Xarrete and fried eggs with lace

How to prepare a xarrete a la gallega . This weekend I was in Galicia to celebrate my father’s birthday and dinner with friends in Allariz. Imagine that I was “hungry”, surely I have lost about 2 kilos … hehe. In today’s recipe I am going to tell you about one of the 3 dishes that the three musketeers in the kitchen, Rubén, Nacho and I, made for dinner in Allariz. In particular it is the one prepared by Nacho: “Xarrete with potatoes accompanied by some incredible fried eggs with lace”. I assure you that it was the star dish although Rubén and I tried not to be left behind with a cold salmon salad and some spaghetti with banana and soft curry sauce.

The friend Garriga prepares this recipe with his eyes closed and says that what he likes most is to accompany this juicy meat with some fried eggs. Fried eggs do not come out to me very far and that is that frying an egg “well” is not easy. So I think that the saying of “You don’t even know how to fry an egg” is not derogatory, on the contrary, I think it goes in a double sense. Preparing an ideal fried egg for me is very complicated, you must keep the yolk liquid, the white curd and the edges must be crisp, what we call “lace” and that Nacho gets yummy. I still have normalillos, so it is best to follow Chef Garriga’s instructions on how to prepare them.

To accompany these eggs, Nacho had prepared a Galician xarrete the day before , perfect. For those of you who are not familiar with the xarrete recipe, I tell you that the meat of the hock is very juicy, it has a lot of gelatin so it cuts like butter and melts in your mouth. A great typical dish of Galician cuisine and that is usually prepared in stew. I hope you like it. 

Preparation of Xarrete a la gallega

1. Crush the garlic clove in a mortar, add the thyme, parsley and a tablespoon of water.
2. We marinated the xarrete an hour before with the previous pasta and season to taste with a little pepper and salt. We let it take all the flavor of the pasta before cooking.
3. In the same pot where we are going to cook the stew, add the olive oil and mark the xarrete until it is well browned, the meat will begin to release part of its juice. We remove the meat and reserve.
4. Chop the onions and bell pepper. Fry the onion and red pepper in the same oil where we brown the meat for about 10 minutes over low heat.
5. When the sauce is well browned, add the xarrete and pour in the glass of chamomile wine. Add the bay leaf and rectify salt and pepper. We let it reduce a little, about 10-15 minutes.
6. Peel the potatoes and carrots. We cut the potatoes into cubes breaking them so that they release all their starch and the carrots in slices as thin as possible.
7. Add the potatoes, carrots, peas and chili to the pot. We cover everything with the meat broth. We have 2 ways to prepare this xarrete: over low heat until the meat is tender, about 60 minutes or in the pressure cooker for about 18 minutes, always waiting for all the steam to come out of the pot valve before open it. If you prepare it the day before to heat it, it is best to use the same saucepan over very low heat, moving from time to time so that it does not stick to the saucepan.
8. We reserve on a plate and then put the fried eggs on top. It is important to have a good loaf of bread, the sauce in this recipe is great. We decorate the dish with some piquillo peppers on the sides.

Preparation of fried eggs with lace

The most important thing for sprig eggs to come out well is having a good nonstick frying pan, quality olive oil, a manageable slotted spoon, fresh eggs at room temperature (if possible homemade) and a pinch of salt.

1. To fry an egg, fill two-thirds of the pan with olive oil and put it on high heat. The oil must be very hot, the hotter it is the more sprig will come out.
2. We crack the egg. If you do not have much practice on this topic, you can help yourself with the edge of a cup or glass. When the oil is very hot, add the egg to the pan and add a pinch of salt.
3. Aided by the skimmer we push a little oil over the white and wait for the sprig to be made, without going over so that the bud does not harden. You will see the lace right away, it is the crisp edge of the egg.
4. We collect the egg with the help of the slotted spoon and add to a plate. There will be a little oil left that will delight many with a good piece of bread. You see that he has his technique, it is not complicated but it is not the easiest thing in the world.
5. We place the eggs on top of the meat and vegetable plate. And to eat.

Mery presents a good tip: I like to crack eggs in a small glass or bowl before throwing them in the pan. So I make sure of several things: that they are good, that not even a little bit of shell falls off, and that I put them in the center of the oil at once. It is a highly recommended trick for both newbies and those who do not like to leave anything to chance 🙂

I hope you like it and prepare it at home. Another Galician recipe thanks to chef Garriga.