Paella

Going into this, I knew it wasn't going to be amazing paella with a crusty bottom and perfect seafood flavor absorbed into the rice.  For starters, I don't have a cast iron pan, and I didn't have any shrimp or mussels on hand.  So it was a really tasty rice dinner with a paella inspired flair.  Even though it wasn't traditional, it still made a good dinner with fairly little fuss.

Paella (of sorts)

What you'll need:

2 large sausage links

1/2 pound or about 6 chicken tenders

3 cloves garlic smashed and coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon ground mexican oregano

1 medium onion sliced in large pieces

1 1/2 red pepper sliced (you could use a combination of red and green, I only had red on hand)

1 large pinch saffron (larger the better)

1 1/2 cups hot water

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup carnaroli or arborio rice (or any short grain)

1 cup dry white wine

2 cups chicken stock

1 can large black olives

2 teaspoons fresh cracked black pepper

Add saffron to hot water and let steep while you cook the meats. In a large pan with a lid, cook sausage.  Remove from pan, slice into bite size rounds, set aside.  Leave sausage drippings and little burned bits.  Cook chicken, slice into bite size pieces, set aside with sausage.  Cook onion and red/green pepper until onions are translucent and tender.  Add garlic, oregano and one teaspoon black pepper. Saute until garlic is fragrant.  Add wine, saffron tea, and chicken stock.  Bring to a boil and rice.  Give it a stir, reduce heat to medium low and let cook for 10 minutes.  Add chicken, sausage and black olives.  Now cover and let cook for 30 minutes.  Rice should have absorbed most of the water but still quite a bit has pooled at the top.  Add peas and remaining pepper and fold until evenly distributed.  Test rice, if it doesn't seem like you have enough liquid left in the pan you may need to add another 1/2 cup water.  Cover, do not stir again, and let cook for another 15-20 minutes or until all liquid has been absorbed and the rice is begging to brown on the bottom.  Make sure your burner is on medium low.  Thats it!

 

 

 

So thats my half effort of paella.  Someday I'm going to make it for real.  You could add shrimp in there when you add the peas and it would get it one step closer to the real thing.  The reason I wanted to make Paella is because Costo had this little jar or saffron in the spices a few weeks ago and I couldn't pass it up (it was a little pricy though).  Paella was one dish I knew required saffron.  I want to try a dessert with it next.  So stay tuned for that!  Enjoy!

Rice Pilaf

Like I said in the recipe for the Tikka Masala, this would go great with almost anything.  This rice is buttery and has the perfect amount of added flavor to be yummy with sauces or by itself. 

What you'll need:
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 small cloves galric minced (or 1 large)
1/2 onion chopped
2 cups pearl or basmati rice
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked peper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cup water

Add water and bouillon to your rice cooker. (If you don't have a rice cooker, set aside)  In a large skillet heat butter and oil or medium high heat.  Add rice and onion.  Fry rice, moving fairly constantly, until turns a golden brown color.  Just before you remove from pan, add pepper, salt, and garlic and cook for one more minute.  Pour rice into cooker and let it do it's magic.  If you do not have a rice cooker, add water to pan, cover and reduce to simmer.  I always use a rice cooker so I'm not too sure on the time, I'm going to guess about 20 or 25 minutes.  Stir rice at 20 minutes and check its doneness. 

Serve with whatever your heat desires! Enjoy!

Curry Fried Rice with Peanut Sauce

I have made this dish a few times in the past.  Last night was a repeat by Kam's request.  I thought peanut sauce sounded most excellent, so I just threw that into the mix for the heck of it.  If you've never made it before, give it a go.  Its so so yummy, and really easy.  I think you could put it on your cereal in the morning and be happy.  The curry rice is good too.  It's a little bit like my fried rice, but has a totally different flavor.  I actually made this dish with the egg fu young for my parents one time.  My mom has always said that she doesn't like curry, but she did like this dish...(I hope she wasn't just saying she did?  Mom?)  So, if you've tried the fried rice and enjoyed that, give this a try next!

What you'll need:

Curry Rice
2 cups uncooked pearl rice (then cook it)
1 pound chicken (I used 8 chicken tenders)
3 carrots diced in large chunks (about the size of your thumb nail)
1/2 onion diced
3 stalked celery diced
1 large head broccoli (my favorite word to spell)
1 can baby corn (if you like it)
1 bell pepper sliced (any color)
5 teaspoons curry powder (I used yellow)
1/2 can coconut milk (you'll use the other half for the peanut sauce)
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon turmeric (optional)
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves (optional, but HIGHLY recommended)
1/2 cup fresh thai basil leaves (optional.  This is the best part, if you can't find it, no biggie.  I currently am growing some.  Not the same as regular basil. You can use one or all of these 3 spices. Use at lease one!)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
5 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil (or whatever you like to use)

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a your largest skillet over medium heat.  Add chicken.  Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon curry and cook until done.  Remove from pan and allow to cool.  Shred or chuck once cooled enough into bit size pieces.  To pan (you should still have some oil from the chicken still in there) add carrot and onion.  Cook for about 2 minutes.  Next add 1/2 can coconut milk, cardamom, turmeric, ginger, cayenne, sugar and 3 tablespoons curry.  Mix until well combined.  Allow to cook for another 5 minutes.  Coconut milk will begin to bubble and thicken.  Next add celery and bell pepper and cook for another 2 minutes.  Now add broccoli, baby corn, cook for 2 minutes.  Your coconut milk should be pretty thick now, and spread through out your vegetables.  Pour your veggies into a large bowl, removing as much of the excess coconut milk sauce as you can.  Add remaining 2 tablespoon and sesame oil and last teaspoon curry to the pan.  Add rice and mix until rice is a light yellow color and evenly coated.  Fry stirring every 30 seconds for about 5 minutes.  Add the vegetables/coconut milk sauce, chicken and mint, basil, and/or cilantro back into rice and mix until all is well combined.

Peanut Sauce
1/2 can coconut milk
1/2 cup peanut butter (chunky or creamy.  I used creamy, I would have rather had chunky)
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon curry (I used yellow)
1 tablespoon soy sauce (full salt)
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

You can start this when you are frying your rice.  Add coconut milk and curry into a small sauce pan.  Heat over medium heat until just bubbling whisking often.  Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, and apple cider vinegar and return to bubbling whisking often.  Add sugar and peanut butter and continue whisking fairly often for about another 2 minutes.  Keep you eye on it because it will burn on the bottom.  Once it thickens, turn off heat, its done.

Bowl up your curry rice and top with your peanut sauce if you made it.  This dinner is a staple here.  Its one of those one dish wonder meals that you can never get enough of.  The peanut sauce is a new addition for us.  Not necessarily required, but so delicious, that its definitely worth it!  Enjoy!

Fried Rice Heaven

One of my favorite things my mom would make when I was a kid was fried rice.  I remember the electric fry pan she would bust out, and the big pan of white rice she would make ahead of time.  And it was always my favorite when she would you the Chinese BBQ Pork with the sweet red goodness on the outside.  So, with my own twist, I made some fried rice.  It was childhood heaven all over again!

What you'll need:
2 cups Pearl rice uncooked  (then cook it according to instructions,  I just throw it in my rice cooker with 3 cups water, but you cook it however you like)
1 good size chunk chinese bbq pork, sliced into thick strips
6 eggs
2 large carrots diced
1 cup peas
1/4 medium onion diced
1 bunch green onion, diced
1/2 can chunked pineapple

1/2 cup Soy Sauce divided
1 teaspoon Yellow curry (or whatever color you've got)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you like spice)
2  tablespoons sesame seed oil
2 tablespoons oil for frying rice (I used olive oil, because thats what I use for everything)
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger (maybe a little more)

Scramble eggs, set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil and half the soy sauce in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and diced carrot and saute until carrots are tender and onions are just about caramelized.  Next add peas, green onions, meat, pineapple, curry, giner, cayenne and cook for another 5 minutes.  Remove from skillet and set aside.

Add remaining sesame/olive oil and soy sauce to skillet and heat.  Add all your pre-cooked rice and mix until well combined and rice is a brown color from the soy.  Now stirring frequently, fry your rice.  You may want to turn up the heat just a bit.  Allow the rice to sit for about 30 seconds, then fold over.  It will have a little bit of a crispy look to it.  Keep doing this for about 10 minutes.  Mix in meat/veggies and eggs until well combined with the rice.

I guess I added a little Sriracha to the rice too!

Dish up!  Add some Sriracha Sauce if thats your thing, or whatever you like, or nothing.  The mild ginger and curry flavor makes this one dish meal so so yummy.  I have a bowl of leftover waiting for me in the fridge right now.  Enjoy!

Mexican Rice

We love mexican food in our house, especially homemade mexican rice.  You can eat this stuff hot or cold, mix it with refried beans, taco salads,  add some in a can of soup, burritos, the options are endless.  This stuff is good!

What you'll need:

2 tablespoons olive oil (any oil would work really)
2 cups long grain white rice
1/2 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced green chilies (you can get the diced tomatoes with green chili's mixed in, but I don't think            you get quite enough when you do it that way)
3 teaspoons tomato chicken bouillon

Start by heating oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high.  Dump in your rice and mix until rice is shiny and coated with oil.  You are going to fry the rice until it turns golden brown.  Half way through browning your rice (about 4 minutes) add your chopped onion and garlic.  About the time you onions are starting to look translucent, your rice should be a nice light brown color.  Reduce heat to medium low and pour in the can of tomatoes plus one and a half more cans of water, diced chilies, and bouillon and blend until everything is well combined. (When you pour in your tomatoes and water, you'd better put your apron on because it splatters quite a bit).  Cover and let stand for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, I like to move everything around again to keep the rice from burning to the bottom and ensure everything is cooking evenly.  I tend to check my rice every 10-15 minutes.  After your rice is the desired texture you like, about 40 minutes, but is a little wet still, remove the lid and let cook the rest of the way so it can release steam. At this point you will want to start fluffing your rice with a fork so you don't end up with a big mushy mess.  Total cook time is about 60 to 75 minutes depending on how dry you like your rice.  If you like it the way mexican restaurants serve, then let it go the full time fluffing every so often to let more steam release and to keep it from burning too much on the bottom.

We love this rice so much, we will even sneak bites of it cold.  Now I need to make some enchiladas or tamales to go with our rice.  Enjoy!  I know we always do!

Update 02.09.11 - - - We had this rice again for dinner last nice with some tamales I had in the freezer from our New Year's Eve Fiesta.  I added a tablespoon of cumin seeds into the rice when the onion and garlic when in.  It added that nice smokey cumin flavor, but only in the few bites when you got a seed.  Very tasty.  Give it a try!

Gumbo

I made gumbo, and it tasted so good!  The entire time I was making it, I was thinking that it wasn't going to turn out very and was really skeptical how these few ingredients were going to make something as delicious as everyone says, but WOW, was I wrong. We loved it!  I didn't make the traditional, hours long stewing Southern gumbo, but this quicker version start to finish took me about an hour and it was really yummy. So here it is....

What you'll need:

1 green pepper chopped
1 small onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 cup flour
1 can diced tomatoes

1 lb bulk sausage or kielbasa cut into bite size pieces
1 lb cooked chicken cut into bite size pieces

8 cups chicken broth (I took tomato chicken bouillon that you can find in the spanish cooking isle at any grocery store to make my stock.  I think it gave the Gumbo broth a little extra something)
1/2 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon cayenne (more or less depending on taste)
few shakes of your favorite hot sauce
4 bay leaves

Your favorite rice, cooked.  (We like pearl)


First brown your sausage, removed from pan and set aside leaving grease in pan, and cook your chicken using the sausage drippings.  Remove your chicken and cube or shred and put aside with your sausage.  Used the remaining of the drippings to saute pepper and onion until onion is tender and translucent. Add garlic and continue to cook until garlic is nice and fragrant.  Next, turn head way down and slowly sprinkle in flour and blend into the peppers and onions until they are fully coated and kind of pasty looking.  Add your wine and tomatoes and combine.  You will have something that looks like this.

Now pour in your stock, add bay leaves cayenne and hot sauce.  Bring to a boil stirring fairly consistently.  You should see you soup start to to thicken.  Once boiling for a few minutes, turn down and add your meats.  Let simmer for about 15 minutes.  Serve over rice.

We really enjoyed this, especially the leftovers.  If I were to make it again I would probably stick to this same recipe only adding shrimp to the pot as well as the other meats.  Maybe okra too!  Enjoy!