Thanksgiving is next week, and Paris-Madrid Grocery is stocked up. Our holiday hours are:
Sunday, Nov. 19, 11-5
Monday-Wednesday Nov. 21-23, 10-6
Thursday, Nov. 24 (Thanksgiving) closed
Friday, Nov. 25 & thereafter regular hours (10-6 Monday-Saturday, 11-5 Sunday)
Have a wonderful holiday!
IN-DEMAND PRODUCTS BACK IN STOCK:
We love Thanksgiving’s celebration of home cooking, and Paris-Madrid Grocery has the unusual ingredients that great cooks look for. The shop carries specialty salts and herbs, ingredients for creating memorable finger foods and side dishes, and essentials for Paella and Cassoulet. Here are some recent arrivals:
Duck leg confit
Toulouse & Bistro Sausages (essential for making cassoulet)
Aneto broths for sauces, gravies, paellas
Uncured Iberico de Bellota Solomillo
Matiz Piparra Peppers & Boquerones (white anchovies)
NEW! French whole brushed truffles, 1st choice, jar
TAPAS AND FINGER FOOD FOR THANKSGIVING
It’s a good idea to have several starter dishes to nibble on while the main course is cooking. To keep life easy, pick up a charcuterie board at Paris-Madrid Grocery and make a couple of the following dishes in advance. See below for several easy recipes, adapted from The Spanish Table Cookbook by Steve Winston. The spreads can be served on crostini, with carrot sticks, or on leaves of endive.
PIQUILLO-ROMESCO SPREAD Makes approximately 15 servings.
This spread marries essential Spanish flavors, sun-drenched peppers, and almonds!
¼ cup Spanish EVOO
¼ cup Spanish Roasted Marcona Almonds
1 teaspoon Minced garlic
½ teaspoon Pimentón, sweet or hot, to taste
pinch Sea salt
1 jar Ferrer or Matiz Piquillo peppers
1 tablespoon Spanish EVOO
Fry almonds in olive oil until golden. Set aside while they cool.
Blend ingredients with a mortar and pestle or in a food processor until form a slightly lumpy paste.
Adjust thickness by adding a splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Serve on endive or bread.
BLUE CHEESE AND ENDIVE MONTADITOS Makes 12 tapas
½ pound Cabrales Spanish blue cheese
¼ cup Fino or Manzanilla Sherry
2 tablespoon Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil
12 Walnut halves
12 leaves Endive
Using a mortar and pestle, cream the blue cheese with the sherry and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Spread a little of the cheese mixture on each Endive leaf.
Top with a walnut half.
ACEITUNA-TUNA SPREAD Makes 16
Aceitunas are olives. Olivada is a simple puree of olives and olive oil. Serve this spread as a montadito on a slice of fried bread.
7 oz can Spanish Tuna packed in olive oil
1 tablespoon Minced onion
4 teaspoons Mayonnaise
2 Piquillo peppers
¼ cup Matiz Olivada
1 teaspoon Capers
Salt
16 Slices of bread fried in Olive Oil.
1 Egg, hard-boiled
2 tablespoons Finely minced parsley
Drain the tuna and put in a mortar and work in onion, mayo, piquillo peppers, olivada and salt with a pestle, or put into a food processor and pulse until well blended. Coat the bread slices with the mixture.
Sieve the boiled egg over the top by pressing it through the sieve’s wire mesh with the back of a spoon.
Sprinkle parsley over them.
MARINATED OLIVES
2 cups Gordal Spanish Olives.
⅔ oz Spanish Membrillo (quince paste)
½ teaspoon Pebrella (available at Paris-Madrid Grocery, or substitute dried thyme)
1 Lemon, roughly chopped, peel and all
¼ cup Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1½ cups Water, enough to cover the olives
Crush the olives lightly with a meat tenderizer or kitchen mallet and place in a crock or jar. Combine marinating ingredients and pour over cracked olives. Marinate for two days or longer before serving.
WINE CORNER: So much is written about pairing wines with food. In general, Thanksgiving foods have such a huge variety of spicy, sweet, savory, or strong flavors that the safest bet is to choose a medium-weight wine without a lot of oak. A light to medium-bodied Cru Beaujolais is a great choice, and value priced. Spanish Riojas are wonderful food-pairing wines, with silky tannins and fresh acidity. A bottle of sparkling wine, which pairs great with almost anything, is festive and always a phenomenal selection. The holidays are also a great occasion to open a special bottle of wine and enjoy it. After all, what are you saving it for?
Here are a few wines that will be great on Thanksgiving:
Champagne Duménil 1er Cru, ($42.00) This rich and toasty Champagne offers up delicate floral notes with white fruit that entices from the first sip. Elegant on the palate with notes of brioche, it has a satiny mousse of fine bubbles. Elegant and delicious! 60% Pinot Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay. The winery was founded in 1860 but their Champagnes have not been sold in the Pacific Northwest until now. VEGAN
Christophe Lapierre Vieilles Vignes Chénas 2020, Beaujolais ($17.99) A very pretty and floral red wine from old vines nearly 100 years old. The wine has a “warm” personality that includes fruit and spice, with a fleshy texture and gorgeous structure. Christophe’s wines are some of the most charming and authentic Beaujolais wines you’ll ever drink.
El Coto de Imaz Reserva Rioja 2016 ($20.99) This wine was featured at our tasting yesterday and was a great hit. A classic-style Rioja, it offers up powerful aromas of red cherries and spice. Fresh, complex, and well-structured, with earth and mushroom notes. Hints of cigar-box spice have a velvety texture and great acidity. 91 points JS
Black Slate Escaladei 2018 Priorat ($22.99) A stunning Priorat with medium-body and an incredible pleasure to drink. An excellent food wine or sipper, it is fresh with ripe fruit. Shows great acidity which balances the ripe fruit, hints of earth, Asian spices, and tar notes. This over-delivers for the price and would be excellent with Thanksgiving foods.