Continuing in Andalusia

New Years Paella with a view

Rice cake sandwich with avocado,
 and tomato

Here we are in a new year. We celebrated the new year by going to the eastern point of southern Spain - Parque Natural de Cabo de Gata where we rented a home for a week and mostly ate in as this was a very small village in the winter which was not their high season. Every day we walked on the many walks along the beach and coastline packing a snack.

Las Negras beach - Tea and Tapas
our 25th anniversary. I have learned
to like olives on this trip.

Next we were on to Ronda which was great for food options. This time we stayed in a small hotel so had no facilities for cooking. We were next a wonderful little cafe for breakfast with gluten free bread and amazingly delicious tomato salsa - just tomatoes pureed in a blender. Seems to be one of the favorite breakfast items in many spots - healthy and delicious. Some serve it with olive oil and some not. Ronda had many options for us.

Bar Bodega San Francisco, Ronda
Tapas of mushrooms in
garlic (Richard's favorite)
and cold spiced cauliflower

Curry and Grill, Ronda

Then to Cadiz which was on the western side of Andalusia on the Atlantic ocean, an area known for seafood but we found it easy for our palates. We combined our time between eating in and out. There was a great market and we cooked a delicious meal with mushrooms from the market.

Our last stop of one month in Andalusia was Cordoba - a place we could certainly return to. Here we ate out most days - finding it confusing again with the time. Most restaurants were closed between 4-8 so we ate early and had a snack back in our hostal (Bed and Be) at night. There were many options in this beautiful and historic city. Please visit my travel blog for many more details about this trip. (mexicotravel-susan-ricardo.blogspot.com)

Mushrooms for breakfast
after early morning visit to  Mezquita

Mushrooms were spectacular in Cordoba with garlic and oil - we even had them for breakfast after the visit to the Mezquita early in the morning.

Grilled veggies at Rincon Andaluz, Cordoba

Memories from the Camino...
pimiento padron (which we ate several times in Santiago
de Compostella), habitas (like lima beans) and salmorejo

Olives in the market

Dietary information
in many restaurants

We were in olive country and ate them as a tapas in most restaurants. Before this trip I did not like them but the Spanish olives were delish.  I learned to like olives in Andalusia!!! We visited the town of Baena where much olive oil is produced. We were told that 60% of the olive oil of the world is produced in Spain.

Salmorejo is so famous in Andalusia,
especially Cordoba that it is mentioned
on the tile wall. (I have copied it here)

Interesting to note is that Spain, like many other places in the world, is mentioning dietary needs on menus and signs in restaurants. Here is an example....no need to worry in this part of the world - we can all eat easily and happily


Salmorejo

1 KG tomato
200 gr bread
100 gr extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
10 gr salt

Blend together. (It is often served with chopped eggs and ham but happily served without)


Since we had vegan paella in so many different places, I decided to look for a recipe to share with you for paella. I found one from Gwyneth Paltrow's book called Notes from My Kitchen Table. I have adjusted the measurements when possible using conversion tables. You can also feel free to add other vegetables to this recipe as you wish.

Vegetable Paella

1 L (4.25 cups) vegetable stock
Dried shiitake or porcini mushroom10 cloves garlic, 4 crushed and 6 finely choppedLarge pinch saffron
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large aubergine (eggplant) cut into 8mm thick slices, ends discarded
125 ml (1/2 cup) olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 large tomato
2 red peppers, seeds and stem removed, cut into 2.5 cm pieces
400g (about 2 cups) Bomba (or Arborio) rice
8 small artichokes, trimmed and steamed for 20 minutes, cut in half and chokes discarded
150g (1 cup) frozen peas
3 lemons, 2 cut into wedges

½ teaspoon sweet pimenton (paprika)

Combine the stock with the mushrooms and the 4 cloves of crushed garlic in a large saucepan and boil over high heat for 10 minutes. Lower the heat, add the saffron and pimenton and simmer for an additional 10 minutes to thoroughly combine the flavours. Keep warm over a low heat.

Meanwhile, prepare the aubergine by sprinkling both sides of the slices with a bit of salt and laying them between sheets of kitchen towel for at least 15 minutes (Note: this will draw out the moisture and the bitterness from the aubergine). Cut the slices into 2.5 cm pieces. Heat half the olive oil in a large sauté pan set over medium heat and cook 2 cloves of the chopped garlic until fragrant, about a minute. Add the pieces of aubergine to the pan and cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring now and then, until browned and softened. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a 40-45 cm paella pan over high heat until just beginning to smoke. Turn the heat down to medium, add the onion and the 4 remaining cloves of chopped garlic, and cook, stirring, until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Coarsely grate in the tomato, discarding the skin. Stir together and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the peppers and continue to cook the vegetables together until softened, another 10 minutes. Stir in the cooked aubergine.

When you’re ready to roll, place the paella pan with the vegetables over high heat and pour the rice into the pan. Add the broth and stir to combine everything. Bring to the boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Arrange the artichokes and peas on top and simmer until the rice is cooked through, about 35 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat source, cover with a large piece of foil and let it sit undisturbed for 15 minutes. Squeeze the juice of the lemon paella. Serve with lemon wedges. Buen provecho!