Sans Rival Macaron

Sans Rival Macarons I www.haideekitchen.blogspot.com

I was missing home...as in my home country, the Philippines. I have been living in the gulf for almost a decade. And although I love living in Bahrain, there are still some days when I get "homesicked"...I miss home.

It was one of those days. I was missing my family, their loud laughter and warm hugs, their spontaneous "I love yous" that sound way better in person than over the phone. Hanging out with my friends. Road trips. The beach. Oh! the beach. When the gulf summer seems it will never end, that's when I miss Boracay the most. And of course, the food, glorious "Pinoy" food!

Whenever I go home on holidays, I prepare myself to gain weight and just let myself go and indulge on all the food that I missed. I would have a mental list of what I would like to eat. But it seems our visits, no matter how long or short, were never ever enough to revisit all the yummies in my check list. One of those cravings that I missed on my last trip was Sans Rival Cake.

Sans Rival Cake may sound French, (well actually it is), but this confection is a well-loved Filipino dessert. It's a multi-layer of meringue, buttercream and chopped roasted cashew nuts, covered with butter cream and roasted cashew nuts. Yes, it sounds incredibly good that it's name claimed it is "without rival".

So I was craving for this cake and feeling bummed that no one is making it around here. The closest meringue-ish dessert is macaron, which on normal days I would love to have in any flavor. But even that will not satisfy because I was craving for buttercream sandwiched between the meringue. And then I had an epiphany...what if I make macaron with sans rival filling? I imagined it and in my mind and was convinced it would work. The only problem is...I've never made macarons before nor have I ever made Sans Rival cake.

So I began my search to find the perfect recipe to merge these 2 greats to create one genius dessert. Many webpages later, I resolved to try out these recipe combination: Macarons recipe from Martha Stewart and the buttercream recipe from BakeHappy. How did it go? Har har har (like the laugh of an evil genius!) Eureka! It was a success! It is everything I imagined it would be!

I think it would be selfish not to share this discovery to the web world. After all, I wouldn't have done it without the help from Ms. Martha and Ms. Aikko's recipe. So here it is, enjoy!

Sans Rival Macaron Recipe

For the Macarons: Adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe, the directions were slightly modified.

Difficulty: (not easy for me!)

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Resting Time: 30 minutes
Baking Time: 14 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups almond meal
1 3/4 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 large or 120g egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp almond extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.

2.Sift and whisk together almond meal and confectioner's sugar in a large mixing bowl.

3. In a stand mixer with whisk attachment, whisk egg whites on medium speed until frothy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly add the granulated sugar and almond extract. Whisk on high speed until soft peak forms, about 3-5 minutes.

4. Fold egg whites into the almond and sugar mixture until well combined. Mix vigorously with spatula until the mixture sinks and smooth and thick and has the same consistency as honey. Transfer the mixture into a pastry bag with round tip. Pipe 1-inch round into a silicone macaron mould. Alternatively, pipe in 1-inch round, 1 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You should be able to make 2 baking sheets of 28 macaron shells each. Tap the baking sheet to make sure there are no air bubbles.

5. Let it dry for at least 30 minutes until the tops are shiny and dry. 

6. Place the baking sheets on the middle rack and on the lowest rack and keep the oven door slightly ajar for the 1st 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, rotate both baking sheets 180* and switch-- the one on the middle rack to the bottom and the one at the bottom on the middle rack. Close the oven door and do not open until after 7 minutes.

7. Let cool in the baking sheet for 20 minutes then remove and transfer to the cooling rack to cool completely.

For the Cashew Nut Buttercream Filling, adapted and slightly modified recipe from Bake Happy:
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup water
9 egg yolks
3 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed
1/2 pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup lightly toasted, chopped cashew news.

Special tool needed: Candy Thermometer (This is a must!)

Directions:
1. In a saucepan fitted with candy thermometer, boil sugar and water over high heat. Shake and swirl the pan occasionally to avoid sugar from browning on the side of the pan. While waiting, pour the egg yolks in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.

2. Once the sugar syrup registers 220*F on the candy thermometer, start beating the egg yolk on high speed. Turn down the speed to low or turn it off once the egg yolk is frothy.

3. As soon as the sugar syrup registers a temperature of 240*F, remove from hear and start beating the egg yolk at medium speed and pour the sugar syrup slowly and at steady stream. Increase the speed to high once the all the syrup have been incorporated and beat for 1 minute. Place in the fridge for 8-10 minutes to cool down.

4. Return the egg mixture to the stand mixer, beat on low speed then gradually add butter. Add vanilla extract and salt. Turn up the speed on high and whisk until fluffy.

5. Gently fold in cashew nuts with a spatula and place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.

To assemble:
Take a heaping spoonful of the butter cream filling and sandwich it between macaron shells. If you wish, you can add more shards of chopped cashew nuts around the filling.

Sans Rival Macarons I www.haideekitchen.blogspot.com

I was still missing home but I was happy I got to taste a bit of it, with a twist, in my Bahrain kitchen.

Bourbon Dulce de Leche

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas is just around the corner. My tree is up and decorated in gold and silver, my holiday table is set. Oh yes, we're on festive mode before December hits! Why? Why not!

If you're like me, you'd probably be collecting ideas of what to give to friends and family right about now. I put a lot of thought into it. I'm not Oprah that money is no object, but with little creativity and a bit of (fun) work, I can give my loved ones some of my favorite things. I started that last year, I decided to give them something handmade and homemade. I hope they liked them 'coz I sure enjoyed making them.

So I thought I'd share some of the recipes with you. You can find the links for the recipes on the home page under the label "Edible Gifts". They're so easy to make anybody can make them.

Here's one that I gave to some of my girlfriends, my Dulce de Leche spiked with Bourbon whiskey and spiced with Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans. I loooove dulce de leche. It's great with vanilla ice cream, (way better than caramel!), on top of cupcakes, brownies and slathered on top of  my mom's "suman sa lihiya" (sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf). It's also good by itself, just grab a spoon, dunk it in the sticky pot and indulge!

It's simple to make but time consuming, that is if you take the route that I took. There are so many ways to make it, from simple to scary, (the thought of putting a can of condensed milk inside a pressure cooker gives me goosebumps!). The simplest I think is the method recommended by Donna Hay. I tried it many times but it does not give me the result I was looking for, I always get a darker top. And so I take the road less traveled and go for the longer method. Turns out perfect all the time!

Bourbon Dulce De Leche

Cooking Time: 60-80 minutes depending on the consistency and color that you like. It becomes darker as it as you cook longer.

Ingredients
2 x 395g can condensed milk
2 tsps Bourbon Whiskey
Beans of a 2 inch Organic Grade-A Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Pod 

Pinch of Salt

Direction:
1. Slowly cook the condensed milk in a double boiler until it thickens and changed into a darker, caramel color, stirring occasionally. Careful not to let the water touch the bottom of the pot where the milk is in. Add more water into the double-boiler if needed.

2. Once you've achieved the color and texture that you like add the bourbon, vanilla beans and salt, stir until fully incorporated and remove from heat.

3. Let it cool completely before transferring into sterilized decorative bottles.

Note on Storage:
This will keep for 2 days at room temperature or up to 1 month in the fridge but might lose it's creamy texture. To reheat, transfer into a heat-proof dish and microwave at 15 seconds interval until you get the desired temperature and smoothness.

Enjoy!

Makes 2 cups

Caldereta

My Beef Caldereta, a traditional Filipino stew, is probably the most requested dish friends ask me to bring whenever there's a potluck get-together. I love that they appreciate my cooking; to be asked for a repeat is the best compliment for an aspiring cook like me, (or it could be that I have really nice friends!).

Before, potluck get-together meant take-aways, home delivery or we just chip-in some cash for the food. It all changed when I got into the hobby of cooking. I feel I show a bit more appreciation to the host when I make the effort to prepare and bring something homemade. There's that added ingredient...love. It's not always a success though, sometimes what I make doesn't look (or taste!) exactly how I wanted it to be, like this one here, oh what a disaster!

instagram: tea cakes...epic fail! :'(

When this happens, a good bottle of booze is in order...or Krispy Kreme :-)

Recently, some of our friends organized a surprise send-off party to a lovely couple who are dear to us. We expats are used to hellos and goodbyes. For most of us Bahrain is (just) a "transient home". Sooner or later, we will bid ma'a salama (goodbye). But while we're here, we make friends, build relationships and touch lives. Some of my dearest and closest friends I met here in Bahrain, friends like the couple we honored that night. It was fun and loud as usual, but poignant nonetheless. We will miss them terribly, but it doesn't mean our friendship has to end. The world is smaller now and there are many ways to get in touch, (thanks mostly to Facebook!). And so though we will be miles apart, instead of goodbye, we say "till we meet again".


Going back to the caldereta, which was the dish that i brought to the send off, I thought it was high time to share the recipe so my friends, near and far can enjoy it anytime. And I'm dishing out my secrets why this dish is different from most caldereta you might have tried.

I'm going to peg this dish at medium difficulty not because it is complicated, it is really pretty simple and easy to prepare, but it is time consuming. You need 45 minutes pre-cooking and at least 2 hours resting time. You can even pre-cook the beef the night before. You can skip the resting time but I do this for one reason alone, which is secret no. 1...to skim off the fat.

I pressure-cook the beef then separate the beef from the stock and strain the stock to remove the spices. Pop the stock in the fridge for 2 hours to overnight. What happens next is the reason I take these extra steps...the fat will settle on top and harden forming a crust as seen here. Then it will be easy to remove these artery-clogging fats. So I get all the flavors of the fatty parts of the beef without the actual fats. I then add a different kind of fat, the ingredients that makes this dish creamy...dairy, make that 2 kinds of dairy-- butter and cheese. Hey, I didn't say this dish is healthy, but it is soulful, perfect to share with good friends.

How about you, what's your favorite dish to bring to a potluck?

Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 + 30 minutes
Resting Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes

Ingredients:
1 kg beef ribs, cut into cubes
1 kg beef brisket, cut into cubes
6 cups water
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp whole black peppercorn
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 head of garlic, whole, top trimmed + 1 head of garlic, minced
2 tbsp EVOO
1 stick of butter
2 medium sized red onions, diced
500 g potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cube
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch thick
1 large green capsicum, deseeded and cut into square (1 inch), about 2 cups
2 cups green peas
2 packs Mama Sita Caldereta Mix
2 Reno liver spread
100 g sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Directions:

1. Pressure cook the beef in water, salt, whole black peppercorn and 1 whole head of garlic for 45 minutes. Cool before opening the lid. Transfer the beef in one container and strain the stock. Discard the spices. Pop the stock in the fridge for a good 2 hours until the fat forms a crust on top. Skim off the fat and discard. Warm the stock over low heat. Set aside.

2. In a large, deep pot, melt the butter with EVOO over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and saute for 2 minutes until lightly browned. Be careful not to burn the garlic and the butter. Add the onion and crank up the heat to high. Saute occasionally for another 3 minutes until the onion is semi-translucent. Add the cooked beef, potato, liver spread, 4-5 cups of stock and Mama Sita Caldereta Mix. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes then turn down the heat to medium. Cover the pot and stir occasionally until the potato is almost cooked, about 10 minutes. Add carrots and simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Add the ground pepper and salt as needed.

3. When the potatoes and carrots are cooked, add the capsicum, green peas and cheese just before you turn off the heat. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Makes 12-14 servings.

Home-cooked Meals
21 Sep 2012

Bagoong Rice

This is one of those dishes that I made as a result of my one of those out-of-the-blue-cravings. I didn't know how to make it, but I was sure I want something home-made, not take out, (nope, not even Thailand or Mami Soup will cut it this time). So I did some research, but none of the recipes online seemed to work for me. If you cook, you know by looking at the ingredients how it's going to taste like, right? Probably the one closest to what I was dreaming of was this recipe from yummy.ph. So that became my guide, then I adjusted it to my liking.

Though this has been well adapted as a Filipino dish, this was borrowed from our Thai neighbor. We Southeast Asians share the same love for rice! And this rice dish is one of them; it's bursting with with complex flavor-- salty, sweet and tangy, what more can you ask for? A second serving perhaps?

Ingredients:
FOR THE PORK BITES
1 cup bite-sized pork belly
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp sugar

FOR THE BAGOONG RICE
3 cups day-old cooked rice
1 tbsp EVOO
1/4 cup raw bagoong alamang (shrimp paste)
1 tbsp minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
2 tbsps finely chopped red onions
1 red chili, thinly cut, crosswise

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp sugar

FOR THE OMELET:
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt

ADDITIONAL TOPPINGS
1 green mango, 3 inch-julienne
1 cucumber, 3 inch-julienne

Directions:

1. Make an omelet with one egg lightly seasoned with salt. Cool for a couple of minutes and then slice thinly, (the same size as the cucumber and mango). Set aside.

2. Season the pork with salt, pepper and sugar. Fry the pork in EVOO until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes; you may adjust to your preferred doneness. Drain on paper towel and set aside. Remove some of the pork fat and reserve for later, leave 2 tbsps of oil in the pan.

3. Saute garlic, chili and onion in the same pan over medium heat for 2 minutes or until onion is slightly softened. Add the shrimp paste , sugar and black pepper. Saute until the shrimp paste change its color from pink to brownish. Add the rice and mix until well combined. Serve in a bowl and top with strips of mangoes, cucumber and omelet.

Makes 2 servings

Home-cooked Meal
06 Oct 2012

Churros con Chocolate

"If you can't find 'em, make 'em."

That has been my motto since I moved to the Middle East, well at least when it comes to food. One of the reason I pushed myself to learn how cook is to recreate the dishes that I miss back home in the Philippines. I remember how frustrating it was when I was pregnant craving for a Henlin siomai. Thank goodness I was able to convince myself Hongkong Restaurant's siomai was good enough. But I have yet to find a Spanish restaurant that is up to my standard. I'd still claim I make the meanest paella in the island!

Another favorite comfort food and feel good snack that I miss is churros. My favorite is Dulcinea's Churros con Chocolate. If I'm having a bad day, I go grab some and as soon as I dunk the churros into that rich hot cocoa I miraculously feel much better. Ok , I may be exaggerating but you get my point. It is pure, simple pleasure.

So here's my first attempt in making churros. I struggled a bit because my icing nozzle was small, but the taste was phenomenal! I. Am. Home.

Churros

Difficulty: Medium

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Inactive Time: 20 minutes*
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
*You can use the inactive time to heat the frying oil, prepare the dusting powder and the hot chocolate

Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 stick unsalted butter
4 tbsp granulated sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
4 eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
canola oil for frying
For dusting:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon powder


Direction:

1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a saucepan, place water, sugar and butter and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat and transfer the liquid mixture in a stand mixer. Add flour and vanilla and whisk using a paddle attachment. Add eggs, one at a time until well combined.

3. Transfer the mixture in a piping bag with star tip*. Pipe the mixture in any shape you want; I made 3-inch petal shaped churros and 4-inch sticks. Freeze for 15-20 minute.
Note: It is ideal to use a large star-tipped nozzle. The one I have is pretty small so I didn't get the desired size. 

4. Meanwhile, heat the oil for deep frying until it comes up to your desired temperature.
Note: I don't use a thermometer; I gauge that the temperature is hot enough when I dip the tip of my wooden spoon onto the oil and it starts to sizzle around the spoon. Also, when I put the mixture in, it should dive up to the middle of the pan and rise up; if it sinks to the bottom of the pan, the oil is not hot enough, and if it rises too quickly to the surface, the oil is too hot.

5. Have your dusting powder ready before you fry the dough. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a paper bag and shake.  Transfer on to a bowl. Set aside.

6. When you're ready to fry, cut the parchment paper around the frozen dough and fry the dough with the paper. Once the paper separates, fish it out immediately. Fry just enough number of dough to leave plenty of room for the churros to float freely. This will avoid the dough from sticking together and to keep a steady temperature. Once the surface of the dough is golden brown, fish it out and transfer to a wire rack.

7. Dunk the churros onto the dusting powder and generously coat it.

 Now for the Tableya Chocolate (Tab-li-ya Cho-ko-la-te). Tableya is a pure cacao or dark chocolate tablet/balls native in the Philippines. Where I come from, we boast to have some of the best tableya in the country. You can read more about tableya here.

Tableya

Tableya chocolate brings back nostalgic memories about my childhood. When I was young growing up in Batangas, my grandparents had cacao trees planted in their backyard. My Lola (grandmother) would pick the cacao seeds inside the fruit and let it dry under the sun for a couple of days. She would then roast the seeds over a wood burning earthen stove. Then she would manually grind the cacao several times, gradually adding brown sugar, until she gets the right consistency and the chocolate is shiny as it releases the oil. Finally she would form it into a ball and let it set and harden. There is no better way to enjoy "tsokolate-eh" (hot cocoa with milk) and "champurado" (chocolate porridge) than with a tableya. It's 100% pure chocolate heaven.

Here's my version of this ultra-rich hot cocoa or Chocolate


Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup powdered tableya (*grate the tableya using microplane zester/grater)
2 cups full cream milk
1/2 cup double cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg



Direction:

1. Combine the tableya, sugar, milk and double cream in a "batirol" or saucepan and heat over low heat. Whisk using "molinillo"; if you don't have one, use a metal whisk or a wooden spoon instead. Keep stirring/whisking until the cocoa and sugar is completely dissolved.

2. Add the vanilla, cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Remove from heat. Serve immediately.

18 May 2012
Home-made Dessert

Binagoongan

Binagoongan

Here's my first ever post on a truly, authentic and originally pinoy (filipino) food-- Binagoongan, (Pork in Shrimp Paste).

It was noteworthy to mention that this is the first time I ever tried making this dish. My husband begged me to write it down immediately or else I might forget how I made it and I won't be able to duplicate the dish. It's gonna be an "adobo story" all over again and my husband wouldn't want that, oh no, no no! I'm still trying to find what I put in the adobo that he fell in love with, still trying to find that long lost love. Pots by pots of adobo and he still ends up brokenhearted... she is not the one. Hence, the reason why I'm blogging. I told myself never again will I cook a dish and forget about it. I owe it to the people who falls in love with it to revisit and rekindle that love over and over. So they may live happily ever after. The...what?! Ok, enough with the drama, and the adobo, let's talk about binagoongang baboy or just simply binagoongan.

I made this dish over the weekend. I searched the bloggesphere and watched several videos and none of them seems to be the "right" recipe. If you're a cook, you KNOW what I'm talking about. Once the food touches your taste buds, you know it's anatomy, you can dissect it in your mind, and can vividly imagine how it was put together... even if you haven't made one yet. I've been wrong before but I'm usually right! So, what a girl to do? Well, experiment of course! Just don the apron and get cookin'! And boy! was it a success. My husband found his new love!

As for me, I have learned my lesson, I'm penning this baby down before I forget. Let me know if this rocks your world the way it did my husband ;-)

Difficulty: Medium

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 1hr + 40 mins
Total Time: 2 hrs, 30 min
Note: You can cut total time in about 1 hour if you prep during the initial cooking time and inactive time.

Ingredients:

1 kg pork belly, cut into 1 inch strip.
1 head garlic, minced
2 large, red onions, diced
4 medium tomatoes, diced
2 eggplants, cut lengthwise then sliced into 1 cm thick
4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and thinly sliced, set aside a few slices for garnish
1/2 cup, Barrio Fiesta Sweet shrimp paste
1 cup pork broth*
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp vinegar
2 pork cubes, crushed, (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup oil + more for deep frying the pork (approximately 4 cups)


Direction:

1. Boil the pork in water with salt, pepper and 1 pork cube. After boiling for 5 minutes, turn down the heat and continue cooking for 30 to 40 minutes until the pork is tender and the fat is really soft and has a buttery texture. Fish out the pork and set aside 1 cup of pork broth* for later. Slice the pork into 1 inch cube and pop in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
 Note: You may want to prep while you wait for the pork to cook.

2.  Heat the oil for deep frying.

3. Fry pork per batch until golden brown Be careful not to overcrowd the pan or the pork will stick and the temperature of the oil will drop. Drain and Set aside.
*Caution: Watch out for the oil splatters!

4. In another pan, saute garlic, onion and tomatoes. Then add the shrimp paste, the remaining pork cube, sugar, vinegar and pork broth. Let it simmer for 5 minutes then add the eggplant and jalapeno. Finally, add the pork and toss until well combined. Taste for seasoning. Simmer for another 3-5 minutes. To serve, garnish with jalapeno slices on top. A perfect compliment to rice.

Makes: 6-8 servings

Home-cooked Meals
26 May 2012

Paella Mixta

Welcome to my kitchen. For my very first blog, I thought I'd share my signature dish, the Paella.

Paella (Valencian: [paˈeʎa], Spanish: [paˈeʎa]) is a Valencian rice dish that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century near lake Albufera, a lagoon in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain.[1] Many non-Spaniards view paella as Spain's national dish, but most Spaniards consider it to be a regional Valencian dish. Valencians, in turn, regard paella as one of their identifying symbols.There are three widely known types of paella: Valencian paella (Spanish: paella valenciana), seafood paella (Spanish: paella de marisco) and mixed paella (Spanish: paella mixta), but there are many others as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paella

This is my version of Paella Mixta, a mix of seafood and chicken. My family and friends love it. It makes a simple dinner a fiesta. Why don't you try and make some yourself? You'll be surprised it's not as complicated as it looks. Enjoy! Buen apetito!

Paella Mixta Recipe
Ingredients:

Meat:
900g or 8pcs chicken thigh, skinned, deboned and cut in half*
250g Spanish chorizo
Seafood:
16 pcs medium sized prawns, deveined, 8 with head, 8 without head
2 pcs medium sized cuttlefish, ink removed, cut into rings
16 pcs mussels
1 kg clams, steamed and shelled (20 pcs w half shell)*
Equipment:
15in Paella pan (also known as paellera), coated with olive oil
Aluminum foil to cover the pan.
5 cups rice, washed
1.5ml or 10 cups of chicken stock*
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 large or 2 medium sized red onions, diced
1 head of garlic, minced
1 large red bell pepper, fire-roasted, seeded and cut into strips*
2 240g can of peeled whole tomatoes, seeded, roughly chopped
1 cup frozen green peas
4 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne chili pepper
2 tsp saffron
Freshly milled salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup white wine
Lemon wedges, for garnish


Preparation:

The Chicken Stock:
Boil the bone from the chicken thigh in 1.5L water. Simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside.

The Red Bell Pepper:
Roast the red bell pepper on the oven top on high heat. Remove the seeds then cut into strips. Set aside.

The Clams:
Steam the clams in salted water until the shells open. Remove the meat from the shell but set aside 15-20 pieces of clams on half shell for garnish. Set aside.
Note: If you’re using big clams, no need to steam separately. Add the clams the same time you add the mussels.

The chicken and seafood must be lightly seasoned with freshly milled salt and pepper.

The Paella pan:
Generously coat the paella or paellera with extra virgin olive oil, (even if the pan you are using is non-stick).

Direction:

Preheat the Oven to 200*C.

Sauté the chicken in oil until half-cooked. You may season with salt and pepper while sautéing. Set aside.

Sauté the onions and chorizo for 1 minute then add garlic, tomatoes, half of the roasted bell pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, saffron, salt and pepper. Pour in the wine, shimmy the pan and simmer for another minute.

Add the rice, mix thoroughly until the rice is evenly coated. Add half of the broth, then stir to evenly coat the rice. Arrange the mussels on the side of the pan. If you’re using uncooked large clams, arranged it evenly and plant them on the rice to ensure that it cooks well. Add the remaining broth and bring to boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 7-10 minutes, uncovered, shaking and turning the pan occasionally.

Once the rice is nearly cooked, assemble the remaining ingredients on top: chicken, steamed clams, cuttlefish, prawns, the remaining roasted bell pepper and green peas. Cover with aluminum foil and simmer for 5 minutes in low heat, shaking and turning the pan occasionally.


If the liquid has not completely dried after 5 minutes, put the pan into the oven and bake until the liquid has been absorbed.

Garnish with lemon wedges. Serve immediately.

Makes a hearty serving for 10 people.

Wine Pairing Suggestion: Good with Medium-bodied, fruity, semi-sweet white wine. My personal favorite is Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Pairing with Sangria is also a good choice.

30 September 2011
Home-cooked Meal