KBKabaret

Pintxos Tempura Chicken

Bas Tapa:  Pintxos
These are small portions (what we would call Tapas) served in the Basque area of Spain.  Toothpicks are important so you can count how many were eaten.

Ingredients

• 2 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 cup very cold water
• 1 cup bleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Essence, recipe follows
• Peanut oil, for fryingBaguette warmed and sliced
  Toothpicks

Directions

Lightly coat the chicken strips in the cornstarch, shaking to remove any excess. Set aside. In a large pot or wok, preheat the oil to 360 degrees F.
In a bowl, beat the egg with the cold water. Add the flour and Essence and mix lightly and quickly just until smooth. Dip the chicken into the batter, shaking to remove any excess. In batches add to the hot oil and fry, turning, until golden brown on all sides, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Serve the chicken with Saffron Mayonnaise on top of Sliced warmed Baguette, Mango and pear sauce for dipping

Saffron Mayonnaise

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

Preparation

1.    Bring water and saffron just to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat. Stir, then let steep, uncovered, 10 minutes, to release saffron color and flavor.

2.    Whisk together mayonnaise, sherry vinegar, and garlic in a bowl. Gradually whisk in saffron water.

Cooks’ note:
•Mayonnaise can be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Mango and Pear Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Chopped Mango
• 1/2 cup Chopped Pears
• 4 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced shallots
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Pinch 5-spice powder

Preparation

In a saucepan, combine chopped mango, pear, vinegar, shallots, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, and 5-spice powder, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Stir, reduce the heat and simmer until thickened and the flavors are married, 4 to 5 minutes. (The sauce does not have to be smooth, fruit chucks can remain.) Remove the plum sauce from the heat and adjust the seasoning, to taste. Let cool to room temperature.

Vermouth Pairing:  Bormuth

Ham and Machengo Empanadas With Creamy Sherry Dijon Dipping Sauce

Serves: about 15 empanadas

Bas Tapa:  Pintxos 
These are small portions (what we would call Tapas) served in the Basque area of Spain.

Ingredients

For Ham and Machengo Empanadas:

• 1 cup well chopped or diced baked ham (deli ham can be substituted)
• 1 cup well chopped roast turkey (deli turkey can be substituted)
• ¾ cup shredded Machengo cheese
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 15-20 frozen empanada wrappers, thawed
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 inches of peanut, canola, olive, or vegetable oil in a high-sided, heavy-bottomed skillet (*See Notes for baking instructions.)

For the Creamy Sherry Dijon Dipping Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Sherry
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

INSTRUCTIONS

To Make the Empanadas:

1.    In a mixing bowl, stir together the ham, turkey, Swiss cheese, Dijon mustard, and mayonnaise until everything is evenly combined. (The filling can be made several hours ahead of assembly and cooking time if desired.
2.    Place the skillet containing the oil over medium high heat.
3.    Scoop about 1 tablespoon into the center of an empanada wrapper and pull the sides up together around the filling, crimping the edges to seal. If desired, you can fold them decoratively. Repeat with the remaining filling and wrappers.
4.    Brush both sides of the empanadas with the beaten egg. When the oil bubbles vigorously around an empanada when it is lowered carefully into the oil, it is ready. Fry only as many as you can easily fit in the oil still leaving them room to move around. After they have cooked for 2 minutes, flip the empanadas over and cook the second side for 2 more minutes. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Fry the remaining empanadas as directed.

To Make the Creamy Dijon Dipping Sauce:
1.    Stir together the mayonnaise Sherry,  and Dijon mustard until even in color. Refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 24 hours.

To Serve:
1.    Lightly dust the warm Monte Cristo Empanadas with confectioner’s sugar and serve with the Creamy Dijon Dipping Sauce.

NOTES
*You can ABSOLUTELY bake these empanadas if preferred over frying. Simply preheat the oven to 375°F and place the empanadas that have been brushed with egg on both sides on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 24-28 minutes, or until the empanadas have become puffy and golden brown.   Still serve with the Creamy Dijon Dipping Sauce.

Vermouth Pairing:  Priorat Natur Vermut

Manchengo Stuffed Rum Soaked Olives In Crust

Ingredients for four people

• 16 stuffed olives, self-prepared (see above) or ready bought
•  1 1/2 lbs. of cheese (Manchego cheese)
• 3 lbs. flour (more or less)
•  1 egg
• 1 1/2 lbs. butter
• Salt, cayenne pepper

Preparation

Soak olives in Rum for 12 hours in refrigerator.  When ready to use pat dry.
Dough: Sprinkle the flour on a work surface, grate the cheese with it or make crumbs. Mix the whole mixture together and shape a small hole into it. Into this hole add the egg, a pinch of salt and cayenne pepper. Cut the butter into small pieces and also add it to the mixture.
Then knead the ingredients into a smooth dough. Form a dough ball, wrap in foil and leave in the fridge for an hour.
Preheat oven to 175°.
Meanwhile, roll out the dough, cut out some 4×4 inch pieces to wrap the olives in.

Tip and variations
If you don’t have a rolling pin to roll out the dough, you can shape the dough into a roll and then cut it into thin slices, then wrap the olives in each slice.
Put the olives in the oven until the crust is golden brown (about 10-15 minutes).
Serve the olives in crust on a plate and garnish each with a toothpick.
The olives in crust can be served cold or warm.

Preparation time: 45 minutes. Leave to rest for 1 hour.

Beer matches: Weissbier, Belgian Pale Ale, SpiceHerb/Vegetable Beer

Chorizo With Marinated Mushrooms – Typical And Popular Tapa Cooked In Sherry

Ingredients for four people

• 1 lb Chorizo
• 1 1/2 mushrooms
•  2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 small garlic cloves
• 8-10 skinned almonds
• Salt and black pepper
• 3 1/2 cups sherry
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• Small bunch of parsley

Preparation

For this tapa peel the chorizo and cut into thin slices. Peel the garlic cloves, but do not squeeze or cut. Roughly chop parsley. The parsley may be omitted.
Clean the mushrooms and cut them into quarters.
Put a little olive oil in the frying pan and fry the chorizo slices in it. The oil is only for the taste, 1-2 tablespoons are more than enough.
The chorizo soaks up the fat very strongly. Take the fried sausage from pan and set aside for later.
Add the mushrooms, the whole garlic cloves and the almonds to the fat and fry over medium heat. Be careful with the almonds and garlic as these ingredients can burn easily.
Then add the sherry and sherry vinegar to the whole mix and cook until the moisture has evaporated.
Season with little salt and pepper.
Then add the chorizo and parsley, and briefly heat it all up again.
This tapa is served in a bowl, each person gets their portion with a spoon on their own plate.
Serve warm.

Preparation time: around 30 minutes.

Beer matches: Extra Special Bitter, India Pale Ale, Saison, English Barleywine, American Barleywine, Biere de Garde, Old Ale, Saison

Lager Marinated Peppers – Tasty Vegetarian Tapas

Ingredients for 4 servings

• 3 red and 3 yellow peppers
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 lemon
• 200 ml olive oil
• 1/2 cup lager (your choice…finish the rest ☺ )
• Salt, pepper, paprika powder

Preparation

Wash peppers and cut in half lengthwise. Cut out the cores. Cut the halves in half again lengthwise.
The peppers must now be peeled. Preheat the oven to 220°, place the pepper strips to the side with the skin side up on a lightly oiled baking tray and then grill until the skin blisters. This takes about 8-12 minutes.
Then place the peppers in a medium sized bowl and cover. Let the peppers cool and remove the skin. The resulting water vapor facilitates the removal of the skin.
While the peppers are in the oven, peel the garlic cloves and cut into thin slices.
Fry the peeled peppers in olive oil and season with salt, pepper and paprika.
Put the oil, lager and lemon juice in a bowl and mix well. Then add the garlic slices.
Then add the peppers to the bowl so that they are completely covered. Then let them rest in the refrigerator for about 2-4 hours.
Place alternate layers of red and yellow pepper strips in a bowl and serve cold.

Tips and variations
You can also pickle the peppers quite easily. Put the peppers in a jar with screw cap and then add the oil with the garlic slices until the peppers are completely covered. Then seal the jar well and store in the fridge.
The marinated peppers are also good as an accompaniment to grilled meat. Here you can briefly put the peppers in tin foil and let them roast on the grill.

Preparation time: about 30 minutes. Cooking time 10 minutes. Leave to rest for 2-4 hours.

Beer matches: Witbier, ESB, Altbier, American Wheat Beer

Rum Soaked Prunes And Dates Wrapped In Bacon – Delicious Contrast Of Sweet And Savory

Ingredients for four servings

• 12 dried prunes (without stones)
• 1/8 cup rum and 1/2 cup water
• 12 dried dates
• 12 thin slices of bacon
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Preparation

Presoak prunes in rum mixture for 12 hours in refrigerator. Pat dry before use.
Cut the bacon slices in half and use them to wrap the dates and prunes. If the bacon is too short, it can also be split lengthwise.
Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the wrapped fruit until the bacon is golden brown and crispy. When you turn them make sure that the bacon does not open.
After cooking let the oil drain on kitchen paper.
The tapa tastes best when warm.

Tips and variations
The prunes and dates can be filled with an almond.
In principle, the recipe works with almost any kind of dried fruit that can be wrapped with the bacon.

Preparation time: About 20 minutes.

Beer matches: Weissbier, Witbier, Belgian Tripel, Fruit Lambic