La Cocina Española

This is our kitchen:

 

A microwave and two burners...and, well, that’s about it.  There is no oven.  There isn’t even a cutting board, let alone a chef’s knife.

For most of you that know me well, you know that I love to cook.  And I love to cook elaborate meals.  Standard dinner fare in Santa Clara was Prosciutto and Sage Wrapped Chicken Saltimbocca with Creamy Polenta and Asparagus—which required several nice knives, a cast iron skillet, three burners, a sheet pan and an oven.  So what’s a girl to make on a reduced budget in a reduced kitchen, with a tiny fraction of the fancy utensils she used to have?

On the first attempt, Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Pesto Cheese Ravioli:

The ravioli and pesto were pre-packaged.  Not that I would ever make ravioli from scratch.  Having attempted that once, and spending eight hours at it, I decided no such food was worth that much work…unless it makes you sing with joy while eating it (my ravioli failed at this).

This first meal made in Spain was, let’s face it, a lazy attempt.  But, you have to start somewhere.  And, I figured better to work with my new kitchen rather than rail against it and curse it for its shortcomings.  So I picked something easy, and familiar.

My next attempt was a little bolder and a lot more Spanish (despite its name):  Arroz ala Cubana.

We first had this dish as part of the menu del dia* at Cafeteria Cristina, a bar/restaurant on the corner of our block.  I remember thinking at the time, I could make this.  So tonight, after a long day of school, with homework still left to do, I pulled the ingredients out…jarred tomato sauce (which I doctored), eggs, microwavable rice, and bread.  I threw in some white asparagus (also from a jar)—a delicacy back home, it’s served in abundance in Spain, the way Californian restaurants serve broccoli.  The results were uber-delicious, perhaps even more so than what we ate at Cristina’s.  I don’t know if there is something different about Spanish eggs, or if it was the induction cooktop, but I have never had a fried egg turn out so perfectly before.

What have I learned?  I have underestimated my kitchen, and myself.  I just need to learn to cook Spanish food (and be ok with a few pre-packaged ingredients).

Here’s to more homemade dishes!

*A menu del dia is basically a bar or restaurant’s daily lunch special.  You get your choice of a first and second course (both equally large and filling), and a basket of bread.  For your drink, you have a choice of a beer, a soft drink, or as much tinto de verano as you can handle—if you choose tinto, they basically bring you a glass, a bottle of red wine and a bottle of Lemon Fanta and let you mix your own version of Sangria.  All of this comes at an average price of 9€ (or $12).