Market day

I started the morning with a balance of €.62, and set off for El Palmar's weekly market with a €10 limit in mind.  If I stuck to it, and didn't spend a cent on Wednesday, I'd be back in the black by Thursday-just in time for my second lesson of the week in the Barrio del Carmen-and another ColaCao.

I got up to Isidro's mobile charcuteria truck (he tucked his business card--"SU CHARCUTERO DE CONFIANZA"-- in with the cured meat and cheese last Tuesday) and asked for 25 grams of jamòn picado to use for a cauliflower recipe.  I must not have pronounced things correctly because it was only after I actually reached around the rows of chorizo hanging from the rafters and handed the cookbook over the counter that anyone was really sure what I was asking for.  I left with a small plastic package of thick hand cut pieces of serrano to use for lunch and five thin slices to have throughout the week.

And all with €0.01 to spare

When I headed over to the olive truck, the vendor, who has what I imagine to be the same kind of voice used in well-produced Spanish radio announcements, was talking about New Year's plans with one of his customers and calling over to another with an unbroken string of diminutives.  He leaned forward to see what I'd like to try this week, and when I asked for the kind of olives used in Ensalada Murciana he smiled knowingly and gave me two different varieties to taste.  As I was making my pick he asked my name but it was only after I explained "..como Lois Lane- la novia de Superman!" that he clasped his hands together in recognition.  His name, it turns out, is Paco, and as he was wrapping up my olives he flipped a couple roasted peppers into a little container and slipped them into my bag too.

After circling the market a few times I had spotted the vendor selling 4 kilos of oranges for €1 (the rest were offering 2 or 3 kilos for the same price) and another at the very end of  the last row with a solid selection of apples at €.75 a kilo rather than the going rate of €1.25.  After picking up some lettuce and carrots, and a couple of bananas from the Canary Islands to see what all the fuss is about (folks here say they're the best in the world) I had about €0.20 left.  I opened my palm to show one of the dried fruit and nut vendors what I had to work with, and he shook his head, chuckled and scooped up a handful of raisins for me.

Made this..

With that

I got back and started on the caulfilower--a dish Enca had seen in restaurants but never tried at home.  The downfall of those verisions, she said, was that they used so much oil that the cauliflower was beyond recognition by the time it arrived at the table.  My recipe called for frying too, but I opted to brown the pieces on all sides instead.  Yes, they were still dredged in flour, but the coating crisped up rather than turning sodden and heavy.  As soon as I heard Yolanda open the door I poured the sauce over the cauliflower, sprinkled on some cheese and a little pimentón, and after a few minutes in a hot oven it was ready to eat. 

Enca told me I had sucessfully averted the risk of overly greasy cauliflower but recommended I chop the picado a bit more finely next time.  I agreed, but the more I ate the more I thought--the jamón had flavored the sauce so deeply that you could actually set the pieces aside once it was done and use them for something else, like adding them diced to the lentil soup Yolanda brought back from visiting family over the weekend...

Coliflor al Horno

Ingredients

Extra virgin olive oil

25 grams of jamòn picado, chopped in roughly half inch size pieces

1/2 of an onion, finely chopped

1 tomato, peeled and finely chopped

Flour

1/3 or less of 1 beef bouillon cube

Water 

1/2 of a medium cauliflower

1 egg, beaten

Pimentón

Mild cheese, grated

-Heat up a little extra virgin olive oil in a pan, but don't let it smoke

-Add in the jamón picado and let the fat begin to render slowly

-Once the fat has turned transluscent, add in the onion and cook until transluscent as well

-Add in the tomato and cook until everything starts to simmer

-Once some of the water from the tomatoes has evaporated, sprinkle in some flour to thicken the sauce

-Crumble a bit of a beef bouillon cube over the sauce and add about 3/4 cup of water

-Cook until most of the water has evaporated and the tomatoes break down fully, stirring occassionally with a wooden spoon

-Add a bit more water and let reduce again

-Repeat several more times as you're prepping the cauliflower

-Cut the cauliflower into florets and boil for a couple of minutes until fork tender

-Let cool slightly, then coat in egg and dredge in flour seasoned with pimentón

-Heat a bit of oil in another pan until smoking

-Add in the florets and let cook on each side until golden brown

-Put the florets into an oven-safe dish, cover with the sauce and sprinkle with cheese and pimentón

-Broil for a couple of minutes or bake at around 400 degrees until the cheese begins to bubble and brown at the edges