theme: Tapas

From Tapas by Penelope Casas

Makes about 1 1/4 cups

1 egg plus 1 yolk
1/4 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, or a mixture of olive and another vegetable oil

Place in the bowl of a blender or processor the whole egg, egg yolk, mustard, salt, and lemon juice. Blend for a few seconds. With the motor running, pour in the oil very gradually and continue beating until thickened and silky.

From Tapas by Penelope Casas

Makes 4-6 servings

8 chicken wings or half a 3-pound chicekn, cut in tapas-size portions
4 tablespoons olive oil
8 large cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon brandy
1/2 teaspoon flour
2 tablespoons dry white wine
2 tablespoons chicken broth
kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon minced parsley
few strands saffron
3 peppercorns

Discard the wing tips and split the rest of the wings into two parts. Heat the oil in a skillet, add the wings and garlic cloves, and saute until the garlic is golden (remove the garlic as it is done and reserve in a mortar) and the chicken brown on all sides. Add the brandy and, standing well away, ignite, then sprinkle in the flour and stir in the wine, broth, and salt. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

In the mortar, make a paste of the garlic with the parsley, saffron, peppercorns and salt. Stir this mixture into the chicken, cover, and continue cooking for another 15 minutes.

May be prepared ahead.

From: Traditional and Contemporary Tapas Dishes – Parragon Publishing
Yield: 4 servings

4 large juicy oranges
1 large fennel bulb (very thinly sliced)
1 mild white onion, finely sliced
2 TB extra-virgin olive oil
12 plump black olives, pitted and thinly sliced
1 fresh red chili, deseeded and very thinly sliced (optional)
finely chopped parsley
French bread, to serve

1. Finely grate the rind from the oranges into a bowl and reserve. Using a small, serrated knife, remove all the white pith from the oranges, working over the bowl to catch the juices. Cut the oranges horizontally into thin slices.

2. Toss the orange slices with the fennel and onion slices. Wisk the olive oil into the reserved orange juice, then spoon over the oranges. Sprinkle the olive slices over the top, add the chili, if using, then sprinkle with the orange rind and parsley. Serve the slices of French Bread

3. The proportions of the recipe were off. I thought that it would have been way to much onion and Fennel so I only used some of them. I used extra olives. Also I juiced an extra orange because the recipe says to whisk the oil with the juice but there wasn’t any juice for when I prepared the oranges.