Pomegrenate Sangria

Ahhh! There is nothing like sangria on hot summer nights.  But what exactly is sangria?  According to my good friend Wikipedia:

Sangria is a wine punch typical of Spain and Portugal. It normally consists of:

1. a light - dry - young - high acid - unoaked - inexpensive wine, usually red wine due to Sangria's connotation with the word blood. Other reds that work well include French styles such as Gamay or Beaujolais, and Italian styles such as Grignolino, Bardolino, Dolcetto, Freisa or Lambrusco.
2. chopped or sliced fruit such as orange, lemon, lime, apple, peach, melon, berries, pineapple, grape and mango.  
3. a sweetener such as honey, sugar, simple syrup, orange juice and/or nectar 
4. a small amount of added brandy and triple sec or other spirits 
5. In some recipes (common in the United States) Seltzer, Sprite or 7up and ice.

Awhile back I got a nice bottle of Pomegrenate red wine from Wholefoods.  I finally opened it the other night and found out it was not my ideal wine to go with steaks or other meats.  It has a sweet taste, more of a dessert wine I suppose.  Then last night a bright idea flashed before me - sangria!  Why not?  The wine was sweet and fruity, I thought it'd be perfect.  Besides, it was a warm night and I was craving for something to relax me... and something to make me a little tipsy.

So I gathered all I can find in our fridge that I thought would go well with it and made this refereshing and slightly intoxicating beverage.  It's perfect for the summer night and so simple you can make it in ten minutes.  Make sure to start with cold wine, cold fruits and cold spirits though because you want this as cold as possible.

Pomegrenate Sangria
Serves 4

ingredients:
1 bottle pomegrenate wine (or any red wine)
1 cup orange juice
1/2 liter ginger ale
1 small orange, thinly sliced
1 small green apple, cored, thinly sliced
Honey or simple syrup to taste
lots of ice

Place a few fruit slices and the ice cubes in a tall, narrow, chilled glass (the cubes should come near the top.) Set aside.
In a glass pitcher add first six ingredients and stir well. Pour and serve over ice.
Note : Tastes even better refrigerated for at least 4 hours or up to 48 hours.

Catalan Fish Stew with Pimenton Mayonnaise

It seems like I blinked, and the first two months of 2011 are over and gone.  What has happened in january and February?  I got a haircut. I found out I owe $1,800 in taxes.  The family went to Las Vegas for another boxing match - Donaire vs Montiel fight (Donaire won!).  We stayed at the Mandalay Bay where Sophia and I got complimentary tickets to watch The Lion King .  We stayed for the entire show and totally enjoyed it, Hoo-ray!  Well just that Sophia asked "what happened" about a hundred times during the show.  What else?   I can't recall much.  Time flies.

So March is here and in three weeks daughter and I will be going to the Philippines.  I am excited and nervous at the same time. DH will not be going with us and I miss him already.  Then I am stressed out on what to bring home - I have not even started shopping.  I have not been in the mood to go shopping, I guess because money is tight these days which is the reason DH is not going with us.  I am excited for the trip as Sophia will finally meet my parents.  On the other hand, I feel bad that the growing closeness between her and her Dad is going to be interrupted.  And I have so many other worries... Will she cry and look for her dad?  Can I handle her on my own?  What will my husband do while we are away?  What if she gets sick in the Philippines?  How is she going to handle the long flight?  I don't want to worry about all that... at least not right now.

Well I don't really know how to present this dish, so I'm going to cut right to the chase. Catalan Fish Stew with Pimenton Mayonnaise.  I don't know what is Catalan about it but it was pretty darn good.  My picky seafood eater husband liked it even though he had some sort of a stomach bug that day. He claims he'd have another bowl if not for his stomach problem.  But who knows, he's such a sweetheart he does not want to hurt my feelings by criticizing my cooking.

Catalan Fish Stew with Pimenton Mayonnaise

ingredients
1 1/2 lbs halibut fillets (or other white fish)
1 1/2 pound plum or roma tomatoes, cut in half crosswise
4 ounces sliced serrano ham or prosciutto, cut into thin strips
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves
1 cup bottled clam juice
1/3 cup pitted green olives, chopped
salt and pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon sweet Pimenton de la Vera (smoked Spanish paprika)

preparation

Cut fish into 2 inch chunks.

Next grate the cut sides of the tomatoes using a box grater, stopping when you reach the skin. You should end up with about 2 cups of tomato pulp. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large deep skillet. Add the onion and half of the garlic and cook on moderate heat, stirring frequently until softened and just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. 

Add the tomato pulp and cook over high heat until thickened, about 5 minutes.Add the clam juice and boil until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

Add the serrano ham or prosciutto, olives, and fish and simmer over moderate heat. Stir occasionally and cook until fish is cooked through and the stew is thick, about 5 minutes more.

Meanwhile, mash the remaining garlic with a pinch of salt in a bowl using the back of a spoon. Whisk in the mayonnaise, pimenton and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. (This step can be done upto 2 days ahead).

Sorry for the bad positioning of the teaspoon.

Serve with crusty bread to soak up those delicious juices!

fideua

It was September 2007 on our honeymoon in Barcelona that I first laid eyes on this dish.  Strolling along the famous La Rambla , I could see every restaurant having it on their menu with a photo of the dish right next to the popular paella.  I was intrigued but never had the chance to eat it - to which I regret to this day.  I was travelling with uberly cautious eaters who did not want to diverge far from the American dish.  I mean c'mon, how could you travel to Spain and eat at the Hard Rock Cafe?  There was the fear of the unfamiliar I suppose - which I understand.  Looking back, I should have sneaked out and went on a food adventure by myself.  Spain had so much stuff when it comes to food, and I just drooled past delicious looking seafood paella and fideua while touring the city.  But it was not all bad.  In the last few days when the decision of where to eat was just between me and my husband we took risks and there we found one great restaurant in the heart of Barcelona.  I will have to save the review on that restaurant for another post.
Going back to the fideua, when I saw the recipe on another blog I was immediately inspired to make it.  Afterall, I had a new paella pan to use.  It did not seem difficult to make and the ingredients were easy to find.  The original recipe from Bon Appetit May 1992 did not include shrimp but I added about 1/2 lb to add more to the protein.  I also coarsely chopped the kielbasa for the sake of my little one =)
Traditionally a noodle called fideo is used in the dish (hello, it's called fideua!).  It's a very thin noodle with about  1 to 2 inches in length.  If you can find fideo use that by all means but if not you can use angel hair pasta as a substitute.  Just break them in halves or quarters.

Kielbasa and Mushroom Fideua

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 pound onions, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 pound mushrooms, quartered
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 3 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 5 ounces kielbasa or Spanish chorizo or other garlic sausage, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 pound fideo or angel hair pasta
• 1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Minced fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat olive oil in heavy deep paella pan skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until tender, stirring frequently, about 8 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté 4 minutes. Add paprika and cayenne and stir just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and bell pepper and sauté 2 minutes. Add chicken broth, wine, chorizo. Bring mixture to simmer. Break pasta in half and add to pan. Cook until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Arrange shrimps on top and set pan in oven and bake until all liquid is absorbed and pasta is crusty, about 25 minutes (turn the shrimps half way to being done).  Sprinkle with parsley.

Fish with tomaoes, olives & capers over liguini

During the holidays I probably gobbled up at least 10 pounds of  meat --from the turkey last Thanksgiving, the prime rib, hams and more turkey on Christmas, the beef borguignon on New Year and all the other roasts and steaks in between.  I am frightened to check the scale to see how much I gained.  The mirror already tells me Santa has not left the house.  After New Year I can almost quiver at the mere thought of meat and hence I am challenging myself to serve mainly seafood at least for the first 2 weeks of January.  I love seafood, on a diet or not, but because husband is a picky eater I tend to cook meat for the most part.  At least for now husband and I are on the same page about eating seafood more often.
I am relieved that after a year I finally found our favorite fish recipe -- there scribbled in one of my old notebooks.  We use to cook this dish a lot, back when fresh seafood was easily available as husband used to live right next to Santa Monica seafood.  After we moved it seemed so much harder to find a good place to buy fish to make the dish.  This dish is good with halibut, petrale sole, red snapper and seabass.  Today, I splurged on a good piece of Chilean seabass.  Well I was forced to because I had no other choice.  I was all set to make the dish and a visit to Whole Foods presented me with only two choices of fish - halibut or Chilean seabass.  Both have the same price tag, a whooping $25 a pound.  That's right, $25/lb.  I took a deep breath and went for it.  I ordered a pound for 2 people.

After dinner I can only say that I was extremely happy how it turned out.  I still think $25/lb is expensive but the fish tasted so good I am happy for the splurge. It was buttery in texture and the flavor was delicate and divine.  Serving it with linguini pasta is the best.

Fish with tomaoes, olives & capers over liguini

1 lb sea bass fillets (or other white fish)

1 1/2 can diced tomatoes with juice

1 cup white wine like chardonnay

1 cup loosely packed fresh basil

1 cup chopped onions

2 teaspoon garlic, minced

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1-2 tablespoons Butter

Capers

1 cup chopped kalamata olives

flour

salt and pepper

Linguini pasta

hot pepper flakes

Heat a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat.  Add 3 tablespoons oil then add onions when heated. Saute until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add 1 teaspoon garlic; saute for 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, basil and wine.  Simmer uncovered until mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Sprinkle fillets with salt and pepper then coat with flour.  Slowly add the fish into the pan and submerge into the mixture. Add capers, olives and butter.  Simmer until fish is just opaque in the center. Serve fish immediately over linguini pasta.

For the liguini : Cook linguini according to package directions,  then heat oil in another skillet.  Add 1 teaspoon garlic and pepper flakes.  Cook for 1 minute then add drained linguini .  Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes and serve.

Easy Shrimp Paella

I recently bought a Lodge Dutch Oven and I was excited to use it this weekend. I researched for something uncomplicated as this is the first time I am using this type of cookware. In my research though most of the Dutch oven dishes I found took a long time to make - mostly braised pork or beef. I was just not in the mood for such meat dishes, and also I wanted a one pot meal so I can use my full concentration on it. Then I recalled watching Ina Garten's 'Easy Lobster Paella' recipe and thought I could use it as a basis for my recipe. Lobster is expensive and I shy away paying much for an experiment (...well this is also my first time to cook Paella) so I substitued shrimp instead. I love Seafood Paella and I could throw in some mussels, squid and clams in it if it was only for myself, but I have to make consideration for DH who will be sharing the meal with me. Slowly I am getting him to eat more seafood varieties... it's taking him awhile but his palate for seafood is improving.

One of my frustrations during our honeymoon in Barcelona was that I had to constrain myself from eating their various Paella. For one thing we did not want to fall for tourist trap restaurants and also we were traveling with family who did not care for seafood dishes. Spain is known for the best Paella (ughhh!!) and I was disappointed that I got to try it only twice during our 6 days stay there. I was specially curious to try the Paella Negro (Paella with squid ink sauce) but I was hesitant to order it because my companions might not stomach it. Anyway, in the end we found a really good restaurant that serves awesome Catalan food at a reasonable price so we were happy :)

Ingredients: (makes 6 servings)

3 bacon strips

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 pound pork kielbasa, cut in medallions 1/4 inch thick

1 organic yellow onion, chopped

2 red bell peppers, cored and sliced into 1/2-inch strips

2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 to 6 cloves)

2 cups white basmati rice

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon Spanish saffron threads, crushed

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more if you like it a little hot)

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup white wine

1 pound uncooked peeled deveined large shrimp (or unpeeled head on whole shrimps)

1 cup frozen peas

1 tablespoon minced fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

2 lemons, cut into wedges

Preparation

Note: If you use whole shrimps, cut the head off and separate. Peel and deveine the flesh and set aside. Simmer the head with the chicken stock, mashing the shrimp heads occasionally with a wooden spoon (this will add the good flavors of the shrimp to the stock).

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

1) Heat the oil in a large ovenproof Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook until brown.

2) Add the kielbasa and saute until brownish then add the onions and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3) Add the bell peppers and cook over medium heat for 5 more minutes.

4) Lower the heat, add the garlic, and cook for 1 minute longer.

5) Stir in the chicken stock, rice, saffron, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.

6) Cover the pot and place it in the oven.

7) After 15 minutes, stir the rice gently with a wooden spoon, and return it to the oven uncovered.

8) Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the rice is fully cooked.

9) Transfer the Paella back to the stove top and add the wine, shrimp & peas and stir gently.

10) Cover and cook the Paella over low heat for 5 minutes, until the wine is absorbed by the rice and the shrimp turns opaque in the center.

11) Sprinkle with the parsley, garnish with lemon wedges, and serve hot.

Notes:

1) If you want the dish to be more exotic, add shrimps as a whole - heads on and unpeeled.

2) I also incorporated chunks of cooked chicken which I added at the same time with the onions.

3) If you need more heat after it is cooked serve with tabasco sauce.

Reference: Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa @ FoodNetwork)

Spanish Chicken

This is one of my favorite way of cooking chicken. I got the recipe from my sister in law which she got from one of her Spanish patients. I was impressed with this dish that I just got to have the recipe for it. I have added a few modifications from when I first got it, adding shitake mushrooms and sometimes olives to kick it up a notch.

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs organic free range chicken cut into pieces ( I usually take the skin off)

3 large tomatoes, diced

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 medium potatoes, cut in small pieces

1 cup shitake mushroom, sliced

1 cup white wine (or a little more if you wish)

1/2 cup fish sauce (or sea salt to taste)

1/4 cup Olive oil

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a casserole until sizzling; add chicken pieces. Cook over med-high heat, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides. Removed chicken from the pan and set aside. Drain off excess fat from the pan and add onions, garlic, pepper, and tomatoes. Saute over medium heat until the onions are clear and the tomatoes becomes soft and mushy. Add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan (deglaze), this will lift up all the flavors that have browned as the chicken cooked which will enhance the flavor of the sauce. Add the chicken back to the pan, then add the fish sauce, mushrooms and potatoes. Add enough liquid to cook the chicken through, about 1/2 cup water or use chicken broth if you can for more flavor. Bring to a boil then cook on low for about 1-2 hrs. when the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes breaks down and has thickened up the sauce.

Serve over rice and garnish with chopped parsley.