2021 Vuelta - Stage 4: El Burgo de Osma to Molina de Aragón
The riders exit Castile and Leon, the largest region of northern Spain, today and head into the central regional mass of Castile-La Mancha. I have one last dish from Castile and Leon that I wanted to make. It’s a simple dish that uses up leftovers in a straightforward manner. Migas! Migas is ubiquitous in Spain and Portugal and historically a typical starter meal for shepherds and hunters. How many times do you have some leftover baguette that goes stale and you end up chucking it in the trash? Or you made a meal where you have to buy a pack of 4 sausages and only use 1 or 2 and find a long-forgotten moldy wiener in your meat bin in a couple of months? I hate food waste and this is a good way to use these types of items before they go bad. I made a simple version of this, but you can make it with all the odds and ends you may have, an old pepper or onion would be great in this as well.
Pastoral Migas
Olive oil
2 strips of thick-cut bacon, minced
Chorizo, diced fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tbsp paprika
Old, stale baguette or other bread
1/2 tbsp minced fresh parsley
Butter
Eggs
Heat ¼ cup of oil in a skillet over medium heat and toss in the bacon, rendering some of the fat away, about 5 minutes, then stir in the chorizo and cook another few minutes until the bacon is starting to crisp.
While the meat cooks, break up your bread into small pieces and pulse into pea-sized crumbs in a food processor. Place the crumbs in a bowl and pour ¼-½ cup of water over them to moisten slightly.
When the bacon has crisped up and the chorizo is starting to brown, stir in the garlic and paprika until fragrant. Then stir in the breadcrumbs and parsley. Once the crumbs have absorbed up the pan juices and become toasty, distribute the migas onto serving plates.
Clean out the skillet with a paper towel. Add 1 tbsp each of oil and butter to the pan, over medium-high heat, until the butter melts. Swirl the oil and butter around the pan. Crack 4 eggs into the pan, season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper, and cover. After a minute, remove the pan from the heat and let it sit covered for about a minute for over-easy eggs, or about 2 minutes for over-medium eggs.
Place the eggs on top of the portioned migas and serve. ______________________________ Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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