Arroz con Pollo

My family ate this dish quite often when I was growing up. Essentially, it is an easier, simplified version of Spanish Paella. Traditional Paella was prepared for festive and larger family celebrations while Arroz con Pollo was kept for weekday dinners. Poor mans Paella cooked by his housewife, as I like to put it
Paella is cooked in a very, large pan outdoors on the fire. It contains a variety of seafood, as well as chicken. Arroz con Pollo, being somewhat uncomplicated, is cooked in a covered saucepan and apart from rice, contains only chicken as its main feature.
My mother used long grain Australian rice, but nowadays I prefer Spanish Calasparra, which is a round, short grain rice. It’s available from Spanish and South American food shops. You can replace with Italian risotto rice, if that’s easier for you.
Good quality, genuine saffron makes an excellent distinction, lending a delicate, but unmistakable floral quality. Although this dish is definitely superior with saffron, it isn’t absolutely essential. My mother often substituted luxurious saffron with inexpensive yellow food dye when money was tight. I don’t see the point of cosmetically enhanced food and I would prefer to leave out all together. Please yourself with whatever option best suits.
Serve this dish with a grated sheep’s cheese (Pecorino), sprinkled over at the table. The assertive, salty flavours of the cheese give a pleasantly pungent edge to the dish.

Components
Olive oil
1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ small red pepper, chopped into small cubes
½ small green pepper, chopped into small cubes
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 tsp dried greek oregano
Fresh thyme, finely chopped
Fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 very generous pinch of Spanish smoked paprika
1 tsp of Spanish sweet paprika
1 pinch of dried chili powder
Fresh pepper, both black and white
800g chicken pieces (leg and thigh are best)
800- 1000ml chicken stock (fake is fine)
1 very generous pinch saffron threads
200g Calasparra rice
A handful of peas (I use frozen)
Pecorino cheese, to serve

Process
Choose a lidded saucepan that will accommodate the chicken and rice comfortably. Sauté the onion, garlic, peppers, carrot and herbs with the olive oil gently for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Add both paprika's and chili and cook for a further minute.
In a separate pan, heat some olive oil and lightly brown the chicken portions. Add the chicken to the saucepan containing the sautéed aromatics. Pour away most of the fat from the pan and deglaze with combined stock and saffron. Add the stock to the chicken and aromatics. Cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the rice, along with salt and pepper. Cover and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes. Add the peas and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the rice is just cooked. Should you find the rice cooked before it has absorbed all the liquid, turn of the heat, cover the pot and allow the dish to sit for 5 minutes or so.
Serve with grated Pecorino cheese.
Serves 2 – 4 people.

Saffron Rice Salad with Scallops & Seaweed

I would like to begin by saying that I don’t really eat leftovers. I never liked the idea as a child and I don’t like the idea now. It kind of grosses me out.
Allow me to clarify as to what I mean by “leftovers”.
What I mean by leftovers is tonight’s cooked dinner to be reheated the following day. Now, I’m not talking about braises, stews, thick soups etc. We all know these foods improve upon a nights rest, after slow cooking. There are foods which don’t survive the whole reheating process without turning to mush, or what I like to call “old people” food. Foods that come under this category are usually pasta, risotto, some vegetables and some meats (chicken breast and fish especially). I particularly hate the way pasta soaks up moisture, swells upon sitting, and inevitably turns to a pappy mess upon reheating.
Food to me is as much about texture, as it is about taste.
The whole point of pasta is texture. Robbing the dish of this essential quality doesn’t really leave it with much integrity. It reminds me of Monday night dinners when I was a child. We always ate Sunday’s cooked pasta leftovers for dinner the next night. I always complained. And my mother always told me to shut up and eat. The experience scarred me for life and I vowed never to eat soggy pasta ever again…
There are some exceptions to my rule.
Lasagne is okay. Its not really what I would call “al dente” to begin with anyway. And I don’t mind pizza reheated the next day. Especially if I’ve had a trashy night before. Pizza and hangovers are a culinary marriage made in heaven (or drunkenness…)
There are some leftovers that will be fine as long as they are eaten cold or at room temperature. Roast meat (not lamb, its too greasy) and vegetables. Root vegetables in particular. I usually toss cold roasted vegetables with tinned tuna and freshly made vinaigrette. It makes a quick, tasty lunch without much effort.
Which brings me to today’s recipe. I invented this dish from leftover saffron rice. Saffron is just too expensive for the compost heap. I cook my rice in one of those Asian rice cookers. I like the firm texture when its cooked that way, and I don’t need to think about it-it does all the work for me.

Components
200g cold, cooked saffron rice (basmati)
100g cooked chickpeas (tinned)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
A piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped
20 ml of dark soy sauce
40 ml peanut oil
Chili powder
10 fresh scallops
5ml rice vinegar
5ml light soy sauce
5ml fish sauce
Fresh coriander, leaves
Roasted seafood strips
Lemon or lime wedges

Process
Combine the garlic, half the ginger, dark soy, a pinch of chili and 20ml peanut oil. Toss with the scallops and place in the fridge to marinate for an hour or two.
In the meantime whisk together the rice vinegar, dark soy, fish sauce, another pinch of soy and remaining peanut oil and ginger. Set aside and allow to infuse
Remove the scallops from the fridge. Wipe away the excess marinade. Grill the scallops until just cooked.
Toss the rice with chickpeas, reserved dressing and coriander leaves.
Pile it onto 2 plates. Place the scallops around the rice. Top the salad with seaweed strips and serve with lemon or lime wedges.
Eat immediately. Serves 2.

Hola!

I am really loving the foods of Spain and Latin America. I just cannot get enough at the moment. So I was really happy to go to the Spanish festival in Melbourne yesterday. The festival was mainly food stores, and most Spanish speaking countries were represented. These are some of the foods I observed-

Cazuela from Spain, both chicken and seafood. This dish translates as casserole, and is similar to Italian cacciatore. It was a tomato based stew garnished with black olives.

Paella from Spain. There were several varieties of this popular rice dish (chicken, seafood and vegetarian). I did not try these because they looked a suspicious shade of Roland Mcdonald yellow. And the price did not seem to justify the artificial hue (or lack of saffron)
Churros from Spain. These are deep fried fritters for dipping into hot chocolate and the Spaniards are very proud of this creation.

Asado and chimichurri (bbq beef ribs and herb condiment) from Argentina. Again these looked a bit dubious and certainly did not validate the $18 a serve.
Choripan or otherwise Chorizo in a bread roll from South America
Churrasco (bbq chicken and beef) from Brazil.

Empanadas (pies) stuffed with beef from Argentina. These were delicious. My partner and I loved these and bought some to take home. (Writing about these gorgeous pies, I could not help the urge to pop one into the oven to heat up and eat).

There were beautiful pastries from South America filled with Dulce de Leche (caramelized milk). I bought a whole tray of these assorted sweets and they were divine.

We also drank refreshing Lemonade from Mexico made with fresh lemons and fourteen herbs.

Going to the festival reminded me of my grandparents paella and I was inspired to make my own. Paella is traditionally made for lunch in a paella pan, over a fire. Paella can be made with anything really. Just keep in mind that it is a rice dish, so more rice than other ingredients. Apart from rice, paella should also contain saffron and pimenton (paprika). Use Spanish calasparra rice and Spanish smoked pimenton for authenticity. You can buy these from Spanish delis.

Paella de campina

Ingredients
800 ml chicken stock (fake is fine)
A big, fat pinch of saffron threads
1 red onion, chopped
½ tsp dried greek oregano
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
50g Spanish jamon (or use prosciutto), cubed
80g Spanish tocino (or use pancetta), cubed
100g semi dried chorizo, papery skin removed and sliced
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp Spanish smoked paprika
150g boneless chicken thigh, cut into 2cm cubes
200g calasparra rice
Fresh black pepper
1 garlic clove finely chopped, extra
Freshly chopped black pepper

Method
Heat the stock. Add the saffron threads and let the stock infuse with these golden stamens.

In the meantime prepare the “sofrito”.

Heat the oil with the onion, garlic, oregano, thyme, jamon, tocino and chorizo over a low heat, in a paella pan preferably (mine is about 22cm wide and perfect for this amount. You can also use a wide pan).

Saute gently for about 20 minutes until the onion is golden brown. Do not rush this stage, it is crucial to building the flavour of your paella and will make a big difference. Towards the end of this process add the paprika.

Then add the chicken and the rice.

Pour in the stock, bring to the simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.

Traditionally you are not supposed to stir paella, but I give it a stir half way. and again, towards the end.

It is ready when the stock is absorbed and the rice cooked. There should also be a nice golden brown crust on the base of the pan (this is delicious).

Add pepper and the extra garlic clove. Stir through lightly.

It should not need salt but add it, if it need be.

Sprinkle with parsley. Let it sit for about 5 minutes and eat.

I served this with beetroots marinated with sherry vinegar and and extra virgin olive oil. Yum!