Paella Valenciana

Sofregit is the most important thing about Paella, says Javier, who is from Valencia and is very very proud about making it properly.
Because Paella Valenciana can only be made one way, with only a few accepeted additions and perhaps substitutions. There are some things that must never be added. Pepper? No. Onions? No! Chorizo? Run for your life!!! Definitely NOT!!!

So what does goes in and how is it done?

Javier has eaten Paella Valenciana ever since he was born, every Sunday. Now he lives here in the UK, but keeps up the tradition as often as he can.  He has cooked many Paella's in his life and everyone, he says is slightly different. But the basic principles are the same and very strictly followed.

The Ingredients:

1 small Chicken, cut into pieces

1 Wild Rabbit, cut into pieces

7 Pork Ribs, chopped into pieces (I used a Meat Cleaver to chop through the bones. I would recommended getting a Butcher to do this if you haven't done it before)

10 Duck Filets

(These are the sort of meats that are accepted to go into this Paella. Snails are sometimes added. A mix is great or any combination of the above)

ca. 900g Paella Rice (no precise measurement as you will see later)

ca. 250ml Tomato Passata 

3 Garlic, cloves, chopped and left with the Tomato Passata (as they will go in together)

1 large Red Bell Pepper, cut into strips

a selection of green Beans, French Beans,  Runner Beans, Mange Tout, Broad Beans (that sort of thing)

Sweet Spanish Paprika (not the smoked one!)

Saffron ...... or this orange Food Colouring which is apparently ok to use. 

(I strongly disagree, but Javier says it's too expensive to use Saffron. Well my readers, what do you think? He is being so particular about this dish and then he is adding a Food Colouring? We must do something!!!! Should anyone have a spare couple of grams of Saffron laying around and would like to donate them to my flatmate, please let me know and it will be a worthwhile cause and greatly appreciated.)

Olive Oil for frying 

Water 

A few fresh sprigs of Rosemary

I also made a simple clear stock from the bones that where over after dividing the Chicken and Rabbit into the pieces and persuaded Javier that it should be added to the dish. Believe me, it took some persuading. Usually it should only be cold water. But since there was nothing 'foreign' in the stock, just the animals that are part of the dish, and I didn't want to waste any of their flavour, the stock was accepted. Phew!

So we put a suitable size Paella Pan onto its Burner and Olive Oil is added. Javier sprinkles the Oil with Salt. That is the sort of thing I could see myself doing for no particular reason, but I forgot to inquire why exactly he seasoned the Oil instead of the meat.

 

All the pieces of meat go in together and start to fry. Javier stirs and turns everything over continuously.

After about 10 minutes the meat is brown all over. At some point during this frying Javier added the sweet Paprika, I wasn't looking and missed it... 'Javi, how am I supposed to write your recipe when you do things secretly???' 

He pushes the meat towards the sides and adds the vegetables. I had to fish out the Mange Tout from the mix, like Cinderella, as it is too delicate to start cooking at this stage and will be added a bit later.

We have now reached the stage of the all important Sofregit. At the bottom of the pan all this stirring and frying creates a crust with all the little bits that get brown and caramelised and produce all the good flavour. He takes his time during this stage and I cautiously take a very close look, worried that it may get past the caramelised stage and start to burn. But when he adds the Tomatoes with the Garlic, the smell is just so amazingly delicious all my worries are gone and I am just swooning over the pan.

After a few more stirs and turns my wonderful stock goes in, followed by a lot of cold water. How much water? Well enough to cover the meat generously, I'd say. The dreaded food colouring is sprinkled over at this moment. You remember how I feel about it? Please consider checking your cupboards, we must get the boy some real Saffron!

Even Javier is impressed with colour that the stock and water has taken on now. All that 'sofreigiting' has payed off.

This stage is basically creating its own favourful stock and cooking the meat, so it will take about 30-40 minutes. During this time the stock will reduce to about 3 cm low, from the bottom of the pan. 

Oh and the Mange Tout also went in at this stage.

It is customary to ask the guests, friends or family who are eating, to come and taste the stock at this point, to decide if there is enough salt. When everyone is happy, the rice can go in.

The trick is to draw a line straight accross the middle of the pan with the rice, then distribute is gently all over, and then take the pan by it's handles and chimmy it around, so that all the rice is covering the bottom of the pan evenly. The little interfering me was quite sure it needed a bit more rice. So I sprinkled in a little more. Javier probably was rolling his eyes behind my back.

From now on the rice needs 11 minutes to cook. So check your watches everyone! Javi turns down all the burners to minimum. The Pan can now not be touched anymore. No more stirring, no more adding anything, not even water, because the other very important thing, is to create the famous and much desired crust on the bottom. The Socarrat. To achieve this the burners are turned back to high for just a few minutes at the end. With a keen nose you can hover over the pan and smell the toasty aroma, when it is done.

 As the rice was soaking up the water and it threatened to be going too dry too quickly, Javier took a couple of large wet cloth kitchen towels and covered the whole pan up with these, to stop the steam from escaping and help cook the rice. This little rescue method is not a mistake as such, but needn't have to be part of the making and was probably my fault as I had added that little bit of extra rice. I am including it here though, because I think it is a 'good tip to know'.

Just before serving a few sprigs of fresh Rosemary are placed around the Paella. The aroma and flavour that comes off from these is quite unexpectedly delicious.

The Paella is now served like this: 

The whole pan is placed on a wooden board in the middle of the table. Everyone gets a spoon and a side plate for the bones. Sitting around the pan, everyone literally eats from the same pan. Just start in your little corner and work your way towards the middle. I absolutely love this way of eating best about this whole dish.

Cantonese Braised Beef

I was going to make a hearty Goulash when I ordered in my beef, but suddenly I felt like having a hearty Chinese dish instead. Here it is my Braised Beef Cantonese style.

Ingredients:

500g diced lean Beef

1 red Onion, sliced

5 cloves of Garlic, minced

1 inch of Ginger, sliced

1 stalk of Lemongrass

1 Cinnamon Stick

2 Cloves

2 Bayleafes

1 Black Cardamon

2 Green Cardamon

2 Star Anise

500 ml Chicken Stock

2 tbs Soy Sauce

2 tbs Shao Shing Rice Wine

1 tbs Oyster Sauce

A sprinkling of White Pepper

In a dry pan toast the dry aromatics (Cinnamon stick, Cardamon, Cloves, Star Anise) lightly. Add a tiny bit of Vegetable oil and toss in the sliced Onion. Cook gently until softened and turning slightly brown. Next add the Garlic and Ginger and stir until they are fragrant also.
This dish is a lot about smell. Let the aromas guide you to when the next stage is.

The Beef goes in next and is stirred just until it gets a little colour.

Finally all the other ingredients go in, bring everything to a simmer, cover and cook low and slow until the beef is tender, about 2-3 hours.

If you have a slow cooker this would be a great dish to use it for.

 

Serve over Rice or Noodles with some green Veg on the side. I actually waited until the next day to eat my dish as the flavours intensify and deepen overnight.

Koenigsberger Klopse (Meatballs in Caper Sauce)

This one is another trip down Childhood Memory Lane. A kids favourite, these Meatballs, I bet you, they are still on the menu on many a school lunch in Germany. But that is not a bad thing. Wait until you try them.

First make the meatballs. I used just lean minced beef but traditionally it would be half beef half pork mince.

Ingredients for the meatballs:

500g Minced Beef and Minced Pork mixed

3 slices of white Bread, soaked in 100 ml milk

1 small onion, chopped finely

1 Egg

Salt and Pepper

Squeeze the milk out of the bread and then mix all the meatball ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Using wet hands shape the meatballs. The size it up to you. Some like them smaller some want big ones.

Bring a pan of water to a rolling boil ans season the water with a little salt.

Then drop the meatballs in and let them simmer until they rise to the top.

Take them out of the pot and keep aside. The cooking water will be part of the sauce, so don't throw it away.

Next make the sauce.

70g plain Flour

70g Butter

100 ml cold milk

900ml of the cooking water

1 small jar of brined (not salted) capers

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Pinch of sugar

Salt and White Pepper to taste

Melt the Butter in a pan then stir in the flour and add the cold milk make a roux, stir constantly and quite violently to disperse any lumps. Then add the cooking water bit by bit until a lovely sauce is created. Stir in the capers (brine and all) and season with the lemon juice and sugar to taste.

Return the meatballs and reheat. Serve with potatoes and veggies or salad or both.

Sausage and Wild Mushroom Papardelle

My Boyfriend says he doesn't like Pasta. I have a feeling he just had a bad Pasta Dish and like with so many other people who don't like some specific ingredient, it tends to be the dish that was bad, not the ingredient. I decided to try and to make him change his mind.

So I made this Pasta dish, which I think is a far cry from a badly made dish with some pasta tubes in soggy sauce.

I used venison Sausages, but any good quality sausage will be fine. Wild Boar ones would have been my ideal choice. They were out of stock this time.

Fresh Papardelle is the Pasta I used, a  nice Tagliatelle maybe substituted or another wide flat variety.

My Mushrooms were Giroles, but a mixed assortment would be even better.

So here the Ingredients:

(feeds 6 people)

500g Fresh Papardelle

500g Good Quality Sausages

200g Wild Mushrooms

3 Garlic Cloves, crushed

1 tsp fresh Thyme

100g Creme Fraiche

Parsley and Parmesan Cheese for finishing

Heat a little Olive Oil in a large Pan. 

Drop little nuggets of sausage pulled straight out of the casing into the pan. 

Fry until nicely browned, breaking the pieces up a little but leaving it chunky.

Add the chopped Garlic and Mushrooms and sautee until the mushrooms are cooked.

Meanwhile cook the Pasta in a large Pot with salted boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes or whatever the instructions on your pasta packet say.

Next add the Thyme and Creme Fraiche and to the pan and leave to bubble very quietly on a low heat  while we wait until the pasta is cooked.

Once ready drop it straight into the sauce, adding some of the cooking water as well to loosen everything to the perfect saucy Pasta stage. Stir it all well and it's done.

Now serve right away on warm plates, garnishing with Parsley and grated Parmesan.

Tuck in and Bon Appetito!!

Verdict, I think he liked it. Will make more yummy Pasta dishes in the future. Because after all, I love a nice plate of Pasta every so often!

Kalter Hund - Chilled Cookie and Chocolate Cake

This is a Childhood Memory Lane Recipe. A German Classic, very indulgent Chocolate and Cookie cake. The ingredients are not really easily available everywhere, but I found them online and had them delivered right to my doorstep.

150g Light Brown Sugar

250g Palmin (a Coco Palm Fat)

50g Cocoa powder

1tsp Vanilla extract

1tsp Coffee Instant Granules

1 pinch of Salt

2 Eggs

20 or so Butterkekse

100g Hazelnuts

Toast the hazelnuts in a dry pan before whizzing them up in a food processor.

Melt the Palmin in a pan then leave to cool slightly.

Whisk together the eggs and sugar then stir in the ground Hazelnuts, Cocoa powder, Vanilla and Coffee.

Carefully incorporate the melted palm fat, then assemble the cake. Line a rectangular cake mould or bread tin with cling film and start with a layer of the cocoa mix. Precisely as you can lay the cookies in line then follow with a cocoa layer. Make as many layers as will fit but finish with a layer of cocoa.

Lightly cover with cling film then chill in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours.

Turn the cake out and serve sliced. Keep the leftovers (if there are any) in the fridge.

Chicken Liver Massala

I love Liver and Chicken Livers are my favourite. First I was thinking of making Peri Peri Chicken Livers, but then decided to try something new and different. A little research with my best friend (she is called Google) and I found this recipe and after a little adjusting to personal liking I made this astonishingly yummy little curry.

Here the Ingredients:

500g Chicken Livers, cleaned and each cut in half

2 Potatoes, diced

1 cup of frozen Peas

2 large ripe Tomatoes, grated, (skin discarded)

1 Onion, sliced

3 Garlic Cloves, crushed

1 long Green Chilli, sliced

1 Cinnamon Stick

Oil for frying

The Massala Paste:

(mix all these spices to a loose paste)

2 tsp Water

1 tsp Cumin Powder

2 tsp Coriander Powder

1 tsp Chilli Powder

1 tsp Turmeric Powder

Start by flash frying the Liver in a hot pan for about 5 minutes, tossing them with a cheffy flourish every now and then. They do not need to be cooked though at this stage as they will cook some more in the sauce later on. Set these aside and in the same pan fry the Onion with the Cinnamon Stick and a sprinkle of Salt until softened. Then add the diced Potatoes and fry some more. Add a little water and cover to get those Potatoes to cook through.

 

While that is happening, start another large pan with a little oil and fry the garlic. Just for a moment, do not let it colour to much.

 

 Then add the Massala Paste to the pan and fry until fragrant and the oil gives out a lovely red colour and starts to separate.

 

Next add the grated Tomatoes and season with Salt. Let this bubble away for about 5 minutes.

 

Now the Massala is ready for the fried Potatoes and Onion to go in with the Peas and the precooked Liver. Simmer everything for about 7 minutes and check the seasoning. Add more salt if needed.

 

Finally stir in the Garam Massala just before serving.

 

Serve with Rice and Indian Bread and a vegetable dish of your choice. We are having Roasted Butternut Squash with Indian Spices today.

Banana Bread

I have tried a couple of different ways of making Banana Bread and the one that turns out the best is this Recipe. I have used Bajan Brown Sugar just because I had some and because I got the inspiration while I was in Barbados. The Banana Bread I had there was truly divine. I ask the chef what they did to make it so dark and delicious and she gave me a few ideas.

3 very very ripe Bananas

180g Plain Flour with 2 tsp Baking Powder and 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

(or 180g Self raising flour with 1/2tsp Bicarbonate of Soda)

1/2 tsp Salt

140g Bajan Brown Sugar or (Light Brown Sugar)

2 Eggs

100g melted Butter

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 tbs Molasses

Mix the Eggs, Sugar, Butter, Molasses and Vanilla with an electric Mixer until soft and fluffy. Mash the Bananas on a plate with a fork and add to the Mix. Sift in the Flour, Salt, Bicarb and Baking Powder and stir until smooth.

Transfer this batter into a greased 750g size Loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 160-170C or gas 6 for about 1 hour. I found that ovens vary a lot, so adjust the temperature as you need to. If it goes to dark to quickly turn it down, if it doesn't seem to do anything much turn it up a bit.

Leave to cool slightly before turning out of the tin. Then rest ona  wire rack until cool. Though here in this house it doesn't even seem to last that long.

My Boyfriend likes butter on his and I like peanut Butter on mine. How do you like yours?