A seasonal menu to delight your mother and toast with Pazo Baión

What better way to surprise a mother on her day than to show her how much you have learned from her and how much you love her with a sensational seasonal menu?

If we were to gloss over all the virtues of our mothers, we would not have all the space we have here. And yet, we would be unable to say them all. The people who have taken care of us since before we were born and who teach us what life is all about are immeasurable in their immense love and knowledge.

One of the most basic things they transmit to us is that we must eat well and that the best way to do it is to consume seasonal products. So what better way to surprise our mothers than by preparing a seasonal menu to delight their palate and show them that their teachings do not fall on deaf ears.

The land, the sea, and the passing of the seasons give us extraordinary products year after year. Although today you can get any product all year round, it is no less true that the course of nature is what it is and vegetables, fruits or fish still have their natural season, especially if we want to consume them fresh and in proximity.

Early May, with spring in all its splendor, is a fantastic time of the year to consume sensational products and build with them delicious dishes. Therefore, today we are going to prepare a seasonal menu to delight and surprise any mother for her day. A feast consists of an appetizer, a starter, a main course, a main course, and a dessert, all paired with Pazo Baión’s single-estate Albariños.

Hummus with Gran a Gran

Hummus is a dish that has arrived from abroad to become part of our eating habits. Largely because it is a light and delicious appetizer to start, as in our case, a sensational seasonal menu.

Ingredients
200 grams of cooked chickpeas
50 milliliters of olive oil
1 clove of garlic
Half a lemon
Sweet paprika
Parsley
Pepper and salt

Chickpeas can be bought cooked or can be cooked at home. If the second option is chosen, it is necessary to soak them the night before. In any case, once they are cooked, they must be crushed with a clove of garlic and the juice of half a lemon, until they are completely integrated and transformed into a cream.

Before presenting it, it is sautéed with a little olive oil and sprinkled with sweet paprika and fresh parsley. To accompany it we can resort to classics such as picos or tostas.

Once everything is on the table, the only thing left to do is to open a bottle of Gran a Gran, a raisined Albariño that stands out for its long finish in the mouth.

Baked salmon and yogurt sauce with Pazo Baión

Albariño wine is associated with the sea or, to be more precise, with the Rías Baixas. Hence these elaborations have accompanied the best seafood for decades. But the rivers Umia, Ulla, and Miño are also important in the cultivation of the albariño variety since there are numerous vineyards in their vicinity.

Hence, albariños also pair perfectly with river fish, such as salmon, another seasonal product in May. That is why this fish, which even gives its name to a color, is the perfect choice to prepare an easy and delicious first course within a seasonal menu designed to surprise and delight our mothers.

Ingredients
4 salmon loins
2 natural yogurts
Half a lemon
Dill
200 grams of wild asparagus
Half a clove of garlic
Pepper
Olive oil

We begin by preparing the yogurt sauce. To do this, we must pour the contents of two natural and unsweetened yogurts into a bowl. Then we add the extremely finely grated garlic, the juice of half a lemon, and salt and pepper to taste. As soon as we have all the ingredients, we integrate them well by stirring with a spoon. It is that easy and quick.

As far as the salmon is concerned, simply season the fillets with salt and pepper, marinate them with dill, salt, and pepper, place them on a tray, and put them in a preheated oven at 180º for 10 minutes. The cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of the fillets.

While the fish is cooking in the oven, we can sauté the wild asparagus, and light sprouts that complement the sumptuousness of the salmon.

And what better way to finish off the dish than by pairing it with Pazo Baión, the Best Young White Wine in Spain, according to the Gourmet Wine Guide. A fresh elaboration with personality, with aromas of fruits and white flowers that combine perfectly with the characteristic flavor of the salmon.

Rabbit stewed with Vides de Fontán

A classic of our gastronomy that needs no introduction. A good rabbit stew with potatoes and carrots is a dish that delights all palates. Galicia stands out for its meats, both red and white, and for the potato, a basic element in any stew and a product of great tradition in our lands.

Ingredients (for 4 persons)
1 rabbit, chopped
6 potatoes
2 carrots
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
1 tomato
Olive oil
1 glass of cognac
Salt and pepper to taste

This dish is the epitome of chup chup. In a pot, pour a little olive oil and fry the chopped garlic, onion, and carrot. Once they are golden brown, add the rabbit. It must acquire color on both sides.

Then add the crushed tomato and sauté everything with the cognac, waiting for it to reduce, to make sure that the alcohol has evaporated. Then add water and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Then add the potatoes chopped into big pieces and let it boil for another 30 minutes until the water has evaporated and the rabbit meat is tender.

And now all that remains is to sit down to eat it, pairing it with Vides de Fontán. A wine aged for three years, whose personality, structure, and development in the mouth make it the perfect companion for the best white meats. In such a way the flavor of this product is enhanced by the spicy and toasted notes of a unique Albariño. A perfect dish and pairing to enhance a seasonal menu to celebrate Mother’s Day.

Cherry pie with Gran a Gran

Let’s go now to the real star of the show. A delicious cherry pie that will leave any mother’s mouth agape.
Almost all of us adore our mothers’ cooking, but, without a doubt, maternal desserts occupy an exceptional place in our culinary memories and desires.

That’s why the best way to try to surprise them is by offering them a classic that is a real delicacy: cherry pie, a seasonal stone fruit, which David Lynch set as an iconic dessert in the TV series Twin Peaks. A delicious sweet that is the perfect end to a great seasonal menu.

Ingredients
500 grams of cherry
125 milliliters of water
100 grams of sugar
10 grams of cornstarch
1 lemon
One package of shortcrust pastry
One egg
Powdered sugar

The hardest part of this preparation is to pit all the cherries. Once the cherries are cleaned and pitted, everything will be easy. Put them in a pot with the water, sugar, cornstarch, and the juice of one lemon and cook them for 20 minutes, stirring constantly so that the mixture does not stick.

Then, let the filling rest and roll out two-thirds of the shortcrust pastry. Once spread, place it in a previously greased mold. Next, pour the cherry filling. Once this operation is done, with the remaining third of the shortcrust pastry we will make thin lines that we will place parallel and perpendicularly, until we draw the grid that characterizes this cake. Then paint these lines with a beaten egg and add powdered sugar to taste.

Now all that remains is to bake it. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and bake it for 40 minutes covered with aluminum foil to prevent it from burning and another 10 more without it, so that the top browns.

Then we only have to taste it accompanied by Gran a Gran, a semi-dry wine that goes perfectly with desserts, thanks to its honeyed notes and candied fruit. A grand finale for this seasonal menu designed to delight our mothers on their day.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers of the world!