Tapa Mediterraneo
Introduce
Chef :
Olive Oils from Spain
Tapa Mediterraneo
Wow your friends and family with this exotic Mediterranean Tapa with pickled vegetables and rice!
Ingredient
Food ration :
6 people
Cooking time :
60 minutes
Cooking instructions
* Step 1
Pickled vegetables, and red pepper curls: For the sachet, wrap all ingredients in cheesecloth and tie with twine
* Step 2
Heat the water, sugar, and vinegar to a boil and then pour over the rest of the ingredients. Store overnight. Then separate the sachet and discard. Reserve the pickles for service.
* Step 3
Cut the peppers in half length wise, and de-seed. With skin side down, trim the peppers by shaving off as much of the pepper as possible from the seed side/inside. Discarding all the ‘juicy’ part, and leaving a thin, mostly skin pepper. Slice the peppers very thin, as thin as possible. Place them in ice water and allow to chill for one hour. They should curl very tightly into nice shapes. Reserve for service, as garnish.
* Step 4
Saffron rice chip: Rinse the rice, and then bring to a boil in the measured amount of water. Reduce to medium heat then cook in a pot with the saffron and salt, covered for 30 minutes or until fully tender.
* Step 5
Transfer in small batches to a vitamix or high speed blender, a thermomix would work very well. Add a small amount of boiling water just enough to help the rice mix, and blend on high for 3 minutes each batch, until the rice is fully smooth and pureed. Transfer all the finished rice puree to a non-stick sautee pan.
* Step 6
Cook on low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula until very thick and dry. Do not allow it to get on the edges of the pan or it will dry and you will get solids in your rice puree. Once you have thickened the puree, spread on to a silpat or silicone mat. Acetate paper would work as well. Then dehydrate in an oven or commercial dehydrator at 120 degrees Fahrenheit for 2-3 hours, until fully dry and crispy. Fry at 350 degrees F until puffed and crispy, then dry on a p
* Step 7
Scallop sofrito: Sweat garlic and shallots in the olive oil from Spain, then add the scallop trim. Cook on low heat, slowly caramelizing. Cook for 8 hours, on a diffuser or very low heat, adding water as necessary to ensure it doesn’t burn but just slowly caramelizes. Once it is dark, and rich in flavor and color, puree completely smooth in a vitamix blender. Once smooth, pop the air out of the puree in a cryovac machine.
* Step 8
Transfer to a squeeze bottle or piping bag. Fill all your cleaned, brined mussels escabeche with the sofrito and reserve
* Step 9
Mussel escabeche: Steam the mussels.
* Step 10
Heat wine to a boil, then add cleaned mussels into the pot and cover with a lid. Cook until all mussels are cooked and opened fully. Drain into a perforated pan and cool in the refrigerator. Once cool, open the mussels and trim all of the gills and excess anatomy out to make room for the sofrito filling.
* Step 11
Escabeche brine: For preparation, add all ingredients of set 1 to a container, other than the water. Separately heat the water to a full boil and pour over the ingredients of set 1 and let it steep tasting frequently for about 5 minutes, making sure it doesn’t get too spicy. Then strain through a fine mesh sieve.
* Step 12
Pour the liquid from set 1, previously steeped, over the ingredients of set 2 and let steep in the refrigerator overnight. Then take this liquid and pour over your cleaned, shucked, steamed mussels. Then topping with Spanish extra virgin olive oil to cover, and reserve in the refrigerator overnight to marinade.
* Step 13
Building the tapa, and cilantro leaf garnish: As needed cilantro leaves, the small, perfect leaves, picked from the bunch.
* Step 14
To build the tapa, have all ingredients from the included recipes completed to perfection and ready for service.
* Step 15
Start with the saffron chip, as your base. Next add your mussels escabeche, that are stuffed with the scallop sofrito. About two per tapa are good, depending on size.
* Step 16
Then, add your pickled shallots and garlic, in a ratio of about 2 shallot and 1 garlic per mussel, depending on size. Next garnish with your beautiful red fresno pepper curls. Finally garnish with the fresh cilantro leaves, adding a beautiful green to our tapa. Serve on a bowl or dish of your choosing, I recommend something with a rice or grain as the base to help stabilize the tapa.
Note: if there is a photo you can click to enlarge it
Tag
Appetizer
Entree
shallot, sliced thin
garlic, sliced thin
water
Sugar
champagne vinegar, or white wine vinegar
coriander seed in a sachet
peppercorn in a sachet
basil in a sachet
thyme in a sachet
ea fresno chili peppers as needed
white rice, arborio or bomba preferred
saffron
Salt
mussels, cleaned and de-bearded
white wine for steaming
scallop trim, fresh sweet scallops are best
shallots sliced thin
extra virgin olive oil from Spain
champagne or white wine vinegar
fennel, sliced thinly
onion, sliced thinly
parsley stems
thai chili
orange zest
garlic, chopped thin
lemon, sliced thin
fennel sliced thin
10 Pieces Of Expert Nutrition Advice
1. Start Small
2. Fill Your Plate With Beans and Leafy Greens
3. Focus on Adding—Not Subtracting
4. Taste the Rainbow
5. Prioritize Potassium
6. Eat More Plants
7. Focus on Your Immune System
8. Try the Mediterranean Diet
9. Understand the Impact of Food
10. Guard Your Gut
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