tapas themed party menu

[basilosaurus]

Please help me fill in the gaps. This is inspired by our recent trip to Barcelona (and France and Italy), plus a need to use all the wonderful truffle pastes we brought home. Also, it's a going away party.

Truffle sandwiches. I'm not sure whether to do them grilled cheese style like we had in Barcelona or butter and pastry style like in Florence (oh, how we suffered).

Patatas bravas, roasted instead of fried

Crostini with goat cheese, roasted peppers, arugula, and some with roast beef (we have it to use up)

I feel like I'm still missing green goodness. Asparagus? We ate a ton in Provence, and it was amazing. Roasted veg with romesco? A green salad?

What else is missing?

Oh, and sangria of course. Lots and lots of sangria

[wawa]

I vote grilled cheese style.

veggie is definitely missing - asparagus woudl be good. You could do that with the romesco too. And I was about to say something aobut it being in season, but I'm not sure that applies to you. If you're doing this as a buffet style thing then I wouldn't do a green salad - too hard to eat. You could do some sort of endive leaf thingy if you reeeaally want more veggies, but I think the roasted peppers and arugala on your crostini count.

IMO tapas menu needs some more simple snacky items. I think some fancy marinated olives would be in order. Maybe some roasted spiced almonds.

[basilosaurus]

You know, in all the meals we ate, we never once had little snacky items. BUT!!! You just reminded me that I have to have pa amb tomaquet. How could I forget that?!

Our party is dwindling as apparently friends of ours are out of town this weekend, and we can't reschedule, so it might be sit down family style.

[wawa]

Huh. Maybe it's just the kind of thing you see in american version of tapas bars. They just sorta throw olives at you willy nilly in all the ones I've been to.

If it's sit down then I remove my objection to salad.

[mrsw101109]

Earlier tonight I ate at an Italian tapas restaurant. The link is their menu for ideas. It was soooooo good.

spuntinowinebar.com/cms/uploads/files/b94c38fa540f281c582e0dad28219a19.pdf

[elenetxu]

You're right on with the olives and almonds, wawa!

Here's a link that might give you some inspiration: www.food.com/slideshow/15-spanish-tapas-favorites-75?nl=FCW_051512_subfeat1cta&sni_mid=41965&sni_rid=41965.311.724198

Lots of recipes here, too: www.tapasbonitas.com/food/Tapas_Recipes.php
www.spain-recipes.com/spanish_tapas.html

As for something green, here's a few ideas for filled endives (in Spanish): desdelaluna-mjose.blogspot.com.es/2009/01/endivias-rellenas.html

[magdala9]

We visited a great mediterannean tapas restaurant with friends last month. Some of the highlights

Blanched green beans wrapped in prosciutto with a balsamic drizzle.
Flavored homemade hummus with pita chips and chopped preserved lemons
Spiced figs with a rich cheese (cannot remember the name but it was a rich cheese like brie) on toasted baguettes
Cherry tomatoes soaked in great liqueur ( I remember it as vodka) then spinkled with sea salt
Scallop sashimi with chopped radishes wrapped in scallion ribbons.
Deviled Eggs with Tuna

I think that roasted asparagus with romanesco sauce sounds fantastic too.

[alithebride]

May 17, 2012 18:48:41 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

You know, in all the meals we ate, we never once had little snacky items. BUT!!! You just reminded me that I have to have pa amb tomaquet. How could I forget that?!

that's odd! i had many many snacky items in barcelona, throughout tuscany and florence. in florence (and tuscany in general) it's perfectly ok to have olives, sausage (many types-get wild boar for authentic) and cheeses like parmesian. it's normal to have a plate of that with some pickled veggies for wine in the afternoon. which is delicious