Jamón

Broken Eggs (Huevos Rotos)

We’re back with a simple recipe, one of those everyone knows how to make, but that we wanted to share with you for two simple reasons: first and most important, it’s a really easy dish that you usually eat when you’re out for drinks but not at home (this is our way of encouraging you to make it yourself), and second because we’ve got a little tip about how to fry the potatoes. Want to know what it is? You’ll have to read the rest of the recipe.

What do we need?

Good quality cured ham
3 large potatoes
2 farm-fresh eggs
Olive oil
Salt

How do we make it?

While we heat the oil in a pan (preferably a deep one), we separate or cut up the ham.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into irregular bite-sized pieces.
Once the oil is nice and hot, lower it to medium heat and add the potatoes. Let them cook more than fry.
When they’re soft, take them out and set aside on a plate. Turn the heat back up.
Fry the eggs and set them aside.
Now with the heat high, put the potatoes back in to brown them. This way they’ll be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
After draining them on a paper towel, arrange them on a plate or platter, add the ham and eggs, and enjoy.

[English version] HUEVOS ROTOS (FRENCH FRIES WITH EGGS AND SPANISH HAM)* *Ingredients:

Spanish cured ham
3 potatoes
2 free-range eggs
Olive oil
Salt

Heat the olive oil in a deep saucepan. In the meanwhile, cut the ham into medium size pieces and the potatoes in irregular pieces the size of a mouthful.
*When olive oil is very hot, reduce heat into medium and put the potatoes. Let them simmer. *
*When the potatoes are cooked (soft but white), take them out of the pan. Increase heat again. *
Fry the eggs and set aside.
When the heat is high again, fry again the potatoes until golden brown. They will be soft in the inside and crusty in the outside.
*Take them out into a plate with kitchen paper to remove the extra oil. Place the potatoes into a large plate, the eggs and ham over them and enjoy! *

Salmorejo

Salmorejo is one of my favorite dishes, and I can vouch for the fact that I’m not the only person in my family who, the moment we get back from a long trip abroad, the first thing we ask for at home is a good salmorejo and a proper Spanish potato omelette. This dish is typical of Córdoba and it shares similarities with gazpacho since, at the end of the day, it’s a kind of cold soup or cream with tomato as its base. Needless to say, the better the tomatoes you use, the better the salmorejo will turn out.

What do we need?

(serves 6)

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  1 kg (2.2 lb) ripe red tomatoes
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  1 piece of bread
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  150 ml (2/3 cup) olive oil (or to taste)

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  1-2 cloves of garlic
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  Salt
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  Vinegar
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  4 eggs
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  200 g (7 oz) Serrano ham
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How do we make it?

Wash the tomatoes, cut them into pieces and put them in a bowl.
Add the bread (it can be stale bread that we’ve soaked in water for a few minutes beforehand to soften it), salt, garlic, vinegar and a little olive oil.
Blend with the mixer until you get a smooth cream. Keep adding more olive oil until you get a soft, creamy texture. The amount of olive oil depends on personal taste. The more oil you add, the thicker it will get and the pinker it will look.
Taste and adjust the salt and vinegar to your liking. Set aside in the fridge.
Boil the eggs, peel them and cut them into small cubes.
Chop the Serrano ham into small cubes too.
Serve the salmorejo very cold with ham and egg on top.

Tips:

Some people prefer to peel the tomatoes for a finer result. To make this easier, you can blanch the tomatoes first to remove the skin comfortably.
You can make the salmorejo a bit lighter by skipping the bread and reducing the amount of oil.
As always, garlic is up to personal taste, but don’t go overboard or you’ll kill the flavor.

*[English version] SALMOREJO (Spanish cold tomatoe soup)

**Ingredients (serves 6):- 1 kg ripe red tomatoes

Bread
150 ml olive oil
Vinegar
Salt
1-2 cloves of garlic- 4 eggs- 200 g cured ham
Wash and cut tomatoes into pieces. Place into a large bowl.
Add bread (you can use stale bread so put it before with some water in order to soften it), salt, garlic, vinegar and a bit of olive oil.
Blend all the ingredients with a mixer or blender until you get a smooth cream. Add more olive oil until creamy and soft. (The amount of olive oil is up to you).
Try and add more salt and vinegar if necessary. Place into fridge.
Boil the eggs, peel them and cut into small pieces.
Cut ham into small pieces.
Serve cold salmorejo with some egg and ham in the top.
Tips:- You can peel the tomatoes. For making it easier, scald tomatoes in boiling water.
If you want to prepare a lighter version, avoid adding bread and reduce the amount of olive oil.
Use garlic according to your preferences but don’t add too much or you won’t taste the other flavours!

Comments

zordor (2012-08-21 05:56:31):

Haha I can vouch for it, I can vouch that the first thing we need to see on the table is salmorejo and potato omelette :) Ufff you’ve made me so hungry! Well, not even hungry! Salmorejo is something you can eat even when you’re not hungry!

Marisa (2012-08-21 09:26:34):

Yummmm! I’m making it tomorrow

Ham Puff Pastry Twists

Knowing how little my dad cares for innovation in food (what he calls “chuminás” — fancy nonsense), whenever we put together appetizers for birthdays or special celebrations we always have to play the card of foods he considers “essentials”. So for my last birthday we went looking for appetizers he might actually like, and over at Directo al Paladar we found this one.

What do we need?

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  1 sheet of refrigerated puff pastry
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  100 grams (3.5 oz) of serrano ham
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  Oregano
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  1 egg
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How do we make it?

Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).
Cut the puff pastry sheet into strips roughly 1.5 cm (0.6 in) wide and 10 cm (4 in) long.
Brush them with beaten egg so they brown nicely in the oven, sprinkle oregano on top, and flip them over.
Cut the ham into strips the same length as the pastry and lay them on top.
Twist the sticks with the ham one by one. To do this, grab each strip by the ends and turn in opposite directions. Pop them in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Tips:

Every oven is its own beast, so temperature and time may vary. We recommend keeping a close eye on them, especially at the start, so the heat stays high but the pastry doesn’t get scorched.
The first time we made these we threw in two new versions: some with just oregano, and others with aged cheese. They were all delicious. That said, the serrano ham ones don’t need it, but for the others add a pinch of salt and you’ll see how much better they get.

Stuffed Crescent Rolls

Did you know that croissant in French means crescent moon? Literally, it means ‘waxing,’ which is the phase of the moon we commonly call a crescent. Well, with that same shape but a completely different dough and a savory filling, we present this easy dish. We rescued the recipe from a Thermomix Christmas magazine and thought it would be a great idea to offer as an afternoon snack at home or to pack along on a trip and enjoy during a roadside stop. For those of you who are wary of complicated gadgets and kitchen robots, don’t worry — we made these with our own little hands and they turned out wonderfully.

What do we need?

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  400-500 g (3.25-4 cups) pastry flour
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  250 g (1 cup) quark cheese
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  250 g (1 cup / 2 sticks) cold butter
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  1/2 teaspoon salt
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  1 packet baking powder
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  1 beaten egg (for glazing)
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For the filling:

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  100 g (3.5 oz) cooked ham
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  200 g (7 oz) Emmental cheese
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  2 tomatoes
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  Dried oregano
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How do we make it?

Cut the butter into small pieces and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Start by stirring with a fork and then finish kneading with your hands.
Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).
Divide the dough in two and roll out each piece with a rolling pin into a thin circle (about 3 mm / 1/8 inch).
Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut 8 triangular portions (just like a pizza).
Place a bit of cooked ham and cheese on each portion and roll them up starting from the wide end and finishing at the tip to give them that croissant shape.
Slice the mozzarella and tomato into rounds and then cut those in half. Use them to fill the portions from the second circle of dough, adding a bit of oregano. Roll them up the same way.
Place all the croissants on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and brush them with beaten egg.
Bake for about 20 minutes.

Tips:

You can vary the filling however you like. In fact, the original recipe was just ham and cheese, and we introduced the tomato-mozzarella variety and liked it even more.
The dough isn’t particularly salty, so why not try a sweet filling?

[English version] FILLED CROISSANTS **Ingredients:-400-500 g flour

250 g quark cheese
250 g butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 package baking powder
1 egg
Dice the butter and mix with the rest of ingredients. First stir well by using a fork and then use your hands.
Make a ball with the dough, wrap it in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 min.
Preheat oven at 180ºC
Divide the dough into two pieces and roll out to two thin circles (3 mm).
Cut each circle into 8 portions (like pizza slices).
Put some york ham and cheese over each slice and roll it from the biggest side to the narrowest to create the croissant shape.
Slice mozzarella and tomato and then cut into halves. Use them and oregano to fill the second circle of dough. Roll it in the same way.
Place the croissants on a baking tray covered by baking paper. Glaze croissants with egg.
Bake for 20 min approximately.
Tips:- You can vary the filling. The original recipe was done with ham and cheese and we decided to create the mozarella-tomato flavour and we liked it even more! - The dough itself is not really salty. So why not a sweet filling?