March Shopping ~ Week#1/#5 ~ International Cuisine: Spanish and Chinese

Spanish, published in 2003. Filled with 150+ recipes and lots of information, the book starts with a introduction to Spanish Cuisine, pointing out influences from the Moors, plus Catholic and Jewish  contributions. The various regions are discussed from the South (I lived in Andalusia), Central (Castile and Madrid), the North Coast,  the area Along the Pyrenees (Basque country) and the East Coast & Islands. Other information tossed out discusses tapas, and feast days/fiestas.

The next chapter, "Cooking in Spain" expounds on the equipments and dishes used in Spanish cookery, plus there are extensive treatises on olive AND olive oil (fills two whole pages), plus local and regional cheese and dairy products, vegetables, spices , herbs & flavorings, rice & pasta, fish & shellfish, meats (including offal and chorizo), game, fruit and of course wine, liqueurs and other spirits. Each dish is accompanied by step by step instructional photos, tips & hints, plus ideas on variations.

Tapas (aka appetizers) get the ball rolling with tartlets, empandillas, marinated anchovies, seafood bites and chicken croquettes. Eggs & Soups offer gazpacho, seafood soups, scrambled eggs and the ever popular potato tortilla. The dishes in Salad & Vegetables range from green and fruit salads, plus stewed eggplant, beans & chorizo and an orange/red onion salad that looks yummy.

Rice & Pasta features rice tortitias, rice salads and of course a few variations on paella, while Fish & Shellfish offers a variety of dishes ~ escabeche, zarzuela and recipes incorporating mullet, sole, trout, bass, mackerel. monk fish, hake,  and octopus. Poultry & Game Birds gives us an orange chicken salad, arroz con pollo, roast turkey, spiced duck, a couple of quail dishes and pigeon in red wine.

Meat and Furred Game has chorizo, meatballs, black stew made with pork belly, stuffed pork loin, empanadas, and dishes made with lamb, veal, oxtails, venison and rabbit. Of course Desserts round out the recipes with ice cream. sorbet, flan, mousse, baked figs, meringues, crepes, cookies, churros, a 12th Night bread and a magnificent looking Basque Apple Tart.

Perfect Chinese, published in 2007.  Filled with 100+ essential recipes (ignore the price sticker as I found this book at a thrift store and paid a whopping 50 cents) plus lots of great photos.

The recipes start off with Soups & Appetizers ~ of course the usual suspects make an appearance: wonton, hot & sour, and mushroom, plus there is an interesting whole chicken soup, soups made with pumpkin and other assorted veggies, while the appetizers include rolls and dumplings, wonton, shrimp toast, chicken wings, lettuce wraps and tea scented eggs. The Main Dishes chapter is filled with many variations of stir fry - mainly beef and vegetables, chop suey, a rice pot with lamb, bang bang chicken, crispy duck or Peking duck. lots of pork dishes, a variety of seafood options (with scallops, shrimp. clam, squid and whole crabs) including several ways to steam and serve a whole fish.

Noodles and rice delves into lo mein, fried rice, Peking duck salad (made with noodles), chow mein, egg fu yung, congee and a recipe I will be sampling in the future ~ Chicken Sesame Salad with Egg Noodles. In Vegetables & Sides, there are stir fried vegetables, curry, hot and sour cabbage, fried eggplant and mushrooms, plus a recipe or two involving bean sprouts.

The final chapter is all about Desserts ~ fruit salad, pudding, toffee banana or apple slices, fritters and of course the ubiquitous almond cookie.