Last Valentine’s Day B gave me a homemade coupon booklet. It contained numerous vouchers – one for a weekend off of cleaning the house, another for a free meal at our favorite greasy Chinese food spot, and so on. This sounds cute and romantic, which to some extent it was, but B got all creative and added his own terms and conditions to each card. I won’t go into the raunchy details, but let’s just say it’s been a year and I’ve only cashed in on one of the coupons.

However, this past weekend I noticed that the vouchers had an expiration date (. . . only B), so in two week’s time, they would be null and void. So despite B’s somewhat disagreeable terms and conditions, I decided to cash in on one more voucher before they expired. And the most delicious looking voucher of the bunch was ‘La Cocina de España‘, an all-expense-paid evening of Spanish dining in our very own kitchen, prepped, cooked, and served with love by B.

B lived in Spain for some time (enough time to learn how to speak fluent Spanish – envy!), so he’s got a delicious repertoire of Spanish recipes tucked up his sleeve. I’ve always been somewhat intimidated by his tapas (hot oil! lots of mayo! cooking many things at once!), but after taking notes and watching closely this time around, I’ve realized that most of his tapas are actually quite simple. So here are five excellent Spanish-tapas recipes, listed in order of ease.

– Pre-Tapas –

Before you can get moving in the kitchen, you’ll need some fuel. And there’s no better way to energize for a meal of tapas, than with some tapas! As B and I were ravenous, we prepared a big board of olives, Manchego cheese, cucumbers, Spanish ciabatta, and an extra-virgin olive oil tapenade. No cooking required here. In fact, this doesn’t even count as a recipe. Chop up your cheese, your cukes, and your bread, and pop your store-bought olives and tapenade into serving dishes. Pour yourself a big glass of Spanish vino and congrats – you’re on your way to becoming a tapas pro!

– Salad –

Now before you dive into a whirlwind of grease and fried-food, you’re going to want to make something light and fragrant to compliment your meal. So grab a bowl and fill it with your favorite lettuce variety. Half some ruby-red cherry tomatoes and pop these into the bowl as well. Add some onion slices and a drizzle of olive oil, and serve your salad with vinegar and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. This is the only dish B let me help prepare, and it was one of the easiest as well!

– Pan con Tomate – 

Pan con tomate is Spanish for bread with tomato. It’s a simple dish that is often eaten for breakfast in Spain, but also makes a wonderful starter for lunch or dinner. As you might guess, for this recipe you’ll need bread (ideally ciabatta) and tomatoes. Slice your ciabatta length-wise and chop your tomato in half. Now, scrape the inside of the tomato along the top of your bread. You’ll want to leave a trail of tomato guts and seeds on the bread, so rub, squeeze and press away. Finish your pan con tomate with a rub of garlic as well, or simply drizzle with olive oil, as B did. Add a crack of salt and pepper, and serve.These first two recipes are easy, and would make a wonderful meal on their own. Here’s one more no-brainer tapas recipe that I love – something simple and quick to whip up, but so, so delicious as well!

– Chorizo – 

This tapas recipe is my favorite. I love chorizo on its own, and it’s exciting to know that with one extra step, you can turn it into something authentic and delicious! Slice your chorizo into pennies. Put a frying pan on the stove, and turn the heat onto a medium-high. Add about 1/4 a cup of red wine to the pan and wait for it to bubble. Then, throw in your chorizo.

The red wine will bring color, clarity, and a distinctive taste to the chorizo, and the heat will make the chorizo sweat and fry in all its natural glory. Fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the wine has just about dissolved and the chorizo starts to brown. Transfer to a bowl and serve.

– Patatas Bravas –

Patatas bravas are a typical Spanish bar-food, comparable to french fries or nachos in the US. They’re essentially small, fried potatoes, served with a sloppy mayo or tomato based sauce. To make patatas bravas, you’ll need one big potato per person. Peel your potatoes and then chop them up into small squares, about half an inch each.

Fill a frying pan with oil and put it on the stove to heat. Drop in a potato to test the temperature – if the potato starts to fry right away, then the oil is hot enough and you can add the rest of your potatoes. Fry them for about 10 minutes, or until the outside of the potatoes are a light brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them into a dish, and give them a good dusting of salt. You can serve them with plain mayo, but B and I used this patatas bravas dip mix from Oil & Vinegar. We simply mixed a tablespoon of water with a tablespoon of the mix, and then added about four tablespoons of mayo. We poured the dip over the potatoes, and served them hot on the table.

– Tortilla – 

Tortilla Española is a Spanish omelette that is made with small, fried potatoes. B ate this meal nightly when he lived in Spain, as it’s quick, easy, and filling, not to mention one of Spain’s most popular dishes. If you’re making patatas bravas, you’re in luck as you’ll already have one of the main ingredients at hand – fried potatoes. Plan on frying at least one extra potato along with your patatas bravas for your tortilla. You’ll also need five eggs, olive oil, and salt to taste. Crack your eggs into a bowl and whisk. Heat a nonstick frying pan and add a drizzle of olive oil. Once your pan is hot, add about a cup of fried potatoes to the pan.

Then, pour your whisked egg on top and wait for the underside to brown – about 3-5 minutes. When the underside of the tortilla is brown, take a large plate and lay it face down on top of the frying pan. Then, holding the plate secure in its place with one hand, pick up the frying pan with the other and flip it over. The tortilla should flip out of the pan and onto the plate. Place the plate (with the tortilla on it) onto the counter, and give the pan another drizzle of olive oil. Slide the tortilla back into the pan, now with the cooked side face up. Wait for the second side to brown – usually another 3 minutes or so. When cooked, transfer the tortilla onto a plate and serve hot, ideally with some salad, chorizo, patatas bravas, and pan con tomate!I couldn’t stop myself from poking over to the counter every now and then, and popping a fried potato or small piece of chorizo into my mouth! B is an awesome cook, and I need to rely on him more regularly in the kitchen.Finally, after what seemed like hours and hours of waiting, we sat down with some good Spanish wine and our tapas. The meal was fantastic, and totally worth the terms and conditions as outlined on the voucher – starting that I had to do all of the dishes!!¡Buen provecho!

xo Ali

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