Party post mortem

Last night was my Annual Fiesta de San Fermin, where I cook food from all over the taurine universe. Here is the menu (with a few recipes: if you want more, then holler):

1. Tapas: Spanish chorizo, anchovy stuffed olives, French green olives with herbs, French oil cured olives.

2. Boef Gardienne de la Comargue:

Brown beef stew meat (preferably from a bull) in butter, olive oil, lard or goose fat (I use goose fat, because I always have a huge supply of the stuff).

Saute a few cloves of garlic, a diced onion and add the browned beef. Add a can of ground or chopped tomatoes (I used 6 in 1 from Escalon, California), a generous splash (well, a cup or two) of wine or dry vermouth, the juice of a few oranges, the slivered zest of said oranges, a good dash of lavendar salt, and let simmer.

When the meat is done, add black oil cured olives. Serve over rice.

3. Basque chicken with cabbage:

Saute strips of chicken meat. Add ribbons of cabbage and garlic and cumin seeds and a can of tomatoes. Cook over low heat until the chicken is done. Season to taste. Serve.

4. Gazpacho. Long recipe. If you want it, search the site, as I may have posted it, otherwise holler and I will post it.

5. Grilled linguica and bifanas: The linguica is self-explanatory, bifanas are pork steaks marinated in Portuguese marinade (I buy mine, but you can make your own with red wine vinegar, pimenton, garlic, bay, oregano and salt) for 12 hours, drained and dried, then barbecued. I also grilled a couple of tri-tips in the marinade.

6. Carnitas: search the site, I am pretty sure I have posted this recipe before.

7. sangria: jug red wine, sugar, orange juice, orange slices, apple slices, vodka. Warn guests about the vodka, as it goes down easily, as do guests who have consumed too much.

8. Papas bravas: use red potatoes or Yukon golds: cut into cubes or chunks, fry in olive oil or goose fat with generous dusting of pimenton and salt. Drizzle with

9. Paella. Shell shrimp. Use shells to make shrimp stock. In olive oil, saute garlic, onion, bell pepper, shrimp, then toast rice. Add broth, saffron peas. When rice is about halfway cooked, add more stock, imbed clams and mussels in attractive pattern. Put the pan in oven. When the rice is done, and a crust is formed, remove, adjust for salt, and serve.

Anything else? Probably. It was a long night. I didn't get to bed until 3am. I was head usher at mass today. It was a lot of fun, the kitchen was a mess by the end, and the conversation was great. There were a lot of children running around and no injuries. No one was too sangria-ed to drive safely.

Oh yeah, on Friday I gave myself a haircut. It was the first time I have ever cut my own hair. Melanie fixed the back. It still looks homemade, but it was free. Overall it was a fun experience. You ought to try it sometime.

Posted by erik at July 11, 2004 11:35 PM | TrackBack