Peras al Vino Tinto -- Pears in Red Wine

As a New Year's resolution I have decided to continue with my blog among other things.  The first blog I would like to present to you is a simple, healthier dessert recipe you could make for dinner tonight.  I concocted this gourmet dessert in October after a rural weekend getaway in a beautiful area of northwest Spain: Sanabria.

Sanabria is a wooded, mountainous region in the province of Zamora.  Its primary village is Puebla de Sanabria, a small picturesque village perched on a hill and presided by a castle.   12 km from the village you find El Lago de Sanabria, the largest natural lake in Spain at 368.5 hectares (910.58 acres).  In its surroundings you can visit many small villages with an abundance of local produce.  

It was in one of these small villages where I bought local chorizo, wine and pears.  Having returned with so many great products I decided to make good use of them and experiment with a dish I had tried once, but never cooked: pears in red wine. 

According to my friends, peras al vino (Spanish for "pears in wine") is a typical dish in rural Spain.  It is easy to make and much healthier than other dessert options.  The USDA states that one medium pear contains more than 20% of the fiber recommended for a healthy diet.  One pear has only 100 calories and has a significant amount of Vitamin C.  And as far as red wine goes, many of us have heard that it is good for us in moderation.  The Mayo Clinic says that this may be true due to its high content of antioxidants which could protect the linings of the blood vessels in our hearts.  Red wine also contains a substance called resveratrol that is key in reducing bad cholesterol and preventing blood clots.  If we take these figures into account and eat and drink in moderation, this dessert is perfect for us to prepare and eat every now and again.  I hope you enjoy it!

Equipment
Chopping board
Knife
Sauce Pan

Ingredients
6 medium size pears

6 tablespoons of sugar

700 ml of red wine

Cinnamon

Orange peel


Instructions
1. Cut the bottoms off of the pears to make them sit level in a pot.  Peel them leaving the stem at the top.

2. Peel an orange and save the peel.







3. Add pears, sugar, orange peel, cinnamon, and red wine all to a small pot and cook for 25 minutes on medium heat.

4. Once the pears are cooked, remove them along with the orange peels.  Turn the heat up to high and create a syrup with the remaining wine and sugar.  It will only take around 5 minutes. Do not make the same mistake I did and leave the stove for a couple minutes.  It turned into a sticky, burnt wine smelling mess!

Tarta de Santiago -- Flavorful, flourless cake

The summer of 2012 was marked by love, adventure, farewells, running, travel and Tarta de Santiago!  The latter is the one I prefer to talk about in this blog post. I  first heard about this cake in college when preparing a presentation on Galicia, a region of northwest Spain right above Portugal, but I did not try it until I went to a low budget birthday party where this cheaper cake was bought instead of a better quality one.  I later ate it for breakfast along with coffee in some Spanish cafeterías a few times, but it was not until 2012 when I would experiment with this cake at home.  I started running during that summer and was always craving sweets, so I decided to learn to make it.  It turned out to be easy to make and I continued to make it often throughout the summer upon my flatmates' request.

To give you a bit of history about this cake, it is a cake that has its origins in 16th century Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain, according to the Spanish State Official Bulletin.  This cake, tarta in Spanish, was first served to a visiting inspector at the University of Santiago de Compostela in 1577.  Its original name was "torta real", royal cake, and later became known as "tarta de almendras" before finally taking its current name of Tarta de Santiago.  In 2006 this cake received the distinction of becoming a "Protected Geographic Origin", meaning that certain bakeries in Galicia can sell the cake with this title as long as they use the proper ingredients.

As the official document states, the weight of the cake is to be distributed in the following manner: at least 33% quality ground almonds, at least 33% refined sugar, and at least 25% eggs.  You can also add grated lemon peel, powdered sugar, sweet wine, brandy, or aguardiente.  The recipe I have always used does not feature alcohol, and is completely celiac friendly as it does not contain gluten.  

Almonds, or almendras in Spanish, are widely seen in Spanish deserts.  I have eaten almonds in many ways unimaginable before coming to Spain.  The Spanish Almond Board - Almendrave, the Spanish organization for exporters of almonds and hazelnuts, explains that Spain is the world's number 2 producer of almonds.  The group states that almonds are high in fiber, vitamin E, and fatty acids; and they are good for fighting cardiac illnesses and osteoporosis.  They are high in calories, but this means they give you energy!

My version of Tarta de Santiago is quite similar to the official version.  The only thing I do different is that I add a bit of cinnamon to the mix.  I have seen some interesting varieties floating around on the internet: chocolate, orange, walnut, hazelnut, and tons more.  I recommend you to adapt your recipe if you are up for experimenting.  I would sure like to try it in the future.  Below I give you the base recipe which you will find quite simple.  Have fun baking!

Equipment
Cake pan

Grater (or vegetable peeler and knife to chop)
Bowl
Whisk
Ingredients
5 eggs
250 grams (a bit more than a cup) sugar 
250 grams (about 9 ounces) ground almonds
1 lemon
1 tsp of cinnamon
Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 175° Celsius (350° Fahrenheit).  Grate only the yellow part of the peel of the lemon and reserve.

2. In a bowl mix the ground almonds, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon peel.  In a separate bowl whisk the eggs.  After whisking add the eggs to the dry mixture.

  

3. Grease the cake mold with butter or oil and pour in the mixture.  Bake for 45 minutes.

4. While you are waiting for the cake to bake, draw or print out a Santiago cross (I don't have a printer so I drew it by hand).  You can see an example at this website.  When the cake finishes and cools, place the cross on top and powder it with sifted powdered sugar.

As you can see from the photo, my sugaring job was a failure.  I need to master my sifting skills.  I hope you all enjoy the cake!  ¡Disfruta! 

Torrijas -- "Spanish Toast"

Torrijas and coffee.  © Michael Bruce Berendzen

For the fifth consecutive year I am in Spain during Holy Week and I have to admit that I am not really involved in the religious side of this one week vacation, but I am involved in the food side of this holiday time.  When I think of Holy Week I think of processions, country-wide traffic jams, meeting new people and torrijas.  Spain is famous for its dramatic religious processions during Holy Week, something you can love or hate, but have to appreciate for its cultural value.  Holy Thursday and Good Friday are public holidays throughout the country, and many people take a week-long vacation, something that causes country-wide gridlock on Wednesday evening and on Easter Sunday.  So I usually just sit back and enjoy Madrid.  I always seem to meet new people and eat a few torrijas.

Torrijas are defined by the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language as a dessert made of slices of bread previously soaked in milk or wine, battered in egg, and later fried and sweetened.  The word torrija comes from the Spanish verb torrar, to toast, which comes from the Latin word torrēre.  They are very similar to French toast, thus I give them the English name of "Spanish toast".  They are typically eaten throughout Lent or especially during Holy Week, although some of my students have told me that they used to eat them as children throughout the year.  

Torrijas are made of a special bread made specifically for the dessert, or day old bread.  The idea is to not throw away day old bread, so you make use of it by soaking it in milk and then frying it.   They are made with these types of bread due to their dense consistency and ability to soak up the milk or wine.  Two years ago I made three unsuccessful attempts at making torrijas, but they all failed.  The first time I made them I tried using wheat bread, and it completely fell apart.  The second time I tried making them with wine, but the wine I used was awful.  The third time I tried I used the wrong type of bread and they fell apart again.   

This year I thought I would give them a try again.  In the past few days I have made torrijas with milk twice, more or less perfecting them this morning.  I gave a sample of them to some of my students and they gave me some constructive criticism.  I used this to make an even better batch this morning.  I follow up with the recipe which would be great for Easter Sunday brunch.  I hope you enjoy!  

Equipment
1 large pot
1 frying pan
1 serrated knife
1 vegetable peeler
2 large baking pans
1 large bowl
1 whisk
1 spatula
Paper towels
A few plates

Ingredients
1 liter of milk (I used 2%, but most recipes call for whole)
1 lemon
1 loaf of day old bread (or special bread for torrijas)
3 large eggs
2 cinnamon sticks
Ground cinnamon
7 tablespoons of white sugar for milk, plus more for coating
3/4 liter of oil (I used a cheap olive oil for frying, but you could use vegetable oil in its defect)

Instructions
1. Peel the lemon with a vegetable peeler.  Be careful to only peel the yellow part off.

2. Add milk, lemon peel, and cinnamon sticks to pot and bring to a soft boil.  When the mixture comes to a soft boil add the 7 tablespoons sugar.  Let the mixture simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes more.  (I didn't time it, I just tasted it a few times to see if it had taken the lemon and cinnamon flavor)

3. While the milk infusion is simmering you can mix the cinnamon and sugar for the coating.  I did not measure this.  I recommend mixing these two ingredients to your personal taste.  

4. You probably still have some more time before the milk finishes.  I suggest cutting the bread into fairly thin pieces (they will expand later).  I cut them diagonally and at finger width.  

5. Now you can take the milk off the stove.  I recommend putting it in a large pan to cool.  

6. In this moment you have a bit more time to kill while you are waiting for the milk to cool.  I recommend beating the eggs, cleaning the dishes you don't need for now, and preparing for the last step by lining a few plates with paper towels and heating the oil in the frying pan to medium-high heat.  

7. Okay.  It's time to come back to the recipe.  You need to put the slices of bread in the milk pan to soak a bit, but not too much.  Make sure you wet both sides.  

8. Now batter them one by one in the beaten egg mixture (be careful as this part is a bit tricky because the bread can fall apart easily).  And add them to the hot oil.  I recommend only frying 3 at a time.  I only fried them for about one minute on each side.

9. Take them out of the pan carefully and put them on a plate lined with paper towels.  Sprinkle both sides with the cinnamon-sugar mixture and put them in a small pan.  The idea is that the oily liquid and the sugar will develop a sort of sugary syrup.  

10. After you let them cool for about 10 minutes they should be ready to eat.  They keep well in the refrigerator for a few days.  Do what I did and share them with your friends.  I hope you enjoy them!

Recipes I looked at (In Spanish)
http://www.recetasdemama.es/2011/04/torrijas/
http://www.fotonazos.es/2010/03/receta-de-torrijas-de-leche-con-canela/
As well as advice from various students.

Recommendation for torrijas if you are in Madrid:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pasteler%C3%ADa-La-Oriental/160484503992257