"Guell" Croquetas de Pollo

When it comes to Spain, there are some things that are just ubiquitous; the architecture of Gaudi and Croquetas or as we know them Croquettes. You cannot go to Spain without seeing some amazing work by the architect Antoni Gaudi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoni_Gaud%C3%AD and you cannot pass up some amazing Spanish tapas like chicken croquettes. For this dish I was reminded of this lovely park by Gaudi, Park Guell, but if you are ever in Barcelona you cannot miss his masterwork, the Sagrada Familia church, it is an amazing sight.

Ingredients,

•  2 large chicken breasts
• a bit of olive oil
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• a large pat of butter
• 1 3/4 cup milk
• salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg to taste
• 2 cups of breadcrumbs
• canola oil/ bit of olive oil for frying the Croquetas
• asparagus 
• garlic

How to make them,

1. Cook the breasts in a bit of olive oil on both sides for about 6 minutes. remove from the pan, cut them into smaller slivers and continue cooking until the chicken is done.
2. Chop the chicken into a paste in a blender with 1 egg and 1 egg yolk.
3. Melt the butter in the same pan, stir the flour and cook the rue on low heat until it turns into a yellow paste.
4. Pour on the (room temperature) milk stirring constantly, bring to a boil, then reduce heat for 10 minutes. Them remove from heat.
5. Add the chicken paste into the rue, season with salt pepper and nutmeg, the nutmeg is the secret ingredient, so be sure to taste.
6. Put this mixture in a bowl in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour, then take out and roll into round small cylinder shapes.
7. Dip the croquettes into the remaining whisked egg, then dip into the breadcrumbs.
8. Fry in a 1/4" of oil, drain on paper towel and serve them while they are hot, they will not be there long!
9. For the asparagus I just sauteed them in a bit of olive oil with salt and pepper and a few sliced garlic cloves.

"Malaparte" Pork and Vegetables over Red Quinoa

I was introduced to quinoa by my architect friend Sarah, who also visited this beautiful red villa in Capri, Italy. The house was envisioned in 1937 by architect Adalberto Libera for Curzio Malaparte. Malaparte actually rejected Libera's design and built the home himself with Adolfo Amitrano, a local stone mason.
When making this dish with this deep red quinoa, I thought of this famous red house, which also makes an appearance in Godard's film "Contempt" with Brigitte Bardot. walking on the roof of this house.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

Ingredients,

• 1 cup of red quinoa and 2 cups of water
• 2 pork chops cut into strips
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• salt and pepper
• a few handfuls of vegetables, asparagus, red pepper, and garbanzo beans

How to make it,

1. Boil 2 cups of water in a small pot, when the water boils pour in 1 cup of quinoa and turn to low heat for 15 minutes until water boils away.
2. Pat pork chop strips with salt and pepper
3. Pour a bit of sesame oil in a medium sized meatal pan and add the pork chops.
4. Flip the pork over until it browns, adding the honey and balsamic vinegar, then set aside.
5. In another pan, sautee the assorted vegetables in a bit of sesame oil and salt and pepper for a few minutes just to bring out the color and to keep them crispy.
6. Layer the red quinoa, then the vegetables, then the pork chops. I arranged the pork chops in a terraced "stepped" style in the fashion of the Villa Malaparte, which has a staircase that leads to its dramatic view roof.

"Dominus" Red Wine Sauce Steak with Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus

Sometimes you just want really good steak and potatoes. Since it is not yet warm enough to grill outside, this steak recipe is a good indoor meal that is always a crowd pleaser.

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Dominus_Winery.html

The addition of the red wine and onion sauce in this dish made me think of this California winery by Herzog and De Meuron, where the building facade is made of wire boxes filled with rocks... sounds strange, but its construction provides some really amazing lighting effects from the interior and uses the gabion wire basket, which is usually used in terracing, in a subversive way.
I'd love to visit this winery some day and do some wine tasting in this lovely and unusual building, who wants to come?

Ingredients,

• rib steak or any sirloin steak fillet
• 1 red onion
• 2 shallots
• dry red wine about 2 cups
• salt, pepper and tarragon (on the steaks)
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• olive oil
• small red creamer potatoes, cut in half
• Herbs de Provence
• green asparagus
• chopped fresh Italian parsley for garnish

How to make it,

1. Cut potatoes in half and put into a metal oven pan, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and dust with herbs de Provance, salt and pepper.
2. Put into a 425 degree oven for 25- 35 minutes or until the begin to brown a little.
3. For the steaks, pat with salt pepper and tarragon and set aside.
4. Put the butter into a large metal pan over medium high heat, when the butter melts put the steaks into the pan for about 4 minutes on each side or until the steaks have browned a bit to your desired level of cooking, then set aside and cover to keep warm.
5. In the same pan put the chopped onions and shallots with a little bit of the wine, just a glug.
6. Stir and deglaze the pan, which gets all the brown bits from the cooking of the steaks, this is full of good flavor.
7. Cook the onions and shallots until the become transparent occasionally adding more red wine to them as it cooks down.
8. In a separate pan cook the chopped asparagus in a bit of olive oil with salt and pepper for a few minutes, just to bring that vibrant green color out, very simple.
9. Add the sauce on top of the steak, enjoy!

"Fred and Ginger" Goat Cheese Pasta

This savory curly pasta brought to mind the interaction of Fred and Ginger as seen in Frank Gehry's Dancing House in Prague.Onion, bacon, goat cheese, and peas highlight this delightful pasta.

Ingredients:

• 1 large red onion, chopped
• olive oil
• 5 slices of bacon
• 2 handfuls of peas, fresh or frozen
• 4 tablespoons of goat cheese
• 3/4 box of cavatappi  pasta
• salt and pepper for seasoning
• garnish with fresh chopped parsley (optional)

How to make it,

This pasta is super easy and quick to make but its taste will surprise you in how tasty it is!

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot, add  cavatappi with a bit of salt in the water, cook until al dente then strain.
2. Chop the onion and sautee in a bit of olive oil
3. After the onion has browned add the bacon to the onion, add salt and pepper to taste.
4. 2 minutes before the bacon is done add the peas to the sautee mixture.
5. Add the onions, bacon, and peas to the strained pasta.
6. Add the goat cheese and stir until the cheese has dispersed throughout the pasta. 

"Villa Rosa" Salmon with Vegetables and Couscous

When I lived in Hannover Germany, my host mom Cordula taught me that food should always be beautiful and colorful, so when making this dish I was reminded of the villa that I lived in which was built in 1835 by architect, Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves, a rather well known architect of his time who was in a sense  the Friedrich Shinkel of Hannover.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Ludwig_Friedrich_Laves

Ingredients:

• a fresh wild salmon fillet
• olive oil
• a few pinches of tarragon
• 1/2 pound of red creamer potatoes, cut in half
• a dash of rosemary and thyme 
• an assortment of colorful vegetables, broccoli, corn, garbanzo beans, peas, and red onion, asparagus is great addition as well
• 2 cups couscous
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• salt and pepper to taste

How to make it,

1. Cut potatoes in half and put on a metal baking pan, drizzle a bit of olive oil on top and season with a dash of rosemary and thyme, salt and pepper.
2. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 35 minutes, then set aside.
3. In the meantime, in a skillet add vegetables to a bit of olive oil and cook on medium heat until the color becomes more vibrant about 6 minutes, season with salt and pepper.
4. Put salmon onto aluminum foil, drizzle a bit of olive oil on the fillet and season with a dash of tarragon.
5. Fold up the edges and bake into the oven next to the potatoes for 15-20 minutes.
6. In a small pot bring 2 cups of water to a boil with 1 tablespoon of butter.
7. Then remove from heat, the add 2 cups of couscous and cover the pot, then let stand for 5 minutes.
8. Create layers on the plate, first the couscous in a large circle, then the vegetables and potatoes, then the salmon on top.

as we say in Hannover, Guten Appetit!

An alternative and more casual way to make this dish is to mash all the ingredients together, which I call a "mash up" which is great for food on the go or at a picnic on the beach.

Vegan Vegtable "Firminy" Risotto

The first time I helped make risotto was at a dinner at my former professor (and architect) Jose Oubrerie's home. He worked with Le Corbusier and recently finished Saint Pierre de Firminy Church in Firminy Vert, France. So with that in mind I thought I would share another one of my favorite risotto recipe's and one of my favorite churches, which I hope to visit someday soon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Pierre,_Firminy

Ingredients:

• half of a red onion chopped
• olive oil
• 1 cup arboreo rice
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 6 cups of vegetable stock
• a handful of each, broccoli, leek, peas, button mushrooms; all chopped (really you could use any vegetables you like but I like this combination)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon of paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon of sage
• parsley to garnish
• (optional or spicy version) use a tablespoon or so of Cajun spices

1. Saute the onion in olive oil in a medium sized pot
2. add garlic to the onion after onion is sauteed
3.  pour in about 1 cup of vegetable stock to unstick the onions in the pot
4. Add arboreo rice into the pot
5. The trick to risotto is to alternate stirring the risotto and adding vegetable stock, add the stock little by little and let the risotto cook over medium heat. The 1 cup of arboreo rice will expand and the stock will cook down.
6. After about 10 minutes, add the vegetables to the pot. keep on stirring and adding the stock.
7. Add the paprika and salt and pepper to taste. It usually takes about 30 minutes to complete the stirring and adding of stock, be sure to taste.
8. Let the risotto sit for 10 minutes before serving and add chopped Italian parsley to garnish.