QUICK AND TASTY SPANISH TAPA: SHRIMP IN SPICY GARLIC PEPPER SAUCE FOR TWO

This is one of the most important shrimp dishes in Spain. Depending on the area this dish can be called “gambas al pil-pil” or “gambas al ajillo” amongst other names. However, whatever they call it, the point is that it is a delicious dish and extremely easy to make! There are different recipes and ways to cook it. Here I’m posting the recipe that I normally follow. This dish has to be served with bread on the side (for the bread, please try my recipe of easy homemade bread, you will be so proud to see your own bread in the oven!): http://buenisimowithdanielbuenos.blogspot.com/2015/01/so-easy-home-made-bread-recipe.html) so you can dip it in the flavorful spicy oil sauce. And to drink, a nice glass of ice cold Rueda Verdejo wine. Enjoy! Cheers!

INGREDIENTS:

• 10 peeled large raw shrimp (dry the shrimp with paper towels to avoid excess of moisture).
• ½ tablespoon of  slightly minced parsley
• 2 sliced large garlic cloves
• ¼ teaspoon of black pepper corns
• 1 medium size red hot chilly pepper
• ½ cup of olive oil
• 2 pinches of salt (it is a bit more of a half of ¼ teaspoon)
• 2 pinches of paprika (it is a bit more of a half of ¼ teaspoon)

In Spain we normally cook this dish in a clay pot as the photo attached. This time we will cook this recipe in a frying pan (it can be non-stick) since normally we have these at home (a good size for the quantities above will be 7 to 7 ½ inch frying pan) and no worries, the dish will still come out very tasty! One of the things that make this dish so easy to make is that all the ingredients will be added into the frying pan before putting the pan on the stove. So let’s start adding the ingredients in the following order:

• Add the oil
• Add the garlic
• Add the shrimp and spread out evenly
• Sprinkle the pepper corns on top
• Break the hot chilly pepper with your fingers in 3 or 4 pieces over the pan and add the pieces as you are breaking them
• Sprinkle the paprika, salt and parsley on top

Now place the frying pan on the stove, medium heat. When the oil starts bubbling, stir occasionally for about 2 minutes (or when you see that the garlic and the shrimp start getting just a bit golden). Immediately remove the pan from the stove. The dish will finish cooking with the remaining heat in the frying pan. As you can see the total cooking process is quick, so if you get just a bit distracted you can have the garlic completely brown and you don’t want that (just a bit brown is acceptable).

In Spain we normally serve this dish right after we remove it from the fire and people start eating it when the bubbles in the oil almost have disappeared. You can do that if you are serving the dish in the frying pan. Sometimes I serve this dish that way (it looks very country!).

If you don’t want to serve the dish in the frying pan and want to transfer it a plate or a ceramic baking tray, please wait at least until the  bubbles in the oil have almost disappeared and then transfer. Please serve the dish quickly as it has to be served hot.

ADD SOME PASTA AND MAKE IT A MEAL!

The only difference from above besides including pasta to the dish is that the shrimp will need to be cooked in a bigger and hollower frying pan and also you will need to add a little bit more than ½ cup of oil (as an option, you can cut the shrimp in the middle in two to spread more shrimp throughout the pasta dish; please note that the halves of shrimp will curl beautifully when they get fried). When we are reaching the above mentioned 2 minutes of cooking, instead of removing the fry pan from the fire, add the drained pasta (don’t forget to add salt to the water where you boil the pasta) and stir frequently for about 30 seconds. Remove the fry pan from the fire. The dish is ready to serve. Sprinkle some shredded Manchego or Parmesan cheese on top of each plate before bringing them to the table.

BUENISMIMO!

#buenisimowithdanielbuenos

THE BEST SOUND EVER!

(abajo en español)
This is the sound of the guitar of our dear friend Juan de la Guitarra. I love this guy and his family; they are part of my family too. He, his wife and the sound of his guitar have been there forever, in my memories when I was a child, when I grew older and up to nowadays. Every time I have to say "hasta la vista" to Spain, I'm still able to hear the guitar that softly whispers: 'goodbye my friend, come back soon' 

BUENISIMO!

#buenisimowithdanielbuenos

SO EASY! HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPE

After researching and checking numerous recipes on the internet (lots of them very convoluted even for basic breads), I’m posting this easy recipe for homemade bread. I’m attaching photo of the final product. I hope this recipe is clear and useful for you!

INGREDIENTS:

-2 1/3 cups of unbleached bread flour (it has to be bread flour and not all-purpose flour)

- 1 packet (7gr - ¼ oz. It’s approx. a half of a tablespoon) of active dry yeast. Don’t use baking powder since the final result would be some kind of pizza dough and not bread (although this kind of pizza dough is delicious).

- 3 teaspoon of salt

- 1 teaspoon of sugar

- 1 2/3 cups of lukewarm water (please not hot, we are not making Spanish churros!). You can always add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the water to bring a Mediterranean flavor to the bread.

*Important: you need parchment paper for this recipe.

1/ In a big bowl, mix 2 cups of flour, yeast, salt and sugar together with  a spoon or a fork.

2/ Pour the lukewarm water into the bowl and immediately mix all of the contents together with one of your hands. Now  add the remaining 1/3 cup of flour. Continue mixing the contents together. What we are looking for at this point is that all of the ingredients become evenly mixed. This will take a few minutes. At this stage the dough will be super sticky and inconsistent (like a piece of melted chewing gum).

3/ Time to start kneading. Before starting, it is very important to have a bowl with 1 cup of flour on hand. Dust the area of the table (or a large wooden board) where you are going to knead the bread thoroughly with flour, spreading it evenly over the surface. Now pour the dough on the table by tilting the bowl and pulling it out with the hand you used to mix the ingredients. Before starting the kneading process, dust the top with a little flour (remember that the dough is sticky and we don’t want to start stuck to the dough). In the kneading process some pieces of dough will stick to your fingers and on the table. This is inevitable. Dust the table and the dough occasionally with some flour to reduce stickiness (you can also use a spatula or a scraper to turn and unstick the dough from the table). Little by little the dough will be getting more consistent. The kneading process approximate time is 10 minutes and the flour used of the cup you have at hand will be a bit more than 1/2 (the remaining flour in the cup will be use to dust the table on the next steps of this recipe). And you are asking me now, how do you knead? The following is the most basic way: with your two hands grab the further side of the dough from you and fold it towards you as a book. Then, push against the dough using the lower part of the palms of your hands and right away spin the dough a half turn clockwise. Please note that the end of the kneading process the dough will still be very sticky but not as much as when you started the kneading process. Place the dough in a bowl (it can be the same one you used for mixing the ingredients) and cover it with a kitchen tea cloth (it is not necessary that the cloth touch the dough). Let it sit for 1 hour in a place that is not cold.

4/ Take out the dough from the bowl again and place it on the table that has been thoroughly dusted with flour again (to avoid the dough sticking to the surface) and slightly knock a few times on the dough (you can use your knuckles) to get rid of some air inside. Again, place the dough in the bowl, cover it with the tea cloth and let it sit for another 20 minutes. After the 20 minute period, the dough is almost ready to be placed in the oven. So, 5 minutes before that period finishes, preheat the oven at a temperature of 440ºF (225ºC approx.).

5/ Ok, those 20 minutes are already over! Now place the dough on the table (again, thoroughly dusted with flour) and without moving it again, shape it carefully just a bit with your hands. You can also make some cuts on its surface with a knife (for example an X) to have those marks on the final bread. Lastly, to give the bread a rustic look, you can dust with a bit of flour on top of the dough.

6/ Now with the help of your two hands (one on each side of the dough – you can also use one hand and the other one with the spatula or the scraper) take the dough and place it on the baking tray which should already have a sheet of parchment paper on it. Please note that we need parchment paper and not wax paper, since the second one is not for baking purposes.

7/ Before placing the baking tray with the dough in the oven, spray the inside of the oven with water.

8/ Place the baking tray in the oven on the medium rack and allow it to bake for 32-35 minutes at the same temperature of 440ºF (225ºC approx.). If at the last minutes the crust starts getting too brown, place on top of the bread an aluminum foil sheet.

9/ When you take the bread out of the oven, don’t leave it on the baking tray. Transfer it to a wooden board or a cooling rack but please be careful! The bread is very hot. Don't cut the bread or eat it right away. Give it at least 20 min to cool down.

BUENISIMO!

#buenisimowithdanielbuenos