Spanish Tapas at Home

Above: Marinated Artichoke Salad

As you already know we LOVE Spanish tapas, especially from our favourite Vancouver Spanish Restaurant La Bodega, which Jessica G recently reviewed here.  Well, as I was perusing through Taste Magazine available at your local BC Liquor Store, I came across recipes for Patatas Bravas and Mushrooms with Parsley Sauce, the very items we love at La Bodega!  Added a quick marinated artichoke salad to the menu and a crusty loaf of bread and we brought the delicious tastes of Spain right into our home.

The ingredients are all really simple and affordable, though the dishes are a bit labour intensive.  But…it is SO worth it! Everything turned out so well, and we learned some news ways of preparing some of our favourite foods. We washed our tapas down with some Cherry-Bourbon Sours, but a jug of homemade Sangria would be equally delicious.  And of course, invite a few friends over to share the experience – tapas always taste better with good friends.

Marinated Artichoke Salad

Ingredients:

2 cans artichokes, drained and quartered

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped

juice of half a lemon

salt and pepper, to taste

Whisk together oil, lemon juice, garlic and parsley.  Add artichokes and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper and let sit in the fridge till ready to serve.

Patatas Bravas

Ingredients:

Sauce:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1-14 oz can diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (I used Louisiana hot sauce)

1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground thyme (I just crumbled up thyme leaves with my fingers)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

salt and freshly ground pepper

Potatoes:

2 cups vegetable oil

6 russet potatoes, large, cut into 1 inch cubes

fresh parsley for garnish

Sauce:

Heat olive oil in pan, add onions and fry for 3 to 4 minutes until softened. Add next 9 ingredients and stir.  Simmer for 10 minutes until pulpy.  Cover and set aside for at least 6 hours up to 24 hours* for flavours to meld. Reheat to serve.

*I was not able to wait his long, so I just let it simmer for a bit longer on low and then blended the sauce with a hand blender to help the flavours marry. It was deelish!

Potatoes:

Preheat vegetable oil in heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, about 350F. Pat potatoes dry with paper towel.  Test oil heat by adding one piece of potato.  Oil should bubble vigorously.  Divide potatoes into 3 equal batches and fry each batch for 3 minutes.  Remove and set aside to cool down. Increase heat until oil reaches 375 F.  In 3 batches, add potatoes back to hot oil and fry until golden brown and crisp, about 5 minutes.  Use a slotted spoon or spatula to remove and set aside to drain on paper towels.

Transfer potatoes into dishes and spoon over with reheated sauce.  Sprinkle with parsley.

Mushrooms in Parsley Sauce

Ingredients:

Sauce:

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 bunch Italian parsley, finely chopped

1/2 cup white wine

salt and pepper to taste

Mix garlic, parsley, white wine and pepper in a small bowl and set aside.

Mushrooms:

1/2 cup olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 red chili pepper, finely chopped (I used 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes)

2 1/2 lb fresh white button mushrooms, cleaned

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over low heat in ovenproof casserole or heavy-based saucepan. Add garlic and saute until tender, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Add chili pepper and mushrooms and increase heat to medium.  Cook, stirring constantly, until liquid has been drawn out of mushrooms.  Add salt and pepper to taste and continue to simmer on moderate-high heat about 10 minutes until liquid has evaporated.

Sprinkle flour over mushrooms and stir to blend.  Remove from heat and slowly add sauce, stirring thoroughly.  Return saucepan to heat and bring to boil, stirring constantly.  Simmer for 5 minutes until sauce thickens.  Serve hot with crusty bread.

~The Vegan Project