Before you click the jump to the rest of the article, can you guess what lies below this crust of homemade breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, chopped Italian parsley and extra virgin olive oil?

Callos ala Madrilena made with lechon patas, several chorizos bilbao, slices of Tennessee ham and garbanzos. Yet another heart stopping dish. UTTERLY SUPERB! Very high on the unctuous-ity scale. I am about to go on another “James Bond” diet for several months, pulling back from meats and eating more vegetables and fruits, and my brain resists such diet thoughts so aggressively that it “forces” me to cook things that I might miss dearly while on the diet. :) Hence the rash of lechon related posts, steaks, etc. of the past week or so…

I made the Callos ala Madrilena before, and the detailed recipe can be found here, but for this version, I used leftover lechon patas instead of fresh patas, and I added garbanzos after reading comments on the last post on this topic. In addition, sister’s description of a callos dish she had at a starred restaurant in Paris with breadcrumb crust made me try that twist with fabulous results. This is a small cazuela, and fit only 1/5th the callos I cooked the other day (I sent the rest out to friends and family), and after the callos spent the night in the fridge, I placed it in a cazuela and heated it up for 10 minutes in a 400F oven and took it out of the oven. Next, in a bowl, I mixed about 3/4 cup of homemade bread crumbs (not too finely blitzed), 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan, a tablespoon or more of chopped Italian parsley, freshly ground pepper, and several tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. This mixture was carefully placed all over the top of the warmed callos and placed back in the oven under a broiler and watched carefully to ensure that it browned but didn’t burn…

The results were absolutely delicious! The light crust of breadcrumbs and cheese gave an unusual textural twist to the incredibly unctuous and rich stew of tripe, chorizo and lechon within. This was all “laman” and not much filler or saucy sauce for the sake of sauce. Excellent by itself, or great with some toasted bread, even steamed rice… Just add a touch of sherry vinegar and/or olive oil for that last burst of flavor if you desire. Now, if I could just keep chanting “James Bond was 168 pounds, James Bond was 168 pounds”… heeheehee. :)

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