I really only needed one ingredient...
but of course, I ended up with a few more. I didn't want to just drive up here for one thing. The last few times I'd been to Pata Negra, their shelves were pretty sparse. Not this time! Wow, every shelf was stacked full of imported Spanish goods. These shelves had canned seafood (squid with ink sacs, octopus, tuna, cod fillets, clams, etc). The other shelves had cookies, Spanish chocolate, mixes for flan, paella, tortillas, and more.
This was what I really wanted - Smoked Paprika. It has such a good flavor. I first bought it several years ago for my Smoky Corn Chowder recipe as well as for Shrimp Pil Pil. I finally ran out and this time, I bought two cans so I'd be set for quite awhile!
TORC and the baby were coming over for lunch later so I picked up a few of the canned items. I remember seeing these at over $5 before. They apparently went down in price because they were now about $2.50'ish each.
I didn't feel like Manchego but when I saw the Mahon, I had to get it.
I also picked up a package of Chistorra sausage.
Lunch was pretty simple. I had some fried rice from earlier (not very Spanish), a green salad, and the octopus.
Gambas al Ajillo
(Garlic with Shrimp)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lb shrimp (I had some peeled and deveined already)
minced garlic (I had some prepackaged minced already - but equivalent to 3 or 4 cloves)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp smoked paprika
Directions:
- Heat up the oil in a large sauce pan over medium high heat.
- Add the garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and paprika - stirring for about 20 seconds until the oil has changed color
- Add shrimp to the pan and cook 1-2 minutes on each side, or until they are pink
- Serve with bread (or in this case, rice)
I used these tapas dishes that TORC gave me as gifts years ago...Shrimp, Octopus (it was mostly gone by the time I took the photo), and the sliced and pan fried Chistorra...
See my moldy oldy post from Summer 2007 here...You can see how bare the shelves were and how expensive the tinned goods were!
This was a quick and easy and delicious lunch! It was nice seeing TORC again, especially with her cute baby! It's been so long since I held a baby and I forgot how wiggly they can get!
TORC and I also were planning a "tea" for KD's upcoming birthday. That should be fun! Having tea at TORC's last week inspired us to do one for KD who wanted something low key. Instead of going out to a restaurant this year, I will host the tea and TORC and D will take care of the savory and sweet items...I love planning parties!
4 comments:
That shrimp looks so good!
Thanks Mary! It was pretty tasty even though it was missing the pretty parsley!
Looks like a great lunch! Does the Chistorra sausage taste like chorizo?
hi c - i'm not sure if it tastes like chorizo since i don't really eat a lot of chorizo. the sausage is really salty. it's thin. sometimes i see it used in paella(i think romesco's uses this sausage).
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