Recipe

1. Mediterranean recipes

artichoke 

Serves 4 as generous appetizer
Serves 8 as side dish

• 16 artichokes – or 12 if they are very big
• 2-tablespoons freshly pressed lemon juice
• ½-teaspoon salt or to taste
• 2-tablespoons wine vinegar
• 2-tablespoons lard, or clarified butter, or butter
• 2-tablespoons flour
• 2-teaspoons parsley leaves – very finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic – finely chopped
• 4 corns pepper – freshly ground
• 2-cups hot water
• 2 eggs

Cooking time: about 32 minutes.

Preparation time: 15 minutes.

1. Trim the stems off the artichokes. Pull off the outermost harder leaveswith your hands until you only have the hearts and a few leaves left. Drizzle some lemon juice over the artichokes to keep them from turning brown.

• Generally, when you use small heirloom purple artichokes you don't need to worry about the hairy chokes. But if you prepare this artichoke recipe with conventional big artichokes it is advisable to scoop out the chokes.

Bring water to a boil in a soup pot. Submerge the artichokes in the boiling water. Add ¼ teaspoon salt and the vinegar. Cook for 20 minutes. Drain the artichokes into a vessel, and remember to keep the water. Cover the water from boiling the artichokes and set it aside. You'll need it later.

Add 1 tablespoon lard, or clarified butter, or butter, to a medium-sized Dutch oven or casserole pan. Melt it over low heat, and add the flour. As soon as you add the flour, begin to stir energetically with a whisk to bind the mixture very well.

• This process shouldn't take longer than 2 or 3 minutes, but it is a key step for good results with this artichoke recipe.
  
  You should get a smooth paste without any lumps. The low heat, and stirring constantly and vigorously are essencial, because if this sauce burns, your artichoke recipe will be ruined. You could also stir with a spoon, but a whisk makes it much easier to get a uniform texture. Likewise, the pan shouldn't be too large. The larger the saucepan the more difficult it will be to bind the mixture of lard or butter and flour.

After binding lard or butter and flour, slowly add 1 cup of hot waterwhile you continue stirring.

When you are satisfied with the sauce consistency, add the chopped parsley and garlic, salt, ground pepper, and the well drained artichokes. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes.

Five minutes into cooking time, beat the egg vigorously in a separate bowl. While you continue beating the egg, slowly add to it half of the artichoke water you set aside before.

When the artichokes are done, turn off heat and immediately pour the beaten egg over the artichokes.

fish soup 

Serves 4

• 1 2-pound (1 kg) monkfish with the liver – use halibut or other firm-fleshed ocean white fish if not available
• 2 ½ quart (2.5 l) water
• Italian, French or country-style bread slices – Slice the bread as thinly as possible
• 1 sprig dried fennel or 1 rib celery
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 sprig oregano
• Salt
• 1 pinch sweet red pepper – optional
• 3 tablespoons olive oil – use extra virgin olive oil if possible
• 1 onion – peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes – peeled, finely chopped, and seeded. Seeding is optional
• 2 cloves garlic – crushed

For the picada

• 4 toasted almonds
• 4 toasted hazelnuts
• 2 garlic cloves – peeled
• 1 small pinch saffron
• 1 monkfish liver

Preparation time: about 20 minutes.

Cooking time: about 60 minutes.

1. Clean the monkfish. Remove the skin and bones and separate the head.


• If you are fortunate enough to live by the sea, professional cooks recommend to clean the monkfish with sea water.


2. First make a fish stock. Add the water to a soup pot. Next, add the head, the skin, and the bones of the monkfish, the thyme, the fennel or celery, the bay leaves, the oregano, and 1 level teaspoon salt. Bring it to a boil and cook for 30 minutes covered over medium-high heat. Strain the fish stock and set aside.


3. Meanwhile, dice the monkfish tail into small square pieces.


4. While the fish stock is cooking, make a sofregit. Add the olive oil to a casserole or Dutch oven. When the olive oil is hot, add the onionand stir. When the onion is golden, add the garlic, stir a few moments and add the tomato. Stir and cook over medium-low heat for 20 to 30 minutes.


5. Add the bread slices and the fish stock to the sofregit and cook for 15 minutes over medium-low heat. Stir well with a wooden spoon or hand whisk in order to dissolve the bread in the fish broth.


6. Meanwhile, make a picada with the saffron, garlic, almonds, hazelnuts, and liver. Add the picada ingredients to a mortar in the stated order. Crush and pound with the pestle for a few moments every time you add an ingredient, before adding the next one. Dissolve the picada with 2 or 3 tablespoons of fish stock.


7. When the fish soup has already cooked for about 13 minutes, add the picada and the monkfish square pieces, and the optional pinch of pepper. Stir briefly and gently. Cook for 10 to 15 more minutes and the fish soup is ready to be served.
   
   
   
   

   veal 

   • 2.6 pounds boneless veal, topside, leg or loin – thinly sliced and cut into about 3" × 2" inch pieces or 1.4 ounces
   • 1-teaspoon flour, and additional flour for coating the veal pieces
   • 4 tablespoons olive oil
   • 1 small onion – chopped
   • 1 small carrot – chopped into 1 inch pieces
   • 2 small tomatoes – peeled, and coarsely chopped. Seed them if your tomato variety has too many seeds.
   • 2 bay leaves
   • 1 sprig thyme
   • 2 sprigs oregano
   • ¾ cup dry white wine
   • ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
   • A pinch pepper – freshly ground
   • 3.5 ounces dried St George's mushrooms or mousserons –reconstituted in warm water
   
   
   • If you don't find any of them, any wild mushroom will do fine. Cut them into 1-inch pieces if they are bigger than the tiny St George's mushrooms.

   For the picada

   • 1 big clove garlic
   • 4 toasted almonds
   • A small piece toasted bread

   Serves 4 as main course

   1. Soak the St George's or other wild mushrooms in warm water for 2 hours.
   
   
   2. Season the veal cuts with salt and a pinch of pepper. Dredge the veal pieces in flour, place them in a casserole, and set apart.
   
   
   3. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in another smaller casserole, and fry the onion and carrot for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring often to prevent burning.
   
   
   4. Add the bay leaves, thyme, oregano, and tomatoes and stir. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes over medium-low heat.
   
   
   5. Add the white wine and cook for 7 minutes. The wine should reduce almost completely.
   
   
   6. Add 1-teaspoon flour and stir very well.
   
   
   7. Add the sauce to the first casserole with the dredged veal pieces. Cover well with cold water, and cook for about 25 minutes or until it is almost done.
   
   
   8. In the meantime, drain the mushrooms very well, and sautee them for a few minutes in a teaspoon hot olive oil.
   
   
   9. Remove the veal pieces with a spatula, and place them in a plate for a moment. Drain the sauce. Keep the liquid sauce and discard the vegetables.
   
   
   10. Return the veal cuts to the casserole, add the drained sauce. Now add the mushrooms. Cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes or until it is very tender.
   
   
   11. In the meantime, prepare a simple picada by pounding the garlic, almonds and bread with mortar and pestle. Dilute it with 2 tablespoons of the same veal sauce. Click here if you are not familiar with the Catalan picada.
   
   
   12. After the meat has simmered for 15 minutes, add salt and the picada to the simmering veal. Stir thoroughly and cook 5 more minutes. Turn off heat. Let it rest for 5 minutes and your delicious veal recipe is ready to be served.
       
       
       
       
       

   hummus 

   Serves 6 to 8 as appetizer

   • 2 cups (450 g) dry chick peas (garbanzo beans) – about 5 cups cooked
   • 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) tahini (sesame paste)
   • 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) lemon juice – freshly pressed
   • 3 cloves garlic – peeled
   • 1/2 teaspoon salt
   • 1/4 cup water (use chickpea cooking water, if you have it available) – optional
   • 2 or more tablespoons olive oil
   • 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat Italian parsley – as garnish

   Preparation time: 15 minutes
   Cooking time: 15 minutes (not counting cooking the chick peas

   First method: More manual; it's how I like to do it.

   1. Cook the chick peas and drain them. Click to learn how to cook chickpeas for the hummus recipe.
   
   
   2. Crush and mash the garbanzo beans with a food mill or blender.
   
   
   • If you use a food processor, be careful not to liquidize the chick peas.
   
   
   3. Add the salt and peeled garlic cloves to a mortar and crush them.Add the tahini and lemon juice alternately to the same mortar and mix well with the pestle or a wooden spoon.
   
   
   4. Pour the tahini mixture over the pureed chick peas, and work it with a whisker or wooden spoon until you obtain a smooth and thick, but soft paste.
   
   
   • If you find the consistency of the hummus too thick, add lemon juice and/or water. Do not add a lot of water, though, or you'll compromise the flavor. Likewise, do not add too much lemon juice, or it will only taste to lemon.
   
   
   5. Pour the hummus onto a shallow serving plate.
   
   
   6. A moment before serving, drizzle some olive oil in the center and garnish with the chopped parsley.
   
   
   7. Serve chilled or at room temperature with radishes, pickles and green onions, as it is done traditionally.
   
   

   Second method: Faster

   1. Place the chick peas, tahini, fresh lemon juice, peeled garlic cloves and salt in a blender and blend into a thick paste. Add water as needed. Take care not to liquidize the garbanzo beans.
   
   
   2. A few minutes before serving the hummus, decorate it with the chopped parsley. Drizzle olive oil in the center.
   
   
   3. Serve at room temperature, or refrigerate for an hour and serve chilled.
   
   

   Suggested Mediterranean recipes and meal ideas

   Serve this hummus recipe...

   • As a dip with pita bread (flat bread) for breakfast or as an appetizer.
   
   
   • As a spread on crackers or similar.
   
   
   • As a sauce with grilled lamb or shish kebab.
   
   
   • As a sauce with fried fish.
   
   
   
   

   babaganoush

   Babaganoush - Exquisite Vegetable Dip

   
   

   Serves 4 as appetizer

   • 4 large eggplants – whole
   • 6 tablespoons lemon juice – freshly pressed is best
   • 4 heaped tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)
   • 3 cloves garlic – peeled
   • ½ teaspoon salt
   • 1 sprig Italian parsley – as garnish
   
   

   Babaganoush preparation instructions

   Cooking time: 45 minutes.
   Preparation time: about 15 minutes.

   1. The first thing to remember is neither to peel the eggplant not to chop its stem.
   
   
   2. Pierce each side of the eggplants with a fork. Place the whole eggplants in the oven and roast them for about 45 minutes turning them over 2 or 3 times.
   
   
   • The eggplants are done when the outer shell is blackened or charred, and the inside is soft.
   
   
8. Allow to cool a little bit. Cut the aubergines open lengthwise with a knife, and scoop out the pulp with a spoon. Put the pulp in a mixing bowl andmash it into a puree with a fork or blender. Discard the skin.


• If you use a food processor, be careful not to liquidize the eggplant pulp.


9. Use mortar and pestle to crush the peeled garlic with the salt into a smooth paste.


10. Add the lemon juice and the tahini alternately to the mortar, mixing it well with the pestle or a wooden spoon.


11. Add the tahini mixture to the eggplant puree and beat it gently but thoroughly until the babaganoush has a smooth consistency.


12. Pour it onto a serving dish or platter.


13. A moment before serving, garnish the baba ganoush with chopped parsley or parsley leaves.


14. Serve chilled or at room temperature with olive oil, pitta bread, radishes, and green onions.

Suggested Mediterranean recipes and meal ideas

Serve babaganoush...

• As an appetizer with pita bread cut into wedges.


• As a healthy vegetable dip with pita bread, flat bread or a baguette. After all, real bread is indispensable in the Mediterranean diet.


• In a brunch, mezza or cocktail dip.

Suquet de peix – Catalan Seafood soup

Ingredients for this seafood soup recipe

Serves 4 as main dish

• 2 pounds of 2 varieties of seasonal firm-fleshed fish – Cut in fillets or serving pieces. 
  
  For this seafood soup recipe I reccomend 1 pound monkfish (4 pieces), and 1 pound grouper (4 pieces), if you manage to find it,or rascasse (scorpionfish).
  
  Other fish alternatives that give very good results with this Catalan seafood recipe are rockfish, redfish, sea bass, halibut and ocean perch.


• 4 Norway lobsters or similar shellfish
• 1 pound potatoes – cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1/2 green pepper – cut into 1-inch stripes
• 2 cloves garlic – peeled
• 2 cups fish stock
• 1 cup olive oil
• Salt

For the sofregit

• 1 medium-sized onion – finely chopped
• 2 ripe tomatoes – peeled, finely chopped; seed them if you so prefer.

For the picada

• 2 sprigs flat Italian parsley
• 4 toasted almonds

Heat the olive oil in an earthenware cassola or Dutch oven. Add thegarlic cloves. Fry the garlic over high heat until golden. Remove the fried garlic cloves and set aside.

In the same oil and the same cassola, make a sofregit of onion and tomato. First, add the onion, and when it is translucent, say 4 or 5 minutes, add the chopped tomato. Stir, and cook for about 10 minutes on medium-low heat.

Add the potato slices, and the fish cuts, the shellfish, and enough fish stock to cover seafood and potatoes. Cook uncovered over medium-high heat for 10 to 15 minutes. The seafood shouldn't cook longer than 20 minutes.

• If you are not sure that the potatoes will cook properly you have two alternatives: a) cut the potato slices thinner; b) add the potatoes and the fish stock first, cook for 5 minutes, and then add the seafood and cook for 10 minutes. When it's almost cooked add salt to taste.

Meanwhile, prepare the picada. First pound the fried cloves of garlic in the mortar, then the parsley and finally the toasted almonds. Use 2 tablespoons of the cooking seafood sauce to bind the picada.

Stir in the picada at the last moment. Adjust the salt if necessary.

Let this delicious seafood soup recipe rest for some minutes before serving. It'll be even more succulent.