Spanish inspiration: Salmorejo and Almond Cream

M and I recently got back from a trip to Spain. It was lovely, if too short. We visited Granada and Madrid, saw some good friends, and took in all kinds of beautiful things. The culinary highlight was without doubt our tasting menu experience at La Oliva in Granada. La Oliva is, as the proprietor Francisco is quick to tell you, not a restaurant. It is a specialty foods store. He became an accidental chef of sorts after doing a tasting for a couple that was so happy that they spread the word loudly and proudly on Trip Advisor. He does a meal a few times a week in his shop. Him and his family members use a hot plate in the back to prepare 15 or so different small plates that pair with 5 different local wines. It was amazing! We tried all manner of local products and dishes and had a lovely time hearing his explanations. I was particularly impressed by the fine olive oils - they were incredibly flavorful and spicy. My favorite tasted kind of like cut grass.

I recreated one of the first plates we enjoyed at La Oliva this past weekend as an appetizer for a meal with our friends T and G. It's mild and pleasant. Even their 10 month old loved it.

Romaine Lettuce with Almond Cream
Cream serves ~8 as an appetizers (get extra lettuce if there's a crowd)

Make almond cream:
Place 1/2 lb Marcona almonds, 1 clove ("tooth") garlic, 1-2T EVOO, and ~1/4c warm water in a food processor and process until almost smooth. Add more water if needed for desired consistency. Add salt to taste if the almonds are not already salted.

Rinse, separate and pat dry 1 head of romaine lettuce. If you have enough lettuce to be choosy, use the medium sized leaves - ones that fit nicely in the hand without a whole lot of excess leafage flopping around.

Place a spoonful of almond paste in the center of each lettuce leaf and arrange on a plate to serve.

-----

We followed that with Salmorejo, adapted from this recipe by Jose Andres. The link includes a very energetic video of him making it on TV. We tried salmorejo in Jaen, the olive oil capital of Spain, where we stopped on our drive to Granada. We ordered soup and a plate of the ubiquitous Jamon, thinking that this would be a light lunch, and somehow accidentally ordered an enormous plate of mystery meat (which turned out to be some part of the cow's neck - paraspinalis? platysma?) Of course, with a dish with this few ingredients, high quality ingredients is key.

Salmorejo
Serves 4 (small dinner portions)

Hard boil 2 eggs
Place 1.5lbs plum tomatoes (~5 tomatoes), quartered, in a food processor. OK to leave the skins and seeds on.
Add 6 slices of "rustic, day-old white bread" with crusts removed. I used Whole Foods' paesano loaf - I think sour dough would work well, too. I also bet that it'd be fine with the crusts on, as long as the crusts aren't too hard.
Add 2 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled.
Add 1.5T sherry vinegar (or 1T red wine vinegar and 1/2T balsamic vinegar).
Add 1/4c EVOO, salt and pepper to taste.
Process all of the above until almost smooth.
Top with sliced eggs, torn pieces of Serrano jamon (use ~4 slices or 1 oz total), and a drizzle of EVOO.
Serve with additional bread.

We were fortunate enough to wash this all down with some delicious red wine from Tagonius (near Madrid) that we had brought back from Spain, as well as a delicious Maryland red from Blackfoot (?). And, of course, delightful company.