As I write this, much of the East Coast has been embroiled in a heatwave that can only be described as soupy. When I made my weekly walk over to Whole Foods, I came back red as a beet not from the sun, but from exertion and I was completely drenched. (I was also grouchy…
Category: tapas
Potato chip tortilla with gorgonzola and pancetta: an Italian-Spanish hybrid.
Sometimes when I’m trying to figure out my Thursday dinner I’ll pivot to eggs, and one of my go-tos is making a potato chip tortilla. I first encountered it in Ferran Adria’s Cocinar en Casa where he promises a 7-minute tortilla for home cooks, and I remember there were bloggers who were deeply skeptical of…
Quasi-rossejat/fideuà with bay scallops and guanciale with roasted garlic allioli.
Pasta isn’t an ingredient you see in much of Spanish cuisine with the exception of Catalonia (and Valencia). According to José Andrés in his book Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America, this dates back to when the Catalonians invaded northern Italy and took back some Italian ingredients with them, but it’s also important to…
José Andrés’s Catalan sausages with pressure cooker beans.
If you travel out of New York City on Amtrak these days, you’re likely to end up in the Moynihan Train Hall part of Penn Station. Taking over what was the Farley Post Office Building, it’s a beautiful, soaring structure meant to be reminiscent of the old Penn Station that was knocked down in favor…
José Andrés’s spring leeks with mushrooms from Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America.
Sometimes I’m at a loss for inspiration on what to make for dinner, and that’s when I usually turn to my tapas books to spark my imagination. It may seem counterintuitive to pick several dishes to make instead of just one or two, but I’ve found that once I select one, I can more easily…
The Landshark Beach Chips Tortilla inspired by the Margaritaville Beach Resort.
The great thing, at least to me, about being inspired by the food you eat while traveling is that you never know what’s going to strike your fancy. Certain places might spark some more obvious dishes, like when we go to Barcelona and Saint Sebastian, but others can catch me completely off-guard, and that’s what…
Tuscan salmon tartare as inspired by Nigellissima.
As mentioned in a previous post, on most Wednesdays we’ve been enjoying variations on ceviches, tiraditos, and even straight-up raw fish dishes. Normally I’d try switching things up on the fish front, but to be honest we’ve been doing really well with salmon–our Whole Foods has been able to stock some great fish at a…
Basque-style montaditos of crème fraîche, sun-dried tomato puree, and anchovies.
Sun-dried tomatoes deserve to make a comeback: there, I said it. I know that they went from a trendy restaurant ingredient in the 80s to being completely overdone in the 90s and 00s, but it’s 2021, we’re emerging from a pandemic, and I think enough time has passed that we can give them another go….
Roasted shrimp cocktail with roasted tomato cocktail sauce inspired by Ina Garten and Tom Colicchio.
When it became absolutely clear that we were not going to be going anywhere for Thanksgiving back in November, I wasted no time in planning a good meal for us that would be a combination of our favorite foods: roasted duck legs, green bean casserole (for Michael), roasted mushroom soup (for me), tortellini, a Basque-style…
Brunch bites: José Andrés’s quail eggs in toast with yogurt sauce and fish roe.
The first time I ever encountered the concept of fried eggs cooked in a piece of toast was the season two episode of Top Chef in which Sam Talbot makes “toad in a hole” for a bunch of hungry surfers on the beach. Growing up, the only egg dishes that existed at my house were…
The Manhattan [food] Project 