Squilla Mantis and Rice... a flavourful combo!

Eventhough it's still February and this Winter has been loooooong, weeeeeet and cooooooooold, I just saw the first bloomed almond trees and swallows. What can this mean? Yes, Spring is so near now! Oh, sun, dear sun... I missed you soooooo!

February is the month for Squilla Mantis, a delicious Mediterranean crustacean that has been rarely used as the star of the dish... but, things change, and this is for good because its meat, texture and flavour is outstanding and highly appreciated for those who know its secret! If you can find it fresh in your Market, buy some and try this rice or simply grill them and pour some extra virgin olive oil and salt on top.

I found the recipe at Descubrir cuina, a Catalan gastronomic magazine which I always buy at the begining of each month. Also, during the weekend I was travelling to a village near Sant Carles de la Ràpita where I bought the best fresh Squilla Mantis one could dream of. This village is running a Fair about this crustacean and the curled oyster on February 20th. I couldn't attend to the fair because I was busy cooking the rice ;D, maybe next year!.

I rarely follow a recipe step by step; most of the times, I add or change things and ingredients, but this time, I wanted to be as faithful as possible and I must admitt that the result was absolutely delicious... I only changed two things: The recipe asked for peeled squilla mantis and that is such a hard job! Not that I complain for free... I gave up after peeling the sixth. Their meat and shell seem to be sticked with glue! Eventhough, the recipe gives some tips to make the job easier... I tell you, I couldn't make it with the 32! So, I changed that. Also, I noticed I missunderstood some of the measures with the peppers and the garlic... but, oh boy... the result was super!

Ingredients for 4 servings: 32 fresh Squilla Mantis, 200 grs of onion, 50 ml of dry Jerez, 400 grs of Bayo Bomba rice, one small green pepper, half red pepper, 20 garlic cloves, half coffee spoon of red sweet ground paprika, some ground black pepper, some salt and extra virgin olive oil.

• Take a pot where you can pour 3 liters of water and pour some olive oil in it. Add the onion finely chopped and with low heat cook until it gets confited. Add half the squilla mantis (16) cut into small pieces to the pot and stir for 2 minutes (keep the rest in the fridge).
• Pour 2 liters of water in another pot and bring to boil.
• Add to the first pot with the S.mantis the paprika,, some salt, black ground pepper and the Jerez and let cook for 2 minutes while stirring. Add the 2 liters of boiling water and let simmer for 20 minutes. Strain while squeezing the s.mantis so that it lets all their juices into the broth. Reserve the broth in a new pot and keep hot.
• Take a big sauce pan or a deep one, or a paella and pour some olive oil. Add the red and green peppers cut into small dices. Stir and cook for only 2 minutes. Add the garlic, also cut in small dices and when fragant add 1.400 ml of the hot broth. When it boils again, throw the rice in and let it cook for 10 minutes. If it gets too dry add more broth.
• Take the rest of S.Mantis and add them to the paella. Cook for another 3 minutes. Take away from the heat, cover with a lid and wait for 5 minutes.

There you are! Simple and flavourful :D.

My blogger friend Aidan Brooks just wrote this post: "Early last Monday fire severely damaged the kitchens at Mugaritz, the world-famous restaurant in Spain's Basque Country. Luckily, no-one was hurt. For the management and staff of Mugaritz, the destruction of their workplace was a tragedy. But for three other young people, this was also a calamity." continue reading

XATÓ, a Catalan typical dish for the Culinary Olympics 2010

Representing Spain and more specifically Catalonia, here is my dish for the BloggerAid Changing the Face of Famine Culinary Olympics 2010.

Xató is a rich salad made out of curled endive, desalted cod, olives, anchovies preserved in olive oil and a delicious sauce similar to Romesco and Salvitxada. It's a seasonal salad; normally consumed during the cold first months of the year and specially during Carnival celebrations.

This year, my nephew Roger, with only 3 months, was dressed in the typical Catalan peasantry costume. He, he... he is still too small to protest ;D. His grandmother (my mom) knitted the cap and sewed the vest for him.

So, Roger will be the Catalan flag-bearer in this Culinary Olympics! Isn't he cute with the outfit on?

The more you look for the Xató sauce in the web or in cook books, the more different versions you will find. I even found 2 different sauces coming from the same Cook!!! So, if you like, you should know that you can also add black ground pepper, a lot more of vinegar, a small piece of red dry paprika... find your own sauce adding more ingredients to the basics... that's my advice :D.

The salad can also have more ingredients such as tomatoes and tuna preserved in olive oil.

However, here you have the ingredients I used to prepare the dish for 4 servings: One curled endive, some black olives and olives arbequines, (or those you can find in your own country), 400 grs of desalted codfish in strips (follow this link to know about it), 8 anchovies in olive oil and some salt.

For the sauce: 50 grs of toasted almonds, 50 grs of toasted hazelnuts, the meat of 3 ñora peppers, 4 garlic cloves, salt, 1 anchovie preserved in olive oil, a small shot of vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

• Get the curled endive leaves soaking in water for a while and then clean the leaves one by one under tap water. Dry and place inside a bowl. Pour some extra virgin olive oil and salt and mix well.
• Add some olives, the cod (it's very important that you squeeze all its water pressing with kitchen paper).
• Place the anchovies on top.
• Prepare the sauce: Peel the hazelnuts and almonds and place inside a blender, cut the anchovie in small pieces and add to the blender, add the ñoras' meat too (ñoras have to be hidrated one hour ago with warm water, then opened and taken their meat with a spoon), add the garlics too and blend.
• Once you get a very thick paste add the olive oil and vinegar slowly while stirring and emulsifying the sauce. When it is not a paste anymore, try it and add salt to it.
• Pour the sauce over the salad and serve.

So, if you have a special dish you want to share in the Culinary Olympics 2010, this is your chance! You only have to follow some easy steps. I bet the roundup will be really special :D.

This is the link to follow!

I also wanted to mention that although many of you have already contributed to help people in Haiti through many different ways... for those of you who haven't yet or for those who still want to do a bit more; here is where you have to go with your generosity: BloggerAid Changing the Face of Famine will be organizing an online ruffle from Sunday, February 21 - Sunday, February 28th. The event is called H2Ope for Haiti, and its wish is to raise funds for Concern Worldwide's relief effort in Haiti. THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION!

And finally, Janet Murray from MRI Technician Schools, got in touch with me to show me a very interesting article about 56 Healthy and Natural hacks you should be using in the kitchen... take a look at it; I found it really useful :D.

Arroz con Bacalao - Arros amb Bacallà - Codfish Rice

I haven't been cooking with Cod lately... and you all know that I love it... so, when I saw Eating Club Vancouver's Spanish Menu, I knew my next dish would use Cod in it :D. You are my muses, girls!!!

You know that I love presenting my dishes in different ways, therefore, this dish will have two faced presentations: you can call the first one Codfish Rice Paella and present the Paella pan with the Rice in it, or rather call it Stuffed Artichokes with codfish rice and you have a savory seasonal dish (of course, you will need some extra artichokes too) :D. Completely up to you!

Either one or the other they both have some of my favourite ingredients, I could live on Cod, Rice and Artichokes... but this is not the Royal Foodie Joust and these are not the 3 ingredients for this month.

Artichokes are original from the Mediterranean and an important part of its famous diet. They have nearly no kcal. and lots of other benefitial and healthy features... Hey! Let's eat Artichokes... they are in season now! Rice is a basic food all around the world and it's a powerful source of energy. The Cod is rich in proteins and vitamins and also sodium.

Could this dish be healthier? Yes, I didn't talk about the rest of ingredients, but you will have to trust me ;D.

And that's why I'm sending over this post to Meeta from What's for lunch Honey? and her Monthly Mingle: Healthy Family Dinners. There's still time to send your proposals to Michelle from What's Cooking Blog who is hosting the event this month.

The recipe also goes to APS Rice to Anita's Kitchen Event.

Let's put our aprons on and to the kitchen!

Ingredients for 4 servings: 400 grs of Bomba rice, 400 grs of desalted codfish, 3 artichokes for the rice paella and 8 more for the stuffing, 4 piquillo peppers, 1 onion, 2 garlic cloves, some fresh parsley, 3 tablespoons of canned fried tomatoe, olive oil and salt.

• Start the sofrito in a big pan (a paella is perfect. Like the one in the pictures). Pour a bit of olive oil and throw the onion in (previously peeled and cut in small dices). Stir and let it get transparent.
• Meanwhile, take 3 artichokes and discard the greener leaves. Put them inside a bowl with water and some lemon drops. Strain, dry and cut the tips of the leaves and slice in half centimeter portions. Throw into the pan and stir with the onion.
• When the artichoke starts to get some colour, add the garlic clove (peeled and cut in small pieces). When it's fragant, add the piquillo peppers cut in strips. Stir some more at low/medium heat.
• This time I bought my desalted codfish  frozen. I previously defrozed it. 
• Prepare a big pot and pour 900 grs of water inside, when it boils, add the codfish, and when it boils again turn heat off and take away from the heat. Don't throw the water away. Take the codfish out of the pot and with your fingers separate the slices of the fish. Reserve.
• Going back to the paella pan, add the tomatoe and stir until the sofrito is finished. 
• Have the cod water boiling so that when throwing the rice in the paella we can immediately use it.
• So, throw the rice in and stir with a wooden spoon, let it cook for 1 minute aprox. Pour nearly all the cod water in, stir and let cook strong the first 5 minutes, then cook at low/medium heat for 10 minutes, add the codfish and stir some more. Taste and add salt if necessary. After that when there's nearly no water, smash the other garlic in a mortar and smash the parsley too, add some oil and salt and pour over the rice. Cover with a lid and keep away from the heat. Leave the rice covered for another 5 minutes.
• If during the process you need more water because it gets too dry, add some more.
• For the stuffed Artichokes: Clean the rest of artichokes and put inside a pot. Half cover with water and pour some salt and extra virgin olive oil in each one. Cover the pot and let it boil at medium heat until the water dissapears. Then, let them cool down, take the center leaves apart and stuff with the rice. Pour some drops of extra virgin olive oil on top.

There you are! A super healthy Family Dinner is ready :D.
If you cannot find any of the ingredients try here at La Tienda! Everything you need to achieve good results you'll find it here... Paella kits and ingredients are on sale now!!!