Salsa Romesco ("Queen of the Catalan Sauces!")

Salsa Romesco atop grilled prawns.

[ts]
How can we do a Spanish menu and not make Romesco sauce? As Núria says, it is the "Queen of the Catalan sauces!"

We first heard of Romesco sauce from Culinaria Spain. Unfortunately, the book did not contain the recipe itself, just one for salvitxada, which is very similar to Romesco.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvitxada

But, I was set on making Romesco. It's so much easier to read and pronounce, after all. Can you imagine saying "salvitxada" over and over throughout the course of one evening? ;)

So, once again, we turned to Núria. Reading the recipe, it certainly wasn't hard. But, in any case, just to get as many tasks done in advance as possible, I decided to make our Romesco sauce for the party a couple of days beforehand.

Was I glad I did!

Yes, making the sauce wasn't hard, but was it ever time-consuming! Also, I thought the flavors were much better the following days.

[update]
Oooh, I didn't realize this could be entered into this edition of Weekend Wokking! We've been feeling guilty about not submitting anything in a while. The theme is CHILI PEPPER.

Ñoras (Dried Red Peppers)


[ts]
When I read Núria's recipe, I thought I would have to make subsitutions for these ñora peppers, as I was sure I wouldn't be able to find them. But, strolling around the Italian supermarket (incidentally, the same one where we happened upon some bacalao), I saw these small boxes displayed beside smoked paprika and saffron. Score!

I soaked the peppers in hot water.



[ts]
I had to remove the seeds and peel and use only the flesh. These peppers were small, and their flesh thin. My first reaction was, "What flesh?!! There's no flesh!"



[ts]
But, I set to work and used a spoon to scrape off the thin flesh clinging to the skins.


The small yield.

Roasted Garlic & Roasted Tomatoes


[ts]
I also had to roast some garlic and tomatoes for the sauce.

That was simple enough, except I left them in the oven a tad too long (more than 1 hour!), as JS and I were purchasing some morcilla sausage at a Portuguese shop and decided to swing by that same Italian supermarket mentioned above.

I squeezed the garlic out of their skins, and peeled the roasted tomatoes, discarding their skins.

Roasted Hazelnuts & Roasted Almonds

clockwise from top: roasted almonds; roasted tomatoes, peeled and seeded; roasted garlic; reconsituted ñora peppers, peeled and seeded; roasted hazelnuts, peeled

[ts]
I also needed to roast some almonds and hazelnuts. Then, the hazelnuts also needed to be peeled.

Finally, my ingredients were ready to be made into Romesco sauce!

What were they again? Ah yes, they were:
reconsituted ñora peppers, peeled and seeded;
roasted garlic;
roasted tomatoes, peeled and seeded;
roasted almonds; and
roasted hazelnuts, peeled.

Whew.

Also add to that list some olive oil, fresh garlic cloves, and salt (of course).

Although it wasn't an ingredient in Núria's recipe, I also added a touch of white wine vinegar to cut the richness of the nuts. I omitted the mint leaves just because we didn't have any on hand.

Everything got thrown into the blender.



[ts]
Ta-da!

This sauce goes well with seafood... or anything else! Here it is on some grilled prawns.



[ts]
Romesco sauce has such a great, complex flavor.

In fact, several guests at the party thought it was akin to Southeast Asian sauces, like a peanut sauce and even a shrimp paste sauce! It just has that big boost of very multi-dimensional flavor.

When we ran out of prawns, I just ate it with plain, white rice; I saw a few people at the party doing this. It was still so delicious and satisfying just by itself that I couldn't really complain.

Recipe: Núria's Salsa Romesco
Note: I doubled the recipe and ended up with a huge amount of sauce.



Next up, the reason we made Salsa Romesco in the first place.

See the rest of our Spanish-themed New Year's Eve Menu here.

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eatingclub vancouver Weekend Wokking posts:
Ravioli "Caprese": Tomato, Basil, Bocconcini
Eggplant "Clafouti"
Bibingka
Pumpkin Congee w/ Pumpkin "Beignets" & Sesame-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese w/ Pipián Verde
Adobo Mushroom Tart
Duck and Orange Crêpes with Orange-White Wine Sauce
Almond Eggplant "Bisteeya" (Bastilla)
"Mashed Potato Beef Burger" (Red-skinned Potato Salad in Taiwanese Sacha Cheeseburger)
Korean Soybean Sprouts Pancake (Kongnamul Jeon)
Lemon Chamomile Tiramisu
Cilantro Horchata
Strawberry Cilantro Salsa, on Grilled Flank Steak
Duck Enchiladas with Chipotle Peanut Salsa
Clear Oxtail Soup with Corn, Cabbage and Potatoes
Beijing Pickled Cabbage
Salsa Romesco ("Queen of the Catalan Sauces!")
Aguadito de Pollo (Peruvian Chicken Soup)
Bangus Belly à la Bistek (Milkfish Belly with Onions, Calamansi and Soy Sauce)
White Pork with Garlic Sauce, Two Ways (蒜泥白肉)
Mr. Zheng's Soupy Tomatoes and Eggs with Tofu (蕃茄雞蛋跟豆腐)
Steamed Fish and Tofu with Chinese Black Beans
Spinach and Cheese with Puff Pastry, Three Ways

We're submitting this recipe to Weekend Wokking, a world-wide food blogging event created by Wandering Chopsticks celebrating the multiple ways we can cook one ingredient.

The host this month is Wandering Chopsticks herself!

If you would like to participate or to see the secret ingredient, check who's hosting next month.

Check out all Weekend Wokking Roundups.

Hazelnut Roll

[ts]
Another "sweet" post from [eatingclub] vancouver? Wonders never cease!

[js]
We were watching French Food at Home the other day, and somehow, yet again, Laura Calder managed to make 5 dishes in the space of 30 minutes, including this hazelnut roll.

She made this hazelnut roll seem so easy, finishing it in what must have been just the first five minutes of the show -- and that, while wearing what seems to be an uncomfortably tight-fitting outfit.

Or maybe the dress was comfortable, who knows, but then my standard of "comfortable" is very high (or is that very LOW?), as my idea of comfort is a loose T-shirt and pajama bottoms.

TS, being the hazelnut-lover that she is, immediately set about making this roll.



[ts]
Good thing this recipe was in her book, French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating. It saved me the trouble of taking notes while watching the program.

She really makes everything look easy. So, even though I had to roast, then peel, then grind the hazelnuts myself, I persevered.



[ts]
To make the cake, I used an electric mixer to beat eggs and sugar over simmering water until the mixture was thick, light-colored and ribbony. Then the ground hazelnuts and a touch of flour were added. Onto a baking sheet the batter went, and into the oven. It only took about 10 minutes to bake.

Note: My baking sheet was larger than in the recipe, so it took even less time to cook.



[ts]
Then, I rolled the cake in a tea towel to cool. It looked so cute (meaning: tiny, hehe). This was the hardest part: the waiting!



[ts]
Finally, I whipped some cream with a tiny bit of sugar (I didn't bother with the cinnamon or vanilla) and spread it onto the cake. One final roll, and done!



[js]
I find it hard to believe that this cake will serve 6 to 8 people. It is not very big and it is a very light cake that one is just tempted to eat more of it.

[ts]
Exactly. The resulting roll was tiny! I think 4 servings is probably the correct number. Of course, that's just me and my gluttonous self talking. If it were up to me, this would make just 1 serving.

Oh, hazelnut roll. You were so intoxicating with your roasted hazelnut aroma and a full flavor to match.

One could definitely eat this in one sitting.


Open wide!

Our Laura Calder & Laura Calder-inspired posts
Piedmont Marinated Eggs
Stuffed Savoy Cabbage with Pork
Pain Perdu (French Toast) with Sautéed Cherries
Hazelnut Roll

Laura Calder website

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Recipe
Hazelnut Roll
from French Taste: Elegant Everyday Eating
Makes 6 to 8 servings

3 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup (70g) ground hazelnuts, more for garnish
2/3 cup heavy cream
A drop of vanilla
Pinch cinnamon
cocoa powder, for dusting
icing sugar, for dusting

Heat the oven to 400F (200C). Butter an 8- x 12-inch (20x30cm) sided baking sheet, line the bottom with parchment, and butter the parchment.

Put the eggs and sugar in a glass or metal bowl, set it over a pot with an inch of simmering water in the bottom (do not let the bowl touch the water), and beat until tripled in volume and very thick and ribbony, like cake batter. This will take about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Sift the flour and nuts over the batter, and gently fold together. Pour evenly into the pan. Bake until slightly golden on top, 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, get set up for unmoulding the cake: lay a damp tea towel on a cutting board or on the back of another baking sheet. When the cake comes out, flip it onto the towel, carefully peel off the parchment, trip the edges of the cake if you want, and immediately roll it up from the short side, rolling up the towel with the cake. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Whip the cream to stiff peaks with a hint of vanilla and a pinch of cinnamon. Unroll the cake, sieve over a light dusting of cocoa powder, spread over the cream, and roll up the cake again, this time without the towel. Set on a platter, seam side down.

Sift over a little icing sugar and cocoa powder. Decorate with a button row of hazelnuts. Cover, and refrigerate until serving, which you'll want to do the same day, preferably within a few hours.

Dan Shui 淡水, Taiwan (including food)

little piggies in Dan Shui


Danshui peanutty snack

[ts]
It's only been 2 months, but we're finally getting to post about our trip to Taipei. ;)

After a couple of sunny days wandering the department-store-filled streets of Taipei, we decided to venture northwestward to the little town of Danshui (淡水). It was quite easy to get to, as it was one of the stops on the Taipei metro system. We were promised some seaside-y, waterfront-y goodness and so off we went in the morning.

Of course, life such as it is, we were met with rain.



[ts]
Not quite the waterfront outing we were expecting.

Normally, coming from Vancouver, a little rain never bothers us, but the rain seem to be falling in big droplets. We had to get an "emergency" raincoat made out of yellow plastic. It was a big yellow poncho!

Nevertheless, we still found some residents fishing near the water.


I tried to use my mind to will that pole away from the fishermen and out of the frame, but for some reason that didn't work.

[ts]
With this turn in the weather, we decided against walking all the way to Fisherman's Wharf. After an interesting visit to Hongmao Castle (Fort San Domingo), it was straight to Old Street (淡水老街) and food!


Like how that truck managed to squeeze into the scooter parking spot?

Grumpy Lady's "Fried Wonton Roll"


[ts]
Our first DanShui snack. I don't know what this food item is called, so I'm christening it "Fried Wonton Roll." It appears that the stall-owner has a bit of fame, as, according to her press clippings, she had been visited by a Taiwanese TV show. Anyway, there was a line-up when we arrived.

As you can see, these rolls were being filled, rolled and fried while we wait. Because of the set-up -- the money and change laid out on the counter (see photo above), we thought that customers paid and made change themselves.

So, JS proceeded to do just that and was admonished accordingly. She clicked her tongue and made a shooing sound, never looking up from filling her wonton rolls. Teehee. Hence, we re-christen this "Grumpy Lady's Fried Wonton Roll."

And just in case you think us mean, I would like to mention that all elderly women in Taiwan seemed very grumpy and aggressive. They were the hawkers in most storefronts and they didn't think anything of reprimanding you for passing by and not buying anything! In fact, JS and I were quite scared of them during our stay!



[ts]
Here's how it works: she gives you a stick (wooden skewer), you use the stick to get 3 rolls, then you have your choice of which sauce(s) to brush onto your prize.



[ts]
Fried dough with meat filling: how bad could it be?

After this first taste, we were ready for more.

Fried Quail Eggs



[ts]
I was very intrigued upon discovering fried quail eggs! However, these were just so-so. I didn't care too much for the sauce -- I didn't realize the eggs would be smothered with it. Also, the eggs seemed to have been sitting there for a while.

Lobster with Big Eyes


[ts]
These were just shellfish crackers or some such thing, but I especially liked the drawing of the lobster and the name: Lobster with Big Eyes! I giggle everytime I read it. Lobster with Big Eyes! Teehee.


that's me in my yellow plastic poncho, taking the picture

[ts]
Stre-e-e-e-e-etchy!

I don't exactly know what this item is. I'm assuming it's some sort of sweet pastry with red bean filling... I don't know what the stretchy white part is; perhaps some sort of glutinous rice product? In any case, this was a plastic rendition of this snack. We never did see this around while we were at Danshui.

A-Ge (阿給)


[ts]
A-Ge is a Danshui specialty so we had to get one.



[ts]
As we could only see the exterior -- a bean curd purse with some sort of fish paste on top, we didn't know what to expect.



[ts]
Turns out, it was a bean curd purse stuffed with mung bean noodles, topped with fish paste, and served in broth. Our a-ge was served all cut up (for easy consumption).



[ts]
Not bad.
Later on, we saw this sign that very nicely illustrated the a-ge's structure.



Iron Eggs (鐵蛋)


[ts]
We kept passing by these huge booths selling these strange black spheres the size of large marbles. This was one of the less "fancy" booths; others had people with headsets and microphones! All of them seemed to be employing very hard-sell tactics. And, as I'm very scared of hawking, we didn't want to get too close to the booths. We could only guess what they were.

It was later on that my friend AL explained to us that these were eggs. Yes, eggs! These are stewed eggs that have been dried. An egg becoming that small! Intriguing. I don't know what they would taste like.

Fish Crisps (魚酥)


[ts]
If we're not mistaken, I think this is the company/family that's recognized to make the best fish crisps in Danshui.



[ts]
This is their storefront. The store beside them was a similar store, but this was where the people were lining up. That pile of fish sticks near the person in yellow are what the crisps look like before being dried.

We bought a small bag of the fish crisps and they were indeed very good!

Clay Animals

Chinese zodiac animals

[ts]
What's with those piggies at the top of the page, and all these other animals, you ask? Well, as you can see, they're very cute.

Here's the story. For some reason -- perhaps that we had been walking all day for the past 2 days; just a thought -- I was extremely tired the day we went to Danshui. I mean, I can normally plod on as if nothing's the matter when tired, but I was just so exhausted. So, in the mid- to late afternoon, a little bit after buying some fish crisps, JS and I decided to actually stop walking for a while. Did I say that I was so very, very tired?

While we were sitting down and eating said fish crisps, we decided that we should go back and get more to bring home to Vancouver.

So, we get up and start walking towards the fish crisp place. I tell you, it felt like our little rest did not help me one bit. On the way, I saw this display of cute little clay animals. They were too cute! I lingered a bit and, quick as a cat, the sales person pounced on me and started enumerating the virtues of her wares.

Usually, I have pretty strong willpower against buying such "souvenirs", but maybe my defenses were not where they usually were, with the exhaustion and all. So, "OK," we decide, we'll get one of these. It was a matter of deciding what to buy.



[ts]
The beauty was, besides those piggies and monkeys and such, they had clay Chinese zodiac animals. You choose which animals you want, she glues them onto a stone from the Danshui area (so she claims), and off you go!

I think I may have actually spent quite a while in that shop. In the end, I chose nine zodiac animals to represent our household: 2 big ones for our parents, 4 medium ones for us siblings and sibling-in-law, and 3 small ones for the children. The zodiac animals were stuck onto the stone, packed really well in a box, and went into my hands.

OMG, they were so cute!

I credit these cute little clay animals for bringing the spring back into my step. I felt much revived after my little cute-clay-animal interlude.

Peanutty Snacks


[ts]
I don't know how to describe these snack items. I guess they are similar to granola bars? But, different.

I've included the packaging for those of you who read Chinese.

That above seems to have peanuts (of course), pumpkin seeds (I think), pistachios, and sesame seeds, among other things.



[ts]
These light-colored ones had peanuts and pistachios, enrobed in some sort of sesame "brittle" (like those sesame snaps).



[ts]
These ones seem to be similar to the light-colored ones, but they're enrobed in a darker colored "brittle", then covered with coconut flakes.

These "enrobed" ones were chewier while the first one was crisp. The light-colored ones are my favorite.

If anybody can help us with the descriptions for these, that would be greatly appreciated.

[update]
Please scroll down to the 4th comment on this post for a translation provided by ~an*. Thanks, ~an*!!!

And there you have it! Dan Shui in one post.

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamsui,_Taipei
http://wikitravel.org/en/Danshui

Taiwan trip 2009
Taiwanese Bakery Goods (including ChiaTe Bakery)
Dan Shui 淡水, Taiwan (including food)
Taipei Quick Eats: Mos Burger, Hong Ya Breakfast, Ay Chung Flour-Rice Noodle
Taipei Convenience Store Foods
Shilin Night Market 士林夜市 (Taipei, Taiwan)
Breakfast Buffet at the Shangri-La (Taipei, Taiwan)
Taiwan Beef Noodle Soup, 4 versions (Taipei, Taiwan)
Yehliu 野柳 Geopark; Dried Seafood (Taiwan)

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