Iberico ham with Jerusalem artichoke and olive oil mayonnaise #175

Iberico ham is the luxurious type of Spanish Serrano ham. It is made from a special breed of pigs called Iberico that is also known as the black Iberico. The ham or Jamon as it is called in Spain is therefore called Jamon Iberico but is also known as Pata Negra. 

I have used the standard version of the ham, if you want the best one you need to get an Jamon Iberico de Bellota, then the pigs are free-range and fed loads of acorn that flavors the meat. Usually the ham is cured for a longer time as well. If you want to know more about the different variations of Spanish ham then Wikipedia has a short but good post on Iberico ham. 

Now for some cooking, as long as the ham go you should use a Iberico one since it has more fat that is one of the key elements in this dish. I serve the ham at room temperature with deep fried Jerusalem artichokes and a olive oil mayonnaise. The Jerusalem artichokes gives a little bit of texture as well as paring really good with the intense ham flavor. 

The olive oil mayonnaise make the dish a bit more moist and the taste of olive oil mayonnaise i great in a small dish like this. Use a mild olive oil, if it is to intense it will be to powerful, if the oil you have is to intense you can replace half of the amount of oil with a neutral vegetable oil. As the dish is quite fatty you won´t need to serve very much, that will be a relief when it´s time to pay for the ham, on slice or two for each serving is enough.

Iberico ham with Jerusalem artichoke and olive oil mayonnaise

Iberico ham

egg yolk

Dijon mustard

red wine vinegar

salt, pepper

olive oil

Jerusalem artichokes

vegetable oil for deep frying

Whisk the egg yolk with the vinegar and egg yolk, start adding the oil during whisking until it starts to thicken. Add salt and pepper and then the rest of the oil until you are satisfied with the thickness. I use about half a teaspoon of mustard and about 1dl / 0,4 cups of oil for one egg yolk.

Wash and slice the Jerusalem artichoke as thin as you can, a potato peeler works good unless the artichokes are too big. Rinse the slices in cold water and the pad dry with kitchen paper. Deep fry on medium heat until crisp, season with salt.

Add the Iberico ham to a plate and add the mayonnaise and fried artichokes, add a little bit of salt if necessary, serve. Good luck.

Crostini with Parma ham, sun dried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese #168

Easy to do, easy to enjoy, making crostini is a good way of serving great snacks that everyone will appreciate without spending the entire day in the kitchen. This is simply what it looks like, roasted slices of bread with Parma ham, good Italian sun dried tomatoes and some Parmesan cheese.

Crostini with Parma ham, sun dried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese

baguette
Parma ham
Parmesan cheese
sun dried tomatoes
olive oil

Slice the baguette and roast the slices in olive oil until golden and crisp. Add Parma ham, a piece of tomato and grate some Parmesan on top. Serve!

Asparagus with poached egg & serrano ham #162

Simple as usual but since asparagus, ham and eggs go together like.. well asparagus, ham and eggs why not try this recipe. It more or less is exactly what it looks like, grilled fresh asparagus, a slice of Spanish serrano ham and a poached organic egg, a little bit of salt, pepper and olive oil and it´s time to eat.

Only tricky thing about this is probably to poach the egg, what I do is i carefully crack the egg into some white wine vinegar and a little bit of water and let it sit there for about ten minutes, this will make the egg hold together a little bit better, use a tea mug or small soup bowl to crack the egg in. Then the egg will have a round bottom to rest on. Then I carefully add the egg to salted almost boiling water and then turn off the heat. Using a spoon carefully make sure the egg doesn´t stick to the bottom. After about five minutes carefully lift out the egg and trim it on the sides if necessary. Serve.

Asparagus with poached egg & serrano ham

fresh green asparagus

organic eggs

serrano ham

salt, pepper

olive oil

white wine vinegar (for preparing the egg)

Trim the asparagus and brush it with olive oil and then grill it until almost cooked through. Add a slice of serrano ham to a plate and then poach the egg as instructed above. Add the egg and asparagus to the ham and season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Serve.

New Years recipe ideas when you´re not on a budget

New Years Eve is coming up and if you haven´t decided on what to serve I have picked some of my own favorite recipes from Delicious Tapas and have some great suggestions for you!

This is part four in this series and for this post I will focus when you have an unlimited budget and want to treat yourself and your guests to something extra.

All recipes can be found in their original post that I have linked for each dish. I haven´t suggested any dessert but since I´m not that much into desserts. But if I have to recommend something I would go for any great ice cream, because who doesn´t love ice-cream?

New Years menu when you´re not on a budget

Appetizers - these three appetizers can more or less be eaten using your hands and of course you will be serving loads of Champagne on the side.

Duck liver paté with rosehip jam and bread
Grilled asparagus with Parmesan cheese
Grissini with Parma ham and cream cheese

Starter

Tuna tartar with avocado and chives

Tuna is always appreciated and I love the freshness and elegance of this recipe, since the budget is not an issue get the best tuna you can find.

Main course

Lobster tail with caper aioli
Linguine with truffles cream and Parmesan

Combine these two recipes but instead but skip the caper aioli for the lobster and you can serve the lobster warm instead of cold.

Whipped ricotta cheese with prosciutto, fresh figs & truffle honey #123

Whipped ricotta is a great way to serve cheese, all you do is whip it until it´s creamy an smooth, you may need to add a bit of cream or milk. Another good thing about ricotta is that you can easily sweeten the cheese and use it as a base for desserts for example with marinated fresh fruit.

Whipped ricotta cheese with prosciutto, fresh figs & truffle honey

ricotta cheese
milk
figs
prosciutto
olive oil
truffle honey
salt, pepper
cress (for decoration, optional)

Put the ricotta cheese in a bowl and whisk it with a electric whisk until it´s creamy and smooth, add a bit of milk if necessary. Put a spoonful of the ricotta on a plate, add the prosciutto and the figs. Add the olive oil, salt and pepper and a little bit of truffle honey on the ricotta. If you can´t find truffle honey you can add a little bit of truffle oil into the olive oil or if you´re not into truffle you can skip it, it will still be a great meal. Decorate the plate with some cress or any other mild herb you like.

Grissini with Parma ham & cream cheese #120

Making your own Grissini is really simple and a good way to make use of leftover or extra dough. I usually make Grissini whenever I make regular bread, just make a bit too much dough and make some Grissini with a small amounth of dough because it will make a lot of Grissinis. However if you´re not into baking then just buy some Grissinis, they usually available in most food stores.

Another great thing about Grissini is that they will keep for a long time so why not make a big batch while you´re at it. They are perfect for snacking or serving as a side for all sorts of stuff. Plus you can brag about them no matter what you´re serving for main course.

Grissini with Parma ham & cream cheese

wheat flour
yeast
water
sea salt
olive oil
cream cheese with herbs
Parma ham

Combine wheat flour, yeast, water, sea salt and olive oil into a dough (use same proportions as you would for regular bread) and knead the dough until it´s smooth and not to sticky. Cover the dough and let it rise for about one hour.

Put the dough and a baking surface and cut it into long Grissinis, roll or twist them to make the shape a bit irregular, let them rise again and then bake in oven until golden. If the Grissinis are not crisp but are starting to brown you can remove them and lower the heat in the oven and put them in later to let them get dry enough.

Smear some cream cheese on each Grissini and then roll the Parma ham around it. Serve!

Parma ham with balsamic vinegar glazed plums & goat cheese #115

This is a great and unusual way to use plums, try to get firm and red ones because the won´t get to soft when heated with the vinegar. The combination between sweet and sour plums the salty ham and creamy cheese is a great one that you can apply to other dishes like salads or bruschettas. 

It also works well as a side to grilled meats, if you think it would get to heavy on the meat you can exclude the Parma ham.

Parma ham with balsamic vinegar glazed plums & goat cheese

Parma ham

balsamic vinegar

fresh plums

goat cheese

parsley

olive oil

sugar

Cut the plums in half and remove the pit. In a pan add a little bit of sugar and let it melt, add the plums flesh side down and let cook for a few seconds. Add some balsamic vinegar and bring it to a boil, add a splash of water in case it gets to dry.

On a plate combine the Parma ham with the plums and the vinegar from the pan with crumbles of the goat cheese. Add a few leafs of parsley.

Parma ham with cantaloupe #98

Well this is not much of a recipe but that´s the great thing about serving tapas, you can keep it as simple or complicated as you like. However, serving Parma ham and cantaloupe is of course all about the ingredients.

You can replace the Parma with any other high quality Italian ham, but I usually stay away from the Spanish hams when I do this because I think they can be a bit to powerful for this dish. Have your shop slice it for you and then find a decent cantaloupe to go with the ham.

Parma ham with cantaloupe

Parma ham
cantaloupe
olive oil
black pepper

Remove the seeds and peel the cantaloupe and cut in pieces, arrange with the ham on plates with a few drops of olive oil and a twist of black pepper. Done.

Tortilla bread with cheese & serrano ham # 51

Tortilla bread with cheese & serrano ham

Tortilla bread
Cheese, any kind you like
Serrano ham

Take on tortilla and put sliced serrano ham and grate cheese on top. Put another tortilla over and then heat the tortilla in a frying pan until the cheese melts. You can also grill or heat the tortillas in an oven.

After the cheese has melted cut the tortillas in bite size pieces.

Grilled apples with serrano ham & maple syrup # 45

Grilled apples with serrano ham & maple syrup

Apples with high acidity
Serrano ham
Maple syrup
Black pepper
Olive oil

This works really well instead of the Italian classic with Parma ham and cantaloupe. And if you´re feeling really hungry just make a bunch and serve for breakfast with pancakes the day after.

Cut the apples in thick slices and brush with olive oil on each side, grill on high heat without letting the apple cook all the way through. Cut the slices in 2-3 pieces per slice. Wrap a piece of ham around each piece of apple. Drizzle some maple syrup and black pepper on top.

Serrano ham with peppers & tomato salsa # 36

Serrano ham with peppers & tomato salsa

Serrano ham
Red peppers
Sundried tomatoes
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Herbs, for example chives, thyme, parsley
Garlic
Salt, pepper

Cut the ham in smaller bite size pieces. Chop the tomatoes, peppers, herbs and slice the garlic, combine with olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Put a spoonful of salsa on each piece of ham.