Breakfast in Madrid (con El Oso y El Madroño)

Recently, I spent some time in Madrid with my husband.  I accompanied him (ahead of business he had the following week) so that we could enjoy this lovely city before I headed home.  We were treated to a week of incredibly beautiful weather (70s in the daytime, 50s at night), and so we did what we always do when we travel: Walk our feet off!  For long hours each day, we explored neighborhoods, enjoyed tapas, wine, and beer, geocached, ambled through botanical gardens, public gardens, museums, and tried to speak Español whenever we could :) Late afternoons we would return to our hotel to put our feet up, take a siesta, and plan where we would have dinner.  That pretty much sums up our itinerary... it was exhaustive, but looking back, I think we have a very positive feel for 'la ciudad que nunca duerme.'

On our first morning there, we headed out to La Puerta Del Sol, the heart of Madrid's historic center, for breakfast.  As the most important meal of the day (in my opinion), Madrid fell short for me.  Could it be that when Madrileños awaken, it's already lunchtime?  One thing that softened the blow, however, was the fabulous coffee con leche that could be had almost anywhere at anytime. Beautiful!

But back to that first breakfast... In the center of the square stood a 20-ton bronze statue of el oso y

el madroño (the bear and strawberry tree).  There are a few theories as to the significance of this sculpture to the city of Madrid, and judging by the number selfies being snapped with el oso in the background, it is a miracle that I was able to reach in and grab a photo without some human appendage joining the shot :)

Nearby, we found a tavern open for breakfast, featuring coffee with either a churro, tostada (toast), or pan (bread). We both chose coffee with the tostada.  Taking a seat outside on a gloriously sunny day, here is what came to our table:

Expecting butter and jam to accompany the toast, I was a bit surprised.  But not for long.  The combination of tomato pulp, olive oil, and salt on toast was fabulous!  Though humble, this breakfast combination is the most widely eaten Spanish tapa (I am assuming tapa is the singular form of tapas).  We enjoyed it again on the morning I was flying home, but this time the bread was rustic, dark, and not toasted.  Equally awesome-tasting.

Though I have yet to make this recipe since leaving Spain, Serious Eats has done a fine job describing the process, particularly the idea of extracting and using the tomato pulp and discarding the skins.  This recipe also makes use of a clove of garlic in its preparation.

Buen provecho!

Prune Plum Crisp

It's embarrassing really.  I've been on this earth for decades and decades and have never known that prune plums existed.  Holy smokes...have I been missing out on this small, gorgeous fruit.

Still, I confess that I have never been much of a plum eater.  Why you ask?  Well, I never liked the fact that I couldn't tell when they were juicy-ripe.  In addition, they are small, so you need to have more than one or two...and if only one is really good, or neither is very good, then I'm kind of going to lose my interest.  Also, the pit's stranglehold on the fruit has never pleased me.  I had a few close calls as a kid with putting a half-eaten plum into my mouth to extricate the fruit from the pit only to have the whole thing propel to my throat for one-scary-experience!

What I did/do like about a plum, however, was/is the thin, tart skin.  Contrasted with the sweet pulp this was/is a plus.

There above lies our history: Plum and Me.

Fast forward to this season's abundance of Prune Plums and the great deals that my local Shoprite was promoting in August and early September.  Always attracted by a good deal, I was drawn to the bin of plums and noticed how small they were!  'Why bother?' I thought.  A quick search on my iPhone persuaded me to buy a few.  Read NPR's take here.

I do love a good crisp and so decided to try a scaled down recipe featuring these tiny orbs.  The results were wonderful.  I used and modified this recipe.

Notes

1.  Since I was experimenting, I halved the mentor recipe to achieve the yield stated below.  In the future, I will making the full recipe.  It is that good!

2.  I purchased 7 prune plums that weighed in just shy of 7 ounces.  Once sliced, this was enough for 1 1/2 cups.  So I added 1/2 cups of blueberries to give me 2 cups of fruit.

3.  There is no need to use ramekins.  Any oven safe dish will work.  Just make sure that it will hold the volume of ingredients you have.

4.  Oh, good news!  Prune plums don't like barnacle-clingy seeds either.  They release theirs without hassle :)

Prune Plum Crisp
Yield:  Three 6-ounce ramekins

Filling:
2 cups sliced prune plums
1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
wee splash of vanilla
a pinch of cinnamon

Topping:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
wee pinch of salt, optional
2 tablespoons butter, softened

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350º F and butter the three ramekins.
2.  In a medium bowl, toss the prune plums (remember I had to add a few blueberries), flour, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon together.

3.  Place a third of the fruit mix (eyeball) into each buttered ramekin.

4.  In the same bowl, combine all the topping ingredients.  Mix with a fork until crumbly.

5.  Distribute one-third of the mixture to the top of each ramekin.  Use your hands to help disperse the crumbs evenly.

6.  Bake uncovered fro 40-45 minutes or until topping is crispy-looking and golden.