On Our Menu Today:
Minty Mushrooms in Mini-Fillo Cups
Spiced Shrimp with a Lemon Butter Drizzle
‘Patata Brava-style’ Potatoes with Spicy Tomato Chutney
Inspired by our Scrumptious Spanish Journey, we bring you a mouth-watering array of simple tapas creations; each one comes with a few simple ingredients and takes less than 15 minutes to prepare.
A Spanish Tapas Treat: Inspirations from Spain with Our Creations
In the big cities of Spain, whether work-day or weekend, around 6pm daily, tapas bar-restaurants or ‘tascas’ fill up with lively folk out and about, enjoying their pre-dinner tradition of tapas or small bites/appetizers served in small portions along with beer, wine and fun pitchers of sangria.
A Pitcher of Sangria brings on a Celebration
To us, this merry sight of people at tapas bars, standing around in conversation clusters near food counters, was a true reflection of the Spanish lifestyle.
This Valentine’s Day, take a page out of Spanish life and create your own tapas experience; an intimate candlelit evening (or a new family tradition) of tapas accompanied by your favorite bottle of wine or choice of beverage.
Using some of our Spanish tapas inspirations, we’ve made things simpler by creating a delicious tapas spread of Minty Mushrooms in Mini-Fillo Cups, Spiced Shrimp with a Lemon Butter Drizzle and ‘Patata Brava-style’ Potatoes with Spicy Tomato Chutney.
Enjoy!
Minty Mushrooms in Mini-Fillo Cups
Inspired by a tapas of mushrooms lightly tossed in olive oil and flavored with herbs; our crunchy and delicious bite-sized tapas creation uses small diced button or cremini mushrooms browned in olive oil and garlic, finished with a touch of chopped fresh mint and presented in delicate crisp fillo cups.
Our Tapas Creation: Minty Mushrooms in Mini-Fillo Cups
Makes 8-10 mini-fillo cups (phyllo shells)
Ingredients
4 oz. mushroom, cut in small dices (button or cremini)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
¼ teaspoon each, salt and pepper
1 ½ tablespoons chopped mint leaves
8-10 store-bought mini fillo/phyllo shells
Heat olive oil in a pan and add the garlic and mushroom to it, cook till they are nicely browned. Season with salt-pepper and turn off the flame. Sprinkle mint leaves over the hot mushrooms.
Warm store-bought fillo shells in a toaster oven for 1-2 minutes at 325F (watch them since they get done quickly.) Fill fillo shells with the minty mushroom filling. Serve the crunchy and delicious bite-sized Minty Mushroom in Fillo Shells tapas warm, arranged on a small platter.
Spiced Shrimp with a Lemon Butter Drizzle
These lightly spiced and seasoned shrimp are a fitting tribute to the variety of delicious seafood tapas sampled during our travels. A hint of lemon added to the warm spice infused butter lends a delicious touch when drizzled over the succulent shrimp.
Our Tapas Creation: Spiced Shrimp with a Lemon Butter Drizzle
Serves 2
Ingredients
6 oz medium shrimp, peeled tail-on
1 tablespoon butter
¼ teaspoon each, paprika and cumin
¼ teaspoon each, salt and pepper
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
Juice of half a lemon
Season the shrimp with paprika, cumin, salt & pepper.
Melt butter in a pan on a low flame. Cook the spiced and seasoned shrimp on both sides in the butter only for 1-2 minutes.
Note: A great cooking rule to keep in mind; a shrimp is done when it curls up like a ‘C’ and overdone if it curls up like an ‘O’.
Plate the tapas by placing freshly made shrimp on a small plate. Sprinkle cilantro and lemon juice over the warm leftover spice infused butter in the pan. Drizzle lemon butter over the plated spiced shrimp and serve hot.
‘Patata Brava-style’ Potatoes with Spicy Tomato Chutney
‘Patata Brava’, a much loved Spanish tapas favorite, is crisp fried potato cubes generously topped with a hot and spicy tomato-based sauce and sometimes accompanied by alioli, a mayo-n-garlic sauce. The many mouthwatering versions of ‘patata brava’ sampled during our travels, inspired me to pair this tapas with our versatile Spicy Tomato Chutney as a topping (the same one from our Spinach and Chickpea Sliders recipe.)
Turns out I was right…the stunning combination of crisp seasoned potatoes topped with our spicy tomato chutney creates a finger-licking good tapas treat.
Our Tapas Creation: ‘Patata Brava-style’ Potatoes with Spicy Tomato Chutney
Ingredients
1 lb potatoes cut in 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Chopped cilantro, as garnish
½ cup Spicy Tomato Chutney, with a sauce-like consistency
Direction
Preheat an oven at 400F.
On a baking sheet, mix potato cubes with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the potatoes at 400F for 30 minutes till they are lightly brown. Alternately, the potatoes can be fried in a pan.
The crispy hot potatoes are best served as tapas on a small plate or bowl, topped with the spicy tomato chutney and garnished with chopped cilantro.
Night View of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
Hi!
Your interpretation of the “tapas” has been fabulous. You’ve chosen some easy recipes and a fabulous presentation, one of their great secrets.
Here in Spain can never miss. In fact, in every city, big or small we are able to eat at any time with Tapas.
Since morning, about 10 am in most downtown bars, tapas are already available to the public because lunch is also a good time for tapas.
And then, as you said, in the evenings from 6 pm to begin is the national average.
I’m very happy you share our cuisine.
Greetings from Spain!
Patricia
Dime que es Viernes)
Thanks Patricia, I’m thrilled to read your explanation of tapas; its exactly what I noticed…tapas should always be simple to put together with a few ingredients. And in Spain, I liked that they’re consumed as an elevenses or an evening cocktail snack. So happy to have visited your beautiful country and sample its mouthwatering cuisine! A real pleasure to have met you:)
what a delicious tapas menu! will copy some of those
Thanks! I find myself making these pretty often myself:)
My mouth is watering — and oh, the gorgeous night view of the cathedral! Adding these to my Pinterest appetizer resources! ~ Kat
Thanks Kat, we were fortunate to stay right across the cathedral…it made our day! Appreciate the pins on these tapas!
great take on spanish tapas! i love brava potatoes, they were my favorite tapas dish in barcelona.
Us too! The kids loved walking into a tapas bar and ordering patata brava, it’s a family favorite!
WHAT AN AMAZING PHOTO OF LA SAGRADA FAMILIA….Thanx for sharing!!!
Thanks…we had a place with an amazing view of Sagrada Familia:)
Yum Peri! I’m not a big fan of mushrooms but that recipe / pic makes me change my mind! All 3 sound great!
Thanks Erica! Great to see you here…and I do remember you don’t like mushrooms, so this is an achievement! The garlic and mint flavor really work well with mushrooms:) And you’ll like the shrimp one…
Beautiful tapas – love that you embraced everything so wholeheartedly!
Thanks, coming from you, I’m flattered! That’s the only way to travel and can you imagine what I’d have missed if I hadn’t!
Dear Peri, such a delicious nosh, these would make any day special!! love the potato brava and your photos look so inspiring, thank you! xx Ozlem
Thanks dear Ozlem! I’m going to keep tempting you to visit Spain soon:) XX Peri.
Yum…this all looks gorgeous , especially the little mushroom cups
Thanks…the mushrooms taste amazing too with the hint of garlic and mint leaves and the crunch of fillo:)
I can have potatoes any day.. your patata brava looks specially delish… sounds like you had a great spanish trip.. Hope to visit spain some day!!
You’ll love Spain, lots of art and culture, so much flavor to the cuisine, it will remind you of India in some ways…The brava potatoes with spicy chutney work really well together! Thanks:)
Saw you on Decorum DIY’ers re-blog. LOVE this collection of tapas. Thank you so much for sharing. I am a new follower.
Thanks, the tapas are as delicious as they look:) Wow, you have a great site, I’m going to be following along too…glad we met through Christine and DecorumDIYer!
Yum!!! This is making me drool!
Thanks! They do turn out yum:)
That shrimp looks so good.. Yum! I wish my husband likes shrimp so I can cook it for him.
Thanks…the shrimp tapas uses all of two spices along with lemon and butter, simple to make and I bet your husband will like it!
I will try making it for myself. I dont know about my husband. Ill try!
thank u for the recipe . Hehe!
LOL! Hope it turns out well…great flavors in the shrimp:)
Those potatoes look great. I love tomato chutney and think this would make a great vegetarian appetizer.
Oh yes, so good with the tomato chutney I generally make, using tomato puree or sauce along with spices, etc:) Thanks.
Reblogged this on Decorum DIYer.
I am drooling over here! Yummy! I really need to host a little party just to serve these dishes. Thanks for sharing!
Justified drooling! Lol…each one is so delicious and took hardly any time or effort to make! And do we need a reason a party!! A few friends, a few tapas and a large pitcher of sangria:) Its the weekend after all!
Amen to that! I forgot about reblogging (thanks to you other commenter, I remember now). Reblogging now!
Thanks! Really appreciate it…I like such simple recipes as these, sure your followers will too:)
Reblogged this on global_food.
Thanks for re-blogging this on your wonderful and resourceful site:) appreciate it…