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.

**********************************************

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

31 ~ Leche Asada

Here is another recipe from the Canary Islands.
Leche Asada, or baked milk, is a milk and egg custard popular among the local people.

LECHE ASADA - Milk and egg pudding

Ingredients

1/2 liter milk (1/2 quart approx)
4 eggs
3 TBS sugar
salt 1/2 teasp
lemon zest - grated rind of 1 medium lemon
1 teasp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F (177C)

2. Beat eggs, add milk, lemon rind, cinnamon, sugar and salt.

3. Pour mixture into buttered 9 inch square casserole dish and cook about 30 - 40 minutes or until
centre is done when pierced with knife.

4. Let cool a little and cut into portions, topped with cream, honey or fruit slices.

Traditional is to top it with ‘miel de palma’, a sweet honey-like syrup made from the reduced sap of the canary palm (phoenix canarensis).

29 ~ Puchero Canario

Since this is a blog about Canary Islands I think I could include a local recipe from time to time. Here's what I made for our dinner yesterday:

(Click photos to enlarge)

PUCHERO CANARIO

Puchero Canario is a very popular meal in Canary Islands. It is a meat and vegetable stew which is simple to make in one pot. As with most such dishes, the ingredients and quantities vary from kitchen to kitchen.
Here's one I made for two people, with leftovers for the next day or for second helpings.

Total cooking time: around 1 hour

Ingredients:

225 grams (1/2 lb) stewing beef
1 chorizo sausage
1 or 2 chicken legs
1 or 2 desalted meaty pork ribs (about 250 grams or 1/2 lb)
1 1/2 cups of dried chickpeas (garbanzos) soaked overnight in water with a bit of bicarbonate of soda
1 small cob corn, cut in half
whole green beans - one handful
2 medium carrots cut in half
1 small onion cut in half
1/2 small cabbage
1 courgette or bubango (pale green courgette)
1 piece orange squash - about 120 grams (1/4 lb) cut in half
1 sweet potato or yam - whole
2 medium potatoes - whole
1 pear - halved
saffron, garlic, parsley, cumin, thyme, (optional Italian parsley)
oil

Preparation:

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil. When boiling, add a few drops of oil, some salt and the meat, ribs, chicken and chorizo. Cook for half an hour.

2. Add the drained and rinsed chickpeas, and the pieces of corn. When they have started to soften, add green beans and carrots and a bit of thyme.
Let these cook together for around 15 - 20 minutes.

3. Then add whole potatoes, sweet potato, cabbage, squash, bubango (or courgette), and pear and cook another 10 - 15 minutes.

4. In mortar mash together a clove or two of garlic, around 1 teaspoon cumin and a bit of saffron...OR alternately as some people do, mash together garlic, cumin and Italian parsley.

5. When the last vegetables have softened, add this above mash to the boiling pot and stir.

6. Remove meat and vegetables with slotted spoon and serve in a casserole dish at the table.
One of the earthenware cazuelas are ideal for serving as they can be purchased here for a very low price.

7. Liquid and remainder of vegetables in the boiling pot can be served next day as 'tumbo de puchero', a delicious soup.

Puchero Main Ingredients....missing the pear and herbs

Bubango - the local name for a pale green rounded courgette or type of zucchini, seen in the ingredient photo above, in the bottom left corner of the tray.

The separate meat items for making puchero can also be purchased here grouped together in one package at the supermarkets, which is useful. The same applies to the vegetables, which are sold as 'puchero canario', missing only the pear.