Tenerife’s Top Five Tapas

These days, it seems like there’s a tapas restaurant in every city in every country on earth—we even found one in Iceland a few years ago—but when I asked my fellow passengers on our way to Tenerife (in the Canary Islands) for recommendations for tapas restaurants, I got a resounding “Qué?”

This is because traditionally, tapas are not considered a Canarian dish, even thought the Canary Islands are technically part of Spain. Visitors travel to the Canary Islands in their droves, thanks to the abundant cheap flights to Tenerife and Lanzarote, and they have always been presented with plenty of delicious traditional local dishes such as fish casserole to enjoy along the beachfront.

But in recent years tapas have become more common here, as it is in mainland Spain. So with this in mind, here are my top 5 tapas dishes that have a Canarian twist…

1. Pimientos de Padrón

One of the most simple tapas dishes, pimientos de padrón is a special variety of pepper, cooked in oil and sprinkled with rock salt. However, beware the sting in the tail, as while most pimientos are very mild, you get the occasional surprise spicy one that will knock your socks off, so be careful!

2. Croquetas Caseras

(Photo: Pincas Photos)

(Photo: Pincas Photos)

Croquetas caseras are small fried balls of almost any filling, usually white fish or ham mixed with potato, but many fillings are possible. We found croquetas caseras that were filled with chicken, tuna and spinach as well, and not only are they delicious, they are also very filling.

3. Carne Fiesta

(Photo: Pamela Stocks)

(Photo: Pamela Stocks)

A dish that will tingle your tastebuds, carne fiesta is the name given to small cubes of pork that has been marinated in garlic, thyme, oregano, spicy peppers, salt, paprika, wine vinegar and white wine. The cubes are then fried to make deliciously tender and moreish meat treats.

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Stuffed Peppers Redeemed

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Here at ES, I am not ashamed to admit my kitchen defeats.  I am pretty sure that if I did the math, fully half of my all-time posts would be of the, ahem, failure variety.  I could claim that when you cook as much as I do, failure is inevitable at some point.  Or maybe those incidents are just the most fun to document.  But rarely have I failed so fully and spectacularly as when I attempted to make stuffed peppers several years ago.  I actually think I won some kind of fake ES award for that particular post.  Something about “world’s most disgusting pictures.”  Won’t be including that one in the resume.

So, when I picked up some poblano peppers on sale a few weeks back, I knew it was time for some redemption.  Lest I enter the shameful “messing up the same recipe twice” club, I decided to keep it simple.  No breading, no grapefruit (grapefruit? What the hell was I thinking?), no vain attempts to roast and skin these bad boys.  I’m still no Bobby Flay (you know he would have grilled those suckers) but at least the result was edible.  Redemption complete.

Easy Stuffed Peppers

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Sizzling Skillet Hash

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With leisurely weekend brunches in mind we put together a breakfast hash recipe that features a favorite Greek pork and lamb sausage with a twist of orange and fennel, Loukaniko. We remember our yiayia showcasing this tangy, smokey sausage in many of her luncheon dishes. She would fry it up alongside a platter of feta, Kalamata olives and Greek bread for a mezze platter or add it to a pasta for a one-dish meal. If we were lucky, she often would slip us a piece from the sizzling skillet before the meal, and making sure we didn’t ruin our appetites.

We showcase the Loukaniko in a complex hash for weekend brunch company. For a burst of flavor and sweetness to balance the saltiness of the feta and Loukaniko, we add roasted sweet potatoes and roasted red peppers. We lay a perfectly fried egg on top that seeps into the plated medley.

Greek Hash with Loukaniko, Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Red Peppers and Feta Cheese

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Gridiron Grub: Chicken Cheesesteak Mini Peppers

I came in to work last week to an email from my girlfriend with the subject “let’s have a party!” that included a proposed menu for Sunday football. Yeah…she’s pretty damn awesome. Unfortunately, I’m watching my girlish figure (for real this time), so all the greasy, beefy, cheesy snacks that I like are not realistic options. But thanks to her culinary creativity, we enjoyed some new recipes that will be served again at a football party near you.

So what the hell could be both healthy (well, at least not fried) and football-watching-worthy at the same time? How about chicken cheesesteak stuffed mini-peppers? Believe it or not, you don’t need a soggy bun to hold this snack.

Chicken Cheesesteak  Stuffed Mini Peppers

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Endless Ice Cream: Hot Pepper!

This is an ice cream I created specifically to adorn brownies. Even more specifically, the Ancho Chile Brownies found in Robb Walsh’s Texas Eats, our most recent cookbook club pick. The ice cream is sweet and mellow at the start, and then swiftly kicks your throat’s balls with a spiciness that lingers only for a few seconds, keeping your spoon digging for more. It played perfectly with the brownies, but any chocolate pairing would work well.

Hot Pepper Ice Cream

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Gridiron Grub: Venison & Ginger Beer Chili

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A couple of weeks ago my Eagles were knocked out of the NFL playoffs and before that, my beloved PSU Nittany Lions embarrassed themselves in the Outback Bowl. Thankfully, while I drowned my sorrows last week, BS provided us with a look at overpriced NFL beer and provided me with some time to regain my composure so that I could return reinvigorated for the final 2 weeks of the 2010/2011 season.  The forecast for the games this weekend isn’t too promising and where I live we are expecting single digit temperatures. Needless to say, I will not be heading out to watch any games, but instead thought I would make a big pot of the ultimate winter comfort food….chili.

I don’t know if I have ever come across a bad bowl of chili. There are so many different ways to prepare it and they all end up being pretty delicious. While doing a little research for this post, I confirmed that the word chili is Spanish and the first recorded use was in 1604. The rough translation was: “a bunch of tasty shit stewed together for awhile.” Partly inspired by ML’s recent post about game meat, and the fact that I had access to locally hunted venison, I decided to go with a venison chili. This chili recipe started out a few years ago, straight from a Field and Stream recipe, but with small changes each attempt, I came to this week’s incarnation:

Venison and Ginger Beer Chili with Lime Cream

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I’ll Take that as a Condiment….

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Salsa! Like any good condiment — ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, sriracha, horseradish, kimchi, hot sauce, chutney, etc… — we’ve all got a jarred version in the cupboard that we turn to when needed to cover up a dish that would otherwise be a mistake. But a good condiment shouldn’t just enhance our food, it should also be good enough to stand alone.

Salsa, of course, just means sauce, and can come in many varieties. At their best, they’re straight-forward to make, but their beauty is in the abundance of fresh local ingredients available this time of year. Here are my four favorite recipes using the season’s great tomatoes, tomatillos, avocados, corn and more…

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