Boricua in RVA

done
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

I cooked up a puertorican christmas meal this year. Pork roast, rice and beans, bread and salad. The pork shoulder was seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil and vinegar. I roasted it at 300 deg for half hour per pound till it came to an internal temp of 180 deg farenheit. Till it looked like this



after resting...



on platter





I served it with white rice and red beans. The beans began with a sofrito. of onions, garlic, carrot, later peppers, celery, pancetta, oregano, parsley, salt, pepper. pimenton and cumin



Then added tomato paste and chicken stock



This was simmered for an hour then the beans and some cooked yuca where added, and served over white rice



Very traditional, very tasty, and some leftovers to boot.

Paella negra con esparagos

Paella negra con esparagos
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

Black rice paella with white asparagus.

I made a small paella for lunch. I wanted to make a very dark inky rice, some of my previous attempts yielded a rice much more on the grey side, so for this dish I used a much more generous amount of ink. This paella also ends up being meatless, vegetarian friendly if you don't mind seafood products.
The ingredients are few:

Asparagus, these are very high quality canned white asparagus



quality assurance tab





You should taste the liquid the asparagus come canned or jarred in. If it tastes good, not overly salty or metallic tasting then save it and use it as part of your liquid for the rice. This liquid was saved and used. (about 3/4 cup)

I also used a high quality cuttlefish/squid ink. I've used the little envelopes before and they are just ok, this really has a great squid aroma, and also I believe, a higher protein/collagen content. It is thicker and ends up being very unctuous in the finished product.



I used a cup and a half of bomba rice



I used hot pimenton as I figured the heat would go well with the ink and scarcity of ingredients






Chopped onions and garlic round up the ingredients.



Preparation; I heated up a small paella pan



Added olive oil and sauteed the onions and garlic



as soon as the garlic began to brown I added the rice and sauteed it with the onions and garlic



After half a minute or so I added the pimenton, about one teaspoon



I mixed it in and quickly added my liquid (the pimenton can burn and turn bitter rather quickly) which was just the asparagus water and regular water to make up 3 times the rice volume, so in this case 4 and a half cups



I then added two heaping teaspoons of the ink



I mixed to incorporate and tasted for salt.



The ink adds a bit of salt but it still needed a pinch more. I let it boil on the stovetop and the color began to set



It was very fragrant, smelling of the sea with clearly noticeable squid aroma.
When the rice was nearly dry I added the asparagus over top, they are already cooked so just need to warm up a bit.



Served the dish was excellent, a very unctuous mouth feel, almost silky awesome ocean taste with a nice texture and taste contrast from the asparagus.



Clearly the rice turned a deep shiny black which I really liked. The ink would also make a great base for a pasta sauce. May have to buy some squid bodies and stuff them with the leftover rice, they would be nice grilled. Excellent dish overall.

Vegetable paella

Vegetable paella
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

We had a small gathering of friends to celebrate the week of birthdays. I grilled some lamb, my wife made some great hummus and seeing as we had some vegetarian guests, I made a vegetable paella.
Ingredients
3 cups bomba rice
9 cups of salted water (should taste like the ocean) (including the water from the asparagus)
1 lb of roasted red pepper, sliced into strips
4 cooked artichoke hearts
1/4 cup of pine nuts
1/2 cup of cooked large white beans
one jar of white asparagus
2 handfulls of fresh green beans
2 tablespoons of pimenton
pinch of paprika
one large grated tomato
4 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup of olive oil
2 cups of assorted wild mushrooms

I sauteed the garlic and mushrooms and pine nuts in the olive oil, the added mushrooms and when soft added the paprika and quickly mixed and added the grated tomato.
After another several minutes I added the water, paprika and the rice.
when the water came to a boil the green beans went in followed by the red pepper strips and large white beas.
when the water level lowered to the rice then I layered the artichokes and white asparagus on top. I kept it on the burners till a slight char developed on the bottom, then served.
Turned out great!

Squid and Rice in Ink

Squid close up
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

My son really likes squid and particularly dishes cooked with squid ink. We where facing an all men meal, as the girls had eaten earlier so we went with a seafood rice dish in squid ink.
Ingredients:
For 2
4 mussells
6 small shrimp
2 scallops sliced into three pieces each
8-12 squid depending on size
1 cup of rice
squid ink (usually comes in a packet, but if you get fresh squid you may be able to harvest it)
1/2 an onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 cups seafood stock if available.

Sautee the onion and garlic in olive oil till soft and fragrant.
add all the seafood and sautee till barely cooked at high heat.
add rice and mix till rice is coated in oil.
add 2 cups of liquid and packet of squid ink (you may want to mix the ink in the liquid prior to adding)
bring to a boil then turn to low heat and cook for 12-15 minutes



Very tasty

Father's day Paella

a comer
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

My wife made the trek to williamsburg to get a special father's day sale item from La Tienda, a paella burner with an extra pan. she also bought some rice and a long spatula.



I put it together (My wife went out and bought the gas line to connect to a propane tank)



the boy was excited





Father's day we cooked a rice dish with shrimp and squid and some assorted leftovers. A video follows, most memorable for the boys comments on labor relations and poisonous frogs as much as for the cooking commentary.
But first:
Rice... short grain bomba rice



Parsley, garlic and red pepper


Grated tomato (I covered it against flies and missed sauteeing it, which should be done to decrease water content)



Green beans cleaned and chopped




Shrimp, squid and red pepper.



Full video here

Cooking paella with the kid from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

I love the new setup, bigger pan. Thanks to the family for the present

arroz con chorizo

arroz con chorizo done
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

I made myself a small rice dish in a paella pan tonight. I slow sauteed (on the lowest heat setting) three large cloves of garlic and one link of chorizo sausage for a good 30-40 minutes. I had punctured the chorizo so as to render the fat and the garlic gave up some aroma.





You really have to patient as the smell permeates the kitchen. I wanted the chorizo to render without burning and the garlic to soften also without burning. Once the chorizo gives up a good amount of fat and is brown and crispy, I removed the garlic and chorizo and sauteed the rice in the oil. (One cup)



I then added some pimenton



and quickly sauteed to mix and added 4 cups of water and adjusted for salt (in a paella pan you need much higher water to rice ratio 2nd to the surface area exposed)

I added the garlic and chorizo back to the pan and let it cook, watching the boil carefully and moving the pan to distribute the heat.



bdfore the water evaporated I added some chopped roasted red pepper, and some cantimpalo chorizo for garnish



It ended up being fragrant and delicious