I have decided to share with you other typical spanish dishes. But not those which can be find in a book or over the Internet, but those which we really eat everyday (at least in my family) and that you can't probably find in a book.

I hope you enjoy and cook them

The first of them is: Arroz con tomate

Ingredients:

Water to boil.
A cup of rice
Fried tomato sauce (never ketchup please!)
Garlic
Salt
Olive oil (how not?)

Put a casserole with water (more than half the casserole) to boil.

When the water boils introduce the rice, with some salt and a spoon of olive oil.

In about 15 minutes the rice will be cooked. Keep it out of the fire.

You must then drain the rice.

Now put a frying-pan with some olive oil. Put also the garlic cut in thin slices. When the garlic is somewhat cooked, introduce the the rice into the pan.

Just leave it half a minute without letting it to stick to the pan.

Serve it with the fried tomato sauce (you can buy it in the markets in USA and other countries, yes?) previously warmed.

This recipe is a very healthy one. If you see, there is almost no fat in it. And the olive oil is the most healthy fat you can find.

Questions? (I assume that my english is not as good as to being understood 100%).

Enjoy!

Fernando

I love this idea. Do you have any more?

I have never seen fried tomato sauce here...

In add. to Fernando's idea.

You can add one or two fried eggs.

Fried Tomato: If you do not find it in the market, you can take natural tomatoes. 'Undressed' them (take of the skin) :-). With a little bit of olive oil, fried and crushed them, adding a bit of salt and sugar (b/c of the acidity of the tomato) and pepper. You can add also, in you want, garlic, onion, parslic... But be moderate, you can ruin the 'salsa'

I totally agree with Josemacall, if you add some fried egg then it's a very common dish here called "arroz a la cubana". Although, I learned once that dishes that are "a la cubana"/cuban style got the name from being dishes that included bananas. I personally add fried bananas because it's tastier, but we still call it arroz a la cubana without them.
Fernando, your description of arroz con tomate has reminded me very much of a dish they prepare in the US called Spanish rice!!
Hey guys, what about "arroz con leche"/rice with milk, delicious dessert!, or "rancho", that being a concoction of boiled rice and potatoes with chicken and some spices. Rancho is the term used for meals in the military.
!viva el arroz¡

[ 11-11-2001: Message edited by: pim ]

Wait people, I will post more recipes, but be patient please, I could be here writting forever

And yes, my co-citizens are right, there are lots of variants of the same recipe (in fact, every family do it in their own way).

Fernando

WOW!! Thanks, Fernando!!!!!! What a wonderful recipe. And I love that it's Low-Fat, too. I'm not sure where I'll find fried tomato sauce, but maybe in the international foods section of my market or imported foods store. Please, give us MORE recipes!!! We're STARVING!!!! hehehee...

Fernando

You could even add a blob of MARMITE

Jo

Hi Jo-Anne, what is MARMITE?

Are there any specific recipes anybody is interested in?. For starters, I can share some of my recipes for easy-tapas, I hope you like the first one.

HOMEMADE HAM "CROQUETAS"

Ingredients(for 18 units):

-4 ounces of finely chopped ham(Spanish ham if possible!)
-0.2 pounds of butter
-1 finely chopped small onion
-0.3 pounds of (regular)flour
-Half a pint of milk(maybe a little bit more)
-2 beaten eggs
-2 ounces of grated bread(from a stale loaf)
-enough olive oil to fry.

OK, we start off by melting the butter in a saucepan, when it's hot enough, add the chopped onion and when it becomes translucent you can add 0.2 pounds of flour; then stir until it begins to look lumpy. Gradually, and stirring at the same time, add the milk and stir some more while it simmers with the ham and a little salt and pepper until it thickens.
Put this paste in a bowl and let it cool down(for more than 1 hour if you can).
To form the croquetas, take 2 to 3 full tablespoons so that they're about 2.5 inches long, and shape them with your hands (like "elongated meatballs").
Prepare a plate with the remaining 0.1 ounces of flour, a bowl with the eggs, and another one with the breadcrumbs.
One by one, start rolling the croquetas, first in a little flour, then the egg, letting the excess drip, and then the bread.
In a saucepan with abundant oil begin frying them, turning them around until they turn golden (and hopefully look delicious!)

¡¡ENHORABUENA, HAS PREPARADO TUS PRIMERAS CROQUETAS ESPAÑOLAS!! :P ¡QUE APROVECHE!

Variations:

-Delicious with minced chicken leftovers instead of ham.
-Also with a little bit of both.
-You can add: mushrooms, parsley, garlic, or whatever you want if you're creative!

Enjoy, saludos.

(And Homer Simpson says....." Mmmm.. Ham " (27k .wav))

[ 11-11-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Pim

Have a look at the thread beneath this one ( Marmite!!! )

Thanks for the yummy recipe.

Jo

[ 11-11-2001: Message edited by: Jo-Anne ]