Paella with an Italian twist

Paella (pronounced "pa-e-ya"), is one of my favorite meals. It is not really a Cuban dish. It is essentially Spanish from the provence of Valencia. In fact, the term "la paella" refers to a cooking pot traditionally made of iron. You can trace the origin of this term back to Roman times and the latin term "patella". It found it's way to Spain as the Roman's conquered Gaul and brought with them their traditions. The earliest known origins of what is now known as Paella the dish, is in Valencia, Spain. As cooking rice became popular in this region, peasants would use the paella pan to cook rice with ready available ingredients of the countryside like tomatoes, onions, snails, rabbit and duck. The more affluent peasants would also use chicken. Today, the most popular incarnation of this dish is with seafood, which is known as Paella Marinara. But the original is the Paella Valenciana which incorporates seafood with chicken and pork.

It is obvious to me how Paella found it's way into the Cuban culinary repertoire. The Spaniards, having conquered the island, brought with them not only their cultural traditions but their culinary tastes as well. Today, Paella can be found on almost every Cuban restaurant's menu.

I LOVE this dish. My mom makes it with seafood and leaves the rice slightly soupy, which is known as Paella asopada (Soupy Paella). She also uses tomato sauce when cooking the rice. I have tried to make it the way my mom does and it never comes out as good. So I gave up and tried my own thing. I think I have found a nice compromise between the traditional version and my own concoction. I like to make my Paella in stages and then mix all the ingredients together. I also like to incorporate some Italian ingredients into the mix. Here is my version. I hope you will like it.

Ingredients:
1 small onion sliced
2 garlic cloves chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons bijol (bijol is available in all spanish markets. You can use Saffron. In fact, you should use Saffron, but it's expensive. I have found that bijol works just as well.)
salt and pepper
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup frozen peas thawed
3 sweat italian sausages with casings removed
1 lb. extra large shrimp cleaned
1 lb. little neck clams scrubbed cleaned
1 lb. mussels (beards removed)
14 oz. rice
Roasted red peppers (the type you buy in a store ready made in a jar)

In a large pot heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil. Put in the sliced onion and garlic. Cook until translucent. Add the oregano and thyme.

Add the clams and mussels and pour in the wine. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook until the clams and mussels open. Don't over cook them.

Turn off the heat and removed only the seafood from the pot and place onto another large pot and cover so they remain warm. Set that pot aside.

Turn the heat back on the pot with the broth. Cook the shrimp until just pink. Again, don't over cook them. Take the shrimp out and place in the pot with the other seafood and cover.

Run the broth through a strainer so you are left with only the liquid (no onions, garlic or herbs.) Set the liquid broth aside.
You can discard the onions, garlic, etc.

Return the pot to the stove and heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Start cooking the sausage. As the sausage cooks, chop it up into pieces with your spatula. Transfer the cooked sausage into the pot with the seafood and cover again.

Now we are going to make the rice. In the pot that you have been using to cook all your ingredients, put the broth (which should equal one cup, if it does not, add some water to make a full cup), an additional 2 1/2 cups of water, rice, bijol, salt, pepper and remaining olive oil bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook the rice according to the instructions. Best to use a rice cooker, if not, do what I do, buy Uncle Ben's Instant Rice.

When the rice is done, add the thawed peas and stir. Now combine all your ingredients (rice, seafood, sausage) in your serving platter.

Just before I serve my Paella, I sprinkle just a touch of white wine over it and place pieces of roasted red peppers over it. The red peppers give it a nice touch.

These ingredients should be enough for 4-6 servings.

HEALTHY/LITE VERSION:
I have made this dish using Italian turkey sausage and brown rice. The bijol will turn brown rice yellow and nobody will notice you are serving brown rice. In fact, I just did that last night!

If you are interested in trying different versions of Paella (and there are MANY versions) I highly suggest this book by Penelope Casas:

Cuba Libre (Rum and Coke)

In light of today's declaration by Fidel Castro that he would not be seeking re-election as president when the National Assembly meets this Sunday, I find myself contemplating Cuba's future. But what future? That is the million dollar question. I do not believe that Cuba will become a true democratic society anytime soon. In fact, I find it hard to believe that it will ever be a completely democratic country. The history of dictatorship, first by Prio Socarras, then Batista and finally Castro, is so prevalent that I can't conceive of a Cuban nation that can fully grasp the concept of true elections. Perhaps I am wrong. I hope I am wrong. Nothing would be more satisfying than a free and democratic Cuba.

But the politics should be left for another day. For the time being, let's imagine a free Cuba...like the drink...Cuba Libre.

I did a little research on the history of this famous drink and according to Wikipedia, Bacardi claims ownership. I also found out that some Cuban exiles call this drink Mentirita (little lie) because Cuba is not free. I had never heard it called that. Anyway, here is the story according to Bacardi:

"The world's most popular drink was born in a collision between the United States and Spain. It happened during the Spanish-American War at the turn of the century when Teddy Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and Americans in large numbers arrived in Cuba. One afternoon, a group of off-duty soldiers from the U.S. Signal Corps were gathered in a bar in Old Havana. Fausto Rodriguez, a young messenger, later recalled that a captain came in and ordered Bacardi (Gold) rum and Coca-Cola on ice with a wedge of lime. The captain drank the concoction with such pleasure that it sparked the interest of the soldiers around him. They had the bartender prepare a round of the captain's drink for them. The Bacardi rum and Coke was an instant hit. As it does to this day, the drink united the crowd in a spirit of fun and good fellowship. When they ordered another round, one soldier suggested that they toast ¡Por Cuba Libre! in celebration of the newly freed Cuba. The captain raised his glass and sang out the battle cry that had inspired Cuba's victorious soldiers in the War of Independence."

Okay, sounds good to me.

Ingredients:
2 shots white Rum (BACARDI PLEASE!)
Coca-cola
ice
Squeeze a lime wedge on top

(recipe courtesy of www.drinkalizer.com)

Enchilada de Camarones (Shrimp Creole)

As far back as I could remember, I've always thought my mom was a fantastic cook. Everything she made (with the exception of liver, which I was forced to ingest because I was anemic!) was top notch. She could invent a meal in 10 minutes and have it taste and look like it took her all day. One thing that always fascinated me about my mom was how many times she would make seafood for the family even though she disliked it immensely. My dad, sister and I are seafood fanatics, especially shrimp and lobster. Ironically, they are at the bottom of my mom's food list. But because she was a wonderful mom and because she spent her entire life trying to make us happy, our mom would make enchilada de camarones every weekend. To this day, when I go back home to visit, I ask her to make it for me. Here is her recipe.
By the way, yes, that's me and mom circa 1972 in our first apartment in NYC.

Ingredients:
1 14oz can whole tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
1 small onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 red pepper diced
1 green pepper diced
1 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons dry oregano
1 tablespoon chopped basil
1 teaspoon tabasco sauce (or more depending on how spicy you want it)
salt and pepper for taste
2 lbs shrimp shelled and deveined

In a sauce pan, heat the olive oil. Saute the onions, garlic, red and green pepper until just soft, about 3 minutes.

With your hands crush the whole tomatoes. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine, oregano, and tabasco sauce.

Cook for about 10 minutes on low heat. Add the shrimp and basil and cook until the shrimp are done.

Add salt and pepper to your taste. Remove and serve immediately. Can be served over white rice or with orzo for an Italian touch.

HEALTHY/LITE VERSION:
This dish is not really high in fat. You can substitute white rice for brown rice. That will work very well.

Individual Warm, Soft Chocolate Cake

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!!!
Since it is Valentine's Day and chocolate is considered an aphrodisiac I thought this recipe might get you in the mood.....
I would like to give professional chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten full credit for this one. I have made this recipe MANY MANY times and it is always a huge hit.

Ingredients:
4 4 oz. ramekin molds
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, keep some extra butter on the side to coat the ramekin molds.
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, Ghirandelli works well but Jean-George recommends Valrhona (too hard to find)
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons floor

Place a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water. Heat the chocolate and butter together until everything is completely melted. Set aside.

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Then add the sugar and whisk by hand or with an electric beater until light and thick.

Pour the egg mixture into the chocolate and quickly mix in the flour. Mix until combined.

Butter the four ramekins. Make sure you cover the entire inside of the ramekin completely. (You can refrigerate the desserts at this point. But you MUST bring them back to room temperature before baking.)

Preheat the oven to 450 degree F.

Put the molds on to a try and place them in the oven. Bake for ONLY 7 minutes. You may feel the need to bake for more because they might not look done, but DON'T! Take them out after 7 minutes and let stand for 2 minutes.

Invert each mold onto a plate and let sit for about 10 seconds. Unmold by lifting up one corner of the mold as the cake falls out on the plate. Serve immediately.

Since I like to add my own touch to most recipes. I will give you some of my suggestions for spicing up this dessert:
1. You can add 1 tablespoon of any coffee liquor like Kahlua to the chocolate mixture before you add the eggs.
2. Cut up some strawberries and place them on the side of the finish dessert. Then sprinkle some confectioner's sugar on top.
The dessert will look like it has snow on it.

If you want to give your dessert a tropical twist try the following:
1. Instead of adding coffee liquor add 1 tablespoon of a coconut liquor. Then sprinkle coconut flakes on top instead of the confectioner's sugar.

HEALTHY/LITE VERSION:
Are you kidding me?

Here is Jean-Georges' cooking book for reference.

Pollo alla Milanese Cuban style

I"m sure most of you are aware of this dish. It is very common. In fact, I bet some of you make this and don't even realize you are making it. Why? Because Pollo alla Milanese is basically breaded chicken. In this case it would be breaded boneless chicken breast. There is no science to this dish, no need to have a recipe book on hand, no need to have a degree in culinary arts. However, I'm going to give you a Cuban touch to this recipe that will give it a BAM! like Emeril Lagasse would say. Cuban's call this dish pollo empanizado which obviously means breaded chicken. How could we make this very basic simple dish into a Cuban style gem? Well we do what Cubans do best, we marinade!!!!! That is the secret. Cubans will marinade just about everything and the secret marinade is called MOJITO. Yes, like the drink, but the marinade and the drink differ greatly.

Mojito the marinade consists of garlic, onions, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and bitter oranges. That is the secret ingredient that makes Cuban style mojito so special. It is the bitter oranges. Bitter oranges are very difficult to get and if you try this with regular oranges, it's not going to taste the same. So, don' try it.

But since I'm all about saving time and doing things the easy way I buy the mojito already made. My recommendations would be either the Goya or the mojo from La Lechonera. Either one is good. Make sure you buy the bottle that says MOJO on it. Goya sells another marinade made from bitter oranges, but it's NOT mojito. (Mojo and mojito are the same thing) So please don't make the mistake of buying that one. So here is how I make Pollo alla Milanese Cuban style.

Ingredients:

4 pieces of boneless chicken breasts
1 cup Mojito (Mojo)
1 1/2 cups italian style bread crumbs
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
2 eggs
salt and pepper for taste
1 lemon

Wash and pat dry the chicken breasts. You want the chicken pieces to be on the thin side so mash them down. Put them in bowl and pour the mojito over them. Flip them around in the bowl making sure that the mojito has coated all the pieces back and front. Let them sit in the marinade for at least 4 hours. I've even kept them in overnight.

After they've sat for a while, take them out and pat dry. Now you can start up the oil in a frying pan. I use extra light virgin olive oil for frying but you can use vegetable oil if you like. Combine parmesan cheese and bread crumbs on one plate. Put the eggs in another plate. Mix them up with a fork. Add the parsley, salt and pepper. Now arrange the plates in this order; chicken breasts first, egg mixture second and bread crumbs third.

Now dip chicken in egg mixture and coat both sides. Then dip the chicken onto the bread crumb plate. Make sure you get a really nice coat of bread crumbs. Then place in the oil and fry them up! When the oil is really hot, they will cook fast. Remember to flip them so you get a nice golden brown top. When the chicken is done, place them on a plate with a paper towel so it can soak up the extra oil.

Place the chicken on your serving dish. Cut up the lemon in 4 pieces and place one piece next to each of the 4 pieces of chicken. I like to serve this dish with a green salad. Nice and simple.

Well that's it. You will see how much more flavorful the chicken is when you bite into it. Here's another tip for a topping. Buy some Chimichurri sauce. Also available in spanish markets. Instead of the lemon use this sauce.

HEALTHY/LITE VERSION:
Don't add cheese to the bread crumbs and use egg whites instead of the whole egg. Also, you can bake the chicken in the oven. When they are just about done, flip on the broiler for a few minutes so you can get a nice brown topping.

Buñuelos de Abuelita (Grandma's Fried Dough)

Maria Trinidad Suárez was born on June 3, 1917 in Matanzas, on the island of Cuba. She was one of 6 children. Trina, as she was known to her family and friends, was a beloved wife, mother, sister, friend, grandmother and great-grandmother. She had spent all her life taking care of everyone she loved. Her sole purpose in life was to make sure that her children, friends and assorted family members were happy and well fed. Trina died on January 29, 2008 in North Bergen, NJ far from her beloved Cuba but close to those people that she worked so hard to take care of. She was my mother's mom and of course, my grandmother.

In memory of my beautiful grandmother, I would like to share with everyone her famous recipe for Buñuelos, which is essentially, fried dough. My grandma would make these primarily around the Christmas holiday but she would also make them for me whenever I felt homesick. All I needed to do is tell my mom I was craving grandma's buñuelos and I would have them within a week. I love to have them in the morning with my coffee so I could dunk them. But if you want to be really adventurous try dipping them in melted chocolate!!! YUM!!! So here is my abuelita's recipe. Besitos abuelita linda. Te queremos mucho.


Ingredients:

3 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 can of condensed milk
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon butter
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons anise seeds

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until you get a dough. You can use an electric mixer if you want. Once you have the dough, place it on a board and roll it into a log about 1 inch thick. Cut 1/2 inch pieces of the dough and roll them out into strings about 6 inches long. Fold one side onto the other to create a ribbon like shape. (Think of the ribbons people wear on their chest for breast cancer, etc.) Or if you want to be different, make them into circles. Be daring, find different shapes if you want. Heat vegetable oil in a deep pan. When the heat is really hot, very carefully start putting them into the oil. They cook quickly so please stay alert. It's really easy to burn them. This I tell you from experience. My first attempt at this recipe the buñuelos came out crispy black. You don't want them crispy. You want them to be a gold brown color on both sides, so stay on top of them. When they are done, place them on a dish covered with absorbent paper towels so to remove any excess grease. Let them cool and then ENJOY! Buen aprovecho! Buon appetito!

HEALTHY/LITE VERSION:
Fugget abbout it!

Garlic Shrimp (Camarones al Ajillo)

This is a really easy and quick recipe. You can spice it up as you like just by adding or subtracting garlic.

Ingredients:

1 lb. medium shrimp cleaned.
1/4 cup extra light virgin oil
10 garlic cloves minced. (Here is where you can add more if you want it with a big kick)
1 tablespoon brandy
salt and pepper for taste
1-2 tablespoons sofrito (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan and saute the garlic for 1 minute under medium heat. Pour the brandy in and ignite the mixture with a lighter or match. PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO BURN YOUR KITCHEN DOWN!!! Trust me, I am speaking from experience. When the flames are almost completely gone throw the shrimp in. Cook until done. Should be ready in 5 minutes. Shrimp cook really fast. Salt and pepper to your liking. Now, when the shrimp is cooked you can add the Sofrito. Sofrito is a latin sauce/marinade made with garlic/onions/tomato sauce/olive oil/green peppers. Here is a recipe for Sofrito if you want to make it yourself. Sofrito Recipe

But if you are like me and prefer to buy it already made the best is from Goya. If you can't find it in your supermarket here is a link for a Cuban supermarket that will ship it to you. Cuban Store

You can serve this dish with Yellow Rice for a Cuban flavor or Orzo for an Italian touch. I like it either way.

HEALTHY/LITE VERSION :
Serve it along with a side salad. Works just as well.