Tapas and Paella

So this is a really late blog, but I got a bunch of guilt from my fellow foodie friends to post this so here it goes. I studied abroad in Valencia, Spain when I was in college and fell in love with the culture and the food, so I decided to tackle a dish that most people feel is impossible to make: Paella. Looking for a Paella recipe is quite a daunting task, as there are so many different ways to make the dish according to the region that one is from in Spain. I decided to stick to the traditional Paella Valenciana recipe but picked some different techniques from multiple recipes. One essential for making paella is a paella pan. You might think they are hard to find but I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and picked one up for twenty dollars. The 15" pan should serve 6-8 people (I served 6 and had some left overs). One other essential to make this dish is saffron. If you haven't used saffron before it is a spice that might be a bit hard to find at your local grocery. It is the most expensive spice in the world and doesn't come packaged with much in the bottle, but it really adds a lot to the dish. Another note about paella Valenciana it usually calls for rabbit, which I didn't even waste time looking for, so I substituted more chicken in place of the rabbit in my recipe.

Ok now time to cook. A 15" paella pan is a bit tricky to use on a conventional stove so you might have to put the pan on two burners like I did and turn the pan during the cooking process. To start of with you need to brown the chicken in some olive oil, when this is done you take the chicken out of the pan and put it to the side. Next you want to cook the tomatoes that are chopped up as finely as you can get them (I also de-seeded them and took out the insides) the green beans(I used canned green beans) and paprika. After that you want to pour in the chicken stock. Some of the recipes call for you to simmer water in the pan with the veggies and seasonings, but I used chicken stock and it cut down on the time and tasted fine. Next you want to add the saffron to the stock and let it simmer for a few minutes, before you add the rice. I neglected to do this and when I poured the rice in and the saffron together the dish was not a consistent "yellow" color when it was done cooking. When adding the chicken stock measure how much you are adding to the pan, so that you can know how much rice to add. Most recipes called for half the amount of rice to water in the pan. Once you put the rice stir it once and let it sit. DO NOT STIR THE RICE ANYMORE! You want it to settle and make a little crust on the bottom of the pan(This is the sign of a good paella) Add the chicken back and let the whole thing simmer until all of the liquid is absorbed. This process might take a bit more time than what is listed in the recipes if you are making this dish on your stove. I ran into some trouble getting the pan to heat all the way and had to place it on two burners and turn the pan frequently to get all of the pan cooked. After it is done slice some lemons and put them on top of the pan and let everyone dig in!!!

I made two tapas to to go with the meal. I made a traditional Catalan tapa to go with this dish called pan con tomate. Tapas are very traditional in Spain and are great to eat to as little snacks to hold you over until your main meal. This is a very simple tapa and very tasty. Take a baguette and slice it on the horizontal. Toast the bread and when it comes out you want to rub the bread with a tomato (just enough to get the pulp on the bread) Then I drizzled some olive oil and sprinkled some salt on the break and cut it into bite size pieces about and inch wide. Next I had three toppings to add to the bread, manchego cheese(a spanish sheep milk cheese that is very delicious) sarrano ham ( hard to find and a bit expensive but also very delicious. I eventually found some at Dean and Deluca) and chorizo.

I also made a tortilla de potata or also know as tortilla espanola. This is another Spanish staple and I have to credit my cousin who has live in Spain for over 20 year to teaching me how to make this recipe. You will need the following: A non-stick skillet (as big as a tortilla you want) potatoes(not baking potatoes, Yukon golds work well) onions, eggs, salt and pepper. To know how many potatoes you will need put them unwashed and uncut in your pan to see how many will fit covering the surface of the pan. Next wash them, peel them, and then start cutting them on a diagonal turning the potato every time you slice off a piece(you want to try to make them all roughly the same size) I used one medium onion and cut it the same way. Next use a generous amount of oil in the pan and cook the potatoes and onions. Medium heat do not brown them you really just want to cook them until they are soft.

This takes some time depending on how big of a tortilla you are making. After you are done you want to remove the potatoes from the pan and then mix them up with about 5 or 6 eggs, again depending on how many potatoes you used. You are essentially making an omelet and want the same consistency. Pour the mixture in the pan with a little bit of oil and let it cook. After the edges are browned you want to put a plate on top of the tortilla and flip it out of the pan. Next you want to slide the uncooked side of the tortilla back into the pan and cook it until a tooth pick comes out clean. Slice it up and you can eat it warm or cold, or even add a little slice to the pan con tomate!

Semi-Southern Comfort Food

Apologies for no pictures, which probably makes this post the worst post ever!  You all probably will say this is the worst meal ever!  So I won't bore you with the recipes, but instead try to elicit a conversation on southern comfort foods.

So my hubby's family are in town visiting, and they are from the UK.  Why not indulge their taste buds with some regional foods?  Why not good ol' southern comfort food?  So on today's dinner party menu was corn bread (with a side of honey), green beans (unfortunately, without the ham hock since sissy-in-law is a vegetarian), mac and cheese, baked fried chicken (cause hubby has high cholesterol), and apple pie with ice cream.  Good display of southern food right?

There's a whole slew of southern foods that speak home for a lot of you all (y'all).  Paula Deen is quintessentially southern; and even though she can be quite comic on TV, her food stirs up good memories.  So what would be your perfect southern meal?

Couscous Stuffed Peppers

This recipe serves 5 people and leaves you with 4 stuffed peppers to eat later. The total cost is about $35, assuming you already have the spices, and you can probably save money on the peppers if you find somewhere cheap to buy them.

You can serve 9 people, but if you do then double the amount of spinach and bacon.

You will need:

• 9 bell peppers, different colours look good ($18)
• 4 servings ground chicken ($3)
  
• 3 cups of uncooked couscous ($3)
  
• 4 cups low sodium chicken stock ($2)
  
• 4 shallots, chopped ($2)
  
• 1 jalapeno, chopped ($0.30)
  
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 2 tbsp dried chopped parsley
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp sage

and

• 1 baguette ($2)
  
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp cholesterol lowering spread

and

• 2 bags cheap spinach ($3)
  
• 6 slices of streaky bacon ($1)
  

It isn't very complicated to cook, but there are a lot of instructions as I've given each step in lots of detail!

Preparation:

• Chop the shallots.
• Chop the jalapeno, and throw away the seeds (apparently they turn a bit sour when cooked).
• Cut tops of the peppers, throw away the insides, chop the tops up.
• Grease a roasting pan with cooking spray and store the peppers in this.

Make the stuffed peppers:

• Bring 3 cups of chicken stock to a boil in a really big pot (you'll be mixing everything in here later). Remove it from the heat and add the couscous. Leave to stand for 5 minutes, then stir (a.k.a. fluff) the couscous so it will be easier to mix later. Leave it there in the pot.
• Put a big frying pan on a medium-low heat (level 4 of 10), lightly coat with cooking spray or olive oil. Add the shallots and cook until they go clear, stirring occasionally.
• Add the ground meat and all the spices, then stir and cook until brown. Add half a cup of chicken stock and simmer for a couple of minutes. You'll still have a bit of extra liquid now, but pour everything into the pot with the couscous in and mix it up.
• Put the chopped pepper tops into the frying pan and cook until soft.
• Add the chopped jalapeno for about a minute then pour all this in the pot and mix.
• Stuff the peppers with the contents of the pot. I had to really pack it in to use up all the mix.
• Preheat the oven to 350F then put the peppers in there for 30 minutes (which gives you enough time to prepare the sides).

Make the side dishes:

• Mix the chopped garlic and cholesterol lowering spread (the garlic provides most of the taste so this doesn't sacrifice much on taste, but is much healthier) together in a bowl.
• Cut the baguette into slices and spread the garlic spread on. Put on a baking tray so it is ready to broil once the peppers are done.
• Cook your bacon. I use microwave bacon because it is cheap, easy and quick. I like to pull off the really fatty bits beforehand, then microwave until crispy. To chop it up simply drop it into a paper towel and scrunch it up in your hands. If you've missed any big wobbly bits of fat you'll be able to pull them out more easily at this point.
• Now you need to cook the spinach. Just drop it into the same frying pan as earlier (no need to make more stuff dirty for washing up) and stir until it is reduced to a dark green squishy mess. I had shedloads of spinach so had to do this in about 5 batches. I had also bought cheap spinach so I had to pull off the big stems by hand. I just did it whilst they were in the frying pan.
• Once all the spinach is cooked mix it with the bacon pieces. It will all fit in the frying pan to do this as it will reduce to about 10% its size after cooking.
• The peppers should have been in 30 minutes by now (the tops will be a little bit crispy), so move the peppers to the bottom of the oven to keep them warm. Change the oven to broil and put the garlic bread in. Keep your eye on these like a hawk as they burn easily.

Serve each person one stuffed pepper, some spinach with bacon, and a couple of slices of garlic bread. The stuffed peppers are ridiculously filling, so people will really only need one each, especially when dessert is Rice Krispie Treats with Oreos!

This was a good experiment but I thought of a couple of ways I could have improved it.

• It did not turn out at all spicy. I like spicy food so wish I'd spiced them up. If you have to cater to a range of tastes perhaps spice the peppers according to colour, e.g. loads of chilli powder and cayenne pepper in the red ones, just a bit in the yellow, and none in the green ones.
• I was surprised how much cholesterol was in the ground chicken. Apparently turkey is healthier than the chicken, so I'd try that next time.