The first time I had tapas was in a restaurant in Addison. You sat at a small table, crunched next to everyone else, and listened to flamenco guitar as you ate. The night was almost magical, but unfortunately my body decided it didn't like something I ate, so I never went back. The restaurant has since closed (coincidence??). Needless to say, I've been a little hesitant to try tapas again.
Tapas are basically the ultimate appetizers. You order a bunch of little dishes and pick through the selection as you sip your sangria. It makes for great chatting food, and you can tell that it was made for slow eating. Normally the tapas are pretty balanced: not too many fried dishes, not too much meat, not too much salt. But since you pick your poison, you can go whole hog however you would like.
For my re-entry into the world of tapas, I decided to go easy and make a couple of vegetarian dishes. Roasted tomatoes sounded fabulous, and since I'm a potato girl, I went with potatoes in a garlic mayonnaise. Not too much work, and both of the dishes boasted flavor that was way above what I expected from such simple preparations. Maybe next time I'll get more adventurous with some squid in its own ink or blood sausage?
Tomates Asados con Ajos y Tomillo (Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic and Thyme)
From Tapas: Traditional and Contemporary Tapas Dishes
8 deep red plum tomatoes
3 fresh thyme sprigs, plus extra to garnish
12 garlic cloves, unpeeled
Generous ¼ cup olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise and
arrange, cut side up, in a single layer in a large, ovenproof dish. Tuck the thyme sprigs and garlic cloves
between them.
Drizzle the olive oil all over the tomatoes and season to taste with
pepper. Bake in the preheated oven for
40 to 45 minutes, or until the tomatoes are softened and beginning to char
slightly around the edges.
Remove and discard the thyme sprigs.
Season the tomatoes to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with the extra thyme sprigs and serve
hot or warm. Squeeze the pulp from the
garlic over the tomatoes at the table.
Serves 6
Patatas Aïoli (Baby Potatoes with Aïoli)
1 pound baby new potatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley
Sea salt
Aïoli
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or lemon juice
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
5 tablespoons Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
5 tablespoons corn oil
Salt and pepper
To make the Aïoli, place the egg yolk, vinegar, garlic, and salt and
pepper to taste in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and blend
together. With the motor still running,
very slowly add the olive oil, then the corn oil, drop by drop at first, then,
when it begins to thicken, in a slow, steady stream until the sauce is thick
and smooth. Alternatively, use a bowl
and whisk to make the Aïoli. For this
recipe the Aïoli
should be quite thin to coat the potatoes.
To ensure this, blend in 1 tablespoon of water to form the consistency
of sauce.
To prepare the potatoes, cut them in half or fourths to make bite-size
pieces. If they are very small you can
leave them whole. Place the potatoes in
a large pan of cold salted water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 7 minutes, or
until just tender. Drain well, then
transfer to a large bowl.
While the potatoes are still warm, pour over the Aïoli
sauce and gently toss the potatoes in it.
Adding the sauce to the potatoes while they are still warm will help
them to absorb the garlic flavor. Let
stand for 20 minutes so that the potatoes marinate in the sauce.
Transfer the potatoes with Aïoli to a warmed serving dish. Sprinkle over the parsley and salt to taste
and serve warm. Alternatively, the dish
can be prepared ahead and stored in the refrigerator, but return it to room
temperature before serving.
Serves 6 to 8
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