada de mariscos" (seafood salad) from the book, followed by my modified "kamikaze" version that should only be undertaken by those who really love garlic and onion-y flavors (and don't mind reeking of it for days after). Prep directions for both are the same. Buen apetito!

Ensalada de mariscos:
1lb mixed cooked seafood
3 scallions or fresh green onions, thickly sliced
1 red or green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sherry or white wine vinegar
salt and freshly milled black pepper

"Kamikaze" ensalada de mariscos:
1lb cooked shrimp
1 entire bunch of green onions, thinly sliced and
chopped a bit, so as to further release its pungent, onion-y aroma
1 red and green bell pepper, seeded and diced
6-8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3-4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
4 tbsp olive oil (extra virgin is best)
2-3 tbsp sherry
sea salt and fresh black pepper

1. Pick over seafood and make sure all pieces are more or less the same size. Toss with the rest of the ingredients.
2. Leave the seafood salad in the fridge to marinate for a few hours or overnight.
3. Serve with fresh bread or (my favorite) water crackers

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Artisanal Snacking: Getting Figgy with It

Figs are the love of my life (and if my beau is reading this, I'm sorry...but you have to admit you kind of already knew this). And speaking of my beau, it was his sister Christina who provided me with my inspiration for this week's Artisanal Snack. Christina lives in Brooklyn, is one of the most immensely likable people I've ever met and has a lovely and delicate Amelie-esque quality about her. However what I find most impressive about her is the kick-ass urban garden she cultivates from the small window box area of her 3rd floor brownstone apartment. A few pictures for your viewing pleasure:


Kiwi, pomegranate and avocado trees; alpine strawberry plants; mint, rosemary, lemon basil, chives, oregano, and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting...lush, green and gorgeous - who says you can't garden in an urban setting? An inspiration indeed, and I'm honored to feature the snack that she casually posted about on Facebook last week that left me eager to put my own spin on it. Here is both her recipe and my version:

Figs à la Christina:
Fresh figs
mascarpone cheese
prosciutto
apricots

Cut figs in half and put on a cookie sheet face up, arrange the remaining ingredients on top (she liked the apricots with or without the prosciutto), put in the oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Figs à la Lola:
Basically the same as Christina's recipe, except I substituted brie for the mascarpone cheese and added fresh rosemary. The result is a rich and decadent appetizer or light main course. My only caveat is that the prosciutto and brie baked together made for a slightly oilier-than-desired result for me - but I am not a fan of the overly-oily. I think most people would find this incredibly delicious and savory. But next time I am going to keep the prosciutto out of the baking process and perhaps add it after the figs and brie have cooked.

Bon appétit! And merci beaucoup to Christina.

Artisanal Snacking

So Sunday's trip to the farmer's market yielded a big fresh bunch of asparagus, as I've been eager to try the snack suggestion that fellow blogger Preeti of Againbeborn was kind enough to leave in the comments section of last week's post. Her version, "7 Minute Asparagus," is as follows:

Pan fry snapped Asparagus with extra virgin olive oil
and freshly grated clove of garlic, after sprinkling Kosher Salt


Now it must be said that Preeti's version stands phenomenally on its own - definitely a candidate for the Artisanal Snacking Hall of Fame. I burnt the garlic and it was still delicious. I'm still figuring out the fine art of proper sautéing, and I love that she had "7 Minute" in the title of her snack, as that gave me a good reference for how long I should be working the asparagus and garlic. But being the artisanal snacking mad scientist that I am, I couldn't resist throwing a few of my own elements into the mix. I followed Preeti's recipe, then added thin slices of Manchego cheese atop a simple water cracker. And...voilà! I give you "7 Minute Aspara-chego":

Fresh asparagus
Garlic cloves
Olive Oil
(follow Preeti's recipe for cooking the above 3 ingredients)
Manchego cheese, aged 1 year (for a harder, sharper flavor, try the 6 months aged)
Water crackers

I know I'm breaking the "3 ingredient max" rule, but I don't really count spices, oils or crackers as part of the ingredients - those are mere "helpers." As mentioned last week, you are left to your own devices regarding portions and assembly, just be sure to add some flourish and flair with the presentation.

Give it a whirl, you won't be disappointed. Thanks again to Preeti - and to everyone else, don't be shy - leave a comment and share your snack.

Artisanal Snacking

I tend to overuse the word "artisanal" quite a bit, particularly when it comes to describing food, but I think that's because I love the images that the word conjures up in my head . For example, when I hear the word bread, I think of a loaf of Wonder Bread, tied up in a plastic bag, sad and soggy as it sits on the shelf under the fluorescent lights of a grocery store. But if I hear artisanal bread, suddenly it morphs into a gorgeous, fragrant, irregularly-shaped, fresh from the stone hearth, crusty on the outside, soft and warm on the inside loaf of heaven. Much like this beauty in the pic above.

When it comes to all forms of cooking, baking and snack preparing, I'm definitely in the "keep it simple" court. But simple doesn't need to equate to boring or uninspired. And so I've made it my mission to perfect the fine art of what I call "artisanal snacking": preparing little bites of 3-ingredient-max nibbles that leverage simple staples, but staples of the finest quality ingredients and (here's the key part) - assembled in the manner of a great chef (i.e. like a little work of art). Then, if you're me, once it's assembled you spend 20 minutes stumbling around trying to set up your camera to take the perfect picture of it for your blog, curse several times then finally just eat the snack out of frustration. Then you go back later once you've calmed down, recreate the snack and retake the pic. This is the sometimes ugly side of artisanal snacking.

But I digress. This will be a weekly feature, as this is part of my Sunday ritual after a trip to the farmer's market for my staple ingredients. Here is yesterday's snack. Oh, and one more thing - you need to give a name to the snack. So without further pause, I present "Basil Tomatorella":

Basil Tomatorella:
(All ingredients purchased at my local farmer's market)
- Buffalo mozzarella cheese (the kind that is suspended in water, not the vacuum-sealed kind at the grocery store)
- Red beefsteak tomatoes
- Fresh basil
-Pinch of sea salt and black pepper (to lightly season the tomato)


An optional add-in (shown in this second pic) - La Panzanella Rosemary Croccantini crackers, available at Whole Foods Market.


I've intentionally omitted how the ingredients are portioned out or assembled, as this is an exercise in free-form artistic creation. Also, please feel free to add your favorite artisanal snacks to the comments section, I'm always looking for new ideas.