I had been waiting to host a party for while (even at my old place, I had contemplated throwing a Halloween or Christmas party), but other events always seemed to get in the way and I would ultimately end up chickening out for one reason or another. Throwing a party is a lot of work! But that is true with most things worth doing and parties can also be a lot of fun. And really, what else is going on the last weekend of February? All the more reason the throw a party.
The end result was an intimate gathering of ten-or-so friends on a chilly Saturday evening enjoying tapas, wine, beer, and Latin pop music (what can I say, one of the perks of throwing a party is controlling the play list :). And while a number of folks ended up not being able to make it, it was great opportunity to visit with old friends and meet a few new ones, which is really my favorite things about parties.
Throwing a party was also a great excuse to try out new recipes with exotic ingredients that aren't typically on my weekly shopping list. According to Pinterest, all great parties these days have a theme, so I felt a certain amount of obligation to conform. This also proved quite useful in providing some direction to party-planning since there are so many options to choose from on the outset. I settled on Spanish tapas, or more specifically, pintxos (some times called "pinchos"), which are the types of tapas served in the bars of San Sebastian in the Basque region of Northern Spain (see corresponding Pinterest board here: Pinchos Party).
I could really go on and on about all the amazing pintxos I tried during my visit to San Sebastian. It is a unique type of eating that combines the casual setting of standing up at a bar, with a heightened attention to detail and complexity of taste. It has been exciting to see all the new tapas bars popping up in the U.S., but I have yet to see the pintxos concept duplicated. With that spirit in mind, I attempted to duplicate the "specialness" of the pintxos bars in San Sebastian, with a variety of tapas, each offering a different taste combination.
From one of my favorite cookbooks, Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America by Jose Andres, which I displayed in a fancy OLIVE DISH (they make those?) that I snagged for a song a TJ Max the week before. Pictures found here: http://trissalicious.com/2011/01/10/olives-marinated-in-orange-and-thyme-infused-olive-oil/
Pintxo de Chorizo y Manchengo
From a great story on NPR's "The Kitchen Window" - Pintxos: The Flavors Of Spain, On A Toothpick (with recipes included!). These were really a great hit, and so simple to make!
Datiles Con Beicon (Dates With Bacon)
Ok, I admit it. I love dates, and I love bacon, so there was really no way that I was not going to love this. And from my perspective, it was my pièce de résistance, if based on nothing other than the fact that it took me a solid two hours (on a dreary rainy Saturday when I literally had nothing better to do) to pack the little dates with blue cheese & an almond and then laboriously wrap each little sucker in a slippery piece of bacon. Anyways, I thought they were pretty good, but I may have been the main one eating them :).
White Tuna in Piquillo Pepper
From tapasbonitas.com, I simplified it a bit by just placing a piece of piquillo pepper on top of the tuna instead of attempting to stuff (most of the peppers from the jar weren't as nicely shaped as they appear to have come when tapasbonitas attempted it).
Tichi's Gazpacho
Also from Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America by Jose Andres
Recipe is here, although admittedly my gazpacho doesn't look the same as it does on that website; mainly because I skip the garnish and just go with the blended mix of fresh tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, garlic, vinegar, olive oil (lots of it), and salt. The appearance is somewhat creamy and many people who taste it guess that the recipes includes onions (it doesn't). The zip comes from the garlic & vinegar, and the creaminess comes from the olive oil. This didn't actually fit into my pintxos theme, but this is one of my favorite recipes from Jose Andres and I wanted to share it. Since we weren't sitting down to any type of formal dinner, I served the soup in little plastic cups; several people thought they were shots. Nope!
Tortilla de Patatas
...not the "tortilla" you're used to! This is Spain's version of the tortilla, which has very little in common with the Mexican tortilla. As the name suggests, it is made of Patatas (Potatoes), along with egg, onions and a touch of salt; all cooked in a generous amount of olive oil. This is another dish that often fools people into thinking there is an extra ingredient - cheese. But alas, no; it is a simpler dish than it first appears. The trick is in the preparation. The recipe I used (from Jose Andres' Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America), called for the dish to be cooked in a frying pan and FLIPPED, which is quite difficult to do (I've done it a few times, with varying results). This time, I decided to simplify things a bit by BAKING it in the oven. The alternative method worked out quite well. I couldn't taste much of a difference and it was much less stressful (and fool-proof) than the flipping method. Recipe can be found here.
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