Monday Afternoon Tapas

It's not much of a secret that Ann and I hang out at Two Dogs Taphouse in downtown McMinnville on a fairly regular basis. We've become friendly with most of the staff there and recently, we found out that three of them are moving away to Bend in mid-September to see a different part of Oregon. We made plans to get together as a last hurrah and I decided to make some tapas that we could graze on. Hanging out with younger folks helps keep us young.

Ann asked me why I chose tapas and honestly, I don't know what got me going down that path except for perhaps the vast quantity of padrón peppers in the farmers market recently. I do know that tapas are the kind of party food that I prefer: finger food that doesn't require much in the way of silverware or tableware as well as being food that I can set out beforehand so I can socialize and not have to cook during the event.

White Bean-Stuffed Piquillos

Stuffing piquillos is always a no-brainer tapa. I blitzed up a bunch of cannellini with garlic and pimentón then spooned the mix into the peppers. I was feeling lazy; ordinarily, I'd put the bean paste in a pastry bag with no tip and squirt the peppers full. One less thing to clean up, I guess. Two other great stuffings that I have done: paella-style rice for one and mashed potatoes with home-salted cod for another.

Grilled Shrimp and Olive Skewers

The flavor of olives and shrimp when grilled together is one of those one-plus-one-equals-three dishes. The sweetness of the shrimp meshes well with the slight saltiness of the olives (though these olives were not very salty). To amplify the grill char (hard to get a lot of char on small shrimp before they overcook), I made a bit of smoky pimentón sauce to garnish the skewers with. I made plenty of that sauce, put it in a squirt bottle, and I noticed everyone was squirting it on everything: it is that good!

Pork Pinchitos Morunos

Skewers (pinchos, pintxos, pinchitos) are a classic tapa and I decided to go with pork pinchitos morunos, literally little Moorish skewers. Although the Arabs (the Moors) who brought the skewers across from North Africa would not use pork for religious reasons, the dish is most commonly made with pork in modern-day Spain. The Moorish influence is honored today by marinating the pork in ras el hanout, a batch of which I made for this party. Ras el hanout is a North African all-purpose spice mix.

Searing Padrón Peppers for the Tortilla

Tortilla of Padrones and Onions

Tortillas, the Spanish egg dish similar to Italian frittatas, is another common and easy-to-make tapa. I seared padrón peppers in a hot pan with olive oil. We could have eaten them just like that in their traditional fashion, but I like their flavor with eggs, so I destemmed and deseeded them. Then I caramelized a couple large onions with fresh thyme and garlic. To assemble the tortilla, I layered the peppers and onions in a skillet and poured a dozen beaten eggs over. This went into a slow oven and baked, about an hour, until the eggs were set all the way through.