spanish craving

Tapas.  Apparently that was what the man's been craving.  But although it would have been nice to go to the (only) Spanish restaurant in town, I was in the mood to cook; mainly because we just got a set of Chantal Copper Fusion =)   Given what I had in the fridge, the first thing that came to mind was Spanish Omelet (also known as Spanish Tortilla here in America), but apparently "Spanish Tortilla is not really the first thing I had in mind" when thinking about tapas. So, thinking about what he likes and researching on the most common tapas, squid came to mind.  From several Google Image searches, I decided a Spanish Squid Stew would be perfect (though I also decided not to mention it to him in case it is also not what he had in mind!).  Since the stew seemed to be lacking in veggies and since there is kale in the fridge, and another quick Google search suggested a Kale Adobo would be good accompaniment.
The squid stew turned out to be much better than I expected; especially given I don't normally like squid due to its chewy texture.  The kale, on the other hand, was only mediocre and I think that may have been due to the Southern twist in the recipe that I didn't really like -- addition of bacon.  I tried substituting it with Spanish Ham but alas, I was unable to find it within Davis; the best I could do was not use the normal North American bacon (which has an insanely high fat to meat ratio) but instead used another American invention: Turkey bacon.  It was much leaner and from past experience still has a pretty good flavour.  Nonetheless, Spanish Ham would have been much better, I'm sure.


Squid Stew
** This recipe was adapted from http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/512679
Ingredients  
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped
5 fresh sage leaves
3 tomatoes, diced
750g squid steak (~2 medium sized), cubed
500g medium sized prawns, shelled
black pepper
1/2 cup cream sherry (the original recipe asked for 1.7L Manzanilla sherry, but I didn't have any and I wasn't about to use 1.7L of it given my pregnant status!)
1/2 - 1 cup water

Procedure
1. Heat olive oil in a heavy pot (I used the Chantal Copper Fusion 5-Quart Stockpot). Add garlic, sage and tomato, stirring until the garlic has softened.
2. Add the squid and prawns, season with salt and pepper. Stirring until squid & prawns are well mixed with the tomato sauce.
3. Add sherry and water.  Bring to the boil.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for around 1 hour until the squid is tender and the sauce has thickened and reduced.


Bacon and Kale Adobo
** This recipe was adapted from http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1842401
Ingredients
6  ounces (~6 pieces)  smoked cured Turkey bacon, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed & finely chopped
2  bay leaves (I used dried because that was all I had)
1  pound (~400g)  kale, finely chopped
2  to 3 tbsp soy sauce
2  to 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
finely grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Procedure

1. Cook bacon over medium heat in a large pan until crisp and most of the fat has melted into oil.  Remove bacon, draining fat back into the pan.
2. Add garlic and bay leaves and cook over medium-high heat. Toss in kale; cook, stirring, until wilted. Stir in 1 cup water, half the bacon, soy sauce, vinegar, and pepper. Simmer, covered, until kale is to desired tenderness (I cooked mind for ~20-25mins).
3. Serve with remaining bacon & cheese.

winter veggie root stew

It's winter again... True that I am no fan of the cold, but I must admit, the winter vegetables available here in davis, ca, is beyond my imagination! For our first grocery shopping in 2010, we went dutifully to the Co-op. To our delight, we noticed several more varieties of root vegetables, and almost immediately, a hearty veggie stew came to mind. For this stew we tried out a couple veggies that we have either never seen or never tried before, including the romanesco broccoli and watermelon radish. Because these are seasonal veggies, they were inexpensive: most costing between $0.80 - $0.90, with the most expansive ingredient being the romanesco costing almost $5.00 per head.

Despite the cost, the texture and flavor of the romanesco was fascinating; well, having never even heard of this vegetable, I was surprised to find that it tasted very similar to the cauliflower, but sweeter. The watermelon radish was also a delight: cutting the radish in half immediately explained where its name came from! The other veggies were equally tasty. And the stew as a final product was spoonfuls of sweet, healthy, comforting goodness =D

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients
1 celery root
1 golden beetroot
1 watermelon radish
1 parsnip
1 sweet potato
1 hailstone radish
5-6 stalks of celery
1/2 head of romanesco broccoli
6-8 button mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped rainbow chard stalks

1-2 springs of dried rosemary
1 small dried red chili
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup brown rice
pinch s&p

Procedure
1. Start boiling 8-10 cups water in a moderately large pot
2. Wash and chop all vegetables (~2cm or 1" cubes); add to the pot of water
3. Finely chop rosemary, chili, and garlic; add to soup
4. Add rice to soup
5. Once boiling, reduce heat and let simmer for 30min, stirring occasionally, adding more water (1/4 - 1/2 cup) if evaporating too quickly (if veggie & rice begins to stick to bottom of pot).
6. After 30mins, most of the veggies would have softened and started to break apart and the rice should also be soft (for brown rice standard). If not, simmer for longer (maybe another 15mins). Otherwise, turn off heat. Stir in salt & pepper to taste.

May be served with a tbp grated cheese (Parmesan or Cheddar) and/or a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Enjoy.