• crjoburke on December 26, 2009

  This book comes out often when entertaining.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Oysters with olives, capers, and lemon (Ostras con aceitunas y alcaparras al limón)

  • JennyCampisi on September 17, 2025

    Fun served in shot glass

• Catalan tomato and onion sauce (Sofrito)

  • mharriman on January 06, 2020

    This sauce holds up very well in the freezer. I made it for a lobster dish In same cookbook awhile back and put the remaining half in the freezer. I decided to make a chicken stew with it today after discovering an online Skinnytaste recipe: Soffrito chicken stew. I used Jose’s sauce and the rest of the Skinnytaste soffrito stew recipe, substituting chicken tenders for the called for chicken drumsticks. Turned out delicious, and it took less than 30 minutes from stove to bowls. Served over rice as suggested by Skinnytaste.

  • lorloff on January 01, 2026

    I use this sofrito regularly to add as a base to sauté paella rice in before adding the stock in Bittman’s Minimalist paella recipe. A great base secret weapon ingredient for so many things!

• Tichi's gazpacho (Gazpacho al estilo de Tichi)

  • milgwimper on August 06, 2015

    I did not use all of the oil specified, only about 1/2 and no water as I had a vitamix. The recipe is easy to put together, and so deliciously smooth and velvety. I would make this again.

• Tomato and watermelon skewers "Ferran Adrià" (Pinchitos de tomate con sandia "Ferran Andrià")

  • mirage on September 03, 2010

    Beautiful.

• Potatoes Rioja-style with chorizo (Patatas a la Riojana)

  • SilverSage on March 21, 2016

    My guests loved these. But I found the instruction to 're water to cover' was way took much water. By the time it reduced to a thick sauce, the potatoes were overcooked. Next time I'll cutback on the water.

• Route 11 potato chips omelet (Tortilla al estilo Route 11)

  • Stephenn31 on July 09, 2024

    Really easy and delicious! I still prefer a traditional Spanish tortilla, but this is a fun (and much easier) alternative.

• Moorish-style chickpea and spinach stew (Garbanzos con espinacas)

  • twoyolks on April 30, 2020

    The flavors were pretty good but the stew missed some umami and richness.

• Asturian bean stew with clams (Fabes con Almejas "Tia Chita")

  • Acarroll on April 15, 2022

    It was really good and my 5 year old loved it (although I left out the clams to make it vegan). It seemed too watery so I added a can of refried beans to thicken it, which worked well. We all enjoyed the meal, just couldn't bring ourselves to eat the leftovers.

• Quail with smoked bacon and lentil stew (Codorniz con lentejas)

  • crandall57 on October 31, 2024

    This is a delicious dish! I had semi-boneless quail; it needed to cook a little longer.

• Roasted red bell peppers with sherry vinegar (Pimentos al ajo y vinagre de Jerez)

  • fprincess on October 12, 2025

    A friend had a tapas party and I thought it would be fun to cook from this book that I borrowed from the library. I made two dishes which were very well received. The first one was the classic roasted bell peppers with sherry vinegar. I have had lots of versions of this dish in the past; what sets this one apart is its attention to detail with the careful build of layers of flavors. The bell peppers are roasted (I did mine on the barbecue), peeled and deseeded, cut into strips. The Spanish olive oil is infused with sliced garlic for 1 minute until the garlic turns brown. Then the bell peppers are gently cooked in a covered pan in the garlic-infused olive oil with a little bit of water for about 30 minutes. The sherry vinegar is added at the end as well as some parsley (the picture in the book shows rosemary for some reason). It's delicious as is, on a slice of bread, or in sandwiches. and the oil/vinegar mixture is great in everything.

• Green beans with tomatoes and pearl onions (Judias verdes con tomate y cebolla)

  • Baxter850 on June 16, 2024

    A bit one note with the jam on but with it, the dish is nice. Would cut the beans in half after blanching so the beans are more delicate (which is consistent with the picture in the book).

• Traditional garlic shrimp (Gambas al ajillo)

  • SilverSage on March 21, 2016

    Two minutes per side was too long to cook this size shrimp, especially since you cook another minute after adding the brandy. I did a minute per side, then another with the brandy. They came out just right. The flavor was excellent.

  • lorloff on September 25, 2016

    Our go to recipie for Gambas al ajillo used smoked chiles de Oaxaca and used amontillado sherry instead of brandy. I too cook the shrimp 1 minute on side one then add the sherry and finish the shrimp.

• Traditional Catalan flatbread with caramelized onions, roasted peppers, anchovies, and Manchego cheese (Coca de cebolla con pimentos, anchoas y queso Manchego)

  • JennyCampisi on September 17, 2025

    Took longer to brown. Do not be afraid of the quantity of toppings, the base is crispy and can hold it.

• Chicken and mushroom paella (Paella de pollo y setas)

  • Sally on May 23, 2012

    Great dish. We made this with skin-on, boneless chicken thighs and chanterelles. Rich, satisfying and very delicious.

• Chicken with lobster (mar y montaña de pollo con bogavante)

  • mharriman on July 10, 2019

    Wonderful results for my first time use of this cookbook. The sauce for the lobster and chicken is nothing short of heavenly! This recipe takes a lot of time (80 minutes for me, not counting long cooking Sofrito made earlier), so when I plan it again, it will likely be for the weekend. I made a couple changes: I used thawed from frozen lobster meat and incorporated the juices from that for what was called for in the sauce. I also used Shiitake mushrooms instead of cremini since that’s what I had on hand. My husband and I commented that this tapas was better than some of the things we’ve eaten at Jose’s Jallelo restaurant!

• Serrano ham and chicken fritters (Croquetas de jamón serrano y pollo)

  • twoyolks on December 11, 2022

    These are quite tasty but do make a large quantity. Forming the béchamel mixture into cylinders is rather messy work. I would need significantly more bread crumbs and eggs to fully bread the entire mixture.

• Roasted pork tenderloin with apples (Solomillo asado con manzanas)

  • SilverSage on March 21, 2016

    This is the most tender pork tenderloin I've ever eaten. It was fork tender. He calls for a 1/2 pound tenderloin, but the ones in my store are all 1-1 1/2 pounds, so it cooked in the oven more than twice as long as called for. Curiously, he instructed to cut off the ends of the tenderloin and 'discard'. This may be how he got it to 1/2 pound, but I cooked the thing whole. The flavors were outstanding. The only down side is that the meat didn't brown. I may try to brown it first next time because I missed the crust.

• Figs with Spanish ham (Higos con jamón)

  • fprincess on October 13, 2025

    The figs (I used black mission figs) are peeled and seared at high heat in Spanish olive oil, and simply served with Serrano ham, with a drizzle of sherry vinegar & olive oil vinaigrette, and sprinkled with chives (and chive blossoms if using). I will make this again for sure; I love these little dishes that are easy to make and fun for cocktail hour.

• Rack of lamb with honey allioli (Costillas de cordero con allioli de miel)

  • mirage on May 30, 2016

    The allioli was fabulous on grilled lamb!

  • JoanN on December 10, 2022

    Timing was way off on lamb rack and I needed about ? the amount of oil called for to achieve texture of allioli as described, but no nevervmind. It all worked out in the end and the honey allioli with the lamb was just spectacular.