What if?
What I love about cooking is the “what ifs“.
What if I substituted this ingredient for that one?
What if I served it in an unexpected way? What if…?
That’s what makes it fun for me each and every time I flip on the kitchen light.
Over the next few days, I’ll post various dishes I made for a little Spanish-themed dinner party last evening.
And I’ll introduce readers to a new blogger friend.
With temps dipping into the low 30s in SoFlorida, it’s a good time for Caldo Gallego and a glass of red. I prefer a Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina, like the Portillo (2008), pictured here.
Oh, and just a few words if you don’t mind…If you liked FOODalogue’s Sweet, Spicy + Smokey Asian Shrimp recipe, please cast a vote in the Iron Foodie challenge. It only takes a moment to follow these links, no registration required.
An unplanned and throw together dinner that turned out so good, it would be criminal not to share it. Besides being a healthy and satisfying supper, it’s just so damn easy and tasty!
I’m still a contender! Thank you for voting me through to the next round of ProjectFoodBlog 2010. I’m ecstatic to be doing what I love…planning, cooking, eating, drinking, photographing and writing. I even gladly suffer the shopping and schlepping to participate. This is Challenge 3.
“Get creative and host a luxurious dinner party where your guests will discover new tastes and exotic flavors…and share some hosting secrets.”
Since food is the most important element of any dinner party, I focused first on the directive “new tastes and exotic flavors“. Pretty quickly I came up with the idea to create a tasting menu sampling the cuisine and wine of the African continent. Once I satisfied that element, I decided to have fun with it and go all out with decorations, music, and regional wines.
Ingileni (come in please) as they say in the Congo. Welcome to my dinner party.
Continue Reading
Last weekend while I was at a weekend cousins’ reunion, my sister and I made paella together for the Sunday group dinner. Being half-Spanish, we’ve been making and eating paella forever. To make it interesting, I suggested we do it with fideos (noodles) as they do in some regions of Spain but, in the end, we decided not to experiment for a dinner party and went with rice.
But the idea of fideos lingered and when I saw it in the market this week, I couldn’t resist. This is a simple dish I created that can take on the flavors of any ethnicity depending on the seasonings and flavors you add to the pot. I chose to go Spanish but I could clearly see it served in an Asian, Italian or Greek style. Tips follow. Continue Reading
Every time I make gazpacho I say the same thing…I don’t know why I don’t make this more often! I also say the same thing with ceviche. 
There is so much flavor in every mouthful! And it’s all so fresh…and good for you! Is that not a winning combination?
This time I had the idea(s) to ice some of the gazpacho to keep the chill and also to serve it with poached calamari and roasted garlic toast. All 3 components marry very well with each other, the preparation is really simple and I heartily recommend the taste!
It was cold again or shall I say still? I felt like having soup for lunch, but had none made. And I was hungry and ready to eat right then and there! If this ever happens to you, look in the refrigerator. In your vegetable drawer, to be precise.
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