Paella

Paella reminds me of parties at home when I was a kid. It was not something that we would cook at home, it was easier to order a paellera from the Casino Espanyol in Cebu which was one of their specialties.

There are literally hundreds of paella recipes and every cook has their own favorite recipe. Paella which originated from Spain has many Filipino adaptations. Paella is a typical Spanish recipe and is traditionally cooked in a round flat pan with two handles the "paellera". The cooking pan is also the serving dish which is then put on the table. It is normally made using shellfish but can also be made with chicken and other meats. In many Spanish villages, especially in coastal areas, they use a giant paellera to cook paella with enough to feed everybody a village.

A paella is very flexible so if you don't have the exact ingredients or if you find some of them hard to get hold of, substitute them for something similar. Getting fresh shellfish can be a problem, but you can always use frozen fish and use fish stock instead of water to increase the flavor.

I've made my own version of paella. I use achuette/ anato seeds most of the time because its sometimes hard to get saffron. It works just as well. I just lightly cook the seeds in oil to get the color and pour it into the spices along with the rice in the paellera.

1/2 cup olive oil
5 cups of rice
6 cups of fish broth
1/2 kilo shrimps deveined but keep the tail on.
2 mid-sized squids cut into rings or ribbons
1 kilo of mussels or clams
1 green pepper cut into 1/2 inch squares
1 red pepper
1 small can of peas
1 small onion
2 tbsp tomato paste
Saffron
1 clove of garlic (optional)
Parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional:
Chorizo Bilbao and Chicken sauteed with the spices.


Preparation

Begin by making fish stock. In a pot boil for 30 minutes fish bones, shrimp shells, chopped carrots, leeks, celery root, and some herbs such as thyme and sage, salt and pepper. Throw in the shellfish and mussels just before the stock is done. As soon as the shells open up, turn off the flame and strain the pot of stock and separate the calms and mussels into a dish.

In the Paella pan, heat the olive oil and once warm toss the chopped onion and green pepper and red peppers, garlic, saffron and tomato paste. Add washed rice, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper. Add broth a cup at a time by mixing it into the rice. Let it simmer lightly.

Keep stirring with a wooden spoon, without letting the rice stick to the pan. Mix in 3/4 of the squid rings, shrimp, mussels, parsley and peas. Arrange the remaining shellfish on top op of the rice and drizzle the rest of the olive oil over it.

Let it cook about 20 minutes.

Once the rice is cooked and the broth has reduced, retire the paella pan from the fire, on a wet cloth, leaving it rest for about 5 minutes.

Serve it with some big lemon quarters and hard boiled eggs for decoration.

The crust at the bottom of the pan is what makes a good paella. Make sure you allow the bottom to toast over low fire without burning it.

Vegetarian Pasta Options

Nothing compares to freshly baked bread.

I love bread.I love the funky smell of brewing yeast. I love the smell of bread baking in the oven. I love the crunch of the perfect crust. Baking breads is one of my joys in life.

When you bake bread you are working with a living thing. As soon as you activate the yeast and mix in the flour, the dough starts developing its character that will eventually show in the final baked bread. Bread making is simple, but it is hard work and eats up so much time from the time you activate the yeast until you take the bread out of the oven.

I've been making baguettes at home for some time and have mastered it over the years. This is an appoximation of there recipe I do at home. I dont have the habit of making exact measurements on my breads. I just judge everything by feel. But this will be a good guide for you.


French Baguette recipe:

1 tbsp Active Dry yeast
2 cups lukewarm water
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 cups bread flour (approximate)
1 tbsp olive oil.

In a large bowl mix water and sugar, sprinkle yeast and stir. Let stand for 5 mins then sprinkle salt. (I usually add the salt at the beginning and it works fine with me, but most bakers prefer to add the salt after blooming the yeast.

Mix in 3 cups flour, 1/2 cup at a time until smooth.Slowly kneed the dough adding the rest of the flour until the dough does not stick to you hands anymore. Need at least 10 mins. I like taking time during the kneading process to allow the flour to release its gluten. It makes the baguette more chewy.

Form the dough into a ball and place it in a bowl that has been greased with olive oil. Cover with a plastic and let rise for 45 mins until the dough doubles in size and punch down the dough using you fist. Then let it rise again for 2 hours in room temperature. After punching down th dough, you can actually refrigerate it overnight. If you do that the bread will have a better flavor as the yeast has more time to ferment and develop.

On a floured surface shape the dough into loaves. Put it in a greased and floured baking pan and let it rest again for an hour.

Score the top diagonally with a sharp knife. Brush the loaves with water. Put the bread in oven for at least 35 mins at 400'F. Or bake until crusty or golden brown.

Others put a pan of water at the base of the oven and let it steam the bread for the first 15 mins of baking, before removing the pan to let the bread brown in the oven. It makes the insides of the bread moist.

Great Casserole Dishes

Cooking a casserole dish is such a relief when you have to prepare several dishes for a party. Its so convenient because you prepare it ahead of time and just throw it in the oven or leave it on the stove. Most often casserole dishes tastes better a day or more after it was cooked.

This recipe is easy to make, delicious, and filling. I love to serve it with a nice roasted herb chicken and a green salad. The entire meal could be prepared ahead of time. Just throw it in the oven with enough time before serving.

Potato Cauliflower Gratin


Ingredients:

1 kilo medium potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1/2 kilo cauliflowers broken up
1 cup (packed) grated Gruyere or Cheddar cheese (about 4 oz)
1/4 cup (packed) freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 oz)
2 cups Milk
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp flour
2 tbsp garlic minced
2 tbsp chopped parsley

Method

Preheat oven to 400°F (unless preparing in advance).

1 Put potatoes in a large saucepan. Add enough water and sprinkle a little salt. Bring water to boil. Let it simmer until potatoes are almost tender, then stir in cauliflower let it boil for 3 mins and drain potato cauliflower mixture well.

2 Season potato and cauliflower with a little salt, white pepper and a little olive oil and toss. Arrange potato-cauliflower mixture in 11x7 inch glass baking dish.

3 In a saucepan, heat butter and olive oil over medium fire. Saute garlic but do not brown. Add flour and stir constantly for at least 30 seconds. Add warm milk a little at a time. Stir constantly with a wire whisk making sure everything is incorporated into a smooth paste before adding more milk or else it would be difficult to remove lumps later. As soon as the last portion of the milk is added and the sauce has thickened enough, add half of the Gruyere or Cheddar cheese and half of the Parmesan cheese into the mixture. Continue the stirring. Add chopped parsley.

4. Pour white cheese sauce over potato-cauliflower in the the baking dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Can be prepared 8 hours in advance. Cover and refrigerate.)

4 Bake gratin uncovered in 400°F oven until cream thickens, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Preheat broiler. Broil gratin until top is golden, about 2 minutes.

Serves 6.

Getting Started in the Kitchen

Becoming a great cook starts with a passion for life. Though eating is always associated with survival, eating "good food" is more about "living" or living life fully. Cooking to some seems like a daunting task, especially when there are so many fast food stores around and the grocery shelves are lined with all sorts of instant food products. Now, seldom does anyone have the drive to learn the art of real cooking with the intention to feed one's self only, though that may be a helpful survival skill for those who are often left by themselves at home; lest they want to live off canned food and instant noodles for an eternity. Great cooks cook out of love and labor for hours at a stretch to prepare every single component of a special dish. I am like that. And I don't mind spending hours in my kitchen. I love cooking and I love cooking for the special people in my life more. I express myself best through my food: the ingredients I choose and how I decide to cook these and the way the food is ultimately presented and served. I derive great pleasure in that. I'm sure a lot of my friends and family enjoyed a lot of my cooking, but I dare say I get greater satisfaction in seeing them enjoy the food, most especially when praises are thrown my way.

I do see myself in the food I cook. My cooking often reflects my moods and feelings. It captures my state of being in so many ways. There are times i opt for a simple meal of utan bisaya, a vegetable soup popular in the Visayas made by boiling all sorts of local veggies with malunggay leaves and seasoned only with salt or fish sauce; and paksiw, fish stewed in vinegar and spices. Other times I'd bring out my pasta maker and beat some four and eggs. And I serve the pasta with homemade bread and wine.

Cooking is like traveling. It brings back memories of parts of Asia and Europe I've been to. It also takes me to places I've dreamed of going, yet didn't have a chance to get there yet. Sometimes it takes me back to my childhood.

I love to prepare themed luncheons at home on Sundays, like the time I made a Greek lunch for a noontime viewing of Mama Mia. We enjoyed the meal between singing Dancing Queen and Super Trouper along with Meryl Streep. I baked a lovely stuffed squid basted with red wine, olive oil and fresh diced tomatoes. We could almost smell the Aegean sea off the Greek coast from our palates.

Another time I made an Indian lunch to match Slummbog Millionaire showing on my kitchen TV. I made quick a chapati, Channa masala and turmeric rice with a siding of mango chutney which I made ages ago that I somehow fished out of my crowded ref.


Chana Masala. A spicy Indian dish made of chickpeas. Perfect scooped up with a chapati.

Cooking really is a great adventure. I've been cooking for the longest time. I remember going to the Sunday market with my mum in Cebu, where I grew up. The variety of seafood fascinated me. There were strange creatures all over like sea cucumbers,giant squids, octopuses, all sorts of shellfish, slimy creatures, strange looking fishes and crustaceans that looked like the monsters in my nightmares. We'd think up a menu as we went along.

One of the first things I learned about cooking is that you can only be successful in the kitchen with the right attitude. All the skills and recipes can be learned along the way through experience and passion. Another thing, infusing it with love always make the food taste better.