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Apples in wine

Ingredients for 6 people: 6 apples, 1/2 litre of strong red wine, 2 cinnamon sticks, sugar, water.

 

Skin the apples and dice them in four. Pour in a pot the 1/2 litre of wine, 1/2 litre of water, and the cinnamon sticks. Submerge the apples in the wine mixture . Add sugar to taste. Bring it to boil in medium fire for 1/2 hr, until the apples are tender and red. Take the cinammon out, and let them cool down before serving. Serve the apples with the wine sauce.

Further questions and comments:

  • Itziar Uribarri & George Giraco (11 Sep 1996): " Por cierto, tu receta de manzanas al vino nos ha parecido muy original. Quieres decir que no son peras al vino. Por lo menos en Getxo hacen peras al vino y no manzanas !!!"

    Sí, quiero decir manzanas, pero estoy segura de que las peras al vino están también muy ricas...

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Guacamole

Ingredients: 4 large avocados, 1 medium onion finely chopped, 2 small tomatoes cut in very small squares, 2 tablespoons of chopped coriander, 1 tablespoon of lime juice, 2 Serrano peppers finely chopped, salt to taste

 

Peel the avocados and soften with a fork and mix with the rest of ingredients. Keep a stone in the pot if you don't want it to go black with time.

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Gazpacho

Ingredients: 1 kg red peeled tomatoes, 1/2 small onion, 1/2 cucumber, 1 small pepper, 1/4 kg dry bread (soaked in water), 1 clove of garlic , 1/2 cup of olive oil, 2 spoons of vinegar, salt to taste, cold water and ice.

 

Blend all the ingredients and place the soup in the fridge until cold. You can chop some onion, pepper and tomato and offer it with the soup to add on just before serving it. Add the ice cubes then.

Notes:

  • I offen freeze the remaining gazpacho in cubes (with the ice cube box) and then just defreeze whatever I am going to eat at one time.

  • In order to peel the tomatoes easily, insert them for a few seconds (about 15) in boiling water.

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Pisto

Ingredients for 4 people: 2 big green peppers, 2 big courgettes, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, one 500 gr can of chopped tomatoes in sauce, 2 eggs, salt, pepper, oil.

 

In a deep pot, saute minced garlic and the chopped onion in oil until translucent. Add chopped peppers and courgettes. Stir for a couple of minutes. Pour the tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let it boil in the tomato sauce for 1/2 hr, stirring frequently. If you notice that it is sticking, add a bit of water, but not much. After the 1/2 hr, pour the two eggs and stir out of fire.

Notes:

  • Pisto keeps well in the refrigerator, and it actually gains in flavour when left overnight. However, if you are going to store it, don't add the eggs. Add them later when you re-heat it.

  • Pisto can have many more ingredients. My aunts usually add chopped potatoes and grated carrots too.

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Marmitako

Ingredients for 6 people: 1 Kg of fresh tuna (bonito variety - the meat has to have blood colour), 1 Kg potatoes, 1 green pepper, 4 dry "chorizero" red peppers (available in Basque and Italian shops, but the Mexican sweet "guajillos" are my favourite for this recipe), 2 medium onions, 2 bay leaves, salt, oil.

 

Saute chopped onions and green peppers in oil until tender. Chop the potatoes in big chunks, and stir them in the onion and pepper mixture, still on the fire. Add the bay leaves. Add water and salt, to taste, and bring the water to boil. The potatoes have to cook at medium fire for approx 30 min. On a separate pan, boil the red peppers on the whole for a few minutes. Spoon out the pulp of the red peppers and throw away the skins. Mix the finely chopped pulp with the boiling potato stew. Stir until the water takes a uniform redish color. Dice the tuna in 2cm cubes, and add salt to it before placing it in the pot. Let it boil for 5 extra minutes. Take the bay leaves out, and serve.

Notes:

  • A successful marmitako should have the potatoes on the whole and not much water left.

  • 'Break' the potatoes instead of completely chopping them, as explained in the notes of the Porrusalda recipe.

  • If you don't find red morron peppers, do it without them, it will be tasty as well.

marmitako mex (adaptación)

Ésta es una receta típica de los pescadores vascos de altura. Os aviso que mis tías (excelentes cocineras, por cierto) están escandalizadas de que yo le ponga laurel. Para los realmente tradicionalistas, es mejor no agregar el laurel, según me dicen...

 

Ingredientes para 6 personas: 1 kg de bonito (o atún de carne roja), 1 kg de patatas, 1 chile poblano, 4 chiles secos que no piquen (los guajillos dulces son ideales), 1 cebolla grande, 2 hojas de laurel, sal y aceite.

 

En una cazuela grande freir en aceite la cebolla y el chile poblano, que han sido picados previamente, hasta que la cebolla quede transparente. Pelar y cortar las patatas en trozos grandes (unos 3 cm). Lo mejor es cortar con el cuchillo hasta la mitad, y romper el trozo de patata al forzar el cuchillo de lado, perpendicularmente al corte, de modo que al romper la patata haga "crack". El almidón liberado enriquecerá el caldo después. Añadir las patatas a la fritura y dar un par de vueltas. Añadir el agua y la sal al gusto. En otra cazuela hervir por un par de minutos los chiles secos, hasta que la carne quede suave y se rehidrate. Abrirlos, quitar las semillas cuidadosamente, y con una cuchara, extraer la pulpa de los chiles, desechando las pieles. La pulpa se pica muy menuda, y se añade a las patatas. Se cuece todo a fuego medio por 30 min, o hasta que las patatas estén hechas. Entonces, se trocea el bonito en cubos de unos 2cm de lado, se sala, y se añade a la cazuela. Se deja hervir a fuego lento por 5 min más. El marmitako tendrá el bonito y las patatas enteras al final de la cocción, y un rico, pero no demasiado abundante caldo. La consistencia no es la de una sopa, sino la de un caldo rico en almidón, con partículas de patata y pescado suspendidas. Se quitan las hojas de laurel antes de servir.

Further questions and comments:

  • Javier Vegas (13 May 1997): "Hola, Ichi. He probado tu receta del marmitako, y esta kojonuda. ah, que son las bay leaves? Yo lo hice estilo mejicano y le eche cilantro. No tendras la de la purrusalda por un casual? "

    Bay leaves = Hojas de laurel. Lo del cilantro no es muy ortodoxo, pero si a ti te gusta... !adelante! La de la porrusalda a continuación

  • Ubaldo de Azpiazu (3 Mar 2005): "A la receta del marmitako le falta lo fundamental: un chorrito al final de cognac. En los boniteros de Mutriku así lo hacían en la marea."

    Hmmmm.... interesante. A ver si lo pruebo en la proxima marmitakada.

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Porrusalda

Ingredients for 4 people: 1/4 Kg dry cod fish, 6 thick leeks, 4 potatoes, 2 cloves of garlic, oil, salt, pepper, 1 bay leaf

 

The cod fish must be left soaking in water for 12-14 hr before cooking. After that, put the cod fish in a pan with cold water, and bring the water to boil. When it starts boiling, get the cod out and reserve the water. The cod can be let in one piece or be sliced.


In a deep pot fry minced garlic in oil, and then add the leeks chopped in thick slides. Saute for a few minutes. Chop potatoes in big chunks and add them to the pot. Add the cod fish. Stir for a minute or two. Add pepper and a bay leave. Add two big glasses of the water reserved from the pre-boiled cod. Add two more glasses of still water. Check the salt point and add salt to taste. Cover the pot and let the soup boil for 3/4 hr at medium fire. Before serving take the bay leave out.

Notes:

  • It is better to 'break' the potatoes than to chop them completely. To do it, proceed with the knife as when chopping, but when you are half way in the slide, finish it by pulling the knife towards you instead of cutting all the way through. This might sound silly, but the broken potatoes will add consistency to the soup. The soup will thicken in this way. The potatoes will stay in pieces, but if cooked as indicated, they will also create a creamy consistency for the broth.

  • The cod, if soft, will typically break down in small pieces when boiling.

  • When I don't find dry cod fish, I use fresh one instead, although it isn't nearly as good. If you use fresh fish, add it in the last 5-10 min. To add flavour in this case, I include the head and skin in the beginning, and get it out before serving.

Further questions and comments:

  • Juliet Jones (7 Jul 2002): " Descubrí tu página por casualidad, buscando recetas vascas.  I used to live in San Sebastian, and miss the wonderful fish and seafood!  Ahora vivo en Memphis, EEUU, y aquí no hay atún fresco, ni mucho menos bacalao salado.. En Donosti, no echan bacalao en la porrusalda, debe ser un toque vizcaíno... "

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Spanish omelette

Ingredients for an omelette for 4 people: 6 eggs, 3 big potatoes, a small onion, salt, oil.

 

Slice the potatoes into thin pieces about 2mm thick (in the form of lenticular galaxies, as Juan Isasi tells me). Chop the onions. Add salt to taste. Fry the potatoes and onions in abundant oil over a medium fire until they are soft (about half an hour). Whisk the eggs in a pan and add the fried potatoes and onion to it. Pour the mixture in a pan containing a few drops of olive oil, and fry it for a few minutes. Turn the omelette over, using a flat surface (a big dish, for example), pouring a few more drops of olive oil in the pan before frying the upper surface.

Notes:

  • Since olive oil is so expensive, I normally fry the potatos and onions with some corn or sunflower oil, and just use the olive oil for cooking the omelette itself. Just those few drops add lots of flavour.

  • You can add some other ingredients to the omelette before frying it. Red peppers are a common ingredient. Since I visited Mexico and got a big supply of Mexican chiles I have been adding to my Spanish omelettes 6 dry Serrano peppers, and the result is a very interesting spicy flavour. Just add them when you are frying the potatoes and onions.

Further questions and comments:

  • Juan Isasi (13 Feb 1997): " Respecto a la receta de tortilla de patatas, no puedo resistir la tentación de decirte que sale mucho más rica si en vez de cortar las patatas en cubos de 1 cm, la cortas en forma de pequeñas galaxias lenticulares (SO). Ya sé que esto es algo complicado para muchos, pero no debe suponer ningún problema para ti."

    • Después de tantas quejas (no incluyo las de Javier y Marga), ya he cambiado la receta. Describir cubos es más facil que describir rodajas, y además mi amigo Luis las corta en forma de cubos y le quedan riquísimas... está bien, me retracto y confieso que yo también las corto en forma de rodajas.

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Squids in their own ink

Ingredients for 4 people: 1 Kg of medium-size squids (don't buy them already cleaned, you need the ink bags!!!), 1 onion, 3 small tomatoes, 1 slice of bread, parsley, 1 glass of red wine, 2 glasses of water, 2 cloves of garlic, salt and oil.

 

The nasty part is cleaning the squids, but you have to do it yourself, because you have to save the ink bag which is attached to the stomach, and that has gone away if you buy them cleaned in the fishmongers, so... be patient, and get prepared to clean them. Take the head of the squid and pull it out carefully, so that it carries with it all the inner organs. Attached to the stomach there is a little black bag which contains the ink. Take it aside, and submerge it in half a glass of red wine. Take the bone out of the body. Skin the body, including the wings, and take the inside out, to clean it as well - do it carefully! From the head of the squid, save the tentacles, taking care to get rid of the mouth. Skin the tentacles, and place them inside the body bags. - Squids cleaned!

 

In a big pan saute chopped onions for 5 min. Add the tomatoes chopped in small cubes. In a separate pan, fry in oil the slice of bread in crumbs, and add a spoon of parsley, and minced garlic. Add the mixture to the pan with the onions and tomatoes. Press the ink bags of the squids in half a glass of wine until they release all the ink, and add to the pan. Add the remaining half glass of wine and two glasses of water, and bring to boil. At this point, the sauce should be black. If not, you can add 'canned' ink, that you might be lucky to find in your fishmongers, IF you live in the right place. When the sauce starts boiling, set it aside. Take a wide ceramic pan, and place the squids in it, so that they don't overlap. Mince the sauce and pour it over the squids. Set the pan in very low fire for 2 hr. When it finishes cooking, taste it, and add salt to taste.

 

You can serve this with white rice.