Food Porn

I walked in the front door and confronted a huge bowl of paella. At least, I thought it was paella. The perfectly shaped peas, bell peppers that seemed to glow, glistening mushrooms, and rice coated with a creamy golden sauce — as well as few things I couldn’t immediately identify — had me salivating in moments. Paella or not, I know it was Spanish because emblazoned across the book’s cover was Spanish. In smaller type below the title I read, “150 mouth-watering step-by-step recipes.”

I bought it, of course. The book was filled with simple, genuinely “mouth-watering,” recipes as well as gorgeous pictures. I opened the book and read about Banderillas, a tapa composed of olives, anchovies, and cornichons and featuring a photo that seemed to spill from the page. Another recipe offered Flash-Fried Squid — a significant weakness of mine. Delving deeper there was an exquisite photograph of an avocado, orange, and almond salad. And the Pan-Fried Sole with Lemon and Capers I already knew (tilapia is a good substitute in the US). And what right-thinking Southerner could resist a recipe for Empanada that include pork and sausage in a cornmeal-based pastry shell? I was hooked. The bargain price of $2.99 was irrelevant. I would have paid ten times that without a further thought.

I seldom buy cookbooks anymore (as opposed to books about cooking and eating — which I still buy). When I need ideas I hit the Internet. It’s fast, offers a huge range of recipes, and it’s easy to crib an idea here, a technique there, and an ingredient over yonder and quickly combine them into a recipe that meets my needs.

But this book… I took it home and drooled over it for a week before deciding where to start — what to cook first. And now that I’ve begun, I’ve picked the next three recipes to try. And marked three more for later — including one I plan for my birthday at the end of September. This, my friends, is a cookbook.

Last night I made Cochifrito and Patatas Bravas. Mmmm… Good food. In fact, seriously good food.

Cochifrito

1 3/4 lb well-trimmed lamb — cut into strips
2 tbsp olive oil
1 ea onion — diced
2 cloves garlic — chopped
1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
2 ea lemons — juiced
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
salt and black pepper to taste

Season lamb with salt and pepper. Heat oil over medium high heat in a large frying pan. Brown the lamb, adding the onion about halfway through. Add the garlic and sprinkle with paprika and lemon juice. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Adjust seasonings and serve, garnished with parsley.

Patatas Bravas

1 1/2 lb small new potatoes (about 2″ diameter)
5 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic — sliced
3 ea dried chilies — seeded and chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
2 tbsp red or white wine vinegar
1 ea red or green bell pepper — seeded and sliced
salt to taste

Boil potatoes until tender — about 10 minutes. Drain and quarter.

Using a mortar and pestle grind together garlic, cumin, chilies, and paprika. Add vinegar.

Heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add potatoes and bell pepper and brown potatoes. Stir in vinegar mixture, taking care to coat all potatoes. Add salt to taste and serve.

Technorati: Food | recipe | lamb | main dish | potatoes | side dish | cochifritos | patas bravas | spain | spanish

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