We have been back in Madrid, and LOVING settling back into a more consistent routine of life. We were really excited to have a weekend to relax, hang out around home, and get to accomplish some things on our to-do lists. At the top of Brian's list has been to try to cook fish. We have a great supermarket next door that has a pretty spectacular fresh fish section - there are a couple of fishmongers who clean and prepare the fish for you right there. Saturday morning we went out for breakfast and to another fresh market for fruits and vegetables, and then got a bunch of fish at the supermarket to cook that weekend. Here's a little bit of what we made...
On Saturday, we started with fried boquerones (also known as anchovies). I would have never touched them in the states (I only knew them as greasy fishies that Garfield would put on pizza). But here, they are something really delicious. Little fish, breaded and fried to a golden deliciousness.
On Sunday, we tried making trout (at least we think that's what the name translates to). Brian had a lot of fun with the fish, as you can see in the pictures below. That fish also attempted to have conversations with me throughout it's entire preparation, our consumption, and it even talked to me after we ate all of it. I have such a talented husband :)
We used a recipe from Jamie Oliver's cookbook that my Aunt Donna & Uncle Tom gave us for our wedding. I think it is our absolute favorite cookbook, and we've been able to use it a LOT! We have more access here in Spain to the fresh ingredients he uses frequently, so we've loved getting to try new things.
EXTRA CREDIT: Who can guess what the piece of pottery at the top left of this picture is used for? I picked it up last week at our little pottery shopping day.
The fish turned out wonderfully. Fresh rosemary, lemon, olive oil, and butter were the only ingredients - simple and delicious!
Our last fish for the weekend was mussels. On Sunday night, Brian cleaned them (which takes forever!) and then steamed them, and we ate them with butter. They were surprisingly delicious!
We had a lot of fun trying a bunch of new things! If you come and visit us, and you like fish, hopefully you'll enjoy trying some new things with us.
Onto the simple pleasures part of this post...
While we were in the Netherlands I did a little bit of souvenir shopping. I picked up some very cool things, but these are probably my very favorite. I think that Brian thought I was the biggest nerd for getting them, but I've worn them almost every day since we got back! They are so very comfortable, and completely awesome in their dutch-ness. Don't be too jealous, everyone.
Very impressed you could stomach that Kate. It kinda makes me queazy looking at it :)
eww to the fish. yay for the idea of spanish tortilla!