NC Road Trip Recipes and Pollo Tropical

The following recipes replicate two wonderful dishes we found at the Cúrate Tapas Bar in Asheville, NC.  If you're in the area, try to get in.  Reservations definitely required -- a week in advance if you can!!

Ajo Blanco

Warning! If you LOVE garlic, and almonds, you may find yourself addicted to this dish! 

This cold Spanish soup, called White Garlic, is the perfect meal for those hot summer nights. The basic recipe dates back to the 800s – the time of Charlemagne. Super simple. Serves 4 with dinner-size bowls of soup, or 8 with an appetizer/starter size bowl.

2+ cups ice-cold Water

1 cup blanched whole Almonds (see below)

2-3 cloves fresh Garlic, minced

1 (6-8 oz.) Baguette, preferably a day-old stale one, crusts removed, white innards torn into pieces

1/3 cup Olive Oil, plus more

3 Tbsp Sherry Vinegar

Kosher salt, to taste

White Pepper, to taste

16-20 Green Grapes

Quarter the grapes, mince the garlic, and reserve as separate items.

 

Ajo Blanco ready to pour and eat.

To Blanch Almonds:

The brown color of the almond skins would not be very attractive in this dish. Beside which, the skins impart a bitterness to the taste of the nut that is not wanted here. Getting the skins off is really easy, especially if you have an electric kettle to boil water quickly.

• Place the almonds in a bowl
• Pour boiling water to barely cover the nuts
• Let the almonds sit for 1 minute
  
• Drain, rinse under cold water, and drain again
• Pinch/rub the skins off of the wet nuts.
  
  

To Make and Serve the Ajo Blanco:

Combine 3/4 cup water, blanched almonds, and bread in a food processor and let them sit until bread is softened, 4–5 minutes. Purée until smooth. With the motor running, add the remaining water, the oil, and the vinegar. Continue to purée until the oil and water emulsify. Taste.  Adjust seasonings and vinegar as needed.  Chill the soup several hours. 

To serve, put a quarter of the minced garlic and a quarter of the sliced grapes in each bowl first. Then pour the cold liquid over all, as seen in the first photo.

You could probably make a “shortcut” version of this soup using unsweetened, unflavored Almond Milk instead of blanching and pureeing almonds, but the result might not be as creamy, and there's a textural element to the pureed nut that would be missing. ...

Mongetes

Mongetes, or fried white beans, are often served with a special Catalonian sausage, in a dish called Butifarra amb Mongetes.   It's easy to find recipes for refried beans but really difficult to find recipes for simple fried beans!  This side dish goes well with any red meat; even chicken breasts with the right seasoning profile. Start with

1/2 lb dried Great Northern or larger White Beans

1 order Spanish Salsa Verde (see below)

Cook the beans according to package directions until tender. Stir very little, to keep the skins intact. Drain and dry very thoroughly on paper towels. Reserve. Can be prepared the day before.

To Make Spanish Salsa Verde:

This, by American standards, is a pesto rather than a salsa. Who cares. It really makes this dish come alive!

3/4 cup de-stemmed Parsley (or just chop from the curly end, not the stem end of the bunch...)

1/3+ cup Olive Oil

1/4 cup croutons

2-3 cloves Garlic

Salt to taste

Combine the garlic and parsley with the croutons and oil in a blender or food processor. Whirrrr until the mixture is thin, slowly adding more oil if needed. Salt to taste. Makes about half a cup of salsa, which can be stored in a small jar in your fridge.

To Make Mongetes:

In a skillet, add a good splash of olive oil, and when it is smoking hot, add the cooked beans in a single layer. Sauté, turning gently, until crisp and starting to brown. Add 1-2 Tbsp of the Salsa Verde and stir gently to combine. Serve any way you want.

I served it with chicken breasts spiced with Ras al Hanut spice blend, making a Spanish-Moroccan themed dinner.

Indian Fried Okra

We discovered this dish at the Chai Pani Indian Street Food restaurant on our first trip to Asheville, two years ago, and I set out to duplicate the taste.  This trip we went back and had the dish again to see how close I had come.  Very close, it turns out, considering I don't deep fry, I cook mine on a grill...

1 lb fresh Okra

1 package Amchur Powder (dried green mango) from your local Indian market

1 Lime, juiced

Salt to taste

Trim the caps off the okra, and slice them in halves (or thirds if large) lengthwise.  

Heat a couple tablespoons of EVOO on a griddle or large skillet until smoking hot.  Add the okra in a single layer.  After a few minutes, add 1-2 Tbsp of the Amchur powder, sprinkling it evenly overall.  Fry until the okra has good deep color and getting crispy.  Remove to paper towels to drain, and sprinkle with salt and lime juice.

 

At this stage, add the Amchur powder and a bit of salt.

 

If you have a deep fryer, or want to put an inch of vegetable oil in a deep wide pot, deep-frying the okra will make an even better dish.  Sprinkle with lime, Amchur and salt after frying, while the okra drains on paper towels.

Pollo Tropicale

My Floribeño - flavored chicken breasts really rock as a main dish protein. Use one packet of Sazon Tropical spice blend (I prefer Badia tm brand, but the Goya tm is good too) per 2-4 breast halves.

Note that I use the Sazon Tropical con Annato y Achiote – the orange box and packets. Not the “ordinary” green box Sazon Tropical. It's the annato which gives the food (and your fingers) that vibrant golden color.

Dust both sides thoroughly and pan fry in a splash of oil. Start with the 'beauty' side down, and cook for 5-6 minutes without touching the meat. Then turn the breasts over, add a cup of water, lid the pan, and cook another 5-6 minutes. That gives you perfectly done, moist chicken, every time.

Serve with a variety of veggie and starch sides. To stay “tropical” you might want to serve the chicken with Yuca, Name or Boniato as the starch. Corn, fried okra, peas, or green beans with carrots are good veg choices.