Today we’re travelling to The Spanish Basque Country, courtesy of Delicooks, a team made up of talented chefs, prop artists and foodies, focused on bringing you the best recipes ever.
Kokotxas in a Green sauce with potatoes
Note: Kokotxas is a Basque dish. It is normally hake, part of the fish head under the chin (the double chin of the fish)
Ingredients
- 24 kokotxas (hake)
- 2-3 cloves of garlic (minced)
- 2 medium potatoes peeled and cut into thin slices
- 1 bunch of parsley
- Fish stock
- Olive oil
- Chili
- 1 teaspoon of flour
- 4 eggs
How to cook it:
Place the garlic in a skillet with the oil and when the oil begins to get hot add the chopped parsley, chili and potatoes and sauté. Then add the kokotxas and a teaspoon of flour and stir. Add the fish stock. ( If you are making your own fish stock use bones of monkfish, hake or cod along with a good-sized leek, an onion and a bunch of parsley and cook in plenty of water) Allow to cook until the potato is tender. Then serve on a bed of potatoes, green sauce and the kokotxa, accompanied with a poached egg.
If you cannot find hake kokotxas use cod kokotxas.
The chili can be omitted.
Other ideas
You can add a few grains of rice in the beginning of the preparation so it can cook with the potato to obtain a heartier dish, also you may add a whole egg or raw egg to the sauce. If you have some asparagus of Navarra put them in a pan of boiling water along with a pinch of salt and add to the sauce at the end to accompany the kokotxas. If you do not have fish stock you can use the asparagus water instead…
Porrusalda Recipe
(A Basque leek sauce)
Ingredients
- 2 leeks cleaned
- 2 medium potatoes peeled
- 1 onion peeled
- Salt
- Pepper
- Chicken stock
- Olive oil
How to cook it:
Place the leeks, potatoes and onions in a pot with the chicken stock accompanied with a drizzle of olive oil. Bake until the vegetables are tender, then blend, strain, season and serve.
Traditionally, on the day of San Martin (a special day to slaughter pigs)! Unsalted cod is added to the cooking stock, to give a creamier sauce. Some add pumpkin to give a more distinctive taste.
If you do not have chicken stock cook the vegetables in water.
Other ideas:
Fry the finely sliced vegetable with a splash of olive oil or even a knob of butter, then once the vegetables have softened add a quart of cream and allow to simmer for a few minutes then blend, strain and serve. This is a cream of leek soup also known as “vichyssoise”.
Marmitako recipe
Marmitako translated from Basque mean from the pot.
Ingredients:
- 2 medium onions
- 1 leek
- 2 green peppers
- 2 spicy chorizos
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 6-8 medium potatoes
- 4 fresh tomates
- 200g tuna
- Flour
- Paprika de la Vera
How to cook it:
We are going to prepare a traditional stew. Cut the onions, leek, garlic, chorizo and peppers into Juliana and with a large splash of olive oil and gently fry in a pot. When the vegetables have softened and begin to brown add the tomatoes and peeled potatoes in which you make a “cascaremos” (a cut) with the tip of a knife to release the starch from the potatoes which will thicken the sauce. Poach the potatoes with the vegetables for a few minutes than add two table spoons of flour and two tablespoons of paprika, cover with water and allow to cook until the potato is tender. Season with salt and pepper and stir. Then pass the mixture through a sieve and set aside. Sear the tuna very briefly in a skillet. Place the cream mixture on a plate and the tuna on top. You can decorate this with rosemary or sage.
If you cannot find Paprika de la Vera use a different variety.
If you cannot find fresh tuna use bonito or fresh cod.
Other ideas:
You can place the cream of vegetables in a martini glass with a splash of fresh cream and also add some fresh herbs to the mixture, as an appetizer. If you don’t have fresh tuna, bonito or cod you can replace it with wild diced salmon.
Thank you for reading and hope you’ll fall in love with basque cuisine, as we did.
