DangerGirl's Red Paella

Paella is kind of like potato salad - there are few set rules (potato salad must have potatoes, paella must have rice) but then it's really any man's game and you can totally morph it to fit the way you like it. 

Traditional Paella features saffron, which is AMAZING, but pricey.  I alternate by using dried Ancho pepper, commonly found in Mexican cooking.  Don't worry, though very favourable, they don't actually provide heat.

 

Ingredients:

2 Boneless Chicken Breasts

6 Strips of thick cut bacon

2 Hot Italian Sausages

1 Tin of baby clams

1 bag (about 40) of Raw Shrimps Shelled and de-veined

2 yellow onions - chopped

1 Tin of Stewed Tomatoes

1 Lg. Carrot

1 Handful of green beans

2 Dried Ancho Chilies

3 Cups of Chicken Broth

1 Cup of Red Wine

2 cups of Arborio Rice(this really is a must - to deviate will completely alter your texture and flavour)

4-6 Bay Leaves

1 ½ tsp of crushed Rosemary

1 heaping tsp. of garlic powder

Olive oil

Some tools you should have ready:

Two small mixing bowls

A 4 Cup Measuring cup

A fry pan

A wok (in place of an actual Paella pan)

Measuring cups and spoons, cutting boards, knives, yadda-yadda

First things first – Prep:

Thaw and clean the shrimp.  When you get de-veined shrimp it’s been sliced along the top, there is another vein along the bottom that I always clean out as well.  As this will be the most tedious task, it’s best to get it over with first.  Once that task is done, rinse the shrimp and put them off to the side in a covered bowl.

Slice the tops off the dried anchos and rinse out the seeds.  Put them in a bowl and cover with boiling water to soften them up a bit.

Next, slice up the bacon and the sausage and put them off to the side, then cube up the chicken.

Put the bacon and sausage in a fry in a pan with onions.  While their frying, drain the baby clams over the 4 c measuring cup to save the liquid and put them in with the shrimp.

Add to the measuring cup 1 cup of red wine and then fill to 4C total with Chicken broth.  Pour the liquid into a blender and add the soften anchos, liquefy and put to the side.

Combine the liquid, stewed tomatoes, rice, rosemary, and bay leaves in the wok on high until boiling; then turn heat down to low and let it simmer.

Once the sausage, bacon and onions are cooked through, add them to the wok and start frying up the chicken and toss that in once fully cooked.  Follow it up by frying up the Shrimp and clams and add them to the wok.  Stir everything together and let simmer as the rice is cooking.

Chop up the beans to about ½” pieces and grate the carrot.  Add to the wok once the rice is cooked and let simmer, uncovered, while the excess liquid steams off. 

Remember to stir occasionally so that the rice doesn’t burn.

This recipe will serve 4 - 6 people.

Happy feasting!

French Onion Soup

French onion soup can be a little tedious in the beginning but it's one of the most satisfying do-it-yourself comfort foods.

 

Ingredients:

1 lrg White Onion

1 lrg Spanish Onions

1/2 of a Purple Onion (mostly because I had it in the fridge

2 cloves of Garlic - minced

1 Tbl dried Rosemary     } I like my french onion really herby.  If you don't 

1/2 Tbl  dried Tarragon  } you can cut these down to 1 tsp or Rosemary,

3 Bay Leaves                 } 1/2 tsp Tarragon, and 2 Bay Leaves

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 c Red Wine

3 c Beef broth (easily substituted with Vegetable broth for a Vegetarian soup)

1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Olive Oil

grated Swiss and Asiago

a baguette

Kitchen mandolins are a great little invention and make this soooo much easier!  Another good tool are tea filters, they're these empty, sort of do it your self tea-bags for loose leaf tea - you'll see why in a bit.

First thing is to slice up the onions and put them in a soup pot with a little olive oil and the minced garlic.  This is be the most arduous tasks in making the soup ... you need to caramelize the onions.  This can take 45 minutes or so as you'll need to saute all of the water out of the onions before they start to really brown.

While the onions are cooking, start to set up the next few things.  Put the Rosemary, Tarragon, and Bay leaves in the tea bag ...

Also measure out the wine and beef broth (splash in the tsp of Worcestershire sauce) and grate the cheeses (I like using both for a little variety).  I cut the bread into cubes (not the whole loaf, just enough for the two bowls) and put them on a cookie sheet and toast them in the oven for a bit. When they've toasted, pull them out of the oven and add them into your onion soup bowls and set aside.

Once the onions are done things really start to roll.  Add the broth liquid and bring to a boil.  Toss in your herb bag and simmer for 20 minutes.  When that is done, fish out the herb bag and ladle soup into the bowls.  Top with a nice heap of the grated cheese and broil until the cheese is gooey and starts to brown.

Serve right away with slices of the remaining baguette.

Happy Feasting.

Cream cheese filled Carrot muffins

I found this recipe on line ages ago and wrote it down.  I've since lost the link so I can't give credit where credit is fully due but here it is none-the-less.

Preheat oven to 350.

Sift together 1½ c. all-purpose flour, 1½ tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp.baking powder, ½ tsp. salt, 1 tsp. cardamom, 1 tsp. cinnamon, ½ tsp. nutmeg, and 1 c. sugar.

In a separate bowl, beat 3 eggs and 2/3 cup vegetable oil until lightened. Stir in 1½ c. shredded carrots, ½ c. chopped walnuts, and ½ c. raisins that have been soaked for 10 minutes in hot water (or warmed rum, if you’d like).

In another bowl, cream 4 oz. softened cream cheese with 1 egg yolk (add the egg white to the carrot cake batter to make it really moist) , ½ c. sugar, and ½ tsp. vanilla.

Fold the dry ingredients into the egg/oil mixture. Stir until just combined.

Fill mini-muffin cups about 1/2 full, add a spoon of the cream cheese, and then another spoon of the carrot cake batter.


Bake about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake part comes out clean.

Happy Feasting!

Kitchen Basics

Do you ever get a thought in your head that there's something you need to get, you pick it up, and then when you get home you realize you actually do have it?

I obviously need to make a mental note that I do not need to buy muffin cups FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR.

I'm getting ready to make some muffins to take to work tomorrow (recipe to follow) but not 300 (insert Gerard Butler joke here ... "Tonight we dine on MUFFINS")

Happy Feasting!

Chai Spice No-bake Cheesecake

I had a friend pack me a lunch one day and in it they included some Graham Crackers.  When lunchtime came I dipped the crackers in my Chai tea and munched away ... the flavour was so yummie and I thought, "This NEEDS to be a cheesecake!!!"  ... voilà ... behold the fruits of that Ah-ha moment


Ingredients:

For the Chai spice mixture you will need:

1 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
2 tsp of ground cardamom
3/4 tsp of ground cloves
1/2 tsp of ground ginger
1/2 tsp of ground corriander
1/4 tsp of black pepper
dash of salt.

mix all of these together and set aside.
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For the crust you will need:

2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. melted butter/margerine
1/2 a bag of Skor bits.

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees F.  Mix all the ingredients together and press into a 9" spring form pan.  Bake for 10 - 15 minutes (until the crust seems set and the Skor bits have melted a little)

Once that is done, remove from your oven and cool in pan.  You can put it in the fridge, uncovered, to speed up the process if you like.
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For the filling you will need:

1 pkg. (8 oz) of Cream-cheese
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup of sour cream
1 pkg of Knox Gelatin
the Chai spice mix from earlier.

Beat softened cream-cheese, condensed milk, sour cream, and spice mix until smooth.  In a separate dish mix the Knox with 1/4 c boiling water (as per the instructions on the pack) until dissolved.  Add that to your cream-cheese mix and beat some more.

Pour that mixture over the cooled crust in the form pan, cover, and chill 'til firm.

I like to garnish/decorate this with shaved white chocolate and the remaining Skor bits.

I've taken this to a few pot-lucks over the holidays and it's been a huge success

Happy Feasting!!!