36 ~ La Cuadra de San Diego

Spinach Salad, Bacon & Pine Nuts
(click photos to enlarge)

As a change I'm going to take you to La Cuadra de San Diego, a lovely little restaurant in La Matanza, Tenerife, where my friend Anne and I have been several times, she always being the one to introduce me to new places. A 16th century estate and formerly a stable area, this is a charming place to dine in or outdoors under the immense drago trees. We haven't been there since some reforms were made so it will probably have changed since our last visits when these photos were taken. Here is what it looked like in 2006 and 2007.




View of Main House

Here they make their own wine. Looking down at the vineyard and wine storage tank on the estate.
Here is the food we tried on three visits. It was all so good that I attempted to reproduce their spinach salad with bacon bits and have had a pretty good result. I'll put my recipe below. Meanwhile....here are some of their dishes:
Mixed Salad

Pork Tenderloin filled with fruit, nuts and bacon

Rabbit in Salmorejo Sauce
Pork in Puff Pastry

Lemon Tart

Chocolate Cake

Caramelized Pear with Toffee

Chocolate Fondant with Crème Anglaise

Here is their spinach salad on another day:

And here is my version of a similar creation. I have not yet put the finely sliced sauteed leek on top of mine.



SPINACH SALAD WITH ORANGE-BALSAMIC DRESSING (My Recipe)

baby spinach & ruby-edged lettuce for 4 servings*

For 1 1/2 cups dressing, enough for 4 salad servings:
3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
1 TBS red wine vinegar
3 TBS grated orange peel
2 teasp brown sugar
1 teasp ground cumin
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

garnish:

2 TBS sultana raisins
2 TBS pinenuts
3 strips of bacon, diced

1. Fry bacon bits until crisp.
Drain on paper and put aside.
2. Put into a blender the orange juice and zest, the two vinegars, brown sugar and cumin and blend for a few moments.
3. Slowly add the olive oil while blending, then salt & pepper to taste
4. Put half the dressing into your salad bowl and add all the greens, mixing and turning with two large spoons until greens are well coated
5. Mix in the pine nuts, raisins and bacon bits
6. Pile onto serving plates and drizzle a little more dressing on top.

* Also good is spinach with red onion rings and mandarin orange slices.

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Here is the website of La Cuadra de San Diego
It looks like they have new opening times:
Thurs. Fri. Sat. 13:00 - 16:00 and 19:30 - 23:00
Sundays 13:00 - 16:00
Phone: (922)578 385