Baja shrimp brochette with Pimenton and rosemary

Skewer shrimp(head on) on rosemary sprigs ;
Very lightly coat with olive oil;
Place on grill (med/high heat) untill shrimp start turning pink;
Turn once and cook just enough to see the colour change on the flip side;
Put on serving plate and baste with dressing
( Extra virgen olive oil, a bit of smashed garlic,chopped fres parsley,S&P and Spanish smoked paprika )
Squeeze a bit of lemon, pour a glass of good Traminer and enjoy

Corvina croquettes with cabbage and peach salad

Ok, this one really kicks a** :

Start with opening a really cold Corona or Pacifico.... good!}

For the croquettes: get corvina fillet ( or any othe white, mild and delicate fish..) and chop it up nice and fineusing a sharp knife. Do not use a food processor, because you will loose the texture.

In a bowl, mix it with 1 part bread crumbs, egg, chopped onion, cilantro, S&P.

Form your croquettes, bread them and fry them up in a mix of  half vegetable shortening and half corn oil (That's what I use in the deep frier).

For the salad: make a slaw with white and purple cabbage, green onion, carrot and small wedges of peach.

You might notice I did not salt the cabbage; I want to keep it crisp...

Toss with S&P,apple vinegar and enough sugar to balance.

For the sauce: Blend natural unsweetened yogourt, curry powder to taste and peach jam ( or prepared mango chutney if you feel fancy...  )

Perfect pairing? Tortillas and the rest of the 6pack of Corona you opened earlier!  HAHA!

Provecho!

Roasted shallot, goat cheese and mint bruschetta

A quick and easy recipe, ideal with a glass of red wine and good friends:

 Roasted shallot,goat cheese and mint bruschetta.
° Roast whole shallots in the oven, in their skin, until sweet and tender;
° In the meantime grill on medium heat 1/2 inch thick slices of rustic brread;
° Squeeze the shallots out of their skins and mix them with fresh goat cheese ;
... ° Smear the compost on the bread and sprinkle with freshly julienned mint leaves, and cracked blacked pepper .
° Drizzle liberally with the best extra virgen olive oil ;
° Make it look good and..enjoy

Sea snails (caracol chino) with herb butter and fried polenta.

This is my take on escargots. Locally we have a kind of sea snail known as Caracol Chino , but any kind will do.
It's a recipe about textures : the slight chewiness of the sea snails, the crispness of the crust on the polenta and the buttery-ness of the sauce.

Start by making a firm polenta and let it cool down in a baking pan.
Prep the snails and slice them really thin.
Prep the herbs : chop 3 parts of parsley and 1 part of tarragon ; use a sharp knife.
Dice some garlic, don't smash it.

From now on things will happen fast:

Cut polenta in the shape you like, dredge it in flour and deep fried it till a nice,crispy,golden crust forms. Reserve it on kitchen paper

Sautee garlic in plenty of butter and a splash of olive oil.

Add the snails, S&P, and a splash of white wine;  keep cooking till done and tender (around 5 mins. )

Add the herbs, a squeeze of lemon and give it a couple stirs and serve with the fried polenta.

FLY to the table and don'let it cool down!

I serve mine with pickled radish and a bit of tender lettuce...

A lighter red, like a Dolcetto or Barbera, or an important, crisp white would be great with it.
Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

Octopus meatballs with beet spaghetti

Great recipe for a week end dinner or a Sunday lunch with friends and family!

Spaghetti :
2 eggs
good splash of olive oil
pinch of salt
1 medium beet, roasted and peeled
2 cups of all purpose flour

Method:
Blend first 4 ingredients and pour into flour.
work it untill firm but elastic,adding a bit of water as needed.
Let rest in bowl, covered with film for 20 mins.
Roll out and cut in spaghetti (or any other shape you like...)

Meatballs:
1 lb Octopus (boiled with garlic,onion,bay,i dry chilly,s&p) and then chopped
1/3 lb bread crumbs.. real ones, not panko
1 egg
parsley,chopped,stem and all
splash red wine
splash olive oil
s&p
garlic and onion from the octopus boiling water

Method:
Toss all the ingredients in food processor and pulse untill a coarse paste forms.
Use reserve "stock" as needed to moisten

With oiled hands form meatballs, working the "paste" as little as possible...or they'll come out hard.
 
Quickly seared the meatballs in oil and add chopped tomatoes and some of the stok and simmer untill cooked through...10 to 15 mins.

Boil pasta, strain and toss in meatballs sauce.
Plate it ,put meatballs on top, sprinkle with fresh herbs (dill would be great...) and HOLD the cheese.
Glass of nice dry red, young, would fit the bill....Sangiovese?

Buon appetito

Scallops,prickly pear and passion fruit carpaccio

I was going through the old pictures of Opus' dishes and I found this...
It's a scallops (callo de hacha) carpaccio with purple prickly pear and passion fruit citronette.
Great eat with a fresh, floral white wine on a warm summer evening.
The dish pretty much speaks for itself and there's not really a recipe...

Scallops
Prickly pear
Passionfruit
Squeeze of lime
Good olive oil
 S/P