Mediterranean Recipes – oleaoriginal https://oleaoriginal.com The Good Stuff Tue, 11 Dec 2018 18:12:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.26 A TRADITIONAL FRESH GAZPACHO https://oleaoriginal.com/2182-2 Tue, 07 Aug 2018 07:46:50 +0000 https://oleaoriginal.com/?p=2182
The beginning of August, the vacation month of the year. Everybody is in beach and holiday mode and what better to accompany this joyful period and the summer sun with a traditional freshly homemade Spanish Gazpacho. There are many different recipes out there, ours is a simple version, quick and very easy to make.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1kg Ripe Plum tomatoes. (Tip: If it hasn’t been refrigerated for a couple days, better)
  • 1 small Cucumber
  • 1 clove of garlic for every kg of tomato
  • 1/2 Green Pepper for every kg of tomato
  • 100ml Olive oil
  • 4tbls Red wine vinegar or Sherry vinegar
  • 1 slice of white bread
  • Salt

 

Steps:

  1. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water then peel the tomatoes.
  2. Peel the cucumber and slice
  3. Chop the green pepper
  4. Soak the bread in water
  5. Add all to a blender along with the clove of garlic and blend for a minute. Then add salt, vinegar and the olive oil to taste. Continue until everything is smoothly blended.
  6. Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl. Once finished put in the fridge and let it cool.

 

It is recommended to have the gazpacho as chilled as possible, but don’t add ice to it. Pour and enjoy with a glass of white wine. Preferably one of ours! Enjoy the Summer.

]]> AUTHENTIC VALENCIAN PAELLA https://oleaoriginal.com/authentic-valencian-paella Fri, 01 Jun 2018 13:16:32 +0000 https://oleaoriginal.com/?p=2085

This is the start of a journey of what we at Olea think how authentic and traditional recipes from the Mediterranean should be prepared. As our wine comes from the beautiful regions of Valencia, we are going to begin in the City of Valencia and travel every month through the recipes posted here across the territories of the Mediterranean bringing the cultures and traditions of food for everyone to enjoy.

The most traditional dish in the region of Valencia is the Paella Valenciana. Why do we say Paella Valenciana and not Paella?. Well, because there are many versions of Paella and as we are starting our journey in Valencia we want to keep it as an Authentic Paella true to the locals.

One thing that makes the Paella Valenciana truly authentic is the formation of what is called “Socorrat”, a colloquial Valencian word which literally means to singe. This is the rice that gets crunchy and forms a crust at the bottom of the paella dish, an intrinsic part of the paella and where families and friends fight to get a taste of.

Ingredients:

  1. Olive oil (Spanish of course)
  2. Chicken.
  3. Rabbit.
  4. Saffron & a spring of fresh rosemary.
  5. Freshly grated tomatoes.
  6. Salt.
  7. Rice (short grain, Valencian)
  8. White lima beans.
  9. Flat green beans.
  10. Water.

For 4 people:

  1. 10ml Olive oil
  2. 500gr. Pcs of chicken
  3. 500gr. Pcs of rabbit
  4. 2 Freshly grated tomatoes.
  5. 250gr. White lima beans.
  6. 250gr. Flat green beans. Cut to pieces
  7. 500gr. Rice (short grain, Valencian)
  8. 1.25 L of water
  9. Saffron
  10. Salt

Step 1:

Using a Paella dish, add the olive oil and heat up well, but do not burn. Once nice and hot add the chicken and rabbit. fry it well moving it frequently to seal in the flavour and continue to fry until golden brown on all sides.

Step 2:

Once the chicken and rabbit is golden brown add the flat green beans and the lima beans and fry together for 2-3 minutes. After this period add the freshly grated tomato and mix.

Step 3:

Once the tomato is fried and almost evaporated, add the water and turn up the heat for 5-7 minutes. During this times is when you add the saffron, the sprig of rosemary and salt.

Step 4:

Once the water starts to boil you add the rice in the form of a cross making sure it is at least 1 finger above the water. Once added mix the rice until it is evenly and thinly spread out and leave on a high heat for the first 10 minutes, reducing the heat gradually afterwards making sure it doesn’t burn, but enough for the socorrat to form, a light brown colour. Once you see this you’re ready to go.

Step 5:

Take off the heat and let it sit for 5-7 minutes. Then serve and enjoy with a glass of Olea Red Crianza.

–

It is tradition in Valencia to put the paella dish in the middle of the table and share amongst friends and family, not everybody likes this but for us here at Olea it tastes better.

The first paella following the OLEA recipe

This paella was prepared in Miami on June 24, 2018

This paella was prepared in Miami and due to the unavailability of the flat green beans they were substituted for local products, but always keeping true to an authentic Paella Valenciana.

We will continue our journey through the region of Valencia with more traditional and local dishes.

]]> MEDITERRANEAN FLAVOR https://oleaoriginal.com/mediterranean-flavor Fri, 01 Jun 2018 09:59:32 +0000 https://oleaoriginal.com/?p=1742 The Mediterranean, the blessed lands of sun and sea and olive trees. And from this history is born the tradition of olive oil, bread and wine which can be found on every kitchen table across the welcoming homes of every  Mediterranean Country. Olea has started its journey with one of these ingredients, Wine. Why? because it brings warmth, joy, pleasure and unites families and friends. This is the story of Olea, built on love of food and passion for culture and a way of life unique to the Mediterranean.

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