April: Spanish Cooking Month
When I was asked if I would like to participate in Fry's Grocery Store's Taste of Spain campaign, I didn't hesitate. This month, the grocery chain is celebrating the country by stocking their shelves with a special selection of Spanish imports and I was provided some ingredients for cooking inspiration. Spanish cuisine is one of my favorites (my last name is actually Basque), and well-used books in my collection include Penelope Casas' Tapas, La Cocina de Mamá and The Food & Wines of Spain. On Friday, I picked up my gift basket, including chorizo, olives, marcona almonds, salsa verde, mojo picon, picos camperos, wine and more:
I also did some shopping this weekend, for additional ingredients for menu planning such as clams, shrimp, Manchego cheese and these goodies from Fry's:
I'll have to go through my pantry and see what else I can play with, but I know I have Arbequina olives, imported octopus from Galicia, pimentón, and ñoras chiles.
This afternoon I served tapas (details here) of marcona almonds, mushrooms, chorizo in puff pastry, Iberico salami, manchego cheese, olives with pickled garlic, and mushrooms with sherry and salsa verde. Tonight I'll be making clams - Almejas a la Marinera. I also made a fresh batch of aceite de ajo y perejil with Spanish extra virgin olive oil, parsley, garlic, and smoked paprika salt. I posted that recipe last month.