Destination: Delicioso!

La Casa de Messey in the Barcelona complex proved a fitting backdrop for our sojourn into the sun-dappled regions of Spain.  The grub gals bravely ventured into this veritable haven for culinary coups with the gusto of a flamenco dancer clicking her heels and clapping her hands!  Denise, Stephanie, Kevin and Chris joined us…perhaps permanently! 

And now, a history lesson in word origins! ‘Tapas’, derives from the Spanish verb ‘tapar’, which means to cover.  Back in the day, our amigos in Espana used slices of bread or meat to cover their sherry glasses to prevent pesky fruit flies from plunging into what would be their final baths.  Over time, bartenders started adding different pieces of food on top of the slices of meat, and the tapas tradition was born.

Stuffed Cherry Tomato Tapas, provided by Megan Young

Ingredients:

• 3 ounces Spanish olives with pimento
• 1 teaspoon drained capers
• 1 teaspoon brandy
• 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 24 cherry tomatoes
• freshly chopped parsley (to garnish)

Directions:

1. Place the olives in a food processor and process until finely chopped.

2. Add the remaining tapenade ingredients and process until olives are minced.

3. With a sharp knife, cut off a thin slice from the top and bottom of each tomato and discard.

4. Scoop out the juice and seeds from each tomato leaving the a shell, then spoon some of the tapenade into each shell.

5. To serve - transfer to a serving platter and garnish with the parsley. Serve cold.

Bacon-Wrapped Dates, provided by Bitsoff

Ingredients:

• 1 pound sliced bacon, cut in half
• 1 pound pitted dates
• 4 ounces blue cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. Slice dates in half, and open them up. Pinch off pieces of blue cheese, and place them into the center of the dates. Close the halves of the dates, and wrap a half-slice of bacon around the outside. Secure each one with a toothpick. Arrange in a baking dish or on a baking sheet with sides to catch any grease.

3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bacon is crisp. Turn dates over after the first 20 minutes for even cooking. (Hey vegetarians turned carnivores, bacon still cooks after you take it out of the oven. Who knew? Thanks Megan Young!)

Perfect Paella, provided by Messey

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 cups enriched white rice
• 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 quart chicken broth or stock
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders, cut into thirds
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3/4 pound chorizo, casing removed and sliced on an angle
• 1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp, 24 shrimp
• 18 green lipped mussels, cleaned
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 lemons zested

Garnish:

• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 4 scallions, chopped
• Lemon wedges
• Crusty, bread for passing

Directions:

In a very wide pan or paella pan, preheated over medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, crushed garlic, red pepper flakes, add rice and saute 2 or 3 minutes. Add saffron threads, bay leaf, broth, and thyme and bring liquids to a boil over high heat. Cover the pan with lid or foil and reduce heat to simmer.

In a separate nonstick skillet, over medium high heat brown chicken on both sides in 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add peppers and onions to the pan and cook 3 minutes longer. Add chorizo to the pan and cook 2 minutes more. Remove pan from heat.
After about 13 minutes, add shellfish to the rice pan, nesting them in cooking rice. Pour in peas, scatter lemon zest over the rice and seafood, then cover the pan again. After 5 minutes, remove cover or foil from the paella and discard any unopened mussel shells. Stir rice and seafood mixture and lift out bay and thyme stems, now bare of their leaves. Arrange cooked chicken and peppers, onions and chorizo around the pan. Top with parsley and scallions. Serve with wedges of lemon and warm bread.

 

Baked Bananas, provided by Hobbs 

Ingredients

4 Bananas

Grated rind and juice of 1 orange

2 tbsp dark rum

50g brown sugar

30g butter

Cinnamon

Directions:

Peel and slice the bananas in thick (round) slices, and place in oven safe dish.

Squeeze orange juice and rum over the sliced bananas.

Sprinkle grated rind of orange, brown sugar and cinnamon over dish.
Cover with foil and place in 180 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Serve with cinnamon ice cream (we used carmel, vanilla and rum raisin ice cream).

*My suggestion would be to crumble 2-3 hand-fulls of vanilla wafers and place in dish while baking.  This would help soak up liquid, and hold the flavor.