My oldest daughter and I love Oyster Shooters! She is the only one I know who will actually eat raw oysters and loves them as much as I do! Although these traditionally have vodka in them, when I introduce these to my daughter she was too young for vodka. Even to this day we prefer them with no alcohol. Anyways we eat so many of these I would hate to think what we would be like if they had alcohol in them!
Mix the following:
Shucked oysters horseradish to taste Borkholders cocktail sauce squirt of fresh lemon a little juice from the oysters
In Spain, there were times when I was not sure what I was eating. This was one of them...
I actually ate these (the tiny worm- like "things" called "gulas"). I not only ate these once, but twice at at two different tapa bars! I liked them. My husband (who will eat ANYTHING) pushed them aside and said "You can have these."--how generous huh?. So when I returned to our hotel in Madrid, I did a search on the computer for "gulas," to only find a picture of what I ate, but not a real definition. So I decided I would ask our concierge, who very politely told me, in his finestEnglish, that he knew what they were... he proclaimed proudly... (insert Spanish accent),"They are tiny fish!" I was hoping for a bit more description, but grateful they were not from the "worm family". When I continued to question him... "What kind of tiny fish?", he gracious got on his computer and found the same image that I found earlier!
It was not until we got back to the States, that my husband looked it up, and told me they were baby eels!
Here are some other "delicacies", some we sampled and some we did not; we were not that adventurous:
The markets and restaurants were filled with a variety of tapas to try!
I love shrimp, but have to admit that I had to get used to having the heads kept on the shrimp.
Fresh seafood was everywhere in the market! We purchase "some type" of whitefish that I pan fried in our apartment using flavorful Spanish olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and a splash of white wine. This was so good and fresh that I made it two more times.
We also purchased mussels twice, which were only 1.5 Euros for a kilo! I steamed them in white wine, garlic, salt and pepper and we soaked up the juices with warm, freshly made bakery bread--so good!
We of course had to have gazpacho(which was hard to find, since it is a summer dish) and paella twice. My favorite food was jamon or cured ham (which proudly hung in most tapa bars), which is very similar to prosciutto, but not as salty. I ate this for breakfast most mornings with wonderful "unknown" cheeses we bought at the market and warm bread from the bakery.
If you look to the left of this photo you will see pigeons (yes---pigeons!) hanging and to the right you will notice chickens, both still have their feathers. In one of the cases, we actually saw rabbit with fur still on it. My daughter said that the Spaniards leave the feathers and fur on so that buyers will know it is fresh.
When I think of Sangria, I think of hot summer days, not cold wintry March evenings. My husband and I sipped this in front of the fireplace reminiscing about our recent trip to Spain.
1 Bottle of dry red wine 1 orange sliced 1 lemon sliced 1 granny smith apple sliced lemon lime soda
Mix the first 4 ingredients and let sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Right before serving add 2 parts pop to 1 part wine.
The Castle in Madrid
One of the many beautiful sites, we saw on the 3 1/2 hour walking tour of Madrid.
Museum of Culture in Seville
Plaza de Espana--My favorite Square in Seville!!
Paza de Espana
Orange and Lemon trees were everywhere! The oranges were bitter and not for eating (despite every tourist, including us, trying them) but for making perfumes.
Plaza de Triunfo
Alfonso Hotel Lobby
Alfonso Hotel
Alfonso Bar
Celebrating Jenny's 21st birthday!!
Alcazar
Alcazar
Alcazar
The largest Gothic Cathedral in the world.
One of the many squares in Seville
The Cathedral of Seville
Streets of Seville
Monteditos Our favorite tapa bar!
The third largest Cathedral in the world.
The Bell Tower We climbed up the 31 floors for breathtaking views of Seville.
6 slices Nueske's* Smoked Bacon or other bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces This
15 fresh button mushrooms (about 12 oz.)
1 3-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar or smoked Gouda cheese (1 oz.)
Directions
1. Grease a 15x10x1-inch baking pan; set aside. In a 12-inch skillet, cook bacon until almost crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon from skillet; discard fat. Drain bacon on paper towels. Set aside.
2. Clean mushrooms. Remove stems from mushrooms; discard. Set tops aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and cheddar cheese, stirring until well mixed. Stir in reserved bacon. Spoon cheese mixture into mushroom tops.
4. Place stuffed mushroom tops in the prepared baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 20 to 25 or until mushrooms are tender. Let stand for 5 minutes. Makes 15 appetizers.
*Nueske bacon is from Wittenberg, Wisconsin and can be purchased in select stores in the Midwest. They also ship their products. This is the best bacon I have ever had!
I first had Nueske bacon while dating my husband and visiting his parents at their summer home in beautiful Eagle River, Wisconsin on Catfish Lake. His mom would start cooking the bacon and as the applewood smell filled the air, everyone would quickly get out of bed before the bacon disappeared.
It was one of those perfect days when the stars aliened and everything fell into place. We found the closest parking spot on the street!!! (metered parking for $4.50 for 3 hours!!!)... we had perfect weather (35 degrees sunny, Chicago-style and no wind!) and we had free admission to the planetarium!
This is a restaurant I have wanted to try for some time now. But it is located in Wrigleyville, a Chicago neighborhood that we only visit during baseball season and most of the Wrigelyville restaurants that we visit fit the whole rowdy, fun baseball scene.
So 3 days after the 2011 blizzard of Chicago, we ventured to Raw Bar which specializes in seafood and Persian and Mediterranean Cuisine. (And honestly, hats off to the Chicago Street department, because you never would have know there was a blizzard just a few days before! The streets and sidewalks were clean and the only reminder of the blizzard were the plentiful signs that sat on the sidewalks of the downtown saying "beware of falling ice".) Upon entering Raw Bar, I was honestly expecting a sports bar and was surprised by everything that followed including the art deco decor.
We started our dinner with a champagne martini for me and a pomegranate martini for my husband. The bread was served with parmesan cheese and Egyptian oil, which had a very distinct taste and was somewhat bitter but still full of flavor. For tapas, I ordered the little top necks steamers which had a wine au jus with garlic and scallions and my husband order the crayfish soup--which was so delicious I ended up ordering one for myself! He ordered the homemade cheese raviolis also. For dinner my husband had the jumbo charcoal shrimp with pistachios, pomegranate and cranberry and saffron rice. I had the special "sea fiesta" which was angel hair pasta with calamari, clams, mussels, squid and shrimp. They were very generous in their seafood and portions! Each plate that we were served was seasoned perfectly without compromising the dish--which is very difficult to achieve!
This restaurant also serves frogs legs, alligator, and ostrich for the more adventurous diner!
MY TIP: There is a ice skating rink right next to Wrigley Field--how fun! These is one of 10 rinks around Chicago.
Normally I try out recipes in advance to make sure they are "company ready", but heck it is football and hungry guys (who have been drinking) who really don't care, so I decided to make this...
From a "sober"point of view this was a good one to make!
24 good white rolls 24 pieces good honey ham 24 small slices Swiss cheese 2/3 cup mayo
Spread mayo on both sides of the roll. Place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss cheese inside each roll. Close rolls and place on a large baking dish. In a medium bowl, whisk together the poppy seed sauce ingredients and pour evenly over all the sandwiches. Let sit for 10 minutes. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes.
