Random Spanish Inspired Cooking

I decided to cook a Spanish inspired meal to say thanks to my parents for helping me with the move and work around the house. Pretty simple montaditos and tapas, but pretty friggin delicious. Served with a great cava I found from Whole Foods and it brought me back to Barcelona.

Cockles in Cava
I love shellfish and I'm usually one of the believers that all shellfish just need garlic, onions, and booze. These cockles were hella fresh, but I decided to add some tomatoes to the dish since I had way too many tomatoes in the fridge. It worked out perfectly and did not overpower the shellfish at all. Incredibly sweet, tender and flavorful...

Ingredients
1 pound cockles - scrubbed and let since in big bowl of water; change the water 3 times
3 cloves garlic minced
1 yellow onion - small dice
extra virgin olive oil
1 tomato diced
1 cup cava

1) Set saute pan to low heat and add oil, onions, and garlic. Make sure the onions/garlic don't get any color, you just want to soften them.
2) About 7-10 mins later, add the tomato and cook for another 5 minutes
3) Crank the heat up to high, drop the cockles in and add the cava
4) Shake the pan around and you'll eventually see them open after 3-5 minutes. As soon as they open up, pull them out. Make sure to serve with some bread since the sauce is siiiick.
Note - I would say if they open slightly, you can take them out and open them up but they'll be pretty soft. But, I now prefer waiting till they open up 1/2 way...the meat will have better texture while still retaining the plumpness and sweetness. Any longer though and they'll be tough and chewy.


Pan con tomate
It's strange how delicious this simple dish can be, especially when you have great ingredients. Be sure to get the best tomato you can find; I used a great Spanish Olive Oil and some homegrown tomatoes.

Ingredients
1 tomato halved - best you can find
Extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic halved width wise
salt and pepper
1 baguette - sliced

1) Toast the bread and drizzle olive oil over it - make sure it's not burnt, but nice and golden.
2) Rub the garlic clove over the bread - it'll be weird since the bread will have a heavy garlic taste just with a slight rub
3) Rub the tomato over the bread until the top of the bread changes color - nice and pink.
4) To finish, drizzle some more olive oil and season with salt and pepper.


Smoked Salmon, Yogurt, Caramelized Onions Montadito
I wanted to recreate this spectacular montadito from Quimet & Quimet, but I gave a slight little twist. Kinda like a fun breakfast bite - sweet, creamy, and salty. Incredibly delicious, but I will try to recreate that montadito with the same flavors. Also, need to get better salmon since the one from Quimet & Quimet was spectacular.

Ingredients
caramelized onions (vidalia onion's thinly sliced, salt and pepper, and cooked over low heat until it turns caramel colored)
greek yogurt
smoked salmon
1 baguette - sliced

1) Top the bread with some greek yogurt, caramelized onion, and smoked salmon. Eat.