Catalina´s Summer Recipe

Resident Madrid Metropolitan Chef of Chefs Catalina Brennan offers her Summer Special for our readers:

We are now in full swing of tuna season, oily fish is at its max and Im sailing, soo, Im bringing you the tuna + sailor &9;s traditional recipe from Spain: Marmitako. It's a tuna and potato stew, very typical from the north.

It makes sense, they have great Bonito del norte (also known as white tuna) in the Cantabric Sea and very nice cool temperatures which makes it easier to have a hot stew in the middle of July. Never mind, look for shade and some chilled wine, you can't miss this recipe, it's easy and delicious!

INGREDIENTS:
1 big onion
1 green pepper
1 big and ripe tomato
1 big garlic clove
Sweet paprika
White wine
Fish stock/broth
Pimiento choricero paste (sold in supermarkets)
4 big potatoes
600 grs fresh tuna (the best is Bonito del Norte, but it can be done with any tuna. As always, I recommend your local market fishmonger)

INSTRUCTIONS
Chop the onion and green pepper and cook in olive oil until soft, aprox 15 mins. Add the garlic, chopped finely, then stir in a teaspoon of sweet paprika and quickly after the grated tomato and let cook for 5 mins medium heat.

Peel the potatos and chop by “cracking” (cascar la patata) which is not a thorough clean cut but in the end we break each piece so the starch from the potato will thicken our stew (cracking is optional!)
Mix well in the pot so it will get all the flavour from our stir fry, together with the white wine, for 5 mins.
Add the fish broth to cover the potatoes and let it cook low heat for 30/40 minutes. Every once in a while stir the pot.
Once the stew is consistent, very hot, not too liquid, not too thick, tasty and the potatos are cooked, add the tuna in 2cm pieces aprox, and let cook for 10 minutes with just the residual heat and the lid on. If we overcook the tuna it will be too dry…
Tip: for express fish broth for this dish, you can mix some Japanese dashi in boiling water. Dashi is smoked tuna concentrate.
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As a Chef and foodie, I like to discover new restaurants, talk to Chefs and try out new dishes and ingredients, which I will share gladly with you every month!

For this issue I bring a must, an incredible sky bar with an amazing 360 degree view of Madrid!!! It has opened very recently, in June, so I advise you try it before it gets packed: My Way Sky Bar, Gran Vía, 42, 10th floor;  Ria Katahrina Jahnke, the head Chef is German but was raised in Tenerife, where she got her cooking degree. Her cooking is bold, fun and sophisticated.

You will find a Tasting menu (8 steps) for 35€ and a wine pairing option for plus 12€. Great quality
price. The menu changes every 10 days aprox, created by Ria together with Joaquín Felipe Peira and his great expertise. Good wines and cocktails too!

Now, let me tell you about our traveling foodies club. We are a group of like-minded people, who try out new places, meet chefs, in Madrid and abroad, cook with them, shop in their markets and indulge in great wines and food. Our last meeting was a wine, cheese & tapas tasting in Madrid.

Our next trip, 4th to 6th October: Granada!! We will eat at a beautiful place with views of the Alhambra, a special menu created for us by Jaier Feixas, learn to cook “espetos” in Costa Tropical, evening tapas in the old city and visit a very special winery, with a wine tasting and a gastronomic surprise.

More information: www.chefinhousecatalina.com/club-de-foodies-viajeros.
For cookery workshops, corporate events, showcookings, or personal Chef experiences: www.chefinhousecatalina.com.