|
A Traditional Festive Spanish Dinner.
In Spain during the festive season, pull out all the stops and have a feast. Traditionally, although, obviously may vary, the menu includes such local ingredients as almonds, olive oil, Dorada (fish), red cabbage, turkey and turrón (sweets).
Menu. – Serves 8 people.
Almond soup
Baked Dorada and mixed salad
Roast turkey with red cabbage in wine and potatoes
Turrón and ice cream
Marzipan Sweets
Cheeses and fruits
Coffees and Brandies
Almond Soup
This recipe originates from the 16th Century, when King Fernando’s chef invented it.
Ingredients:
3 tbsp olive oil
125g blanched almonds
3 large onions- thinly sliced
1 litre chicken broth (boiling water and four chicken stock cubes)
Ľ litre dry white wine
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs of fresh parsley
˝ tsp ground cumin
8 slices of “barra” bread
250g Parmesan cheese- grated
125g sliced almonds-lightly toasted
Method:
In a large pot, heat the olive oil and saute the sliced onions until they are soft.
Add the chicken stock, parsley, bay leaves, salt and pepper and white wine.
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Grind the whole almonds using a pestle and mortar, then soak them for a few minutes in some of the stock, then grind them again.
Add these almonds to the pot, plus the cumin.
Cover and simmer for another 30 minutes.
Transfer the soup to a large shallow earthenware dish.
Heat the oven grill.
Add the bread slices, lightly toasted, and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
Put under grill until the cheese has melted.
Serve immediately accompanied with a dry white wine.
Tip: You may prepare this soup a day in advance up to the bread stage. Keep it covered with foil in the fridge. Just stick under a hot grill to melt the cheese.
Baked Dorada
This fish is a favourite addition to the Spanish Christmas Day meal. This is a Mediterranean Sea fish, otherwise known as Sea Bream, Besuga or Porgy. It is a succulent, meaty fish with small bones that are easily removed.
(Image of fish)
Ingredients:
8 Doradas or a large one
2 lemons cut into slices
Juice of two lemons
Coarse sea salt
White wine
Olive oil
Method
Clean the fish by slitting the belly open with a sharp knife so all the insides fall out-discard the insides.
Make two or three slits in the sides of each fish and insert the lemon wedges.
Sprinkle the fish with lemon juice and leave to sit for 30 minutes.
Pre-heat oven at 170 C.
In a shallow casserole dish warm 2tbsps of olive oil.
Add the fish and some white wine.
Sprinkle the fish with olive oil and cover with the salt.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
Serve with a mixed salad of lettuce, tomatoes, tuna, olives stuffed with anchovies, onion slices and white asparagus. Dress the salad with olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and freshly ground pepper. A dry white wine is a good accompaniment to this dish.
Roast Turkey with Red Cabbage in wine and potatoes
The turkey is the tradition and the red cabbage dish is typical of this region and always popular.
Ingredients:
1 6kg Turkey
4 cloves of garlic
Dried herbs such as oregano, thyme and rosemary
White wine
Method:
Heat the oven to 180 C.
Rub the garlic cloves on the outside of the turkey then place inside it along with a good sprinkling of the herbs.
Pour over the white wine.
Cook for 6hrs and 30 minutes (approx.), basting occasionally.
•
Prepare the red cabbage (this dish may be prepared a few days in advance and then frozen-defrost the day before and heat it up).
Ingredients for red cabbage:
1 red cabbage chopped
8 medium size potatoes- cut into cubes
2 large apples - diced
250g slab of bacon - diced
2 bay leaves
4tbsps red wine vinegar
100ml warm water
Fresh parsley chopped finely
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
2 tbsp margarine
Fresh chopped parsley and basil
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 160 C.
Steam the potato cubes until nearly soft.
Melt the margarine in a large bowl, in the microwave, for one minute
Add chopped cabbage, apple and bacon. Microwave (on full) for a further 2 minutes.
Add the fresh herbs and bay leaves, vinegar, water and pepper. Cook for 3 more minutes.
Pour the mixture into two shallow clay oven dishes and bake in the oven for 35 minutes, covered with foil.
Add the potatoes to the dish and cook for a further 10 minutes. Then it’s ready.
Serve with a light red wine.
Turrón and ice cream
This festive feast is complete with a dessert of Turrón. Turrón, or, “Jalfa”, is a nougat of Arabic origin, made with Spanish almonds and honey. (Buy it from a shop). There are many variations of Turrón. There are only two of the original version, one type that is soft and crumbly from the Jijona province. The other nougat is hard and crunchy, from Alicante.
Crumble the soft Turrón on top of vanilla ice cream for a really delicious dessert.
Spanish Cheeses and fruit.
Round off this classic menu with a selection of fresh fruits; grapes, apples and oranges.
Serve the fruits with “Manchego” cheese.
Finish with Espresso Coffee and a fine (every day) Spanish Brandy, such as “Veterano”, “Soberano” or “Magno”. These brandies are full of flavour and fruity. Accompany with Marzipan sweets.
“Happy Festive Season” |
