Tonight marks the six month anniversary of our wedding, so we decided to celebrate the only way we know how – with good food and good wine! We got engaged in Spain so we opted for a fun tapas night theme with all of our favorite dishes. As luck would have it, we had the opportunity to work with two of the most talented photographers, Morgan and Blake, from A Sea of Love Photography on photographing this dinner experience. Morgan and Blake also captured our wedding and engagement photos, so it just worked out perfectly for them to be the ones to capture this night!
The menu for the evening:
Appetizer: Pan con Tomate + Cheese/Charcuterie platter + Spanish Olives
Paired with: Inedit Damm Beer created by Ferran Adria
Vegetables: Patatas Bravas + Fried Eggplant with Rosemary and Truffle Honey
Meats: Gambas al Ajillo + Sous-Vide Pork Tenderloin with Piquillo Pepper Puree and Confit Tomatoes
Paired with: 2014 Le Fiacre du Pape, Chateauneuf du Pape
Dessert: Rosemary and Olive Oil Semolina Cake with Candied Lemons, Honey Tuile and Lemon Sorbet (adapted from Bon Appetit)
It was truly a beautiful meal. Marcelo was at the top of his plating game and with Morgan and Blake’s photography talent, we were blessed with a beautiful album to commemorate the evening.
Pan Con Tomate
This popular tapas plate is served at almost every Spanish restaurant. It’s probably one of the simplest dishes to prepare, but truly highlights the quality of both the bread and the tomatoes. When using poor quality of either, the dish loses its appeal. We toasted half a loaf of fresh ciabatta. Next, we took a clove of garlic and rubbed it into the bread itself. Set that aside. Get 2-3 good quality ripe tomatoes, and grate using a cheese grater into a bowl. Top the garlic toast with this tomato puree, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and flaky sea salt.
Spanish Meat + Cheese Board with Mixed Olives
No tapas night is complete without some Spanish charcuterie and cheese. Jamon Iberico, if you can afford it, is king for this board, but to save some $$ we opted for the similar, but less powerful, serrano ham. We did, however, have an extremely flavorful Iberico Spanish chorizo. Paired with a delicious Manchego and mixed olives and some Spanish beer and you have a meal all by itself.
Patatas Bravas
If you’ve ever been to a Spanish restaurant, chances are you have had this super popular dish. It’s fried potatoes served in a tangy tomato sauce and drizzled with aioli, what’s not to like?! The bravas sauce is different from a typical marinara sauce. It’s made with crushed tomato, onion, garlic, smoked paprika, and crushed red pepper. The smoked paprika gives it a uniquely Spanish flavor. While we’ve made some pretty tasty aioli in the past, we opted to buy a pre-made one to save time. Top it off with some freshly chopped parsley. Make sure to get a bite with both sauces!
Fried Eggplant with Rosemary and Truffle Honey
This recipe can convert even the most stubborn of eggplant haters! This is a popular tapas dish from southern Spain. It does require a bit of prep – you must soak the eggplant slices in milk for at least 1 hour to help draw out some of its bitterness. Then you simply dredge lightly in some flour, pan fry until golden and top with a generous drizzle of honey and some flaky salt. We opted for truffle honey and threw on some rosemary sprigs to take it to the next level. It’s probably my favorite way to eat eggplant!
Gambas Al Ajillo
Another classic Spanish dish seen all over the streets of Barcelona, this is one of our favorite ways to prepare shrimp. You start by frying a hefty amount of chopped garlic in olive oil until golden, then add a splash of sherry. Toss in the shrimp along with some smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and red chili flakes or chili de arbol. It features simple ingredients, but it packs a punch. Top with some fresh parsley for serving.
Sous-Vide Pork Tenderloin with Piquillo Pepper Puree, Confit Tomatoes, and a Sherry Demi-Glaze
We’ve already shared our love for the sous-vide method (we use Sansaire) of cooking for all types of meats, but it lends itself especially well to pork tenderloin, a meat that is easy to overcook using regular stovetop methods. We got a wonderful Berkshire pork tenderloin that we let cook sous vide at 140F for about 3 hours. We then seared the meat in olive oil to give it some color. For serving, we made a batch of confit cherry tomatoes (cooked slowly in olive oil) and a puree of confit piquillo peppers, a sweet Spanish red pepper, and garlic. Marcelo got wild with the plating here and it turned out beautifully.
Rosemary and Olive Oil Semolina Cake with Candied Lemons, Honey Tuile and Lemon Sorbet
The Spanish have learned to incorporate olive oil into all aspects of their meals including their desserts. We found a recipe for this olive oil semolina cake on Bon Appetit and adapted it slightly using lemons and rosemary instead of oranges and cardamom. We do recommend blanching the lemon slices before candying them, as they can be very bitter. We served the cake with the candied lemons and a special honey tuile Marcelo created from honey powder. We had to include some molecular gastronomy when going for a Spanish theme! We didn’t have enough time to make an ice cream to pair with it, but luckily we live 1 block away from Paciugo’s, so we opted for a scoop of their lemon sorbet to go with the dessert. And don’t forget a little drizzle of olive oil to top it off! It was probably the highlight of the meal. Perfection.
Pardon our lack of specific recipes in this post! Marcelo was in the zone and he HATES using actual measurements, like all great chefs. We hope this inspires you to venture out and try to make some Spanish tapas at home for your next date night in.
Once again, thanks to the amazingly talented Morgan and Blake from A Sea of Love for the absolutely perfect photo documentation of our evening. They are true artists in every sense of the word.