Roasted Salt Fish

I am going to wrap up my series of holiday posts with the roasted salt fish. This is a very typical dish in Spain that you can find at almost any beach destination or quality fish restaurant in the city.

It is a very simple dish to make. All you do is buy a whole fish (head, bones, and skin in tact), pack it in really fat sea salt, and roast for about 30 min at 400ºF. (The peaks of the salt with almost start to brown when it is ready.) Then you remove the salt and peel back the skin and fish will fall right off the bone. Be careful not to let the salt get in direct contact with the fleshy part of the fish because the salt is extremely potent.

I used red snapper but you can use any fish that has a thick skin. I made two for ten people and it just gave a taste for everyone. If this is going to be your main dish, I would recommend 2-3 people per fish. You can see below one fish still packed in salt on the left and one with the salt removed on the right.

This dish lacks presentation (plate is too big) but you get the idea of how flaky and tender the fish is. I accompanied the fish with roasted asapargus wrapped in prociutto.

Cod with raisins and pine nuts

Here is a close up of the cod with raisins and pine nuts that I made on Christmas Eve. I got the recipe off the Internet a couple years ago from a Web site with Medieval Spanish recipes. Who would have guessed?! I changed it up some so I should probably sit down and write up what I actually prepared. The recipe is at my house, though, so I will have to post it at a later date.

I used a cermanic baking dish from Spain, which worked nicely for the sauce. However, next time around I would suggest pan frying the fish first in a good skillet to get a nice brown crust then moving into the the ceramic dish to meddle in the sauce. Also, I had an excess of sauce this time and ended up throwing out almost half of it. I will have to try using less broth next time. It will probably help to intensify flavors, too.

P.S. - You may be seeing some recipes in the near future that use pine nuts since we had quite the surplus from the holidays and my mom doesn´t know what to do with them. I already have several things in mind and could use them up pretty quickly, if I had closer access to her kitchen. I miss you Mami!

Me and my sister cooking. I love to cook with her! She makes it so much more fun. I am wearing a special chefs coat that I got from my very special friend Erika that I love very much. Also, you can see some of our holiday appetizers on the right :)

Christmas Eve

Almost a month later and I finally post about our Christmas Eve dinner. Better late than never. Christmas Eve dinner has evolved quite a bit over the years at our house. We used to go out for dinner on Christmas Eve because we were so busy preparing for Christmas Day and this way we didn´t have to worry about leftovers. I remember going to Tías Mexican restaurant around the corner for years after the childrens Mass at church. Then it changed to a fish restaurant since you really aren´t supposed to eat meat on Christmas Eve. That got cut short pretty quickly because not too many restaurants are open for dinner on Christmas Eve, which I think is a good thing.

As I got more and more involved in the kitchen, we started having Christmas Eve dinner at home. Several years in a row I made lentil soup and eggplant parmesan, two of my specialties. I added in a roasted salt fish a couple of years ago and it was a hit. I had to move that to Christmas Day this year since David and Matty had never had the chance to try it since they celebrate Christmas Eve with Matty´s family in Houston.

This year, I blew Christmas Eve out of the water. I wanted to make it a very elegant, special dinner for the family. Christmas Day tends to be a little more laid back since we get a late start after opening presents and tend to hang around in our PJs most of the day. On Christmas Eve, though, we are still dressed from church.

Dinner started off with a few appetizers including a white bean hummus with homemade toasted pita chips, roasted red peppers with toasted sourdough, and a brie en croute with apricot jam. It was followed by eggplant parmesan, cod with raisins and pine nuts over puff pastry, potatoes, and glazed carrots. Then for dessert, homemade hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows and my mom´s famous cookies.

I am a true believer that presentation is everything. Oscar helped out here and made the printed menus for the table. I was surprised at how much everyone loved them. Angela was the brains behind naming the entrees. For example, we had Reindeer Carrots, Elves Elegant Eggplant, Red Pepper Ribbons, Mrs. Claus´homemade cookies ... so much fun! We had a lovely evening just eating and talking. It made all the hard work well worth while.

Cesta de Navidad

In Spain, it is a tradition to get a Cesta de Navidad (Christmas basket) from your employer for the holidays. It used to actually come in a basket but most of them now come in a convenient box with handles so that it is easy to carry. They come filled with traditional holiday treats like turron, cookies, cheese, cured meats, wine, and champagne. Less and less companies continue with the tradition since many employees prefer cash over the basket.

I was one of the fortunate ones that stills get a Christmas basket. Mine came filled with several bottles of wine, champagne, turron, cookies, cured deer meat, white asparagus, foie, and chocolate. My inlaws love the sweet stuff so they attacked it quickly. Oscar and I rescued the wine, champagne, and food delicacies. We have them stashed in a safe place and plan on taking them out when we can enjoy them together in eachothers company.

Homemade hot chocolate and homemade marshmallows

Homemade hot chocolate and homemade marshmallows say Merry Christmas like no other. When thinking of a Christmas Eve dessert, I wanted to do something simple (since dinner was so elegant) and that would not take much prep time after dinner. So I came up with hot chocolate and marshmallows ... accompanied by a beautiful plate full of my mom´s famous cookies.

I could have kept it super simple and used cocoa mix and store-bought marshmallows, but thats just not me. I consulted my cookbooks and Barefoot Contessa had just what I was looking for. The truth is, it was not that hard to make at all. The marshmallows have to be made the day before, which worked out nice, and the hot chocolate only takes about 10 minutes to prepare. The only thing about the marshmallows was that it was a little like a science project in my kitchen. If you do try the recipe, let me know if you get an odd smell when the mixer is on high for 15 minutes or if the mixture almost explodes over the bowl when you add the vanilla.

Recipes courtesy Barefoot Contessa. They can also be found on the Food Network web site.

Homemade Marshmallows

- 3 packages unflavored gelatin
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.

Homemade Hot Chocolate

- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso or coffee powder

Heat the milk and half-and-half in a saucepan on medium heat to just below the simmering point. Remove the pan from the heat and add both chocolates. When the chocolates are melted, add the sugar, vanilla extract, and espresso and whisk vigorously. Reheat gently and serve immediately.