Bastardized Troisgros sorrel cream sauce...

So after the shrimp in cava reduction at El Quim de Boqueria, I really wanted to get back in the kitchen and deduce the recipe. My brother & his gf were in town, and I wanted to hang out with a really good friend of mine after coming back so it was perfect to host a mini dinner! Somewhere along the planning process--what greens to serve it with etc--another friend tossed me a link to cream sauce just in case I wanted to use sorrel...AND THERE IT WAS.

Again, there was a licking of the ladle and pan. Very little seasoning involved, not that hard to do actually--lots of waiting and reducing and blahblahblah. It's actually not the straight up Troisgros brothers recipe, but one adapted by Daniel Boulud that I came across, which I also merged with this recipe for the shrimp marinade to satisfy my cava reduction needs (and also usage of chanterelle in the sauce) :) I have to say tho, the cream sauce definitely would work better with a fish in terms of matching consistency, than with shrimp. DO THAT NEXT TIME.

*********************SHRIMP in CAVA-TROISGROS SORREL CREAM SAUCE*********************
Shrimp marinade:

- 2 pounds of shrimp
- 3 tbsp shallots
- 1 cup of cava (more or less)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste

Mix mix mix, and dump in a bag/tupperware. Let marinade for 30min to an hour, no more no less. Discard marinade after.

Sauce:

- 2 cups of cava
- 2 cups of heavy cream
- 5 tbsp of champagne vinegar (more or less)
- 3 tbsp shallots
- 1/2 pound to 1 pound of chanterelle (I like them so i added more than 1/2 pound)
- 4 ounces of sorrel torn in pieces, not julienned (i kind of eyeballed this one)

Sautee mushrooms first with shallots until a little soft, then add cava and champagne vinegar. Reduce until almost all the liquid is evaporated. Add cream! Reduce reduce reeeeduce on low heat until it thickens so that it coats a spoon (or more :P). Some recipes call for straining the sauce but I really like having the mushroom in there so I kept it. (Plus chanterelles are expensive!!) Add sorrel. Sautee shrimp, throw on sauce!

Serve quickly b/c the sauce cools pretty quickly.

YAAAAAY!

Barcelona pinxtos, etc...

I had a mix of pinxtos (tapas on bread pretty much) and some regular tapas. ALL WERE DELICIOUS...and not even at noted places. (Logistically, it was easier to roam nearby wherever I was at and or yelp it--yes, yelping abroad!)

Patatas bravas at El Quim de Boqueria at mercato boqueria on las ramblas. Lick the screen. just do it.

Shrimp in cava reduction--I attempted a version of this but with cream, kind of a bastardized version of troisgros sorrel sauce. WILL POST. so good. so...so...good that I gave my friend the ladle to lick in the end and she gladly, enthusiastically obliged :) I, on the other hand, took a spoon and finger to the pan to snack on the residue. No shame. no. shaaaaame!!

ON TO THE PINXTOS:

Boquerones:

Elvers:

Anchovies:

Tortilla espanola:

Iberico ham:

Discuss, while I prep the other saucey stuffs