6 eggs
4 Tbsp cream
Salt
freshly ground pepper
3 Tbsp butter
4 slices buttered toast, crusts removed and cut into 8 triangles
2 Tbsp anchovy paste
8 anchovy fillets
1 small bunch watercress

Beat the eggs lightly and add in the cream, salt and pepper. Spread the toast with anchovy paste and arrange on a serving dish. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom saucepan over low heat. Pour in the eggs and cook very slowly over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Be careful not to over cook as the will continue to cook after you remove them from the heat. Take them off the heat while they are still on the runny side. Divide the eggs into equal portions on to the toasts, garnish with rolled anchovy fillets and watercress and serve right away with a nice cup of tea.

2 1/2 cups grated good cheddar cheese
1 ounce butter
1/2 cup strong ale
2 tsp Colman dry mustard
Salt and pepper
buttered toast points

Melt the cheese and butter in the ale in a small pan. Stir over low heat until the cheese is completely melted. Stir in the mustard salt and pepper. Arrange the toast points in an oven proof dish, pour the cheese mixture over the toast and broil until the cheese is bubbling and brown. For a not very traditional version use steamed cauliflower in place of the toast.

1 cup  mayonnaise
1 cup  Parmigiano-Reggiano (cheese), grated
1/2 cup  onion, finely chopped
13 3/4 ounces canned artichoke hearts, drained
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (to taste – as much as 1/2 teaspoon)
3 tablespoons bread crumbs
1 teaspoon  olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Stir mayonnaise, cheese, onion in medium bowl.  Pulse artichoke hearts in food processor until finely chopped, then add to cheese mixture with juice and pepper.   Combine well.  Scrape into a small baking dish.  Combine and sprinkle the crumbs and olive oil over the dip.  Bake until the top is browned – about 20 minutes

Anchovy Butter is a classic of French cuisine and works beautifully on baguette plain or on canapés as base for other ingredients, such as shrimp and sweet pepper. 

Take 3 ounces of good anchovies and soak them for a few hours in cold water, changing the water every half hour or so, to desalt them a bit.  Otherwise I use marinated white anchovies to good effect.  Either way, dry the anchovies well.  The next step is to combine them, with mortar and pestle (classically) or in a food processor (at my house), with about 7 ounces of unsalted butter – sweetest possible.  Press the resulting mixture through a sieve or fine strainer.  Serve on slices of warm baguette or on canapés as desired.

More tapas.  This is more complicated and the recipe doesn’t use much cod (only a quarter of a pound).  Since we sell salt cod by the pound or more, you’ll have some leftover fish.  Don’t worry about it.  Turn the rest into croquettes or serve it in any of the many other ways it’s served in the Mediterranean.  My instructions here assume you understand how to soak the cod to remove most of the salt.  If you have questions about that, just ask us and we’ll help.

1/4 pound skinless/boneless salt cod, soaked to remove excess salt
1/2 pound potato (a waxy one like Yukon gold), cut in half
1/4 cup of olive oil
3 cloves garlic, mashed
2 tablespoons fresh, chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt and pepper

Place the cod with the potato in a pan with enough water to cover them both.   Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer until the potato is cooked.  Transfer the cod to your food processor bowl.  Peel the potato, once it’s cooled a bit.  And reserve a some of the liquid.

Mash or rice the potato (ricing is better) into a bowl.  Warm the olive oil just a bit and then slowly stir it into the potato.   Add the mashed garlic and parsley.  Combine thoroughly.

 Process the cod until it forms a paste.  Add just a couple of tablespoons of the reserved liquid into the food processor bowl with the motor running.  Stir this into the potato mixture.  Serve on crusty baquette slices.

While we’re thinking about cheese, here is a little tapas spread that is practically miraculous both in its simplicity and in its effect.   I admit it’s a little ugly.  Hard to deny that about a spread that’s gun-metal grey.  But it’s so delicious that hardly matters.   We use Valdeon, which is the intense blue cheese from Picos de Europa in Spain.

For each pound of room temperature Valdeon add a couple of tablespoons of cognac.  In a small bowl, cream them together completely.  Cover the bowl and leave the mixture to mature on your counter for a day or two, stirring from time to time.   When you’re ready to serve it, stir once more and transfer it into the prettiest bowl you have.  Serve with the best baguette you can find (warm, if possible) and big glasses of a really fat, ripe red Rioja wine.  Some Muscat grapes.  Maybe a plate of brightly dressed bitter greens.  Nobody’ll notice how ugly the cheese spread is.

This one is a little spicy and uses Ajvar, the wonderful eastern European pepper/eggplant spread that I put on nearly everything.  It was only a matter of time before I combined it with a little cheese as a dip for warm pita bread or pita chips.   We have several brands and they’re all good.  My favorite happens to be Zergut Hot Ajvar.  Using the 5-star Thai restaurant scale, the heat in this variety is in the neighborhood of 2 stars.  The cheese cools it down a lot.

Combine one 8-ounce package of softened cream cheese with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 6 ounces (by weight) of Ajvar in the bowl of your food processor.  Pulse until thoroughly combined and the cheese is a bit fluffy.  You can mitigate the radiant pinkness of this by garnishing with chopped fresh herbs, olives or lemon.   I have made this with feta cheese (Bulgarian works best) and have had very good results.   Leave off the added salt, obviously, if you use feta.

1lb. black beans, dried
2 quarts water
2 med. onions finely chopped
1 bay leaf
2 green peppers, cut in strips
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp oregano
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp cumin
1 Tbs salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
white rice, cooked
chopped onions for garnish
lemon wedges

Soak beans overnight or boil for ten minutes and let sit until cool.
Pour beans and water into a 4 quart pot, bring to boil. Cover and  
cook over medium heat.
Meanwhile, saute onions and peppers in the olive oil until golden. Add 
oregano, bay leaf, cumin and garlic. Add this to the beans, along with 
salt and pepper and simmer until the beans are tender (about an hour).
Serve on a bed of white rice, chopped raw onions and lemon wedges.

Over the years, we’ve increased the garlic, cumin and use lots of 
Spanish extra virgin olive oil.

Chris Greenlee

This is an incredibly easy recipe to make, and very rich.  The brownies are somewhat cake-y rather than fudgy but they’re delightful.

1 1/2 cups  pecan  halves (Daniel has substituted almonds to good effect as well)
7  ounces  unsalted butter
1/2 cup Cacao Barry Extra Brut Dutch-process cocoa powder (heaping)
1 1/8 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons  Mexican 4-fold vanilla
1/2 cup pastry flour
1 pinch  salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Chop the pecans well.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan.  Remove from the heat.  Add the cocoa and whisk to combine.  Whisk in the sugar.  Finally, whisk in the eggs and vanilla.   Stir in flour, salt, and pecans.

Scrape this mixture into a greased, parchment-lined 8” x 8” baking pan.

Bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out clean.