We had an interesting combo of tapas for our last ‘making tapas’ class with Chef Eric. First tapa on offer was Fried Manchego Cheese, which sounded so odd that no one picked it. Chef Eric shrugged, “Okay, we won’t do that one… Now who wants to make ‘Salad on Bread’?” Despite also sounding odd that recipe was quickly scooped, as were the ‘Prawns Wrapped in Serrano Ham’. Chef Eric commented, “Well, that won’t take much time, so you can also do the ‘Fried Manchego Cheese’!”
“And now who wants to make ‘Pork Brochettes’?” Several hands went up, but happily I managed to get that one. Other recipes up for grabs were ‘Chicken Livers in Sherry Glaze’, ‘Broiled Sardines’ and last but not least ‘Almond Tart’.
Ras el Hanout, a Moorish spice mix
My choice, the Pork Brochettes (puerco a la plancha), were made from pork tenderloin, something that I’m always on the lookout for recipes for. This was marinated in an interesting mix of garlic, lemon and ‘Ras el Hanout’, a Moorish-influenced spice mixture, and then grilled on a ‘plancha’ or stove-top grill. The result was tasty but a little dry. I think perhaps I overcooked them, but a squeeze of lemon perked them up.
puerco a la plancha
Prepping the Fried Manchego Cheese (queso frito) consisted of dipping the quarter-inch cheese slices into an egg wash and then into breadcrumbs & parsley, repeating the process (double dipping) and finally frying them in grape seed oil for about half a minute on each side.
dipping the Manchego cheese into an egg wash, followed by the herbed breadcrumbs
Served with Romesco Sauce, a tomato/almond mix they were my surprise favourite dish of the evening!
fried Manchego cheese with Romesco sauce