Bacalhau Stew (Salt Cod Stew)
February 23, 2009 | Filed Under Bacalhau/Salt Cod, Seafood | 16 Comments
"What’s that supposed to be?" asked my sister when she spied the above photo as I posted it.
Ummm… Well, I know that it’s not the world’s best photo but it’s supposed to be Bacalhau stew (salt cod stew). Thankyouverymuch. 
I made this stew after talking to a lady at work who is very popular for cooking Latin dishes for offices parties. Her food is so good that it one of the first dishes to finish when served. I don’t remember how we got on the topic of Bacalhau but she mentioned how easy it was to prepare. The more she spoke about it, the more intrigured and hungrier I became.
"Just soak the bacalhau. Then when you get home from work, fry some onions in olive oil, add tomatoes, red bell pepper, chopped cilantro, half a can of tomato sauce, and the bacalhau. Add a little bit of water. Cook the fish and you have your stew. You can serve it with veggies or rice." She didn’t give me any measurements or amounts.
Enticed, still, at the end of the day, before I headed home, I stopped at the supermarket and bought some bacalhau and soaked it. The next day, after work, I prepared it according to my loose instructions. Since she hadn’t given me any amounts, I guessed. I got stuck when it was time for me to add the water. I had no idea how much to add. Turned out that I’d added too much (Turns out that I was supposed add a little water — about two or three tablespoons and no more. Also turns out that I should have used half a small can of tomato sauce.).
I’m pleased to write that the outcome wasn’t bad at all. Served with white rice, my bacalhau stew tasted pretty good. You can see from the photo that I garnished my stew with what else? My favorite — cilantro. Yes!
Paz
Arroz con Pollo (Rice with Chicken)
February 15, 2009 | Filed Under Ecuadorian Recipes, Poultry, Rice | 20 Comments
We all know that there are different variations of Arroz con Pollo (Rice with Chicken) and depending on the country or region, it is made a little differently.
Ever since I discovered this particular rice recipe below, I’ve been making it at least once a week. Each time, my rice becomes better and better. I HEART it. Actually, I PUFFY HEART it. This Ecuadorian-style rice with chicken recipe has become my favorite rice recipe. When I first saw it, some of its ingredients, like beer or wine, intrigued me. Rice cooked with beer or wine? I used the wine and found that worked really well. The rice had an extra special taste.
I enjoyed everything in the rice — the seasoned chicken, the carrots, the tomatoes…. Thankfully, I didn’t have much trouble with the amount of water in relation to the amount of rice. Normally when I make these chicken rice dishes (see my jollof rice), I usually end up with too much water or too little water, making my rice soggy or dry. Uggh! Fortunately my rice turned out very well with this recipe and the more I made it, the better it turned out.
As suggested, I served the chicken rice with ripe fried plantains and pickled onions. Other times, I served it with a side salad, avocado slices and aji criollo (Ecuadorian hot sauce). It depended on what I had in the kitchen.
When one of my brothers stops by and I prepare this rice, he makes sure to take some home in some tupperware. The boy never brings back the tupperware. *sigh*
Now. I have a confession about the Arroz con Pollo photo above. While I’ve made rice and chicken several times, in this particular instance, you are looking at rice with turkey wings (the only part of the turkey that I like). I can happily write that the rice with turkey turned out just fine. The photo is of my leftovers, which I took to work the next day. Thanks, Laylita for the recipe.
Paz (the riceaholic)
Arroz con Pollo (Rice with Chicken)
Ingredients:
3 lbs chicken, assorted pieces
1 tbs achiote powder
½ tbs ground coriander
10 garlic cloves, crushed
2-3 tbs oil or butter1 white onion, diced, about 2 cups
2 celery stalks, finely diced
4 roma tomatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup beer or white wine
1 to 1 ½ cup water or broth
2 medium carrots, diced
1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
3 tbs finely chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper
Sides – ripe fried plantains, pickled onions or side salad, avocado slices and aji criollo
Preparation:
- Mix the crushed garlic, achiote, cumin, coriander and salt together.
- Rub the garlic seasoning on the chicken pieces.
- Heat the oil or butter on medium high heat in large sauté pan, add the chicken pieces (skin side down) and cook until browned on each side.
- Add the diced onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, and celery, mix well and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add 1 cup of beer or white wine, cook for about 20-25 minutes over medium heat until the liquid is reduced by half, stir frequently.
- Add the broth or water, rice, peas and carrots, mix well.
- Cover and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the rice is tender but still slightly firm.
- Stir in the chopped cilantro and serve with ripe fried plantains, a small salad, pickled onions, avocado slices, and hot sauce on the side.
Cebollas Encurtidas (Pickled Onions)
February 8, 2009 | Filed Under Announcements, Ecuadorian Recipes, Latin Recipes, Laylita's Recipes blog | 13 Comments
Hi Everyone. I haven’t meant to seemingly abandon this food blog. I know it’s been a while since I’ve put up a new post here. Unfortunately, life is keeping me extremely busy and stressed. As a result, I haven’t had much time to blog here or visit other blogs. Forgive me, please. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me and left messages here to make sure I was okay. I very much appreciate your concern.
Anytime I go to the neighborhood Dominican restaurant and order mangú or one of my other favorite Latin meals, it comes with a typical side dish — cebollas encurtidas (pickled onions). They are tasty sweet/sour-tasting pink, thinly sliced onions. Normally, I have to beg them to add an extra serving of the pickled onions. Depending on who waits on me, I get an amused or annoyed look before they comply.
Thanks to Laylita’s Recipes, I’ve now found out how to make my own cebollas encurtidas. My own pickled onions! Yay! I no longer have to beg for an extra serving of onions. Surprisingly, it’s easy to prepare. All I need are red onions, lime, salt and a little bit of time of patience (waiting three hours or overnight for the onions to turn pink). Oh, Layla’s recipe calls for sunflower oil. I didn’t have that and used olive oil on one occassion and canola oil at another time. And viola! I have my tasty onions. The only thing I need to practice is cutting the onions to produce nice, fine slices. I’m told that it takes a good tomato knife and lots of practice. I’m ready to practice my heart out to make nice, even onion slices. Thanks, Layla!
Before I end my post, I wanted to let you know that I’ve opened a Zazzle Gallery, where I’ve put up a few postcards for sale. These postcards have photos of NYC that you’ll see on my photo blog. At the moment, I have 10 postcards featured. If there’s a photo, in which you’re interested, let me know I’ll see it is possible to turn it into a postcard. Check the gallery when you have a chance.
If any of you miss New York Monday, don’t forget that you can always go here to find a NYC photo.
Paz
Cebollas Encurtidas (Pickled Onions)
Ingredients:
2 small red onions
Juice of 3 limes
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 tablespoon salt + more to adjust taste
Preparation:
- Cut the onion in half, slice very finely (a mandolin is very helpful with this part) and place in a bowl
- Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt and a squeeze of lime juice, let rest for about 10 minutes
- Cover the onions with lukewarm water and let rest for another 10 minutes
- Rinse and drain the onions
- Add the lime juice, salt and the oil, and mix well.
- Cover the onions and place in the fridge, the onions will start to turn pinkish after about 3 hours, and will turn very pink if left overnight. Taste again before serving and add salt if needed.
