Fabulous Can Fabes

Fabulous Can Fabes. This was truly the indulgent, culinary pinnacle of our trip to Barcelona – an amazing multi-course (I lost count!) meal that showcased the amazing produce, seafood, and meat the region has to offer.

Located in Sant Celoni, about 40 minutes or so north of Barcelona, Can Fabes is Chef Santi Santamaria’s interpretation of Catalan cuisine using the best ingredients from the region. The restaurant actually was the first in Catalonia (yes, before El Bulli) to receive three Michelin stars.

Pulling up to this unassuming (from the outside…) restaurant in the middle of sleepy Sant Celoni surrounded by narrow streets, apartments, and townhouses, I didn’t know what to expect. But walking in, the restaurant is super sleek, black, neutrals and clean lines with splashes of color. The kitchen is glassed in, so you can watch the chefs at work. It was truly a beautifully designed, yet intimate space.

I don’t know where to begin with the food! We did the summer tasting menu instead of à la carte, and it was a serious affair. An amuse bouche to introduce the three amuse bouches courses – each course having three different amuses. Is that confusing enough??? It was for me too, in fact. Crunchy squash blossoms, chicken gelée with mushrooms, parmesan grisini with lardo di colonnata, endive spears with aioli and olivade to name a few…Nine tiny dishes later, the actual menu began.

Zucchini with eggplant, green almonds, and jamón served alongside a crunchy tartlet with anchovy sauce was the first full dish of the menu. This one was kind of a blur for me to be honest. Then came delicious langoustines in a creamy parsley sauce with a cherry tomato salad. Next, my favorite dish!! Little dumplings filled with a creamy cheese, basil, pine nuts, and spring onions covered (generously) with summer truffles…I’m still dreaming about this one. A stuffed, huge calamari came after with a delicious, rich butter sauce and really thin crispy, green peppers. Finally, there was an amazing goat for two, which came in at a close second to the truffle dumplings – it’s quite frankly hard to beat that. The goat was a succulent rib, perfectly charred and not too gamey, in a delicious jus with baby corn, pearl onions, and nutty roasted garlic.

I can’t even talk about the dessert courses. Why? Because the house Merlot had gotten to me at this point. It was truly spectacular, and I’m not really a Merlot drinker. The restaurant owns about 1 hectare of land (about 2.5 acres for those of us that are metric-challenged) and produces only three-dozen bottles yearly. The wine is aged about 15 months but was incredibly drinkable with sweet tannins.

The desserts included a delicious melon soup, baked pears with pear ice cream over crunchy caramel, a strawberry and hibiscus non-alc martini, rich vanilla ice cream over apple macedoine, and an amazing petit fours course.

The lunch was entirely something else. The restaurant is part of the Relais & Chateaux group, and is attached to a “hotel” of sorts – small rooms adjoining the restaurant mainly for diners who stuff themselves silly and prefer to spend the night. There is also a fantastic wine cellar, a Chef’s table, and the Dins bar, which is a cigar cave of sorts. This was, for me, destination eating at its finest – a truly memorable experience.

Tunisian Bread Salad

I am completely in love with the concept of “bread salad”. It feels like cheating. Like you have this healthy bunch of vegetables and you just make them so much tastier by adding chunks of rustic bread that soak up all the lovely dressing. But you still feel healthy doing it because you call it a salad. I am famous for taking leftover cornbread and making a cornbread-bread salad with honey balsamic dressing. And sometimes I even throw in a few vegetables too.

Most people know about panzanella or Tuscan bread salad, which is made from crusty Italian bread mixed with tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers and basil. Delicious. But Tunisian bread salad or even Mediterranean bread salad (similar) is less well known and equally (if not slightly more…) tasty. You take beautiful seasonal vegetables – eggplant, peppers, tomatoes – and roast them off with some aromatics. Mix those in with olives, herbs, capers, fresh cheese, and chunks of stale bread and toss with a delicious, harissa dressing and you have a beautiful, alternative, light and flavorful, bread salad.

This is a fantastic way to use up old bread (or so we all tell ourselves…). But I’ve actually seen this as a roasted vegetable salad on its own, so if no bread is at hand or you want to be even healthier, you can leave it out and still have a delectable salad. Store-bought harissa is fine, but I would suggest making your own like I do in my homemade harissa recipe; it’s cheaper, fresher, and healthier without the preservatives.

I love harissa in a salad dressing, and my dressing here has honey and harissa which, by the way, is a fantastic combination – I like to just slather the two on bread as a crostini or as an hors d’oeuvre to spruce up a weeknight dinner. In any case, this salad is bright, flavorful and beautiful – great for entertaining. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields 4 to 6 servings

Salad:

1 eggplant, cut into a medium (bite-sized) dice

1 red bell pepper, cut into a medium (bite-sized) dice

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into a medium (bite-sized) dice

8 oz mini sweet or cherry tomatoes

3 small shallots, quartered

3 or 4 whole garlic cloves

Olive oil

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup niçoise olives, pitted

A generous handful of fresh mint, roughly chopped

A generous handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

1 day-old round loaf of bread or whatever rustic bread you have on hand, cut into medium-sized cubes*

Garnish:

Fresh cheese (feta, goat or bocconcini will do), torn or crumbled into small pieces

2 tsps capers, rinsed and drained

1 or 2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered

Dressing:

¼ cup rice vinegar

1 tbsp harissa**

1 ½ tbsps honey

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Procedure

Preheat oven to 400° F.

In a bowl, toss together eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes, shallots and garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper to coat. On a baking sheet, arrange vegetables in a single layer. Roast for 25 minutes until lightly browned.

For the dressing, whisk together the rice vinegar, harissa and honey in a bowl. Drizzle in extra virgin olive oil, whisking to incorporate.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer roasted vegetables to a large bowl. Add olives, herbs, and bread and toss with dressing. Garnish with cheese, capers, and hard-boiled eggs.

*If you have fresh bread, just put the cubes of bread on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and bake at 350° F until lightly browned. You just want it to be crisp enough to stand up to the salad dressing and not turn to mush.

**For harissa you can use my version here or use the store-bought kind.

Fenugreek

Fenugreek is like a gift and a curse to me. I love both the seeds and the leaves, but it’s one of those spices that stick. Crushing the leaves between you fingers will leave behind the sweet, celery-like smell, and I always have to douse my hands with lemon juice to get rid of it. And even then…That said, both add such incredible depth of character to dishes, they are staples in my spice pantry.

Fenugreek seeds are small, hard, and rectangular and have a bitter, vegetal flavor. They also have maple syrup-like notes, particularly when toasted. I know – sounds odd, but it’s true. The seeds are generally known to be used in Indian cooking and are a key spice in any given curry; I used them in my South Indian gazpacho. However, they are also used throughout Middle Eastern, North African, and even East African cooking – like in my version of Ethiopian clarified butter. It’s a fantastic spice if used in moderation (ground to a powder), and I actually love it paired with vegetables. It can add amazing flavor to a soup (I’m partial to asparagus), is delicious mixed in with an aioli for a condiment, and great in a dry rub.

The leaves can be either fresh or dried and are a subtler version of the seeds. I’ve actually never used fresh, so I can’t speak to it, but the dried form is incredible. I tend to use the leaves more frequently because they can fold in with other ingredients without overpowering a dish. They have a warm, sweet, grassiness to them, and the uses are never-ending. I love the leaves mixed in with yogurt as a dip for crudités, with any potato or vegetable purée (see my cauliflower one), in salads or dressings, in a dry rub for fish or chicken, to flavor a butter sauce…

I actually pick up my seeds at Dean & Deluca in Manhattan, but very few regular grocers carry it. And the leaves are a bit harder to find. Make sure to store the leaves out of the light – light will lighten the color and leach the flavor from them.

Exotic Fried Green Tomatoes

A friend of mine has a farm in upstate New York, and he generously dropped off a CSA-like box of his vegetables – tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, celery, and parsley (more pics on my FB page). There were a ton of tomatoes, and he suggested ripening them by placing them on a sunny windowsill. I thought I would reserve a few of the green ones to recreate classic, Southern fried green tomatoes.

So, interestingly enough, although green tomatoes are known as a Southern specialty, they do pop up in other cultures. They can be found throughout the Mediterranean; Italy, Greece, Turkey – all have their versions. I’ve seen green tomato pickles, green tomato sauces for pasta, delicious cold soups, and beautiful casserole dishes with green and red tomatoes.

For my fried green tomatoes, I like to crush up some pistachios with panko bread crumbs for the crust in place of traditional cornmeal. It gives a nutty bite and a hint of sweetness that works well with the acidity of the green tomatoes. You can stop right there after frying in the recipe if you like – they taste lovely just like that. But I took it a step further and chopped up a bunch of herbs, mixed them up with shredded mozzarella, and baked them to bubbly, cheesy perfection. You can, of course, use whatever herbs you like – any combination of chives, parsley, mint, thyme, and even oregano would be fantastic. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields 4 to 6 servings

4 medium, firm green tomatoes

½ cup shelled pistachios

1 ½ cups panko bread crumbs

2 tsps garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

½ tsp cayenne

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp salt

¾ cup buttermilk

Canola or olive oil

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsps chopped herbs (I used chives, parsley & mint)

1 cup low-moisture shredded mozzarella*

Preheat the oven to 400° F.

Trim the ends off of the tomatoes, and cut into 1/4 “ slices. In the food processor, pulse pistachios, until they are almost a coarse meal. Add bread crumbs, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, black pepper, and salt and pulse until the mixture looks like a fine crumb. Pour breading mixture into a bowl or baking dish.

Pour buttermilk into a separate bowl. Dip tomato slices in the buttermilk and then dredge in the breading mixture. Pat the breading mixture on to create an even coat that sticks. Place on a rack on a baking sheet.

Heat a ½“ of oil with butter over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven or cast iron skillet. Fry tomatoes in batches for 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Place back on the rack over the baking sheet.

In a bowl, combine chopped herbs and mozzarella. Sprinkle over fried tomato slices and bake in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve immediately.

*I used low-moisture, shredded mozzarella in place of slices of buffalo mozzarella here in order to keep the tomatoes crispy.

Pomegranate-Rose Milk Pudding

A few weeks back, I read two separate articles that helped inspire this dish. One discussed Sephardic culinary traditions that originated in North Africa, and the other addressed using rose water in modern cooking. Milk pudding thickened with rice flour, and often scented with rose water, is a traditional North African and Middle Eastern dish called malabi (in Israel), sutlage (in Turkey and the Balkans) or muhallabeya (in North Africa and rest of the Middle East). With the Jewish New Year passing and Yom Kippur coming up, I thought this could be a beautiful, sweet dish for the Break Fast meal.

Before starting this dish, I decided to dig a bit deeper and chatted with a friend of mine whose family comes from Sephardic culture, and she clued me in on a few things. First, her family eats something sweet immediately after the fast to get their blood sugar up. She also said her family clears the table after, so a dish like this, which has dairy, is totally fine. For a parve version, coconut milk (regular, lite or even half diluted with water) would work well as a substitute for milk.

But it was the symbolism I found even more interesting. Pomegranates have special significance because the number of seeds in the fruit corresponds with the mitzvots, or commandments of the Torah. Fascinating! Also, I plated these in individual, circular bowls to signify the full circle of the coming year, another symbolic gesture.

After all of the importance, the taste just seems secondary…but thank goodness because it is tasty! The fruity tartness of the pomegranate is offset by the sweet milk and the vanilla notes, and the rose comes later…almost like you are smelling it rather than tasting it. I love sprinkling the pomegranate arils on top for a juicy crunch to offset the texture of the pudding. This is delicious regardless of time of year! Enjoy…

Ingredients

Yields 4 to 6 servings

3 pomegranates, juiced, or 3/4 cup unsweetened pomegranate juice*

½ cup rice flour

4 cups milk

½ cup + 2 tbsps sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ tbsps rosewater

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses (optional)

Procedure

Place a medium-sized bowl over a pot of simmering water (not touching the water and at a medium heat) or use a double-boiler for this recipe.

In a small bowl, add the rice flour to the pomegranate juice in increments, whisking until thoroughly combined. You don’t want any lumps.

Heat the milk in the top of the double boiler. You should see bubbles around the edges, but the milk shouldn’t be boiling. Add pomegranate juice with rice flour, sugar, vanilla extract, rosewater, salt, and pomegranate molasses if using. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until thickened.

Again, there shouldn’t be any lumps, so blend with a hand blender if you happen to have a few. Ladle into serving cups or one large bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 hours.

Serve garnished with pomegranate arils.

*For the recipe, I seeded (messily…) 3 pomegranates, blended the arils, and strained out the juice. You can more easily do this in a juicer if you have one. If using bottled pomegranate juice, it’s definitely more concentrated than juicing the fruit, so I wouldn’t add the optional pomegranate molasses. Also, be careful of the sweetness if the pomegranate juice has added sugars…

Warm Ethiopian Steak Tartare

When I go out to eat, typically, my eyes are way bigger than my stomach. I have to control my (over)ordering and have this mildly obsessive habit of going through each menu item and doing a process of elimination. It’s never about what I want to eat, but rather, what I DON’T want to eat…Steak tartare almost never makes the cut. It always seems like a bland caloric waste when there are other tastier options to choose from. That is, until I tasted kitfo.

Kitfo happens to be one of Ethiopia’s most popular dishes. It’s a steak tartare that has been warmed in butter infused with a bunch of spices – amazing. It’s typically served with the country’s famous flatbread, injera, and a side of spiced collards. The first time I tried it, I was in sensory overload. The warm creaminess of the butter, the texture of the meat, the strong heat hitting me at the back of my tongue, the spice combo – it was, by far, the most delicious and unexpected steak tartare I had ever had.

For my version, I used top round from Dickson Farmstand Meats. All of their beef is dry-aged, all natural, humanely raised – basically fantastic quality. For working with a raw product like this, I wanted to make sure I was using a high quality source. They coarse ground the top round for me, and I would never advise using ground beef for a raw application. Ground beef has a higher bacterial count; you’re better off using a steak you’d feel comfortable eating rare and grinding as close to consumption as possible. I chose top round over sirloin or tenderloin because it keeps a great texture. It stays a bit toothsome and doesn’t become mushy, which I can’t stand.

This dish is extremely easy to make, and there are limited ingredients. So it’s important to develop the flavors. Mine differs from authentic kitfo with the addition of shallots and garlic and because I like to toast up the spices first in the butter. Browning the butter, making beurre noisette, adds even greater complexity. I typically serve this on a sliced baguette sprinkled with chives, but it would be equally delicious on toast or pita points. Oh, and Ethiopians eat the tartare several different ways –t’ire (raw) or leb leb (medium rare) and sometimes cooked further, so go ahead and cook to your preference. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields 4 to 6 servings

1 stick butter

¼ tsp cardamom, ground

½ tsp black pepper, finely ground

1 ½ tsps cayenne pepper, ground

1 shallot, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb top round, freshly ground to your desired texture

Salt to taste

Chives, minced

Procedure

Let the beef come to room temperature. Adding it to the pot cold brings down the temperature of the butter and would necessitate reheating, which could then overcook the beef.

Heat butter on low-medium heat. When it melts add the cardamom, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Cook stirring for a few minutes and notice how the smell becomes nuttier. Add the shallots and garlic and cook another few minutes until softened. Butter should brown, and this is actually desired. Crank the heat a little if it hasn’t.

Let the butter cool slightly. You should be able to dip your finger in the pot without burning yourself. Add beef and stir to combine thoroughly. You don’t want to cook the meat (if serving rare), just warm through, so make sure the heat is off. Add salt to taste and serve sprinkled with chives. You won’t be disappointed.

Mercat de la Boqueria

A kid in a candy store. That’s the most apt description for my wide-eyed, wandering around one of the world’s greatest markets during a trip I took to Barcelona. I examined nearly every stall (umm…there are about 250 or so) and drove my husband nuts as he vaguely trailed behind me, snacking on bolinhos de bacalhau (salt cod fritters) – WHICH I gave him to keep him happy on the journey

Located off La Rambla, one of the most popular, walking streets in Barcelona, Mercat de la Boqueria is an indescribably rich market frequented by locals, tourists, and chefs alike. Like our own Union Square Greenmarket, many restaurants in the area source completely from what’s available in la Boqueria. Stalls consist of produce, hams (a lot!), dried fruits, candy, spices and other grocery items, seafood, meat, and even small restaurants. The tapas bars were packed when we were there – diners seated on bar stools scrambling for the servers’ attention. Bar Pinoxto, which was closed when I was there (so sad), is one of the most popular tapas spots in the market with (supposedly) incredibly flavorful dishes

To warn you, the meat stalls are not for the faint of heart / stomach! I refrained from posting any pics of pigs’ heads or whole rabbits. But everything else is pretty spectacular, incredibly fresh, and ridiculously diverse. From truffles to pimientos de padrón to fresh snails, they have it covered. I seriously would lose my mind if I could shop there everyday for my cooking

I personally picked up a boatload of saffron, cava vinegar, a host of cooking salts and sampled juices, fritters, and hams galore. My advice: go on an empty stomach. The U.S. banned jamón ibérico until 2007, so for a (ridiculously expensive) sample, check out Dean & Deluca, Agata & Valentina, or Despaña and let me know if it’s worth it

Smoky Spicy Corn Pudding

Seriously. I had a somewhat interesting story for how I came up with this recipe, but I keep going to the fridge and sticking a fresh spoon into this now cold, smoky, spicy corn pudding and taking a bite. Then, tossing the spoon into the sink to prevent a second bite. I’m hedging because I don’t want to admittedly portion a piece out, heat it up and eat it (after the three helpings I had last night), but I seriously can’t help myself. It is that tasty…even cold and semi-solid in the fridge.

Growing up in Florida (yes, it’s still the South!), I developed such a weakness for southern food, and corn pudding, itself, is classic, southern comfort food at its best. And I know I did some corn fritters not too long ago and repeating corn might be a sin, but it’s such a seasonal staple in my house. and this is just too good not to share.

There are tons of variations and no real right way to make corn pudding, but I prefer this method because it stays creamy, sweet, with a caramelized top, and it still cuts easily without being bread-like. I mention the combo of mustard seeds and curry leaves in a previous post, and this marries incredibly well with the spiciness from the peppers, the sweet tang of the sundried tomatoes, and the deep, lovely smokiness from the mozzarella. I wanted smokiness without bacon-y flavor (for once), and the result here is divine. I’m likely making this for Thanksgiving this year, which is always a cultural trip! Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields 1 2-quart baking dish

4 to 6 medium ears of corn (you want 3 ½ cups of the kernels), husks and silk removed

olive oil

salt & pepper

1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil

2 tbsps butter

1 ½ tbsps brown mustard seeds

10 curry leaves

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 red cherry, fresno or jalapeno pepper, minced (seeded and ribbed only if you can’t take the heat!)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp finely chopped sundried tomatoes (either packed in oil or rehydrated)

¼ cup all-purpose flour

3 eggs

2 cups heavy cream

a couple dashes of Tabasco

1 ¼ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 ¼ cups grated smoked mozzarella

¼ cup sliced green onions, dark and light green parts only

Procedure

The first step of this dish is roasting or grilling the corn. Brush the corn with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place cobs on a hot grill or a grill pan and cook for 20 minutes, rotating every few minutes to cook all sides. If you don’t have a grill, you can place the seasoned corn on a baking sheet under the broiler for the same amount of time (still rotating). Let cool slightly, cut the kernels from the cobs, and reserve kernels in a separate bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

In a medium skillet, heat oil and butter on medium-high heat. Once foam subsides, add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once the seeds start to sputter and pop, lower the heat to medium-low and add shallots, peppers and a pinch of salt. Cook for a few minutes until shallots are translucent. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Add sundried tomatoes, corn kernels, and flour and stir to coat. Cook for another 30 seconds, stirring. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, cream, Tabasco, salt, and pepper. Add this along with the grated smoked mozzarella and the green onions to the corn mixture and combine thoroughly. Transfer to a greased 2-quart baking dish and bake for 50 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Let cool slightly before serving.

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