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Tag Archives: clams

What’s to Eat in Seville?

Seafood, bulls tail, pork cheeks, squid ink, jamon, puréed tomato and bread soup, tapas, fresh bread, pastries, gelato….here’s my favorites.

 This lumpy crusty bread looks like the crenelated tops of the Moorish castle walls. Its served everywhere and has a soft white center. 
This was my favorite food in Seville. Rice and shrimp in squid ink sauce with squid stuffed with rice. The squid ink has a mild seafood flavor.  
Bulls Tail in a rich red wine sauce over roasted potatoes. So memorable we ordered it twice! Bullfighting is HUGE in Seville! Similar to oxtails available in the States. 
This also is Bulls tail, but it tasted more like beef chuck pot roast with tomato, peppers and carrots. Very mild.  
Pork Cheeks in a rich sauce over roasted potatoes and topped with goat cheese. Garnish is fresh rosemary, green onion and red pepper. Amazingly tender and lean!  
This is a Serranito, a new twist on a sandwich made with a crusty baguette. Layered inside are thinly sliced grilled pork, a thinly poured omelette, and a slice of mild white cheese. Over the top of the bread is a slice of jamon. A char grilled pepper is on the side to add to the sandwich. 
A tapas of toasted bread layered with tomato purée,  one anchovy and olivada, a puréed black olive spread.  
This little frying basket was a fun way to serve fried bites of fish. They fry fish a lot. We had fried calamari also, but this was marinated bites of fish lightly breaded and deep fried. It’s called Corzo in Adobo.  
This is eggplant believe it or not! It’s cut into thick strips and quickly fried and then brushed with a dark honey and balsamic vinegar glaze. 
Salmorejo is a puréed cold soup made with fresh tomatoes, fresh bread, garlic, olive oil and salt. It can be purchased at the local fresh food markets or made at home. We also saw this served as a dipping sauce with bread in Lisbon.  
This salmorejo is served with the traditional sliced hard cooked egg, sliced jamon and drizzled with olive oil.

 

Delish cold soup made of ground almonds, garlic and cream and topped with the most tasty raisins. It can also be made with bread and olive oil instead of cream.  
Grilled squid served with a parsley and olive oil sauce.  
Sautéed clams with lemon and garlic. 
Marinated quail legs, garlic slices, onion and carrot served over lettuce. The marinade had lemon juice, olive oil and Dijon style mustard. Lots of fresh parsley added too.  
Cool dessert! Orange and orange blossom cream sauce with mint ice cream and gin slush over all. The orange like garnish was amazing. It is called a ground cherry or a husk tomato and is sweet and tart. (Physalis) Reminds me of the Chinese lantern ornamental plant in the Midwest. 
Let’s talk about oranges in Seville. Here is an orange from the orange trees all over Seville. They were blooming and fragrant for us.They tell us in Seville that only the tourists pick them because they don’t know they are sour and are only used to make orange marmalade which is sent to England. Also you can get fined 1 Euro for each orange you pick! We found this one on the ground . They taste slightly sour, but not as sour as lemons. I’d make juice out of them if I had a tree to pick from!  
 

Cafe con Leche or espresso with milk. This is the most common coffee served. You can get decaf. Sometimes it’s served as a glass of steamed milk with an individual packet of instant decaf for you to add.  
Cappuccino is always served fancy with chocolate powder or syrup. You can get decaf too!

 

Loved Seville! If you go, make sure to take at least a day trip to Granada to see the Alhambra. Absolutely also go to Córdoba, our next stop!

Cioppino/San Francisco Fish Stew

Cioppino in our Garden

Cioppino in our Garden

Dave and I were in San Diego at Torrey Pines this past July where he was speaking at a conference called Scientific Updates. I was lucky to get the chance to go to such a beautiful place! I love exploring. Twice, dining out in La Jolla, Dave ordered versions of this rich broth and seafood. The flavors were amazing. Cioppino originates in San Francisco. The Mediterranean countries all have their versions.

This is a recipe he found online at Epicurious. He made one recipe last weekend and we both ate it 4 days in a row. There were a good 9 servings here! Low in fat, calories and carbs and full of flavor, protein,vitamins and minerals!  I added cooked short grain Arborio rice to mine. Dave is avoiding the carbs 😦 I prefer the rice to the original crusty French style bread.

Living in the Midwest we’ve experimented with various forms of shellfish. We prefer the frozen clams and mussels in the shells to the fresh. Can you believe they sell fresh mussels in Michigan? The frozen were meatier than the fresh. Calamari or squid are available cleaned and frozen. No more squid ink to deal with! None of the fish became tough with cooking and reheating.

Dave followed this recipe below with these additions:

  • Add 1 pound frozen clams in their shells
  • He used cod instead of halibut, which is not easy to find in Midland
  • Add a 2nd bottle of clam juice instead of the 8 oz water
  • Use a fennel bulb the size of a large fist
  • Add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
  • Serve with cooked rice (I prefer the short grained Arborio rice) and/or crusty French or crusty sourdough bread

The recipe is from Bon Appetit, December 2011:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cioppino-368957