¡Tapas! A Vegan Version

 

Tapas nowadays are highly varied, savory small dishes ranging from meat to seafood to vegetarian and even vegan to nibble with alcoholic beverages, particularly wine. Spanish in origin, they remain most common in that country. But they’re also found here and in Latin America.

 

Tapas in Spain date from as early as the 13th century and started as a slice of bread or dry ham the bartender placed on your filled wineglass, maybe to keep the fruit flies out. “Tapa” simply means “lid.” But bars or restaurants offering huge selections of small accompaniments for wine date only from the 20th century.

 

Almost invariably, tapas in Spain include small plates of marcona almonds, marinated olives, spice-roasted potatoes, and local cheese and ham. Beyond the standards it’s the chef’s imagination plus regional and seasonal ingredients that determine the dishes. In recent decades fashionable centers like Madrid and Barcelona have produced wildly creative tapas.

 

Here is a vegan version of an elegant, but easy, modern tapa containing dark chocolate. This, along with a selection of large olives, roasted almonds, spiced roasted potato chunks, roasted tiny  sweet or “Padron” peppers, or mushroom pieces sautéed with garlic, plus your choice of wine (I’d choose a red like Rioja or other Tempranillo) will make a delightful tapas gathering or the starter course for a memorable dinner.

 

“Tostada de Chocolate” (tos-TA-da day cho-koh-LA-tay) is simply dark chocolate melted onto a slice of Melba toast then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and dusted with sea salt. Dark, slightly sweetened chocolate, up to as high as 70% cocoa, is about right to my taste.

 

The recipe is a method rather than precise measurements. The quantities depend on the number nibbling -- from a stealthy, self-indulgent party of two to an entire crowd.

 

Baguette (skinny type preferred) sliced 1/4-inch thick, 2-3 slices per person

Bar of Ghirardelli, Lindt or other fancy dark chocolate, up to 70% cocoa

Extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt

 

Heat toaster oven or regular oven to 350 degrees. Lay out bread slices on the rack or a baking sheet and toast them in oven, checking them frequently, till pale golden. Let cool.

 

Lay out toasted bread slices on cookie sheet. Place an approximately 1-inch square of chocolate on each slice. Put into oven and let it heat just until the chocolate melts.

 

Remove from oven. Press chocolate lightly with a spoon out toward the edges of the toast. Drizzle chocolate lightly with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

 

Platter and serve warm.

 

¡Buen Provecho!

 

 

Easy Fresh Basil Sauce for Appetizers or Pasta Salad

 

While Pesto, the classic basil sauce from the Genoa region of Italy, is basically a sauce for pasta, it is also a convenient topping to add flavor and color to canapés, marinated cheese, sandwiches and pasta salad, and even pizza. Commercially made pesto is available in small jars the US, as it is in Italy. It tends to be expensive.

 

Pesto is somewhat complicated to make, requiring in addition to fresh basil leaves, pine nuts and pecorino or Parmigiano cheese. Because I’ve been making appetizer dishes for our restaurant’s catering, I’ve often needed a basil-based condiment for highlights or marinade. So I make a much simplified basil sauce that serves our needs.

 

Here’s a recipe for this simple sauce. It makes a small quantity, since not much is needed for most things. But the recipe can easily be multiplied if needed. Use it for lightly topping sliced fresh mozzarella for a side dish, or put a little on thinly sliced Toscano or Asiago cheese on a cracker (and add a couple drops of honey!). Or marinate fresh mozzarella balls or chunks with it for Caprese skewer appetizers. It can be mixed, in limited quantities, into pasta salad or drizzled onto sandwiches or other dishes where fresh basil highlights would be exciting. Mix some of it into a little more olive oil for a wonderful dip for crusty bread.

 

12 medium-large fresh basil leaves

Basil Sauce served with Fresh Mozzarella

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 to 3 drops vinegar

A pinch of sea salt

A pinch of freshly ground black pepper

 

Rinse and drain the basil leaves. On a cutting board mince them very finely, almost to a paste, with a chef’s knife. Place basil in a small dish from which the sauce can be served. Gently stir in the remaining ingredients. Allow to season at least 10 minutes, then stir again.

 

The sauce tastes best when used within an hour or two of making it, but it will store for a day or two refrigerated.

 

 

 

Chickpea Salad for Maria – Insalata di Ceci Maria

 

With my daughter Maria and her family coming over this evening for a Mediterranean dinner, I had to come up with one more dish to complement the others I had. Those other dishes included marinated roasted kebabs, of Turkish origin, Ratatouille, the Provençal medley of summer vegetables, and rice. Still having fresh herbs in my garden, I opened a can of chickpeas and highlighted them, salad style, with olive oil, wine vinegar, fresh parsley and basil, black olives, tomato, garlic and sea salt.

 

All of those ingredients are common in Italy, where Maria often teaches ceramics both through the University of Georgia art program in Cortona, in Tuscany, and as part of a women’s cooperative clay studio in the same city. Chickpeas as a major food item go back to at least Etruscan times in central Italy, well before the Romans took over. Chickpea salads are made in various parts of the Mediterranean, including Italy. So this convenient, easy to make, dish seemed to fit geographically and historically, as well as culinarily, into what I needed to balance tonight’s meal. I’ll serve it from a ceramic bowl Maria made.

 

The recipe serves four to six as a side dish.

 

1 (14-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed twice

1 small tomato, cored and cut in narrow wedges

12 pitted black olives (such as Kalamata), halved crosswise

1 medium large clove garlic, finely minced

3 sprigs fresh parsley, leaves coarsely chopped

8 medium-large leaves fresh basil, coarsely chopped (or 1/2 tsp dry oregano)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons wine vinegar, white or red

1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

 

In a mixing bowl, combine the chickpeas with the remaining ingredients. Stir well. Allow the mixture to sit for at least half an hour, mixing it occasionally. Taste and add salt and/or a little more vinegar to your taste.

 

Serve in a shallow bowl.

 

Basil-braised Baby Potatoes

 

 

I was sort of aware of baby golden potatoes, but hadn’t really cooked with them. That is, until one of our daughters this summer gave us half bag of them, along with other perishable loose ends, to use up as she and her family headed off on vacation. Now I’m trying to figure which preparation with them is my favorite.

 

While Italian-type basil still flourishes in my garden, braised baby potatoes with basil is my new go-to easy side dish. It nicely accompanies other dishes and doesn’t need any gravy or sauce. Maybe in winter some other version will emerge, since these potatoes are so simple to prepare and so delightful.

 

The recipe serves 4-6 as part of a dinner meal. The potatoes can be cooked fresh before dinner or prepared ahead and quickly re-fried to serve.

 

3/4 pound (12 ounces) baby golden potatoes

1 small shallot or 1/4 of an onion

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Small pinch nutmeg

Small pinch cayenne

10 medium-sized fresh basil leaves, sliced

 

Rinse but do not peel potatoes, rubbing the outsides well. Cut potatoes into halves then each halt across into half. Peel and finely chop the shallot or onion. Have the other ingredients ready.

 

Heat to medium hot a heavy frying pan or sauce pan that has a lid. Add the olive oil and potatoes. Stirring very frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan with metal spatula, fry for 2 minutes.

 

Add water, shallot or onion, salt, spices and sliced basil leaves. Stir then fry 2 minutes, covered, then stir and scrape again. Cover and fry another 2 minutes. Continue the alternating frying and stirring until the potato is tender when tested with a toothpick. If potatoes are drying add a tablespoon of water as needed. Taste and if needed add a little salt.

 

Keep warm if to be eaten soon, or cool, refrigerate, then re-fry to heat for serving.

 

Roasted Butternut Soup

 

I’ve loved butternut squash since I first encountered it as a kid growing up in southern New England. My father, skilled at farming, tried the then new vegetable in our family garden, where I used to tag along and “help.” Butternut seed had just become available about 1950 (please don’t do the math), and butternut quickly replaced the traditional Hubbard as the favorite winter squash. Butternut is now grown throughout the world because of its excellent eating and storing qualities.

 

As its name indicates, the squash is both buttery and nutty in flavor. These features are most pronounced when the fruits are fully mature, with the skin thick and uniformly tan and the stem hard and dry. The flesh is then rich orange and sweet. Its luscious intensity is further enhanced by baking.

 

Where I grew up, we ate most winter squash boiled, mashed and slathered with butter, or occasionally baked with brown sugar or maple syrup, butter and spices. My mother, a skilled cook but who with four kids didn’t spend time on complex dishes (“if it takes more than one bowl or one pot it’s too fussy”), kept it simple. By contrast, I’ve made soups with butternut, as well as curries, gratins, ravioli filling, other pasta and rice dishes, and even a roasted butternut salad.

 

Here is an evocative favorite for the fall season, roasted butternut soup. It is not too difficult and shows the squash off to advantage.

 

The recipe serves six, but extra soup stores well and seems even better after a day or two. While typically served hot, butternut soup can also be eaten cold like its non-relative, gazpacho.

 

1 large or 2 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds), ideally ripe and hard

1 small onion, finely diced

A 6-inch piece of celery, finely diced

6 tablespoons olive oil

5 cups vegetable broth (low salt) 

1 1/2 teaspoons salt plus more to taste

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

A small pinch of ground cloves

3 tablespoons cashew butter or ground cashews (optional)

Minced parsley or tiny sprouts (leafy parts) for garnish

 

 

Set oven for 350 degrees.

 

Cut butternut in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Place squash, cut side up, on a baking sheet and roast it until tender when pierced with a toothpick. Let cool.

 

Meanwhile prepare the onion and celery and fry them gently in the olive oil using the pot in which you will make the soup. Stir frequently and fry until the vegetables are tender but not browned. Remove from the heat.

 

When the baked butternut is cooled somewhat, scoop all the flesh out from the skin. Place it, along with the fried onion-celery mixture and its butter in a food processor or blender (this may need to be in two batches), adding a little of the vegetable broth. Puree the mixture. Transfer it back into the pot. Add the remainder of the broth, the salt and spices (and cashew butter if used). Simmer for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste for salt, and add a little, if needed, to taste.

 

The soup can be served now, or refrigerated and served hot – or cold – later. Garnish with a little finely minced parsley or tiny leaves from baby sprouts.

 

Easy Berry Topping or Sauce

 

 

For an easy dessert, like store-bought sherbet or cake, a raspberry, or strawberry, or mixed berry sauce is a great topping. Using store-bought frozen, or fresh, berries, making the sauce takes just a few minutes, plus a few more minutes to cool.

 

The typical packages of frozen berries are 12 ounces, and the fresh berries are a pint. Both work with this recipe. I prefer organic berries, to avoid the pesticides that are often used on these crops.

 

12 ounces frozen or 1 pint fresh berries (raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, or mixed berries), organic preferred

2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar if using 12 ounces of frozen berries 

  OR 3 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar for 1 pint fresh berries

1/8 teaspoon salt

 

If using frozen berries, place them directly in a small enamel or stainless steel cooking pot. If using fresh berries, remove any leaves or stems and place the fruit in the pot. Add the brown sugar and salt.

 

Heat to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently, and cook until fruit is becoming tender. Turn off the heat and break up the berries somewhat with a potato masher or fork. Let cool.

 

The sauce will keep, refrigerated, for a week or more.

 

Serve over your choice of dessert, pudding, or even pancakes.

 

Lentil Dip in Ancient Style

 

Lentils, one of my favorite foods, go way back. I mean waaaay back. Lentils were among the first crops at the dawn of agriculture the Fertile Crescent some 6,000 years ago. Like other ancient field crops – barley, peas, emmer wheat – lentils emerged from wild predecessors, whose seeds were hard to gather. Early settled people accidentally replanted some of those wild seeds by discarding them near the garbage heap. Gradually, people began intentionally planting seeds saved from the previous harvest. As they reseeded from their better-performing plants their crops improved.

 

In that same era, another major breakthrough occurred in the Fertile Crescent. Terracotta (“baked earth”) pots were created by shaping then baking clay. Such pots permitted boiling and stewing food. It’s probably no coincidence that clay pots for cooking (and brewing!) co-evolved with the production of grains and legumes, which benefited from cooking. They made each other more valuable.

 

I started making appetizers from red lentils (tan/gray-green lentils that have had their skin-like hulls removed) when I joined my daughter, Maria Dondero, of Southern Star Studio, in her talks on pottery making. It’s customary in artistic circles to offer refreshments at “openings,” lectures, and demonstrations. Dips made from lentils and served from a terracotta dish humorously paired again that legume with pottery.

 

Here is a dip of red lentils (yellow when cooked) that draws on their history, using only ingredients that go back at least 4,000 years in the region where lentils originated. Besides lentils, these include onion, olive oil, coriander, cilantro (yes, probably the first herb used culinarily in the western world), wine vinegar, honey and sea salt. I obviously can’t guarantee that such a dip was actually made during the past 4,000 years, but it could have been.

 

The dip can be presented on a terracotta dish. The recipe serves six to eight as an appetizer.

 

1 cup split red lentils

1/2 of a small onion, very finely diced (3-4 tablespoons)

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for garnishing

2 cups water, plus more as needed

1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more if needed

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons wine vinegar (or cider vinegar)

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped cilantro leaf, for garnish

 

Rinse the lentils, and soak them in water to cover by an inch or more while preparing the remaining ingredients.

 

In a pot, gently fry the onion in the olive oil, stirring frequently, until softened but not browned. Drain the lentils, and add them to the pot, along with 2 cups of water, Bring to a gentle boil, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pot. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils soften and break down (10-20 minutes). Add a little water from time to time, if needed, to maintain a creamy consistency.

 

Once the lentils have softened, add the salt and coriander, and continue to simmer, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the vinegar and honey, and simmer another minute or two. Taste, and if needed add salt to taste.

 

Cool. Serve in a small bowl or serving dish. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Accompany with crackers.