Spanish reds ... vino de crianza!

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My latest wine discovery is a lovely Spanish red called Campo Viejo Crianza. I recently brought it to a girls night where it was received with much enthusiasm.

The first time I drank it, I imagined that I was sitting at the bar of an Andalusian tavern, a wineglass in one hand and a slice of manchego cheese in the other. It was a hot and dusty day, and a wedge of golden afternoon sun was spilling through the open door, ending just short of my bar stool. A very sexy Spaniard was pushing a complimentary dish of marinated olives my way and ... did I mention I was wearing the most perfect LRD (little red dress)?

Sigh.

The morning after, I pulled out my wine book and learned the basics about Spanish wines. Did you know that the most famous wine region in Spain is called the Rioja and that tempranillo is its main grape variety? Reading that brought back sweet memories from years ago of my friend Rachel extolling the virtues of tempranillos over beer in an Irish pub, oddly enough.

Anyway, according to my book, the crianza I drank was aged in both an oak barrel and a bottle before touching my lips in its third year. And Spanish wines get even better once you graduate to reservas, which have spent even more time in the bottle, at least three years, before being released for sale.

Campo Viejo make a reserva, too. Imagine what my daydreams would be like if I ever got my hands on that!

Stay tuned for more uncorked, wine-induced thoughts as future discoveries are made :)

Campo Viejo Crianza
$14.95 at the LCBO

Spanish Tapas in Ottawa

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My favourite Spanish restaurant in Ottawa is 222 Lyon Tapas Bar. I am tapas crazy, and the food here is really good.

It's a cozy hole-in-the-wall sort of place, all painted up in warm yellows, oranges and reds. It's very charming and reminds me of all of the little restaurants I used to frequent in Montreal when I lived there.

The service is very friendly and attentive, too. I have been lucky to always get the blond waitress with the sunny personality.

The last time S and I went, we ordered four tapas dishes. In the photo, clockwise from the top, they are shrimp Mona Lisa (in a brandy cream sauce with mushrooms and peppers), chicken al Ajillo (made with prosciutto, garlic, wine and chilli), artichokes in a vinaigrette and a ratatouille of eggplant and zucchini.

The tapas dishes are pretty big here. They recommended two per person and also give you unlimited bread for scooping up the delicious juices.

My favourite dish was the shrimp, so juicy and tasty. The artichokes were great, too. Artichokes are so intimidating to make at home — how do you get inside that vegetable, anyway? But they taste so good, and the sauce here does not overpower the wonderful natural artichoke flavour.

These four tapases, a small dish of olives, a glass of wine and beer, and a dessert that we shared, all came to $72.75 plus tip.

Does anyone else love this restaurant as much as me? :) Do tell!

222 Lyon Tapas Bar
222 Lyon Street North
Ottawa, Ont.
613.238.0222‎

Ebisu on Robson

I was in Vancouver this week, where there are delicious Japanese restaurants galore! A friend introduced me to a trendy Japanese place on Robson called Ebisu that is now on my "To Visit" list the next time I return to this fair city.

I loved it! Ebisu is among a growing number of restaurants that is infusing a new vibrancy into Japanese food. It's taking traditional dishes and marketing them as tapas plates with a twist. Hapa Izakaya, where S and I ate two years ago, is another good example of this new kind of Japanese restaurant that draws a younger crowd because of its unique interpretations.

Some of the dishes were a fusion of cuisines — we ordered salmon carpaccio (an Italian term for thin shavings of raw meat), which came drizzled in a citrus white-wine mayo. It was a fresh take on the traditional tataki (which longtime readers of beFOODled will know I also adore) that consists of thinly sliced raw or lightly cooked beef in a citrus vinaigrette.

We ordered five dishes — saba (mackerel) flame, saba inferno, salmon carpaccio and the B.C. and mega dynamite rolls — and a pitcher of delicious sangria to wash it all down. Five dishes might not seem like a lot for two people, but we were full!

My favourite was the saba flame. This dish is also a great example of what I mean by how these restaurants are funkifying the traditional. Saba flame is mackerel sashimi but the server lights it on fire with a hand-held blow torch at your table. She did the same thing with the saba inferno, searing the mackerel skin. It gave it a truly mouthwatering, coal-fired flavour.

The food is fresh and has so much flavour. I would recommend Ebisu if you happen to be on Robson Street looking for great Japanese food.

Ebisu on Robson
827 Bute Street
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada
604.689.8266 (reservations are recommended)


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Casa Tapas in Montreal

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I found a great tapas restaurant in Montreal! It's called Casa Tapas and it's on Rachel East near St. Denis.

My first impression after walking through the door was amazement at the decor. I was in front of a cave-like wine cellar and there were mosaics on the wall and stone columns that look like tree trunks. The whole restaurant is decorated in the style of Gaudí, a Spanish architect who designed many buildings in Barcelona, Spain.


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The menus also deserve a special mention because they are very cute. They're tall and skinny and mounted on a plank of wood. The design is very unique and I like the fonts. (When you work in publishing like me, you develop a geeky interest in such things.)


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The waiter brought us complimentary bread and a little espresso cup full of small green olives (arbequinas, I think). We ordered five tapas dishes and shared a half litre of wine for $100 CDN including tip and tax.

The three dishes pictured above are asparagus and manchego cheese, grilled sardines with cumin, and chorizo in sauce. These were all delicious, especially the sardines.

We also ordered artichokes aioli and mussels in white wine and saffron cream, which was very rich. Even though saffron and aioli are wonderful things, I found they dominated rather than complemented in these dishes.

So five things on the menu tasted, which leaves 25 more to go! I plan to return to Casa Tapas the next time I'm in Montreal and I recommend it to anyone who loves tapas-style eating.

Casa Tapas, Resto Español
266 Rachel est
Montréal, QC
514.848.1063


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Plump pea dumplings

Plump pea dumplings on Flickr by beFOODled.

How much bump can a dumpling clump if a dumpling will be plump?

Plump pea dumplings. Can the name of this recipe be any more adorable? Peanut Butter and Jelly brought these little darlings to our tapas and Transformer party last weekend. Those little bumps contain clumps of a zesty bright green mixture of pea puree, ricotta and lemon zest — what more can a plump dumpling want?

The recipe comes from the 101 Cookbooks cooking blog and you can find it here.

Potato and onion tortillas

Potato and onion tortillas on Flickr by beFOODled.

The first time I tasted a potato and onion tortilla was in 2005 in Munich, Germany. I was visiting a pal from JSkool who is a true lover of all things Spanish. She cooked this for breakfast one day and fed five adults and a baby.

I thought it was delicious but never tried to cook it myself. All that layering seemed too complicated until I found a simple-looking recipe and made two tortillas for our Transformer tapas party. They turned out golden, crispy and full of potatoey goodness. You just need to use a non-stick pan otherwise the crust will stick to the bottom (an inside scoop I found out on Saturday).

One of my cooking magazines calls this dish a tapas classic. You can serve it hot or at room temperature, the way I did.

Tortilla de patatas (potato and onion tortilla)
Makes two tortillas that serve 20 at a tapas party

1 1/4 cup olive oil
12 potatoes
1 large Spanish onion
1 clove garlic
12 large eggs
salt and pepper

Peel and thinly slice the potatoes. Slice the onion into half moon slices and mince the garlic. Divide all ingredients in half and set aside. Divide the oil among two same-sized frying pans and heat on medium heat. Add the potato slices, the onion and the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook gently for about 20 minutes or until almost soft. Remove from heat.

At this point, cook one tortilla at a time.

Beat six eggs in a large bowl. Remove the potato mixture from one of the frying pans with a slotted spoon and add to the eggs. Remove all but one tablespoon of oil from the frying pan. Return the potato and egg mixture to the frying pan.

Fry for five to seven minutes or until crispy and brown on the bottom. Shake the frying pan or run a spatula down the sides periodically to prevent sticking. Cover the with a large plate and flip the pan upside down to turn out the omelette. Slide it back into the pan to crisp up the other side for five minutes or so.

Repeat with the second frying pan full of potatoes.

Let cool on a cooling rack or serve hot in wedges or squares.

Chorizo slices with orange zest (Transformer tapas table awaits guests)

The Transformer tapas table awaits guests on Flickr by beFOODled.

Here's what my buffet table looked like at the beginning of our party. In the foreground are the potato and onion tortillas (recipe coming soon) and behind them, three kinds of olives from Parma Ravioli on Wellington Street. Arcee the Transformer presided over the food while Decepticon Rumble, hanging by a string off our front door, welcomed guests :)

The fourth larger dish next to the olives contains chorizo slices flavoured with orange zest. I am so flattered that two of our friends thought I made the chorizo by hand! Alas, I am no sausage maker, but I do know how to use a frying pan. Here's the recipe:

Chorizo slices with orange zest
adapted from President's Choice Magazine, May 1999

2 hot chorizo sausages
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
2 Tbsp white wine
zest of one orange

Freeze the chorizo for a couple of hours so that it remains firm while you slice it. Slice it on the diagonal into 1/4-inch thick rounds. Fry in a frying pan over medium heat until browned on both sides. Add the garlic when almost done and cook for one minute. Add the wine and orange zest. Reduce the wine for a few minutes. Drain the fat and put the slices into a bowl. Top with some fresh slivers of orange zest.

Tapas transformer party prep

Tapas party reading on Flickr by beFOODled.

This month is S's birthday and this weekend I am throwing him a big tapas party to welcome him to the dirty thirties. He picked the transformer theme on the Evite, prompting some friends to inform me they expect alien robots disguised as everyday machinery in addition to tapas. I am going to have to be hostess extraordinaire to manage all of these expectations.

In the meantime, let me share with you what I have read about tapas. There seem to be several schools of thought on the origin of this custom. One theory surmises that early Anadalusian taverns served dodgy sherry wine but distracted patrons with a complimentary wedge of strong cheese or cured ham over the glass. Another theory states that tapas originated as a way to promote more drinking by producing a thirst. And yet a third states that the tapas over the glass kept out dust and flies attracted to the sweetness of the sherry. So intriguing! I had no idea Spain was so dusty.

Anyways, last night I consulted my cookbooks and have come up with the following tapas menu:

* goat cheese and herb dip (homemade)
* hummus (store-bought)
* salted almonds (homemade)
* marinated olives (store-bought)
* garlic shrimp (homemade)
* chorizo slices (homemade)
* potato and onion omelette (homemade)
* veggie tray (homemade)
* cheese tray (homemade)
* spanakopita (store-bought)

And mounds of breads (pita, baguette, crackers), cake and drinks to fill the cracks! Cooking starts tomorrow.