Maybe I AM the tapas queen, as a kind friend commented here earlier.Ever since I discovered "small dishes" (or was it small plates?) at Fog City Diner a thousand years ago, I was liberated. That's how I want to eat! I like to order from the top of the menu.
It's easy, so easy at home, but it might take a little planning. If you think it would be easier to boil up a couple of plates of spaghetti when you get home from work, fine by me. All you will have is a plate of spaghetti, but again, fine.
If you always keep a stash of nice cheeses, toasted almonds, wonderful olives, and that sort of adult picnic fare, you might be able to pull off a tapas platter.
I know it's not a small dish! But it is small-dish eating.
Behold, then, pimientos de padron, in season now and more popular than ever. You used to be able to buy them from one vendor only, but I'm seeing more and more from other farmers.
You know the allure of padrons? You eat one or two, nice, mild, and then you get a firecracker! Fun, but hot. Russian roulette with capsaicin.
OK, well, ALL the peppers from this new vendor were hot. This old esophagus had to mostly avoid them.
But there were all those other nice flavors on the plate.
Posts
17 comments:
I FEAR FOR AMERICA.
Yes you are the Queen!
And I dub you Sir Chilebrown, Knight of the Realm. xx
There's a place, near where I work, where you can order tastes of everything on the menu. I love eating there, you don't have to make up your mind what you want!
You know our Small? Well, we called her Small because when she was wee, she was a "small, small ting" (tiny dishes of things to add to your big dish) :)
Mouse: Oh, how charming! I've never heard of small, small ting. So sweet.
I remember your post with a lunch of berries and cheese and nuts - and I remembered that when I restocked my kitchen following our Alaska trip. Yesterday lunch was blueberries, cheddar cheese, dried apples, and some mixed nuts. Thanks for the inspiration! Now I'll just continue and try your small-dish eating. I wish I liked olives more.
Cyndi: Doesn't it feel like the most Natural eating?
Never mind the olives. Caper berries? Pickles? Anchovies? More berries?
A truly fun way to eat.
@Cyndi, if you don't usually like olives, try Picholine olives - they are mild and rather nutty. Small ones, so if you decide you don't like them, your tongue isn't slathered with stuff you don't want.
i cut and pasted this from our friend." I just find myself fidgeting over issues of organic, local, sustainable... What a harsh diet it is to be elitist! :D
How do you eat. I know you are thin and beautiful,
Yes, you are the Queen!
Chilebrown: I ate pork pot stickers from Trader Joe's today. I am so not thin or elite.
I have never been to Spain but have seen it on T.V. The tapas idea works real well for my lifestyle. This weekend we enjoyed cheese,olives,bread and an onion confit which I will blog about soon. Do I get to at least be the Jester in the realm of blogdom? :)Yes you are the Tapas Queen!
Greg: I can't wait to read about the onion confit!
Of course you can be Jester if you want, but there's still plenty of room at the Round Table.
Here we go again with our matched tastes. Picholines are my absolutely favorite olives. And this is after years of sampling any olive I could find, anywhere. There is just something so clean and satisfying and not-too-salty about them. I often have them with with cheese and bread for lunch, then a fruit of some sort....especially in hot weather.
I always wish there were more padron hotties. I think I only ate 2 last batch.
Kudzu: It was Zoomie who suggested the lovely picholines. She has good taste. Myself, I'm a bit of an olive whore. Pictorial evidence soon to follow.
Denise: That's a poor ratio. I'd feel gypped, but let me tell you, an entire bag of hotties is... Difficult.
I thought I already commented on this? Anyhow, love the little snacky dinners--cheese, olives, crackers, a little fruit or a hunk of salami...perfection. Plus wine.
Oh, Little Dog: I hope I didn't delete a comment of yours.
Yeah, isn't it fun to eat like this? My mother and father would never understand it.
Post a Comment