Stuffed Aubergine Canapes, Chorizo Al Vino, Leek & Apple Quiche

Oh my, the Fridays are following super fast now. I can downright feel like the tapas project starts to take over now and dictate the course of the end of each week. In a good way, as it makes you now really looking forward to every Friday! To cut the long story short, and not let our fans waiting too long ;), here the recent developments:

Canapés Of Aubergine Filled With Spicy
Sweet Pepper Cream
Every time you learn something new. This time, for my part, it was about the specific character of the aubergine, which absorbs moisture like a sponge. I thought, cutting the eggplant into thin slices and leaving it sprinkled with salt just for 30 min before frying will do the job. Then I had to realize, I should have done this already in the morning. The sponge, combined with some salt, releases its moisture, but very slowly. Will keep it in mind for next time ;).
For the spicy cream I chopped and pureed a sweet pepper, adding some hot chilli powder, smoked paprika, roasted garlic, goat cheese, cream cheese ans a splash of lime juice. Left this to cool and set in fridge for an hour or two. After brushing the eggplant slices with a bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of dried oregano, I fried them shortly (both sides) in a griddle pan (for the ultimate BBQ-look). Let them cool down a bit, and then filled them with the sweet pepper cream. Tooth picks are here quite essential. Hot, hot, hot!


Chorizo Al Vino
Here, the biggest challenge lies in the quality of the chorizo sausage. So I recommend, get the best you can afford, it will pay off (as mentioned in previous entries, due to the small quantities needed for tapas, it is never a real big expense, even if the ingredients are posh). I cut the sausage in thin slices and fried some onion, garlic, and a bunch of fresh flat parsley and a pinch of saffron in a pan. I used white wine to deglaze (wow, I am using kitchen vocabulary!), which makes the dish a bit lighter than using red wine. But both are possible and depend really from what you're in the mood for. I added chorizo, another splash of white wine, chopped a tomato, and let all this just simmer away for another few minutes.


Generally, it's quite a rich dish, so it goes well with just a piece of baguette, seafood, salad or other veggies, but definitely nothing else 'meaty' beside it.
Leek And Apple Quiche
OK, this might be not a typical Spanish tapas dish, but regarding my German culinary repertoire and the fact that breaking the rules can make your day, or Friday, I decided to make this delicious savoury tart. First, the pastry has to be done. For this, I combined app. 350 g of flour with app 170 g of cold, flaked butter, some freshly grated nutmeg, a good pinch of salt, one egg and one yolk and some water, to a nice, smooth dough (I would recommend to leave the kitchen machine in the press and for a better result work here with hands :)). I left the pastry in the fridge for at least an hour. Meanwhile, clean and roughly sliced 2 leeks, and fried them up with some olive oil, garlic and some sliced streaky bacon (to give it nice, smoky flavour). Seasoned, and kept simmering for few minutes. I peeled, chopped an apple and added it to the leeks, just at the end with the heat turned off. Beside this, I beat 4 eggs, adding app. 200 ml of cream, salt, pepper, and again some freshly grated nutmeg.
Finally, rolled out the pastry, placed it in a round oven dish, and pulled the pastry out, so you get a nice border for your quiche. I filled it with the leeks and topped with the egg mix. It is optional, but you also can add some grated cheese, I put some delicious organic goat cheese on top. All you have to do now, is to bake it in preheated oven for 30-40 min at 170 degrees. Et Voilà!


Shopping List:

Veg (local veg shop) €4.97

Chorizo (deli) €3.20

Streaky Bacon (deli) €1.50

Soft Cheese (supermarket) €1.19

Cream (supermarket) €1.55

Baguette (deli) €1.95

.........................................................

Total €14.36

(WOW! First time I have actually managed to stay below the limit)

Drinks:
Lunate, Merlot, Sicilia, 14% (red)
Lunate, Fiana, Sicilia, 13.5% (white)

On the strereo
Phoenix, Souls of Mischief, Them Crooked Vultures, Twilight Singers