Spanish Rice

Although the style of this dish is much like Paella, the saffron flavor is not as strong and it usually does not contain any meat or seafood. Spanish Rice is great with black beans and eggs for a weekend breakfast.

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup good olive oil
2 tbsp paprika (sweet, not hot)
2 tbsp chili powder (mild)
A pinch of saffron threads
3 cups rice
6 cups chicken stock

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet or flameproof casserole, heat oil and add onion, peppers and garlic. Cook over medium high heat until onions are translucent but not brown.

2. Add spices and then add rice to coat with the oil/vegetable mixture. Cook for 2 minutes.

3. Add stock and bring mixture to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.

Serving: This rice goes well with hand-made tortillas, black beans and other Central American food.

Tweet

Aroma

No recipe today. I'm busy thinking about how certain smells and aromas can transport you back to a time and a place. Here's the current list that I am focusing on:

Emeraude - Grandma. Not a kitchen smell but to me it simply means my great-grandmother, Therese McGinnes Austin. To this day, when I am on a bus or walk by a woman wearing Emeraude there are times when I just want to cry.

Cinnamon - winters in upstate New York and my mother's french toast. Mom made great french toast with the big Texas toast loaf of bread, eggs, milk, vanilla and lots of cinnamon.

Nutmeg - Welsh Cookies. I'll post this recipe as we get closer to the holidays. These are cookies that Mom made every year around Christmas and to my knowledge she was the only one who made them. Many people would ask "What are they?" because they looked like little tea cakes. The cookies have dried currants and nutmeg and are placed on a griddle to cook.

Saffron - Paella. This spice is all me and my passion for Spanish cooking. Sometimes I need to remind myself not to use too much or else the food acquires a medicinal smell. A little goes a long way.

Tweet

Roasted Vegetables

Well I guess I am on a roasting kick - must be the weather. When I was growing up vegetables were boring. Being of good Irish German American stock, our main vegetable was the potato. Nowadays, I look at it more as a starch and lump it in with others like squash, rice, corn. We also had beans (green, yellow and wax - which I hated), beets, carrots, peas - nothing out of the ordinary. Unfortunately they were all canned. And when I say that I mean tin cans bought at the store, not my great-grandmother's vegetables that she would can herself.

I eat a lot more vegetables these days and it must because we have more opportunities to get fresh and organic ones. There are farmer's markets and organic grocery stores.

Here's a recipe I developed and it is what I call "flexible" - measurements don't need to be exact, you can add other ingredients or remove what you don't like. Sort of like Gypsy Soup (I'll discuss that in a later post).

Ingredients:

4 large russet potatoes
3 red, green or yellow bell peppers
1 large butternet squash
3 large yellow onions
1 lb baby carrots
2 bulbs fennel or sweet anise
1 lb large white mushrooms
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Rosemary
Balsamic Vinegar

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Sprinkle 4 tbsp olive oil in a large, deep roasting pan.

3. Wash potatoes but do not peel. Cut into large slices so that you have 6 pieces for each potato. Place in roasting pan.

4. Remove seeds and ribs from peppers. Cut into quarters and place in roasting pan.

5. Remove stem and seeds from squash. Cut into large pieces (about 3 inches long by 1 inch wide) and place in roasting pan.

6. Cut onions into quarters and place in roasting pan.

7. Place baby carrots in roasting pan.

8. Cut green stems off of fennel bulbs (use for salad later) and cut into quarters. Place in roasting pan.

9. Clean mushrooms and place whole in roasting pan.

10. Sprinkle vegetables with 1 tbsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper - use more or less as you see fit.

11. Chop about 3 tbsp fresh rosemary and sprinkle over vegetables.

12. Toss with hands - vegetables should be coated with oil so they don't burn but there shouldn't be excess oil.

13. Place in oven and roast for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 45 minutes, if larger pieces such as potatoes are not soft yet, keep roasting and checking vegetables. Remove when potatoes are soft but not mushy.

14. Sprinkle 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar over vegetables. Adjust salt and pepper.

Serving: This makes a lot of vegetables! They work well with lamb, chicken or a roast beef or pork. Later on in the week, I like to eat them cold or throw them into a soup.

Photo: Roast Vegetable Goodness by Pat Kight on Flickr

Tweet