Melissa’s Produce

(Gerry Furth-Sides) Dishes from Spain will once again be on our Thanksgiving table this year.   And we will toast to all of it with Spanish Rioja and Temperanillo. This is after learning that the first Thanksgiving was actually celebrated in St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 as documented by archaeologists at Florida’s Museum of Natural History. AND Robin Sussingham of WUSF radio station did a broadcast on it this year!

The news this year products associated only with Spain are coming from elsewhere. Our wonderful quince paste came from Melissa’s Produce (imported from Mexico) and is delicious! It is smoother and clearer than the more rustic paste from Spain we always used.

Looking like an apple or a roundish pear and tasting a little like both, quince has been cultivated in Asia and the Mediterranean for over 4,000 years. Today, the quince is also found in Latin America, the Middle East and the United States.

The quince fruit purée, Known as “dulce de membrillo” in Spain, is sweetened with sugar, and thickened with pectin. When cooked, raw quince transforms into a pink-red, sweet-tart treat with notes of honeysuckle, rose, and vanilla. The quince paste from Spain has cane sugar as its main ingredient.

Quince paste desserts start with quince paste smoothed into puff pastry for tasty Spanish empanadas.Lush and straightforward, quince paste pairs perfectly with crusty bread and Manchego cheese. It’s a welcome addition addition to any cheese platter or grazing board. We love it as a snack, cut into stick sizes alongside an equal-sized sheep-milk cheese.

Fine olive oils should only be used as the finishing touches to dishes. They also should be poured when cool because the flavor of the oil changes when heated.  Regal García de la Cruz presents offers its early harvest olive oil in an exquisite bottle.  The full citrus green color reflects the fullness of the fruit at harvest time. We love using it to give an added oomph to these homespun classics.  

Roasted Tomato  (www.wimpy vegetarian.com,  via shockinglydelish

All you need to make these roasted tomatoes in a bottle are tomatoes, salt, pepper, olive oil,  salt, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and garlic. This is more to a cook’s taste than exact amounts. Because the tomatoes are being roasted, it is better to use firm, older one.

Simply slice tomatoes and drizzle them evenly with the rest of the ingredients.  Roast at 350 degrees until they look crisp around the edges.  Cool and bottle.

Homemade Mayonaise

• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt to taste
• 1 cup grapeseed oil
• generous drizzle of García de la Cruz extra virgin olive oil
• lemon juice, optional

Place the raw egg in a food processor and pulse for 20 seconds. Add the mustard, vinegar, and salt, and process another 20 seconds.

Scrape down the bowl sides in the food processor.  Slowly add ¼ of the oil in drops to emulsify. Once emulsification begins, gently stream in the rest of the oil.  Scrape and process an extra 10 seconds.  Taste and adjust with seasonings and lemon juice for taste. 

Pesto

• Cup of fresh basil leaves
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• kosher salt and ground pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup olive or grapeseed oil

Combine basic, garlic, pine nuts and Parmasan in the food processor bowl. Season with a slow stream of oil until emulsified.  Season to taste.

García de la Cruz Tart

For the García de la cruz tart filling

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 leafy sprigs sage (about 10 medium leaves)
• 8 ounces basque cheese
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tablespoon parsley leaves, chopped
• black pepper to season
• 5 small potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon hazelnuts, chopped

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet until hot but not smoking. Add onion and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until softened and golden brown, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat. Strip the leaves from one of the sage sprigs, chop the leaves, and stir into the onions. Set aside.

Combine the basque cheese cheese, ricotta cheese, garlic, and parsley in a medium bowl. Season with black pepper.

Slice the potatoes thinly. Place another tablespoon of olive oil and salt into a bowl and stir in the potato slices, making sure they are all coated with oil.

Roll out the chilled dough to 1/4-inch thick and trim any uneven edges until you get a circle about 14 inches across.  Place the dough circle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the cooled onions evenly over the dough, leaving a 3-inch outer border. Spoon the cheese mix over the onions and fold up the edges of the dough, tucking and pleating as you go a bit rustic.

Arrange the oiled potato slices  close to each over the visible cheese mix, overlapping slightly (the crostata will expand), and brush some of the previously reserved egg white, thinned with a splash of cold water, evenly over the crust.

Bake the crostata 40–45 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the potatoes are cooked through. Remove from the oven and cool slightly on the baking sheet before serving. Chop the leaves from the second sprig of sage and sprinkle over the finished crostata. This is quite rich, so I like to serve it with just a simple green salad.

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons plain flour
• 3.5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• a pinch of salt
• 10 small pearl onions
• 1 large Melissas’s wild black garlic clove
• 4 cups mixed Melissas’s wild mushrooms
• 2 ½ Melissa’s steamed, peeled chestnuts
• 3 tablespoons orange preserves with peel, sweetened with grape juice
• 1/4 cup Cabrales (Asturian strong blue cheese)
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme

Method
Finely slice onions and mushrooms, mush garlic and chestnuts into a soft, flat paste.

Heat 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Add onions, stirring constantly until caramelized. Add garlic, mushrooms, thyme and chestnuts, cooking until mushrooms are golden brown. Season to taste and cool.

For the shell: We used the JOY OF COOKING (p. 692) ruff pastry, mixed with ground Mrs. Cubbison). Blind bake at 350 degrees. Cool for five minutes.

Add the mushroom mix to the pastry shell and bake 20 minutes 350F

For the perfect finishing touch, drizzle with García de la cruz extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with thyme. 

Comida Feliz!

T