When I saw this month’s Daring Cooks challenge announcement, my pulse quickened and I envisioned a moist, colorful, flavorful Spanish rice. The sofregit seemed perfect for the season, with fresh tomatoes, peppers, and garlic, and this was a perfect opportunity to test out the paella pan (paellera) Michael gave me for Christmas. That I still had not used. Time to get cracking.

We used our homegrown tomatoes and garlic in the dish, loving the fresh flavor of the tomatoes and the intensity of our garlic. As I studied the instructions, I realized the recipe only used a small amount of the sofregit, but we enjoyed the flavor so much we added more along with a dollop of the allioli to each serving of rice. Each taste was like a game of roulette, not knowing when we would find the sharp bite of the allioli.

This delicious dish comes from an episode of Made in Spain, a public television show starring José Andrés, the internationally known Spanish chef with several restaurants in the DC Metro area. You can find a video of Chef Andrés preparing this dish at the Made in Spain website.

I opted to use shrimp instead of cuttlefish since I have a family of boys who aren’t big into seafood, and the recipe below reflects those changes, including making shrimp broth. You can find the full original recipe at Olga of Olga’s Recipes, who hosted this truly delicious challenge. Thanks to Olga for hosting this month and for choosing a challenge that will certainly get a repeat performance in our house.

To see all of the Spanish rice dishes, visit The Daring Kitchen Blogroll and the Daring Bakers Gallery at Foodgawker.

CREAMY RICE WITH MUSHROOMS, ARTICHOKES AND SHRIMP (ARROZ CON SETAS, ALCACHOFAS, Y CAMARON)

Heavily adapted from José Andrés.

Serves 4.

Equipment

large frying pan
2 quart sauce pan
paella pan (I used a 15-inch/38 cm paella pan, but you may also use a regular pan that size.)
mortar and pestle

Ingredients

SOFREGIT
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 big red ripe tomatoes (about 3.5 to 4 pounds/1.6 to 1.8 k), chopped
2 small onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup of chopped Portobello mushrooms
1 Bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
pinch ground cumin
pinch dried oregano

RICE
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 artichokes, cleaned and cut into eighths (You can use jarred or frozen if fresh are not available.)
12 Portobello or button mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
2 bay leaves
1 cup (240 ml) dry white wine
Sofregit (see recipe below)
2 cups (300 g) short grain rice (Recommend Valencia, Calasparra or Montsant, though arborio rice will also work.)
6 cups (1.4 liters) shrimp broth or water (Put the shrimp peels in a small sauce pan, add water, bring to boil and cook for about 15 minutes. Strain. Voile, you have shrimp broth.)
pinch of saffron threads (You may substitute turmeric or yellow coloring powder.)
1 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined (The recipe calls for cuttlefish or squid.)
Allioli (see recipe below)

TRADITIONAL ALLIOLI
4 large cloves garlic, peeled
pinch of salt
few drops fresh lemon juice
extra-virgin olive oil (Spanish preferred but not essential.)

Sofregit Preparation

1. Put all the ingredients together in a large frying pan and sauté slowly until all vegetables are soft.

2. Taste and add salt if needed.

Rice Preparation

1. Add the olive oil to the paella/frying pan and warm over medium heat. Add the artichokes, mushrooms, and bay leaf. Sauté until the artichokes turn golden.

2. Add the white wine to deglaze the pan. Add two or three tablespoons of the prepared sofregit and stir.

3. Add all of the shrimp broth or water and bring to a hard boil. Add all the rice, pouring it around the pan to evenly distribute it. Bring back to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Do not stir.

4. Add a hearty pinch of saffron threads and stir to distribute. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 8 more minutes. Do not stir.

5. About 5 minutes before the rice is finished, lay the shrimp around the pan, pushing them down into the liquid so they will cook.

6. Remove pan from heat and let stand a few minutes.

7. Serve with allioli and sofregit on the side.

Allioli Preparation

1. Add the salt to the bottom of the mortar and then add the garlic cloves. Using the pestle, mash the garlic cloves to a smooth paste.

2. Add the lemon juice and continue to mash.

3. Add the olive oil slowly, drop by drop, while you continue to mash the garlic. Keep turning the pestle in a slow, circular motion. Make sure the paste soaks up the oil.

4. Keep adding until you have the consistency of a very thick mayonnaise. This will take about 20 minutes.

References

Wikipedia – José Andrés

Made in Spain

Previous Daring Challenges

You can see all of my previous Daring Challenges in the the Daring Challenges tag list.

Thanks for reading this blog through a feed! Copyright © 2005-2010 Andrea Meyers: cooking, gardening & four hungry guys.

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In 1985 Penelope Casas introduced U.S. diners to the world of Spanish tapas with the success of her book Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain. Casas is a recognized authority on Spanish cuisine and has published five books on the foods of the region and writes about Spanish food and travel for several major publications. She also leads culinary tours of Spain, a piece of information I have tucked away for my future (but still unplanned) trip to Spain. Last year she published a revised version of her classic book, and I was fortunate to receive a copy for review from the folks at La Tienda.

The book has over 300 recipes, of which 50 are new, and has chapters devoted to tapas in sauce, marinades and cold tapas, tapas with bread or pastry, tapas with last-minute preparation, ingredients and cookware, sources for Spanish products, and tapas menus. The ingredients and cookware section is like an encyclopedia of Spanish cooking, with detailed descriptions of such things as queso Manchego, Marcona almonds, earthenware dishes (cazuelas), and quince paste (membrillo). The menus are very helpful for planning a tapas party, and I can see us having some kind of tapas party in the next few months. The book is very thorough and the only thing I could wish for is more photos of beautiful tapas!

We selected a couple tapas to make for Michael’s little birthday dinner (Happy Birthday, honey!), and I wanted to serve one with seafood and one with vegetables. I chose the Shrimp and Mushrooms in Almond Sauce (Fricando de Langostinos) and the Stewed Zucchini, Peppers, and Tomatoes (Pisto Manchego). Both have sauces worthy of sopping up with chunks of artisan bread. The shrimp tapa marinades overnight in a wine broth with vegetables and herbs, cooks quickly in olive oil, then finishes with mushrooms and a fish broth or clam juice. The recipe calls for straining the sauce, which we skipped because we liked the vegetables. I couldn’t resist the zucchini tapa since zucchini are in season and I have ripe tomatoes and peppers fresh from the garden. It’s an easy dish and comes together quickly. We didn’t have any bell peppers in our garden that were ready yet, but we grabbed some of our Hungarian wax peppers and added them; not traditional but still tasty. They have a bit of heat to them, much like banana peppers, so be careful if you use them as a substitute. Both tapas were healthy and delicious.

I have one copy of this terrific cookbook to give away, courtesy of La Tienda. If you want to win your own copy, leave a comment telling us about your favorite tapas. If you’ve never had tapas, then say so and throw your hat in the ring anyway! Please make sure your email address is correct so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner. Apologies to my international readers, but the book can only be shipped within the continental U.S. The contest closes at 8 P.M. EST on Thursday July 31, and Random.org will select the winner. Look for the announcement of the winner in this post soon after.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Shannon! A copy of Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain is on its way to you!

Shrimp and Mushrooms in Almond Sauce (Fricando de Langostinos)

Equipment

medium glass or plastic bowl
large skillet

Ingredients

1/2 pound shrimp, shelled (Tip: Put the shells in a pot and cover with water. Simmer for about 20 minutes, then strain. Now you have shrimp stock.)
2 slices onion
1 small carrot, sliced
1 clove garlic, lightly crushed and peeled
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/4 teaspoon dried)
dash of cinnamon
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
kosher or sea salt, to taste
flour for dusting
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small tomato chopped
1/2 cup fish broth or clam juice (I used some of the shrimp stock I made with the shrimp shells.)
2 medium mushrooms, halved, diced, or sliced
1 tablespoon ground blanched almonds

Preparation

1. In the medium bowl, add the onion, carrot, garlic, white wine, bay leaf, thyme, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Add the shrimp and stir. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Discard the bay leaf. Strain, reserving the liquid and all the remaining ingredients.

2. Lay the shrimp on paper towels and pat dry, then dust with flour.

3. In the skillet warm the oil over medium heat. Saute the shrimp for just a minute, turning once, then place shrimp on a warm plate and leave the olive oil behind.

4. Add the onion, carrots, and garlic to the skillet, adding more oil as necessary. Saute until the onions wilt.

5. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for a minute, then add the fish broth and the marinade. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

6. Strain the sauce (traditional, but we don’t do it) and return the sauce (minus the onions and carrots) the skillet. Add the mushrooms, almonds and shrimp. Taste and add more salt as necessary. Cover and cook slowly for 3 minutes, just until the shrimp are done. Serve warm.

Other Recipes You Might Like

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Source: adapted from Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain, by Penelope Casas

Thanks for reading this blog through a feed! Copyright © 2005-2010 Andrea Meyers: cooking, gardening & four hungry guys.

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Paella is the pinnacle of rice dishes, though the grand seafood version we often see in the United States would be unrecognizable to the Spanish peasants who invented it. The dish originated in Valencia and traditionally was made with rabbit and land snails, though sometimes chicken and/or duck was used instead. Seafood came later as love for the dish spread, and much later chefs began adding a meatless version to their menus for vegan customers. With so many fresh vegetables in season, summer is a perfect time for this vegan paella, though you can make a winter version with root vegetables and canned tomatoes. Saffron is noticeably absent in this version, replaced with a tomato-based sofrito.

A paella pan, or paellera, is the gear of choice for making paella, though you can use just about any wide skillet. When cooked properly, the rice forms a highly prized crispy crust on the bottom called socarrat. Nonstick pans will not render the socarrat properly, so avoid those if you want that crispy crust. Paella pans can be small enough to make tapas, just 8 inches across, or large enough to feed 50 people and 36 inches across. Make sure the pan you choose will fit on your cooktop or grill before you start cooking!

This tasty and healthy recipe from Spain and the World Table calls for Calasparra rice, a small to medium grain variety from the namesake town in Murcia, the region between Valencia and Andalucia. The rice is grown in paddies fed by water that flows in original Roman aqueducts. Calasparra and Bomba rices are highly prized for making the best paellas, though Valencia rice is still an excellent choice and more widely available in the United States. These varieties all absorb water and flavor well without becoming mushy, making them perfect for paella. You can also use arborio rice as a substitute.

I wish I could say that all the vegetables in this paella came from our summer garden, but alas it’s still early in the season, so the only thing I can claim this time around is our homegrown parsley. With all the rain we had in May we probably could have grown our rice! Nonetheless, this is my entry for the June Grow Your Own event. Visit my Grow Your Own page for more information on how to join in the fun and be sure to come back early in July to view the round-up!

Other Vegan Recipes You Might Enjoy

Equipment

large saute pan or skillet
paella pan or similar wide skillet (avoid nonstick)

Ingredients

SOFRITO
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2-1/2 cups finely diced onions
1-1/2 cups thinly sliced leeks, white part only
generous pinch of kosher salt
4-1/2 cups chopped plum tomatoes, canned or fresh if in season

PAELLA
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 artichoke hearts, cut into eighths
1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons Valencia or Calasparra rice (approximately 170 grams)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3-1/4 to 3-1/2 cups vegetable stock (approximately 812.5 mil to 875 mil)
1-1/3 cups fresh or frozen peas (approximately 140 grams)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

GARNISH
3 red peppers, roasted, peeled, and cut into strips
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

1. SOFRITO: Heat the oil in a large pan over low heat. Saute the onions with the salt for 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until they are soft. Add the tomatoes and raise the heat to medium low. Continue to cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, just until the vegetables are tender and the liquid is almost completely evaporated. Remove and reserve.

2. PAELLA: In a large paella pan or similar, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the artichoke hearts and saute until golden, about 6 minutes. Add the cauliflower and cook until lightly colored, about 3 minutes.

3. Add the rice and garlic and stir continously to toast the rice and lightly brown the garlic, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the sofrito.

4. Add enough vegetable stock to cover the rice, about 2 cups. If using fresh peas, add those now. Add sea salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium low and simmer, uncovered, until the rice has absorbed most of the stock, about 15 minutes.

5. Add the rest of the vegetable stock and continue cooking until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid, about 12 minutes. If using frozen peas, add them during the last 6 minutes of cooking. The rice should be al dente when done. If it is too firm, add additional water 1/2 cup at a time and continue cooking until the rice is done. Keep the heat around medium-low to allow a gentle simmer. Taste and add more salt and pepper as necessary. When ready to serve, garnish with the roasted red pepper strips and chopped parsley.

Resources

LaTienda.com – Paella pans (paelleras) and Spanish rice

References

Wikipedia – Paella

Wikipedia – Calasparra

Wikipedia – Murcia

Wikipedia – Valencia

LaTienda.com – Why Use Special Rice for Your Paella?

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Source: adapted from Spain and the World Table, by The Culinary Institute of America

Thanks for reading this blog through a feed! Copyright © 2005-2010 Andrea Meyers: cooking, gardening & four hungry guys.

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Getting my red wine-loving husband to drink white wine is like trying to get a kid to eat spinach, so he was not exactly thrilled when I told him I was making white sangria. I talked it up, trying to get him interested in tasting something new, but he’s just not a white wine kind of guy.

I, on the other hand, enjoy white wine and felt excited about the white sangria and the chunks of delicious fruit. This recipe uses fresh plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, oranges, and orange and lemon juice, then tops it all off with Amaretto and sparkling water, and I knew I had a winner when Michael went back for a second glass commenting on how good it tasted.

This refreshing sangria goes well with seafood or light tapas. You can mix it up 12 hours ahead, and I love how the fruity flavors mingle with the wine when it’s had some resting time, but remember to hold the sparkling water until just before serving to preserve the bubbles.

Reminder: There’s still time to enter the Spain and the World Table cookbook give away! Visit the original post and tell us about your favorite Spanish food or a Spanish food you want to try. The contest ends at 8 pm May 31!

Other Recipes You Might Like

Equipment

small sauce pan
large pitcher

Ingredients

1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 ounces (1/4 cup) water
1 cup diced ripe peaches
3/4 cup diced plums
1 cup pitted cherries
1 cup diced nectarines
8 slices peeled oranges
1 bottle (750 ml) white wine, fruity, not too dry
6 tablespoons fresh orange juice
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup Amaretto
16 ounces (480 ml) sparkling water

Preparation

1. In the small sauce pan, add the sugar and water and cook over medium heat until it starts to boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar and remove from heat. Allow to cool completely.

2. Stir together the white wine, orange juice, lemon juice, Amaretto, and the sugar water. Add the fruit and stir gently.

3. Add the sparkling water and serve immediately. Spoon some of the fruit into each glass then pour in the sangria. You can also chill the sangria for up to 12 hours, then add the sparkling water when serving.

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Source: adapted from Spain and the World Table, by The Culinary Institute of America

Thanks for reading this blog through a feed! Copyright © 2005-2010 Andrea Meyers: cooking, gardening & four hungry guys.

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I wish I could have visited Spain during my jaunt through Europe in 1996, but time was short and I thought a visit to Spain would come on a later trip that has yet to materialize. One of my childhood dreams was to see the horses in Andalusia, so I must do that as well as enjoy the art, architecture, food, and music. Obviously I have a somewhat romantic view of this future yet unplanned trip, and hopefully someday I will have a chance to fulfill those dreams.

Likewise, I’m afraid I’ve taken a somewhat romantic view of the latest cookbook to arrive courtesy of the folks at DK Publishing. Spain and the World Table is a beautiful book from The Culinary Institute of America which featured Spanish cuisine during the 2006 Worlds of Flavor International Conference & Festival in the Napa Valley. This is more than just a cookbook, it’s a journey through Spanish cuisine with features about the history of Spanish cooking and some of the great Spanish ingredients such as hams, cheeses, wines and sherries, saffron, fresh seafood, potatoes, rice, and chocolate (yes, chocolate, and not just drinking chocolate). The book is oversized with big gorgeous photos and many recipes across eight categories, including tapas, soups, meats, seafood, rice, salads and vegetables, sauces and condiments, and desserts. The recipes represent a range of complexity, and though the book focuses on Spanish ingredients, many are widely available in the United States. Some are more costly in this country, such as serrano ham, but substitutions are often easy to find to keep the dishes within budget.

So far we have made four of the dishes and I have a list of many more I plan to make, including a passion fruit ice cream I’m dying to try. We chose these recipes based on what we had on hand and what was economical, so over the weekend we made a vegetable paella, chicken chilindron, white sangria with amaretto, and shrimp in garlic. The shrimp had loads of flavor from the sauteed garlic and pepper flakes, and the wine reduction made a tasty sauce for dipping fresh artisan bread. The recipe is a bit saltier than I’m accustomed to, so I recommend tasting before adding the second round of salt.

I highly recommend this book if you enjoy world cuisine and experimenting with cooking. And speaking of which, I have one copy of this beautiful book to give away. If you want to win your own copy of Spain and the World Table, leave a comment telling us about a Spanish food you enjoy or would like to try. Please make sure your email address is correct so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner. Apologies to my international readers, but the book can only be shipped within the continental U.S. The contest closes at 8 P.M. EST on Saturday May 31, and Random.org will select the winner. Look for the announcement of the winner in this post soon after.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Courtney of Coco Cooks! A copy of Spain and the World Table is on its way to you!

Equipment

large skillet
serving bowl or platter

Ingredients

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
10 garlic cloves, sliced very thin
16 shrimp (26 to 30 count), peeled and deveined
2 teaspoons sea salt, divided
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 tablespoons white wine or lemon juice
1/4 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in the large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the garlic and the pepper flakes for about one minute, then add the shrimp and saute for 1 to 2 more minutes. Sprinkle on 1 teaspoon of the sea salt and a pinch of black pepper.

2. As soon as the shrimp are cooked through, remove them from the pan and set aside in a bowl or on a platter. Remove the garlic just as it starts to brown and spoon over the shrimp. Cover to keep warm.

3. Keep the heat at medium-high and add the white wine or lemon juice. Cook about 4 to 5 more minutes, until the wine reduces by three-quarters, shaking the pan frequently.

4. Taste the sauce and season with more salt and pepper as necessary. Add the chopped parsley and stir. Spoon over the shrimp and garlic and serve immediately with fresh artisan bread for dipping in the sauce.

Resources

The Culinary Institute of America – Worlds of Flavor 2006

Wikipedia – The Culinary Institute of America

Wikipedia – Spanish Cuisine

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Source: adapted from Spain and the World Table, by The Culinary Institute of America

Thanks for reading this blog through a feed! Copyright © 2005-2010 Andrea Meyers: cooking, gardening & four hungry guys.

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Ev is my best girl friend, and she and I have been enjoying each other’s company over good food for almost 14 years. We met in 1993 in Bogotá, Colombia when I was teaching at the embassy school, and our favorite haunt was a little Japanese store and sushi bar around Calle 98 and something or other (long time ago, memory a bit sketchy on location). Asian food was scarce and expensive in Bogotá, and it was such a *treat* for us to enjoy some Japanese food. We hung out together quite a bit during our first year there, then the next year she left to do Peace Corps work in Africa, and I later headed to Saudi Arabia.

A few years later we met up again when we were both living in Chicago. She had married her Peace Corps partner from Africa, and she and I would go for a girls’ day or evening out to a local Korean restaurant and grocery store near Lincoln Square. When I got a new apartment in Logan Square, she would stop by for cocktails on Friday evenings after work and we would chat over some really good margaritas at a little hole-in-the-wall place near my apartment. We enjoyed many of those margaritas! After a couple years I moved on to the DC area and Ev and her husband and son stayed in Chicago.

As fate would have it, she and her family ended up in the DC Metro area a few years later, and once again we were able to have some great girl talk over good food. This time our spot was a tapas bar in Old Town Alexandria where we really enjoyed the sangria! After about a year Michael and I moved to Hampton Roads, and she and her family went overseas again.

When Ev and I got together again in March of this year, we had not seen each other in four years, but it didn’t feel that way at all. We picked up right where we left off, as if we had just had a girls’ night out the week before. She was in the DC area for work, and coincidentally we had moved back to the area that same week. The house was sporting that “just moved in look,” but she took it like family and stayed in our guest room, the only room in the house that we had managed to get ship-shape before she arrived. It was a bitterly cold, snowy night, but we headed out anyway for some good Asian food and conversation at a local Thai/Japanese restaurant.

We’ve woven a thread in and out of each other’s lives over the years, and I venture to say that Ev and I will still be having girls’ night out when we are grandmas, even if we’re in different parts of the world and only get to see each other once a year or so. But every time I drink sangria or a margarita or enjoy some sushi, I think about all the good times we’ve had over food and drinks. So this Cinco de Mayo weekend, I’m making sangria to celebrate our friendship and I’ll drink a glass for Ev and her family. I know, sangria is Spanish, but that’s ok. It still goes well with Mexican food.

Equipment

large glass bowl or pitcher
plastic wrap

Ingredients

1 orange, cut into 1/8-inch slices
1 lemon, cut into 1/8-inch slices
1 cup granulated sugar
1 (750 ml) bottle dry white wine
1 (750 ml) bottle dry red wine
Sliced peaches, grapes, strawberries, or other seasonal fruit
Gin, Grand Marnier, or brandy to taste (I did 4 shots of Grand Marnier.)

Preparation

1. Combine the orange, lemon, sugar and wines in a large glass bowl or pitcher and stir for several minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 to 6 hours, or overnight.

2. Just before serving, add the optional fruits and spirits. Serve over ice or, just before serving, place some ice cubes in a punch bowl.

Resources

More Sangria Recipes

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Source: adapted from Cooking.com (attributed to Cha Cha Cha)

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