Fernet Flank Steak

Perhaps it was a long night, but it occurred to me that the dark amaro (bitter) flavor of Fernet might go well with a strongly-flavored beef steak, especially one with a little metallic edge; think of it like a BBQ sauce for adults. This has just a faint Fernet flavor, certainly not overwhelming.

A slight fernet edge, served with grilled polenta and radicchio

We got a cut that looked like a Flank Steak from Carnisseria Cruz Morales in el Mercat de Sant Antoni; it was 640g so we split it into a 310g piece for this, and the 340g piece for our usual rosemary/garlic marinade.

310 g   Flank Steak, or other flavorful cut appropriate to the grill
100 ml  Fernet Branca
        Salt

Poke holes on both sides of the Steak with a fork.

Sprinkle generously with Salt.

Put in a zip-top bag and add the Fernet.

Marinade overnight.

Pour off the Fernet marinade; optionally reduce and strain for a sauce (it loses its color!)

Grill hot and fast, cook to medium rare.

Slice and serve, with the reduced liquid.

This wasn't overwhelming as I feared, and I wouldn't mind a more assertive flavor. With only 100ml of Fernet, it's not an expensive investment. If I were competing in a BBQ competition, I think I'd use Fernet as a secret ingredient. I'm considering adding Sugar to it next time to give a slight BBQ-sauce-like glaze.

Bay Leaf Ice Cream

I love the smell of fresh Bay, especially when slightly toasted -- it's exotic, herbaceous, slightly fruity -- and I thought it might be appropriate for an unusual ice cream. Fortunately, Irene has a Bay plant the thrives here on our Barcelona terrace, so she gave me a good sized branch. I wanted coax the flavors from the fresh leaves, as well as the aromatics from slightly toasted ones, so I did half-and-half. I doubt this would work with store-bought dry Bay leaves but tell me if you try it.

The procedure was pretty much a basic vanilla ice cream (or our Saffron one), but with the milk/cream first infused with Bay. The taste is appealing, and slightly exotic without being "weird"; it seems like something I'd find in a fancy restaurant. 

The faintest green cast and an inviting aroma

 20 g      Bay Leaves, fresh

300 ml     Milk, whole

400 ml     Cream

170 g      Sugar

    pinch  Salt

  3 whole  Eggs, whipped

Large branch of Irene's Bay plant

Pull the leaves from the Bay branch.

Gently toast 10 g of them in a dry skillet until the slightly brown and begin releasing their aroma.

In a pot, add the Milk and Cream, the raw and toasted Bay leaves.

Cover and let steep on low heat for an hour to infuse.

Strain and capture the Milk/Cream, then add back to the clean pot.

Add the Sugar and Salt to the still-hot mixture, and stir to dissolve.

Whip the eggs.

Ensure the mixture isn't too hot, probably 50c or less, and whisk in the Eggs.

Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it hits 78-80c and the mixture starts to thicken a bit; once it starts, it thickens quickly, so be careful when it's above 70c.

Strain into a large pourable bowl or similar; I use a 1L measuring cup and get about 900 ml.

Cover with plastic film, pressing onto the surface to prevent a skin.

Let cool, then chill overnight in the fridge.

Process with an ice cream churn 20-30 minutes, then scoop into containers, cover directly with film, and freeze overnight.

It helps to let it thaw a little so it's scoopable, maybe 20-30 minutes in the fridge.

Serve.

Delia's Roasted Red Peppers (from AnnieB)

We went on AnnieB's Almadraba tuna harvest tour, which concluded with a trip to the Barbate Market and a cooking session at her home. This simple, vegetable-forward dish is refreshing, served cool on a hot day. The combination of red bell peppers and tomato, cooked down to intensify, is greater than the sum of the parts. 

Smaller "pimientos de California" here, on foil with little nests to hold them

In Spain, red "pimientos dulces" are everywhere, and are like giant version of the red bells in The States; in fact, vendors here refer to those as "pimientos de California". We also have a huge variety of tomatoes, including really tasty "blau" (blue) ones. The olive oil and anchovy provide richness and umami, but you could omit the anchovy for a veggie/vegan version.

The quantities below are good for a side dish for two people.

 1 large   Spanish Red Bell Pepper (or 2 smaller American red bells)

 4 leaves  Basil, torn in half

 2 filet   Anchovy, cut in quarters or so

 1 clove   Garlic, sliced thin

 1 medium  Tomato "blau" or other tasty variety, cut into 4-8 pieces

30 ml      Olive Oil, good quality (2 Tbs)

           Black Pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F.

Cut the Pepper in half, top to bottom, through the stem, preserving the bowl shape to it will retain juices;

carefully remove the seeds and white pith.

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment, or foil if you don't have the paper, but it may stick a little.

Divide the Basil, Anchovy, and Garlic slices between the Pepper halves.

Top with the cut Tomato pieces to protect the Basil and Garlic from burning.

Douse with the Olive Oil on top, then grind some Black Pepper.

Make sure the Pepper halves are upright to contain juices as they cook; cr

Bake at 180C / 350F for about 45 minutes until they are slightly charred: the tomatoes will release juice then it should concentrate down over time and intensify the flavor.  You can do this on a BBQ as well but it's rather easy to scorch the bottom.

Carefully transfer to a platter to keep all the tasty juice, possibly on a bed of Arugula or other green.

Serve warm, or let cool.

Chicharrones de Cádiz: tender, light, and tasty (not crunchy "pork rinds")

We had this traditional tapa in Cádiz at Arte Puro (de Taberna Casa Manteca) and I was immediately taken with it: tender slices of pork belly seasoned with spices including pimentón, garnished with olive oil, lime, and salt, and served barely cool. They were surprising refreshing, great on a hot day. 

Sliced thinly, dressed with olive oil, coarse salt, lime

We found some in Barcelona at El Corte Inglés "Gourmet Club", but they were a pale imitation: a bit dry, not terribly flavorful -- I wouldn't have been so interested if these were the only ones I'd tasted. 

I had to figure out how to make them at home! Feel free to skip to the Approach or the Recipe, or follow along.

In Cadíz: moist and delicious!

Dull from El Corte Inglés, oddly with coriander, cumin, vinegar

Research

There are so many variations, which just points to the fact that this is a very old and common dish, and everyone makes it their own way.

General

Chicharrones de Cádiz: cómo son y dónde comerlos mentions two places we went, including the place we ate these, but doesn't provide a recipe or technique. These are pieces of pork belly [panceta], a "marbled" area of ​​the pork that alternates layers of meat with fat. This gives the pieces a special succulence. Butchers call them "pear belly" because of their shape, which is reminiscent of the fruit.

Chicharrones de Cádiz talks about the prep in general. Iberian pork belly has a better mix of fat and a more intense flavor than regular pork belly. They use white lard (manteca) for cooking, seasoned with garlic, oregano, paprika, salt, and other optional seasonings. Substituting Olive Oil for the Lard may result in a different result in terms of texture and flavor, but it is still a valid option for those who prefer a less traditional cooking method. Another modern adaptation of the recipe involves adding lemon and peppers to the pork rinds during preparation, adding a citrusy and slightly spicy touch that further enhances their flavor.

El País has a video La tapa más especial de Cádiz which starts at the Casa de Manteca, then goes to the producer who says the panceta is trimmed then cooked in manteca for 90 minutes on medium heat, and seasoned with oregano, garlic, salt, garlic, bay laurel, pimentón.

Cooked in Manteca, Sometimes Boiled First

Chicharrones loncheados de Cádiz cooks the panceta an hour in manteca seasoned with salt, garlic, oregano, and pimentón.

Chicharrones especiales o chicharrones de Cádiz is similar to the previous, using pear-shaped ("pera") panceta. They do not use pimentón, and cook in "pella de cerdo" (pork rind) or white lard.

Receta de Chicharrones de Cádiz caseros adds "laurel" (bay leaves) and black pepper, and starts cooking in water about 30 minutes until it evaporates, then cooks the panceta in its own fat with the seasonings for another hour, then further cooks it in reduced wine and seasonings. This one sounds interesting, but unnecessarily complex.

Two videos I've seen saute garlic in oil then brown the panceta on both sides, then add white wine, bay, salt, then cover with water and simmer 30 minutes. This one then fries in manteca to brown, but uses a huge amount of manteca to do it; oddly, there's no pimentón.  Another cooks only in seasoned manteca for 90 minutes, but it looks a bit more dry and shreddy than I'd like. 

Dry- or Paste-Seasoned then Baked

Receta de chicharrón de Cádiz casero coats the panceta with a paste of garlic, oregano, pimentón, and salt with a bit of olive oil, then bakes at 200C for up to an hour, basting in the fat it releases. This certainly saves on having a liter of manteca.

This "short" looks super-simple: a 3-hour marinade in oil and spices then bake at 200C until crunchy. It seems similar to the previous one.

This video, in English, is from an NYC chef does a dry cure similar to bacon (with some sugar, oddly) for 1-2 days, then adds some pimentón and roasts at 250F/120C for 90 minutes; it looks pretty decent.

Dry Rub then Sous Vide

Anova's Chicharrones de Cádiz uses sous vide, which allows us to reduce the lard to just enough for flavoring. He cooks at 60C for 30 hours (!) with the lard and spices, then sears to brown before slicing. The article's in English and the author is originally from Madrid, so I'm giving some him credit for authenticity.

Approach

I did a flavor trial with a spice mix of Salt, minced Garlic, Oregano, Pimentón, and a couple fresh Bay leaves coating a pork tenderloin. I cooked it sous vide for an hour at 58C, then finished on the BBQ. The flavor was good, if a bit timid; the Pimentón was welcome and I was really fond of the Bay.

Boiling in water is about the last thing I'd want to do with meat -- too much flavor loss, no flavor gain; if the goal is to cook through, just do it in tasty Manteca. It seems to me that flavoring a pot of Manteca with seasonings isn't going to impart much flavor to the meat, even if it's the most traditional method. A dry rub/cure or paste, followed by baking, seems like it would retain all the flavor and give a bit of crunch, but it obviates the Manteca flavoring. Searing in Manteca after cooking might burn any spice coating, so watch out for that.

The Anova Sous Vide recipe seems a good compromise: the dry rub is like the baked recipes above, but adding chunks of Manteca for traditional flavor; the final sear in Manteca should give it an appealing crust, hopefully without burning any spices. I could also try blooming the spices in hot Manteca then painting that onto the Panceta before cooking sous vide, it's one extra small step. 

Recipe

I got a 750 g piece of Iberian Panceta from Xarcuteria Neus in our Mercat de Sant Antoni and had them remove the skin; it was 14€/Kg. Irene has tubs of Manteca, because she's Irene. I'm cutting the Anova sous vide recipe in half here, but keeping his original quantity of Bay and Pimentón because I love those flavors.

750 g       Iberian Panceta, skin removed

0.7 g       Oregano, dried (1 Tbs)

 10 g       Salt (2 tsp)

5.6 g       Pimentón Dulce (1 Tbs)

  3 cloves  Garlic, minced

  4 leaves  Bay, fresh 

 45 g       White Manteca, cut in chunks

 ?? g       White Manteca, for searing, if needed

            Lemon juice, fresh, for garnish

            Coarse Salt, for garnish

            Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for garnish

Heat a sous vide water bath to 60C.

Combine the Oregano, Salt, Pimentón.

Mix in the minced Garlic and smear into a dry paste.

Spread a large sheet of plastic film and lay the Panceta on top.

Rub spices into both sides of the Panceta as evenly as possible; it's difficult because this isn't quite a dry rub nor a smooth spreadable paste.

Lay on the Bay leaves and Manteca chunks, again on both sides.

(Maybe these, except for the Manteca, could all be blitzed in a spice grinder?)

Wrap the plastic film tightly around the Panceta.

Seal in a sous vide bag and cook 30 (!) hours at 60C.

While still warm, remove from bag and dry with paper towel.

Save the tasty liquid and fat from the bag, we used it to serve black-eyed peas as a side dish.

Score the fat to allow rendering than sear slowly in skillet, fat-side down, with a little more Manteca until appealingly golden; flip and sear the meaty side just a little, don't overcook it. We probably didn't need the Manteca here since the fat rendered quite easily. 

Chill well, then slice as thinly; I was able to get about 2mm slices but a meat slicer would give even more tender 1mm slices.

Plate and garnish with coarse Salt, a squeeze of Lemon, and some good Olive Oil. 

I used Lime, but Lemon would be more harmonious.

Serve with mini bread sticks, called "picos" in Spanish or "barretes de pa" in Catalan.

Results

I got better at cutting thinner slices, and it was more appealing -- more refreshing. The spice rub was not nearly as pronounced as I was expecting, and perhaps hoping. But we returned to it again and again, especially as a lunch or Hora de Vermut treat.

Next Time

I'd probably keep the same spicing for now. Maybe use dried/granulated garlic to make the rub easier to apply. Definitely score the fat side -- diagonally or perpendicular to how it's going to be sliced -- to allow the spice rub to penetrate more. 

2025-08-03 Scored, with Powdered Dry Rub

I got another cut from Carnisseria Carmen, also el Mercat de Sant Antoni; it started at 640 g, and after removing the skin, was 540 g. I tried to maximize the flavor by diagonally scoring the fatty side (just to the meat) and also scoring the meat side slightly, perpendicular to how it will be cut when serving. I whizzed all the ingredients so I had a dry rub, and pressed them into the flesh after painting it with liquid Manteca.

540 g       Panceta Iberica (trimmed weight)

 40 g       Manteca, melted

  4 leaves  Bay, fresh

 10 g       Salt

 10 g       Garlic granules (coarse powder)

  6 g       Pimenton Dulce

  1 g       Oregano, dried

Score the fat side of the Panceta in a diagonal pattern, just through the fat to the meat;

barely score the meat side perpendicularly to the way it will be sliced.

Lay the Panceta on a large sheet of plastic film to contain everything.

Melt the Manteca and paint it on both sides of the Panceta, it will firm up as it hits the cool meat.

Grind the Bay and dry spices in a spice grinder, and dust both sides, pressing into the Manteca and the scores.

Wrap tightly in the plastic film and chill well so the fat firms up.

Seal in a sous vide bag.

Proceed as above: cook sous vide 30h @ 60c, sear briefly, chill, slice, and serve.

Lemon mint sorbet

We like the Grapefruit Rosemary sorbet I make, and I've got a little lemon tree and mint growing on the terrace, so let's try something with those. 

Lemon sorbet with Nona's Liqueur #3

The proportions below come from Harold McGee's table in "The Curious Cook", chapter "Fruit Ices Cold and Calculated":

Flavor        Fruit  Sugar   Lemon  Water
-----------   -----  ------  -----  -------
lemon, hard   1/2 C   8 Tbs  0 Tbs  1 1/4 C
lemon, soft   1/2 C  14 Tbs  0      1     C

Let's go with the "soft", and convert to metric:

118 ml Lemon juice

177 g  Sugar

237 ml Water

I've got 2 lemons left on my tree. Serious Eats uses 4 lemons to give 3/4 C juice (180ml) for the Lemon Tart I make, so I expect to have about  90 ml juice, so I'm scaling the above by 76%. 

        Zest of 2 lemons

135 g   Sugar (I used 121 g Palm sugar

180 ml  Water

 19 g   Mint leaves, roughly chopped to expose oils

pinch   Salt

 90 ml  Lemon Juice (2 tree lemons and 1 store-bought lemon)

Zest the 2 Lemons, chop the Mint Leaves, and add to a pot with Sugar, Water, and Salt.

Bring to simmer to dissolve the Sugar.

Cover and let it infuse 15 minutes and cool.

Juice the Lemons by rolling them firmly on the counter to loosen the juice;

use a reamer or lemon squeezer to get as much juice as possible.

Strain the Sugar solution into the Lemon Juice.

Chill overnight.

Churn in an ice cream maker.

Cover and chill overnight.

This tastes excellent -- the mint really comes through, without being grassy. 

The texture is good, smooth and not too hard. 

But it melts very quickly -- consider backing out the Sugar a bit, or adding something that will prevent the syneresis.

Nona's Liqueur #3

This is a simple but tasty drink that reminds me of something Italian grandmothers might make. It uses leftover skins and husks of citrus. It's quite pleasant on its own over an ice cube, and should make a bright spritz cocktail. It's easy, it just takes patience for the infusion.

We accidentally discovered a technique to make a citrus liqueur then made it intentionally. Subsequently, we simplified by collecting citrus skins from our fresh-squeezed orange juice, lemon and lime husks from cocktails, etc, and infusing clean-tasting vodka.  I'm repeating that here, with husks from our little lemon tree, skins from mandarin oranges, and so on. I expect to adjust based on what we have, and what tastes good. 

 12    Lemon husks (with or without zest, whatever we have)
  ?    Mandarin skins
  8    Lime husks
  2    Bay leaves
 1+ L  Vodka, clean tasting; I used Stroika from our supermarket
250 g  Palm Sugar

Stuff a 2L flip top jar with as much of the citrus peels as you can fit, add the Bay, then fill to the top with Vodka.

Let sit a month, turning occasionally.

Strain through coarse sieve. Squeeze the remaining pulp in your hands to extract a lot more infused Vodka.

Filter all the liquid through a fine mesh; I used a plastic cone coffee filter, but you could use a paper filter or fancy chinois.  I ended up with 1.3 Liters of flavored Vodka.

For my Vermut, I make a caramel, and may do so next time but I had Palm Sugar lying around so I used that since it already has a dark flavor reminiscent of caramel. For that caramel, I used 22% by weight of sugar to the liquid, and I had almost enough Palm Sugar, so I just used what I had.  Add the Palm Sugar, cover, and let sit until dissolved. 

Store in bottles for easy drinking, over ice, with a splash of sparkling water, perhaps even some cava.

This batch had an appealing citrus aroma. The sweetness was fine: not to austere nor too sticky. The  bitterness of the pith offset balanced the sweetness and gave it an amaro edge.

I think using plain white sugar would be a bit insipid, so next time might use caramelized sugar if I don't have palm sugar.

We've been enjoying Nona Spritz: 2 to 4 to 1 of Nona's Liqueur, Cava, sparkling water -- with ice.

Nona Spritz: very refreshing

Mashed potatoes, spinach, Arzak egg, bottarga -- after Bar Tiramat

My rendition: potatoes, spinach, Arzak egg, grated bottarga

Bar Tiramat opened recently near us: a great place for imaginative, well-crafted food, and good wine. They had an unusual dish: Huevo con Kimchi y Bottarga 6€; it's a beautiful presentation with a poached egg on top of bright red kimchi, topped with grated dry fish egg. I like how the salty bottarga went with the egg, but didn't think the kimchi was a great marriage. I wanted to do a riff on it.

Bar Tiramat's kimchi, egg, bottarga

In Catalunya, trinxat is quite popular -- a mash of potatoes and cabbage. Eggs go with potatoes, and Eggs Benedict adds spinach, so that will be my base. Tiramat poached their egg, but here I used chef Arzak's technique -- wrapping in plastic and simmering gently to maintain form. We have bottarga from the Mercat de Sant Antoni, and sometimes make an intense pasta cream sauce with it. 

I made up the recipe, since it was composed of individual parts that are all pretty simple.

Defrost frozen chopped Spinach, squeeze to remove excess water. Warm in a pot or pan with a bit of Butter or Cream; grate a bit of Nutmeg if you want to suggest creamed spinach.

Prep the Arzak Eggs: take a 25x25cm sheet of cling film and press the center into a small ramekin or bowl. Spread with Olive Oil. Break an egg into the center, without breaking the yolk. Dust with salt and pepper, and add a bit more Oil. Bring the corners of the film together and squeeze to remove the air, then twist to seal, and hold closed with clothes pegs. 

Slice unpeeled potatoes about 1cm so they'll boil quickly and evenly; start them boiling. During the last 6 minutes of the boil, or a bit more, drop the temperature to a very gentle boil and add the Arzak Eggs. Cook 6 minutes then remove to prevent over-cooking and setting the yolks. Check the potatoes, and cook until a fork pierces without too much resistance. Drain the potatoes, add a bit of Cream or Butter to the still hot pot, and rice the potatoes into the pot; combine with a spatula, and adjust Cream and Salt.

Put ring molds on plates and scoop the mashed potatoes into each, tamping down when about half full; if you don't have a lot of Spinach, add more potatoes.  Top with the Spinach, and smooth down, creating a slight well at the top.  Remove the ring molds. Unwrap each Arzak Egg and add on top of the Spinach. Grate the Bottarga on top, strewing it attractively on the plate. Serve.

Also called "flower eggs" due the shape of the top

Break the yolk, it should be quite runny

How was it? Changes for next time...

The ring mold gave it a nice shape, and the egg texture was good.

The grated bottarga was soft, almost waxy when grated; perhaps we could plane off thin strips instead. I'd like to find a much harder, parmesan-like texture and grate finer. We could switch to mojama, the dried salted tuna which is quite hard. 

It needed some texture, something crunchy -- which at Tiramat was hinted at by the kimchi. Perhaps add crunchy fried onions (Ikea sells them by the pillow case!) or toasted seeds/nuts (perhaps pine nuts or pistachios).