pimientos de padrón

At least fifteen years ago in Barcelona, on recommendation by a friend, I ate tapas at the famous Cal Pep. At the time, it was kind of a hangout for Barcelona chefs. My chef friend Toni took me there and I'll never forget it! NEVER! I had had tapas before in New York and all over Spain but this was the real thing. We sat at the counter and ate dish after dish of the most delicious stuff. They saw the delight on my face and in order to keep it there they just kept bringing dish after dish, some of which we ordered and some of which magically appeared.

One of my favorites, and one I will never forget, were the pimientos de padrón. I'd never had them before, I'd never even seen them. The first few were as sweet and nutty as can be and the next one was blazing hot. It was like gambling, there was no way to discern the hot ones from the sweet ones but I loved the challenge!

Years later I was at the farmer's market in San Francisco and came across David at Happy Quail Farms. Looking at the array of peppers he grows I spotted what looked like pimientos de padrón. Sure enough! I couldn't have been happier as I forked over a bunch of dollars for a couple of bags and off I went to cook them.

It’s amazing how quickly they gained fame in the US. Maybe it's because they are so bloody easy to prepare. I spotted the first of the season on Saturday at the farmer's market so you'll start seeing them soon too. If you can't find them, try getting some seeds and growing them yourself.

SEARED PIMIENTOS DE PADRÓN

4 ounces pimientos de padrón
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt

Wash the pimientos and dry them very well. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. When the oil is rippling, add the pimientos and cook, shaking the pan several times, until the pimientos develop some small white blisters, have golden brown sear marks and they start to soften, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove from the pan and place on a towel-lined plate. Sprinkle with salt. To eat them, hold the pimientos by the stem and bite. Serve with a glass of chilled Cava.

Serves 6

chorizo handpie recipe

Usually on the weekend I like to chill but that wasn't in the cards this past weekend. Did a demo for a standing-room-only crowd for the Sunset Magazine Celebration Weekend on Saturday, zoomed back to the City for an interview with Novo Magazine at Tres Agaves and on Sunday, bright and early, I went on KRON television to do an interview with Henry Tenenbaum. All in the name of tequila!

Here's how it went.... Popped up early on Saturday morning and headed to Menlo Park for that big Sunset Magazine Celebration Weekend. Check out the link! Did a demo, short and sweet, thirty minutes. The first dish I made were these chorizo and tequila handpies. In front of a crowd of 300 hundred PLUS people, I forgot the tequila in the chorizo AND TEQUILA filling! Don't ask me why.... The bottle of Partida blanco was sitting right in front of me! We all laughed but think I might have laughed the most, mostly at myself!

Then I went to roll out the puff pastry. Mind you, it was about 100 degrees! It was sticky and impossible to roll. I did what I could and managed to turn out the most delicious chorizo minus the tequila handpies!

Immediately after, over a Mexican 75 at Tres Agaves, I was interviewed by two writers from Novo Magazine who didn't look old enough to drive a car let alone drink tequila. The interview went smoothly after I carded them. (Twenty-three and twenty five, shocking!!!)

Sunday, as I walked into my KRON TV interview with Henry, at what felt like the crack of dawn, I was thinking that for some, my bag of tequila, was like crack. I watched my back! I made it inside, tequila and all! Henry was a tequila champ trying all blanco, reposado and anejo tequila like a pro! Ya just gotta love Henry!

My new favorite is the Mexican 75, also from my new TEQUILA book! It's a margarita with a splash of bubbles all in one! Kind of celebratory, kind of refreshing! I'm thinking of serving it at the rehearsal dinner!

MEXICAN 75

This is a play on the French 75, the drink made of gin, Champagne, lemon juice and sugar made famous by the Franco-American World War 1 flying ace. It's unclear what makes the French 75 so powerful-- but, whoo boy, do you feel it when you down one! You can bet the same is true of it’s Mexican cousin! So worth it!

1 ounce blanco tequila
½ ounce agave nectar
½ ounce lime juice
Champagne

Place the tequila, agave nectar and lime juice in a shaker with plenty of ice. Shake 5 seconds and pour into a champagne flute. Top it off with Champagne to the top and a curl of lime zest.

Serves 1