Spain - The Seventh Sphinx

October 9, 2013October 10, 2013

on the menu: Basque chicken

I finally had a chance to make this Basque chicken recipe from Sorted while I was in San Francisco. It went so well that I made it again, with slight modifications. Better sausage. A lot more garlic than it calls for.

I like these one pot meals, and this one has a lot of flavor. You basically sautée the base elements, chorizo, onion, peppers, garlic, what have you, deglaze the pan with red wine, preferably Spanish*, add rice, pimentón, herbs, extras, broth, and shove the whole thing in the oven. The chicken you brown beforehand and place on top before baking. It’s spicy from the chorizo and pimentón, rich from the wine and olives.

More cooking with wine is in order.

*I used the 90+ Cellars Garnacha, which was quite good. Have had such good luck with all of the 90+ Cellars wines I’ve tried.

July 8, 2013

summer feet: espadrilles

I wanted a pair of classic espadrilles for summer, something light and easy to slip on, bright and with that air of being just the thing for wandering around Mallorca or Barcelona.

It took me a while to decide, but I went for these aqua striped espadrilles from TOMS, which have that Spanish touch of the jute edging.

I think I must be one of the last people to get a pair of TOMS, they are so ubiquitous. There’s no arguing, though, that it’s an admirable company and a comfortable shoe. I find the plain ones you see everywhere a bit ugly, actually (even sometimes a lot ugly), but the bright print and the braided jute edging fixes everything for me, it seems.