Saturday, April 27, 2013

Con Manos

 

      "I walked the Camino de Santiago and all I got were these amazing legs" is the tee-shirt that Amy and I have been laughing about getting made when we get home. We should add: "(And suntans, an aversion to anyone who looks like a snorer, and potential hip problems.)" The 25km days and difficulty sleeping caught up to us and we have spent the past two days gloriously puttering around Leon -- window shopping, relishing not wearing our packs and shoes, and eating exclusively with our hands.

      We have discovered that Leon is an old fashioned city where a small pour of wine (vino tinto or blanco) is placed alongside a house tapa, generally on a piece of bread or skewered through a toothpick. Bar Jamón Jamón (Bar Ham Ham) served exquisitely dry-cured Jamón Ibérico (ham from the mountains) which is prized by Spain the way Prosciutto di Parma is by Italy. La Taberna, a few cobblestone streets away, gave us saffron-braised chicken and then poached-in-cream oyster mushrooms. We bought local almendras (almonds) and aceitunas con oregano (olives with oregano) from a lady in a white lace apron in a specialty shop that advertised her goods with mounds upon mounds of paprika in her front window.

       We are rested and fattened and moving onward, inspired by the food, mode of eating, and smiles that seem like permanent fixtures on the faces of our, albeit bruised, fellow pilgrims.

Lettuce Wraps with Olive Oil Packed Tuna

      The canned tuna in Spain that's available in nearly any village is high- quality and packed with the protein that our bodies are requiring. The olive oil rounds out tuna's  otherwise lean taste and helps to prolong the energy it provides. The ingredient list is merely a basic suggestion based on what's readily available to us. Mayonnaise or aioli could be added but will add a heavier feel to the already-rich tuna.

Ingredients

8 large lettuce leaves, washed and carefully peeled from the core
1/4 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cucumber, halved and thinly sliced -- peeled, if waxed
1/2 c chopped pickles (I used precious pickled beets)

1 can oil packed tuna (Ortiz is a good brand available in the States)
8 thin slices of sharp sheep cheese
toasted sunflower seeds
sea salt and black pepper 

Process

       Mix and match the ingredients. The combinations are endless and, depending on how hungry you are, beyond delicious.

Yields: a light lunch for two
Prep time: 10 minutes

Photography by Amy Pennington/Styling by Me

Monday, April 15, 2013

Moving On



      There is a very good chance that I may begin to resemble a lentil before long; I can hardly resist the glass jars available in every market for half a euro. Lentejas get on with the Rioja crianzas we just savored throughout the past week (we are now in the vast Castilla y Leon region where the night sky sprawls in such a manner that my breath is literally seized -- if only from craning my neck to such an extent each morning). While the days are certainly getting warmer and my lips pinker (despite all the SPF), nights are still cool and well suited for lentil's peppery bite.

      I've paired them with everything from dried mushrooms with rosemary to nettles with Tempranillo to garlic with anchovies. They never tire me. Today's recipe will appeal to the meat eaters, Spanish folk, and definitely not to Amy, who has informed me she's ready to move onto chic peas.

Lentils with Fried Chorizo and Wild Thyme

      Fresh thyme from your gardens or markets is just fine -- I've had the luxury of coming across it growing on craggy hillsides now and again on my travels, much to my delight. If you have nettles or spinach around, toss them in towards the end to give the hearty dish some less-serious color.

Ingredients

1 T olive oil
1 1/2 c chorizo (or txistorra, if available) - casing removed, roughly chopped

1 onion, diced
1/2 t salt

6 cloves garlic, diced

2 c cooked, salted lentil
1 c water

2 c washed nettles (ortega) or spinach (optional)

3 T olive oil

3 T red wine vinegar
1 T fresh thyme, chopped
sea salt, to taste (this will depend on the salt content on your lentils)

Process

      Over a medium-high flame, heat 1T olive oil in a skillet. When the oil is hot, add the chorizo, stirring occasionally to let crisp and brown -- about two minutes. Remove from heat. Saving the oil, spoon out the chorizo onto a separate plate and place the the skillet (with fat) back on the heat source.

      Add the onions to the skillet with 1/2t salt. Stir occasionally for ten minutes or until the onions have softened and begin to turn a bit brown at the edges. Reduce heat if this is happening too fast. Add the garlic and let sauté for one minute longer.

      Add the lentils, water and crisped chorizo. Bring the lentils to a simmer and reduce heat to maintain it for 15 minutes. Add the greens, if using, stirring gently to combine. While still simmering, add 3T olive oil to bind the dish.

      Remove from heat before stirring in the vinegar and thyme. As with all legumes, they absorb flavors dramatically and may require some adjustments, especially with the vinegar and salt.

      Serve with some freshly cracked black pepper, sharp sheep cheese and crusty bread.

Yields: 3 hearty servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

Photography by Amy Pennington/Styling by Me

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Stay Soft


      I nearly dove into the first bush of rosemary I saw growing on on the side of the trail just as we passed into the Navarra region. Long has it been a favorite herb (the mystical thyme holding first place) and seeing it made my heart soar as I began imagining it in the lentils with txistorra (Basque paprika spiced sausage) that I've been hankering for or how much it could boost the olive oil and garlic I like to dip my bread into each night after such epic days of walking.

       As it's turning out, the reasons people choose to walk the Camino begin as one thing and shift and get sculpted into other reasons. I began planning the trip for practical reasons: I love Europe, I am closing my twenties with a happy degree of accomplishment and direction, and I sensed that it may be one of the last times in the coming future in which I am permitted to take a big break from work and fiscal obligations. I did not foresee what a profound reality check would come within even the first week of walking in regards to the stuff  I carry. The way that Amy and I evaluated the things we brought and began shedding along the way was humorous and somewhat maniacal (like the choice to mail home our down vests during the coldest Spring that Spain has seen in a long, long time). The things we've collected and carry along -- more band aids, gloves (for sun protection and harvesting nettles), local olive oil, perfect anchovies, mustard, sea salt -- have revealed something simple and endearing: we want to protect ourselves and each other and to eat well while we do it. And, of course, this is also all a metaphor; what we tuck away and carry along accumulates and reveals such truths about our tendencies and characters.

      Food that isn't fresh in Spain simply isn't available. This is especially delightful in bakeries (maybe because I can point and say "Puedo obtenir pan, por favor" which is all I can manage to say without closing my eyes and being silent for a really long time as I try to think of another, more casual way, to make this basic request). Fresh bread means it doesn't have preservatives which means it will get stale before the day ends -- but with the addition of rosemary, I've found the perfect way to to help bread stay soft as one foot goes in front of the other.

Rosemary and Garlic Oil (Drenched Bread)

      Figs and manchego are an especially lovely pairing with this oil. If you don't do bread, enjoy over salad or popcorn (but strain the rosemary and garlic if popping the corn in the oil).

Ingredients

1c olive oil (I like the kind that makes me cough a bit)
5 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
3 T minced fresh rosemary needles, removed from stem and minced
1/4 t sea salt

Process

      In a small saucepan or skillet, heat all ingredients over low heat until the garlic and rosemary appear to be gently frying -- about ten minutes, depending on how low your flame is. Let this continue for five minutes, keeping an eye on the garlic so that it doesn't turn brown. Remove from heat, let cool if you'd like, and enjoy with fresh bread.

      Pour any leftover oil over remaining bread to still-delicately enjoy the next day. 

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Yields: 1 cup infused oil

Photography by Amy Pennington/Styling by Me

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Upon Which We Tread


      As I read over last week's post regarding My Sacred Morning Time, I felt an ironic grin spread across my face. And then I moved slightly and groaned like the pregnant horse I tried to feed a handful of grass to twelve miles ago in Akarreta. Amy and I are currently in Pamplona, in the Basque region of Spain, on the fourth day of our pilgrimage: el Camino de Santiago. We've walked from St. Jean Pied de Port in southern France through the edge of the Pyrenees into Spain and have about 800km remaining to Finesterre (the end of the land). I have never been so exhausted. My senses have never been so accosted in the mornings (fellow pilgrims share sleeping spaces in affordable hostel-like places called albergues and carry a lot of plastic bags). I have never loved fried potatoes with aioli (patatas bravas) and pickled anchovies (boquerones) as much.

      Long have I resisted being called a 'hippie' -- emphasizing that I shave my legs, wear actual perfume instead of essential oil, and pay my taxes (albeit quite begrudgingly this past year). While I still resist it, I realize I am walking across Spain and that I did spend all day yesterday collecting nettles, wild garlic and mountain thyme. Nettles are especially good for circulation and respiratory health, so the tea that I made from them (after I washed them, Mom) was gratefully sipped by the two of us, along with Kai from Hawaii, Lindsay from Portland and a Dutch architect with a ponytail who was painting gorgeous landscape watercolors. Perhaps it was the power of suggestion, but all of us agreed that our leg cramps abated and sinuses began behaving.

      Regarding Spring, Spain is a bit ahead of the States, but nettles will begin appearing around many of you before long. Wear gardening gloves as you collect them -- they sting like a bee. I know that it's a nail in the hippie coffin, but eating from the land upon which you tread is harmonious for both your immunity and your spirit. Buen Camino, my dear friends.



Nettle Tea with Honey and Lemon

      Save the nettles once the tea has steeped -- they lose their stinging capabilities once cooked and are terrific and nutritious additions to soups, salads and Tortilla Españolas, tasting like a peppery spinach leaf.

Ingredients

32 oz water, just boiled
3 c fresh nettle leaves, washed and trimmed from the main stem

2 T honey, or to taste
2 t fresh lemon juice, or to taste

Process

      Boil the water and submerge the nettle leaves. Let steep, covered, for ten minutes before draining. Flavor to your own preference (which may be not at all) and savor away.

Yields: 2 hearty cups of tea

Prep time: 15 minutes (includes foraging and cleaning)
Cook time: 10 minutes

Photography by Amy Pennington/Styling by Me