Oh!  When I saw Lululu’s paella the other day, I immediately had a hankering for some.  I hadn’t eaten paella in a very long time.  Her’s looked so appetizing and the best part of the recipe for me was that the ingredients were simple.   I’d made paella a long time ago (a recipe by Tyler Florence), the ingredients were many (chicken, chorizo, saffron, clams, shrimp, lobster tails…) and I’d spent a fortune buying the ingredients.  Although, the paella tasted really terrific and the recipe was tasty and definitely worth it, I was happy to see a simple, yet delicious-looking paella recipe.

Over the weekend, I went grocery shopping and bought my ingredients, mainly the shrimp and squid.  The recipe called for arborio rice.  However, despite going to three stores, I couldn’t find that rice.   There was one more store to try but by then, I was too tired.  It’s no fun lugging several grocery bags around the city.   I had long grain rice at home and planned to use it, even though I wasn’t sure how that would turn out.   Thankfully, Rosa’s Yummy Yums encouraged me to use what I had, although there’d be a difference in the recipe.

Feeling a bit tired lazy tired on the day I prepared this dish, I found that it wasn’t as labor intensive as expected.  The only part of the recipe that was a pain  in the neck was shelling and de-veining the shrimps.  Yikes!  Next time, I’ll consider paying a little extra for shrimps already de-veined.   De-veining more than five shrimps is NOT fun.   It took me FOR-EVAH to de-vein the darned things.

At the last minute, I realized that I didn’t have any white wine.  So, I used vermouth.  *shrugs*

To my delight, my paella with chorizo and seafood turned out really well.  I loved it.  My dog loved it, too.  We were the only two at home, which was okay.  More for us.  

Paz

Paella with Chorizo and Seafood
Lululu at Home

(serves 6 persons)
Ingredients:

In the mood for shrimp (and always in the mood for rice), I found the above-titled recipe that satisfied my mood.  So, I went out to buy some shrimp.  There was a time when I felt intimidated to buy seafood (I’ve never really cared for food shopping in general).    I never knew which fish to pick or what size shrimps to choose, etc… But since I started cooking, that discomfort has now passed.  Now, I’m more confident food shopping.  Strangers actually ask me food questions while I’m picking my groceries and I actually know what to tell them.  Wow!  It’s a miracle! 

So, I pointed to the shrimps I wanted and the fish guy (what do you call him?  Fishmonger?  Way too formal for me.)?  picked them out and weighed them for me.  I bought my rice and green peas and I was on my way to cooking.

After knowing how to cook, only, with salt and black pepper, I’ve been having fun learning to cook with other spices.  The spice of the week for me is garam masala.  Until this recipe, I’d never used it before.  Oh, how I love the smell of this spice.  Put it on the list of ingredients that will make me doing my kitchen dance as soon as I get a whiff of it.  I only used a tiny bit of the garam masala, as the recipe called for.  Yet, it was sufficient to make the rice fragrant and special.  It blended well with the other spices. 

My rice turned out really well.  Delicious.  The only thing I didn’t care for, while preparing this meal,  was peeling and deveining those damned shrimps.  It took forever.  Grrr!  Perhaps next time, I should buy them already deveined and peeled.  Of course, that’s at an extra cost…  Hmmm…  I’ll have to think about it.  I guess, at least, I have the option.  

Once the shrimps were deveined and peeled, there were no problems cooking.  Putting the cooked shrimps and rice together, I was able to enjoy my meal.  Not bad at all.

Paz

Spiced Shrimp

rachaelraymag.com

4 Servings

Prep Time 15 min (plus marinating)

Cook Time 5 min

3 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon turmeric

1½ pounds large large shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails left on)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1.  In a large bowl, mix together half the scallions, the garlic, coriander, cumin, cayenne and turmeric.  Add the shrimp and stir to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2.  In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the shrimp and cook, stirring constantly and seasoning with the salt, until nearly opaque, about 2 minutes.  Add the lemon juice and continue frying until the shrimp are cooked through, about 1 minute more.  Top with the remaining scallions.

Peas Pullao

rachaelraymag.com

4 Servings

Prep Time  5 min

Cook Time 30 min

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

¼ teaspoon garam masala

1/8 teaspoon turmeric

1½ cups long-grain rice

1½ teaspoons salt

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1.  In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and cook until browned, about 10 minutes.  Add the garam masala and tumeric and stir to combine.  Stir in 3 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat.  Add the rice and salt and return to a boil, stirring briefly to break up any clumps.  Lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer, without disturbing, until all the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked through, about 18 minutes.

2.  Uncover the pan and mix in the peas while fluffing the rice with a fork; cover and set aside for 5 minutes, until the peas are heated through.

Click on photo for a larger image

In my childhood food memories meme, I mentioned a spinach stew that my mother used to make. I set out to see if I could recreate it. In The Butterfly Effect meme, I wrote how my efforts were very successful.

Well, here is the spinach stew. There is no written recipe for it. I jotted down some notes as I prepared it. However, I lost them. To give a somewhat proper recipe, I’d have to make the dish again and write down everything.

So, for now, I just give you the ingredients: Frozen spinach, shrimps, canned salmon, tomatoes, tomato paste (I think), onions, olive oil, salt, pepper, hot pepper. That’s about it.

Paz

Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image

I decided to try the Brazilian dish called Bobó de Camarão (Shrimp and Creamy Cassava Sauce), a recipe from Karen of Kafka na Praia.The title intrigued me a bit. Creamy cassava sauce? I’ve had cassava plenty of times but not as a sauce. And, of course, I’ve eaten rice many times (It’s actually a food staple in my household). However, I’d never had the combination of rice and cassava as recommended in the recipe. The sauce ingredients consisted of shrimp, cassava (boiled and then pureed), tomatoes, chives, parsley, onions, garlic, red bell pepper, coconut milk, cilantro (I love cilantro!!!), milk, and palm nut oil (dende oil). While living in Africa, many of my childhood meals contained palm nut oil. I remember we even had a huge palm nut tree in our back yard. However, it is high in cholesterol and saturated fat. Especially, here in the U.S., it’s not considered a heart-happy oil, so we don’t often cook with it and try to avoid eating it. As a result, I had no palm nut oil in my kitchen cupboard. Some ethnic food markets sell the oil but I didn’t have time to go out and buy it. Instead of palm nut oil, I used olive oil. I know there’s a big difference between the oils — from taste to appearance. However, the olive oil worked out very well. The cassava sauce ingredients blended together very well. Everything complimented each other to bring out a delicious taste in the sauce. My favorite part of making the meal was adding the cilantro to the sauce. Have I told you that I love cilantro? Oh, yes, I think I have. For those who don’t care for cilantro, I’m sure that you can substitute it with flat leaf parsley. As the recipe directs, I served my cassava sauce hot with white rice. I made one adjustment to the recipe: I added hot pepper flakes.

Onion, garlic, red bell pepper, tomatoes — waiting to be chopped

Cassava

Cassava chopped

You can find the recipe here. Obrigada! Thanks, Karen! Different and delicious!

Paz

After watching Tyler Florence on his food show called Tyler’s Ultimate, I decided to go for it and try his Ultimate Paella recipe.

His food show is interesting. He picks a themed ingredient or food and travels around the world to find out the history of the food and how it’s made it that part of the world. Then he returns home, to the U.S., and makes the dish with his own spin on the recipe.

In the episode of The Ultimate Paella, Tyler first traveled to Spain to watch the preparation of authentic Valencia paella (Paella Valenciana). I found the main ingredients very different to what I’m used to eating – snails, rabbit, and something else I don’t remember. The man from Valencia said that the locals there don’t use seafood because they are farmers and use meats around them.

Next, Tyler went to Miami, Florida to watch two guys make their version of paella –Cuban style (Paella Cubana), in which they included chorizo sausage and lots of seafood.

Finally Tyler came home, to New York City, to make his version of paella, which he called The Ultimate Paella.

When I first made the paella, I mentioned it to my friend Nancy. She’s lived over 20 years in Spain and told me that paella is very much a traditional Sunday family meal in Spain. There are different varieties of paella. The best is made along the Eastern coast of Spain, from Valencia to Alicante, a rice-growing region.

She enjoys a paella mixto (mixed paella), which is made with chicken and seafood like shrimps, clams, mussels and calamari. Recently, she tried arroz negro (black rice), which she said is delicious. Apparently squid is a part of the ingredients and its ink gives the rice a black color. Interesting. I think I’d like to try it.

Nancy also told me that there is a type of paella, which consists mostly of vegetables, including green beans and “habas,” which are like lima beans. A more liquidly and soupy paella version, called “arroz caldoso” is very good, Nancy said. She and her husband have their favorite paella places, which they like to frequent. Sometimes a few scoops of paella are given to the patron when he or she has a beer or wine.

I can’t wait to try some paella in Spain, but until then I plan on making some at home. So far, I’ve made it twice.

My paella came out okay for a first timer. I enjoyed the taste of the clams, shrimp, chicken and chorizo sausage, but I had a problem with the way the rice cooked. The recipe calls for short-grained rice, but I used a long grain Jasmine rice because that’s what I had in the house. Nancy confirmed that it’s important to use short-grained rice for paella.

The more I cook, the more I discover that the proper pots and pans make a big difference in the outcome of the food. The first time I made the paella, I used a deep pot to make it and realized that the rice would have cooked better in a large paella pan or a wide shallow (none of which I had.).

When I visit Spain, I plan on buying a nice authentic paella pan, but in the meantime, I decided to buy one from Amazon.com. The second time I made my paella, I used the paella pan and I cooked with short-grained rice. While the pan has served its purpose for making paella, it is a cheap, but it will do for now. Nevertheless, my paella tasted even better the second time around, and so I dedicate this post and my meal to my two friends in Spain — Nancy and Tattum. Paz

THE ULTIMATE PAELLA

Spice Mix for chicken, recipe follows 1 (3-pound) frying chicken, cut into 10 pieces 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 Spanish chorizo sausages, thickly sliced Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 1 Spanish onion, diced 4 garlic cloves, crushed Bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped, reserve some for garnish 1 (15-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed 4 cups short grain Spanish rice 6 cups water, warm Generous pinch saffron threads 1 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed 1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and de-veined 2 lobster tails 1/2 cup sweet peas, frozen and thawed Lemon wedges, for serving Special equipment:

Large paella pan or wide shallow skillet

Rub the spice mix all over the chicken and marinate chicken for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Heat oil in a paella pan over medium-high heat. Saute the chorizo until browned, remove and reserve. Add chicken skin-side down and brown on all sides, turning with tongs. Add salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from pan and reserve.

In the same pan, make a sofrito by sauteing the onions, garlic, and parsley. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes on a medium heat. Then, add tomatoes and cook until the mixture caramelizes a bit and the flavors meld. Fold in the rice and stir-fry to coat the grains. Pour in water and simmer for 10 minutes, gently moving the pan around so the rice cooks evenly and absorbs the liquid. Add chicken, chorizo, and saffron. Add the clams and shrimp, tucking them into the rice. The shrimp will take about 8 minutes to cook. Give the paella a good shake and let it simmer, without stirring, until the rice is al dente, for about 15 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, when the rice is filling the pan, add the lobster tails. When the paella is cooked and the rice looks fluffy and moist, turn the heat up for 40 seconds until you can smell the rice toast at the bottom, then it’s perfect.

Cook’s note: The ideal paella has a toasted rice bottom called socarrat.

Remove from heat and rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with peas, parsley and lemon wedges.

Spice Mix for chicken: 1 tablespoon sweet paprika 2 teaspoons dried oregano Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture all over the chicken; marinate for 1 hour, covered