Sonia Tastes Hawaii

Celebrating with friends...Arroz con Pollo a la Chorrera

We had friends over for late lunch/early dinner yesterday and I wanted to serve a Cuban Style Arroz con Pollo a la Chorrera.

I had a really outstanding dish of it served at one of the La Carreta Restaurants in Miami just a few weeks ago and after watching a couple of YouTube cooking videos demonstrating how to make it and reading a few recipes on line, I called the restaurant to find out how they made theirs.

When I asked if I could have the recipe I was told no, because the chef was quite protective of his recipes BUT....then the person I was speaking with proceeded to tell me how they made it... No exact measurements or list of ingredients were given, but he did tell me that the chicken was cooked as fricasé de pollo first (no wonder it fell off the bone!) and the rice cooked separately and then put together towards the end of cooking...and replied to my question that yes, the chef used beer and chicken stock for the rice and sherry when making the fricasé...

 

Arroz con Pollo is a typical Cuban dish made with rice (arroz) and chicken (pollo).  A la chorrera is a coloquial term used for a 'wetter than usual' rice.  Most Cuban rice dishes call for the arroz to be 'desgranado', term used to mean fluffy rice, but for paella or arroz con pollo a la chorrera, you want the rice to be much wetter.  You achieve this by drenching it with liquids and cook as you would an Italian risotto, adding liquid as it evaporates or gets absorbed by the rice until you get it to the desired consistency.

 

Some people start the cooking process on the stove and finish in the oven.  I decided to use a combination of the recipes and techniques that I had been told, read and watched on video and came up with my own version.  I have made Arroz con Pollo in the past, but this was my first try 'a la chorrera'.  The entire process was done on the stove.

 

I first served a salad of thin, lightly cooked zucchini ribbons, raw carrot curls and avocado slices on red lettuce leaves drizzled in Calamondin Vinaigrette.

 

For the entrée, I used plump, boneless and skinless chicken thighs, as the results are moister and much easier to eat without having to pick the meat off the bones on the plate.

 

Arroz con Pollo a la Chorrera

 

8 chicken thighs, fat removed as much as possible

4 large garlic cloves, minced

1 Meyer lemon, juiced

1 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

 

Marinate the chicken in the above ingredients in a plastic bag or covered glass Pyrex dish for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.

 

When ready to start cooking, sauté the drained and dried chicken pieces in a small quantity of olive oil.  You don't want to bathe it in the oil, but enough that the meat doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.  Turn over a couple of times to get the desired golden-brown crust.  Place on a dish and reserve, covered until later.

 

1 large onion, chopped

1 large green or red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium shallot, chopped

3 large garlic cloves, minced

2 dried bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon Spanish or smoky paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt to taste

1/2 small can tomato sauce

1 cup dry Sherry

2 1/2 cups Valencia, Arborio or any other risotto rice

1/2 of a 32 ounce box of chicken broth (no MSG)

1 24 ounce can of beer

A generous pinch saffron threads (*)

1 Tablespoon capers (*)

1 Tablespoon fresh oregano

1 1/2 cups Petit Pois or sweet English peas

Strips of red pimento for garnish (optional)

 

Using the same pan and oil in which the chicken was sautéed, start your sofrito (the Cuban version of a mirepoix or Cajun holy trinity) by adding the chopped onion, bell pepper, shallot, garlic and bay leaves, and sauté until the onion and peppers are soft and translucent, but before the garlic turns brown.  Sprinkle with the paprika, cumin and salt (or you can use one of the Goya all-purpose seasonings with no MSG); add the tomato sauce and Sherry scraping the bottom to deglaze the pan and simmer for a couple of minutes.

 

Add the rice and stir around for a bit, a couple of minutes.  Add the chicken broth and half the can of beer, reserving the rest for later.  Add the saffron, capers and fresh oregano (I used the tiny leaves of my stick oregano bush)

 

At this point, put the chicken back into the pan with whatever juices collected while reserving, nestling the pieces into the rice.  Cover and turn heat to the lowest level; let simmer until the liquid is almost all absorbed.  Add the rest of the can of beer and let it continue cooking, covered, until the liquid is almost all absorbed.  Add more chicken broth or sherry if needed.

 

Let it sit, covered for a few minutes until time to serve.  The rest of the liquid will be completely absorbed and the rice will be plump, succulent and full of flavor.

 

The Petit Pois or English peas are not added until the cooking process is done so the peas maintain their plump roundness.  Garnish with red pimento strips if desired.  I didn't, since I used red bell pepper in my sofrito.

 

(*) To get more color and flavor from the saffron, first soak in lemon or lime juice for a little while and using a spoon, mash it a bit to extract as much color as possible.  Since I used Meyer lemons in the chicken marinade, I used Meyer lemon juice to soak the saffron.

(*) When adding salt be careful if you will be using capers since they are also salty.  I waited until after I added the capers and tasted the broth before I added the salt.

 

Dessert was Crema Catalana, a Spanish version of crème brûlée and I served it with deliciously thin Moravian Ginger Snaps, a gift from a niece and nephew who live near the Moravian Village in Winston-Salem, NC .  I will share the recipe soon.

My table setting was in keeping with the eclectic ethnic mix that live in our island paradise;  this time, a mixture of my love for Oriental porcelain (Chinese Canton Rose Ware) and my Cuban and Spanish heritage and a touch of Moravian influence in the food served.

Happy New Year!

Feliz Año Nuevo!

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

Our Christmas Eve or 'Best Night'

Christmas Eve day and evening celebrations are a tradition in our  Cuban side of the family...There is, of course, Noche Buena, which translates to Good Night but not as a 'retiring for the evening' greeting of farewell, but more like "Best Night"... Later the Misa de Gallo, or Midnight Mass and also earlier in the day, at least in my family when we were children, there was the tradition of visiting the convents, old people's homes and churches that displayed huge, elaborate Crèche depicting the Nativity.

My Hummel Crèche survived our fire of July 2000 and as such, doubly special...Some pieces are damaged....Mary's blue mantle is smoky and donkey has lost a lot of it's gray coat; Cow's head and neck lost coloring and Baltazar's head had to be glued back on...but I love it and love displaying it year after year nevertheless.

 

Some of the displayed Crèche from my childhood took up whole rooms and showed villages, lakes, rivers, mountains, shepherds, sheep, cattle, palm trees, villagers, of course the manger scene (sans Baby Jesus until Midnight) and off in the distance, the Three Kings on their camels following the Christmas Star.  No, Santa did not make an appearance in these Crèche scenes.

The Cuban celebration of Noche Buena started very early in the day or even the day before by digging underground pits, similar to how Hawaiians build an imu to roast whole pigs lavishly marinated in mojo, a sauce made with generous amounts of garlic in sour orange juice and olive oil (see a modern version of the Cuban style pig roasting as well as my friend Esther Musibay's delicious mojo sauce). The menu typically includes rice and black beans, yuca also served with mojo, and many other traditional dishes loved by anyone with a smidgen of Cuban blood running in their veins!  Desserts normally run to turrones (almond nougat style sweets, both the hard type from Alicante or the soft one from Jijona, Spain), flan or custards such as the crema Catalana. 

I love setting a festive table and each year try to come up with interesting and different ideas.  This year I went wild mixing bright red (candles, my mother's red goblets, red rimmed dinner plates) with deep burgundy tablecloth, Christmas plaids (ribbon swag on the table, napkins and all the packages I wrapped) as well as pieces from our collection of sea creatures (pearl oyster shells, angel wing shells, starfish, sand dollar, equinoid fossil (of an ancient sea urchin), a few banded sea snail shells and a few more....I added two strings of tiny, tiny little lights my sister gave me recently.

I love using my mother's red goblets circa mid 1960's courtesy of S&H Green Stamps!  The red rimmed dinner and salad plates were a gift from my friend Maritza.  The salad plates on the étagère are Christmas Garland from Fitz & Floyd and special because they also were some of the few things that survived our fire!

For the last 10 years or so, my son and I have forgone the typical Cuban style Noche Buena menu and we sort of let our fancy guide us as to what menu we will choose for our own Best Night meal.

This time we chose a very simple menu of only three dishes... A zucchini ribbons salad courtesy of my Gather friend Katrina Hall, which I served with a Calamondin Vinaigrette made with fruit from our own calamondin tree.  

For our Entrée we chose to make a seafood dish consisting of lobster, shrimp and scallops in a combination of Newburg and Thermidor sauce, served in individual little gratin dishes lined with puff pastry.

Lobster, Shrimp & Scallops in Creamy Sauce

2 sheets puff pastry

2 lobster tails, cut in 1/4 inch chunks

8 sea scallops, cut in pieces

12 shrimp, shelled and devained

1/2 stick butter

2 shallots, finely minced

1/4 red bell pepper, seeded, devained, finely minced

1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

4 Tablespoons medium dry Sherry

1 cup heavy cream, scalded

4 egg yolks, beaten

Coarse panko

Butter for dotting on the breading

Freshly grated Parmigiano Romano cheese

Unfold puff pastry sheets and roll a few times with a rolling pin.  Place sheet inside each graten dish, fit into the sides and bottoms and cut off the rest with kitchen shears or sharp knife (use the discarded pieces to make cinnamon pastries).  Prick the bottom with a fork and place in 350 F oven to bake and puff up.

Heat butter in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook the minced shallots and red bell pepper, stirring, until any liquid is evaporated and they begin to turn translucent, about 3 minutes. Add lobster, shrimp and scallop, paprika, salt, and pepper and reduce heat to low. Cook, shaking pan gently, about 1 minute or so. Add 2 tablespoons Sherry and 1/2 cup of the hot cream and simmer for about 5 minutes.

While the above is gently simmering, add the remaining 2 tablespoons Sherry and 1/2 cup scalded milk to the beaten eggs in thin, slow dribbles, whisking constantly so that eggs will not curdle.  It should turn into a creamy and smooth eggy custard.  Add custard slowly to shellfish mixture, stirring gently until the sauce thickens to your desired consistency.

Pour the shellfish mixture into the graten dishes lined with the baked puff pastry.  Sprinkle with coarse panko, dot with butter and a few shakes of Parmigiano Romano cheese.  Place under broiler just long enough for the top to turn golden.

Dessert was a rich and silky Crema Catalana which is a Spanish version of a crème brulée.

I also baked a Red Velvet Cake and topped it with Cream Cheese Frosting to take to our friends Gail & Robert's house for a Christmas Day party.  I will post the recipe and photos for the cake later on.

Merry Christmas and Felices Navidades, everyone from our little Hawaiian cottage hale to your home!

 

 

On the Eve of Christmas Eve

On the Eve of Christmas Eve I was ready for the festivities....but not quite ready for the Christmas Eve table setting and menu... I had a lovely pork tenderloin and wanted to try a recipe for Mashed Potato Muffins shared by Joanne W on Gather.com recently - get the original recipe HERE.  For my changes read below.

The menu consisted of Citrusy & Garlic Rub Encrusted Pork Tenderloin sprinkled with Apple Wine, made by our friends Brenda and Kevan (and roasted in our clay cooker); Mini Mashed Potato Muffins and although I had set my heart on a Watercress Salad...since our source didn't have any available for cutting I settled for Petit Pois with Rosemary Seasoned Butter.

I couldn't find my standard sized muffin tins so used a 12 count mini-muffin pan with removable bottom. It worked great.

A simple meal to herald the Holiday in style...

The small calamondin oranges are from our tree...the blue plates were a Freecycle find!

Variations:

Use grated sharp or medium sharp cheddar instead of the ricotta for more umpf
Or
Use grated jalapeño cheese

I used fresh chopped/minced rosemary but fresh chopped/minced dill or chives or garlic chives would work well.

The recipe doesn't call for them, but I went on ahead and added the beaten egg yolks to the mix separately before folding in the egg whites.  I liked the results.

For the breadcrumbs at the botttom of the mini-muffin cups I used fine ground panko.

For those who are gluten intolerant you can either ignore the use for
breadcrumbs in the bottom of the pan or there is a brand that carries gluten free panko -

http://kinnikinnick.com/rss/src/Kinnikinnick-Introduces-Gluten-Free-Panko-Style-\
Br.html

 

 

 

 

Homemade Holiday Gifts - Mixed Bean Soup fixings

Simple gifts sometimes are the best!

Here is something we did about 14 years ago for family and friends and decided to do again this year for close friends and neighbors. 

 

Mixed Bean Soup

 

Combination of several types beans and peas

I used:

Baby limas

Large limas

Navy beans

Black beans

Great Northern beans

Light red kidney beans

Small red beans

Pinto beans

Garbanzo beans

Green split peas

Black-eyed peas

Green whole peas

Green split peas

Yellow split peas

Lentils

Pearl barley

 

Swansons Flavor Boost concentrated broth liquid packets - chicken flavored with no MSG

Goya Adobo Seasoning with no MSG

Dried oregano, thyme and ground black pepper

Fresh garlic cloves

Amounts are up to you and depend on how much of the bean mix you put in the bags.

 

Place the liquid packets of concentrated broth, the measured amounts of seasonings and the garlic cloves in Zip-lock small plastic snack bags.

 

Mix all the beans and peas together except for the lentils, yellow and green split peas and the pearl barley in a large container and mix well.  The reason to not mix in the peas, lentils and barley is they are much smaller and sink to the bottom.

 

Using clear plastic bags, fill with amount of bean mixture desired; add the rest of the peas, lentils and barley. 

 

We used white porcelain mugs large enough to use as soup mugs.

Place the bean mixture bags inside the mugs and the small envelope with the seasonings can be fitted also inside the mugs alongside the bags.  Close the bag tight with ribbon or twistie.

 

Wrap in decorated cellophane and tie with ribbon.  Add gift tag or card with list of ingredients and note to add water and chopped onion.

 

For a couple I used two mugs and one bag of the bean mixture and seasonings.  For individuals only 1 mug with the bag of beans and seasonings.

We had a bit left over which we will cook in our crock pot!

Gifts from the Kitchen - Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls

I'm visiting on the mainland for a few weeks and I helped my niece Madeline make these last night.  Absolutely delicious and could definitely be habit forming!
Wonderful as "Christmas Gifts from Your Kitchen".

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls

1 cup crushed Graham crackers (* see note below)
1/2 cup margarine or butter - room temperature (* see note below)
1 cup peanut butter - smooth or crunchy
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 ounce bag of meltable cocoa chips (* see note below)

Crush the cookies in a food processor or in a plastic bag with with rolling pin.  Mix and cream them with the butter, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla. Form small balls by rolling a small amount between your hands and place on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet or jelly-roll pan. Chill for about half an hour or until firm.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or double boiler - microwave is cleaner and
easier. You will probably need to zap it a few short times to get it to right
consistency.

Dip each peanut butter ball into the melted chocolate. You might have to put the
chocolate in the microwave a couple of times in between dipping batches of
peanut butter balls.  Place the covered balls back on the parchment covered pan or tray to dry. 

 Store in cool area in a tightly covered container.

NOTES:
* instead of Graham crackers we used Galleticas de Maria, but Lorna Doones,
vanilla wafers or even shortbread cookies can be used.

* we used butter

* the cocoa chips we used were from Wilton's candy melt chips, the cake
decorating company, but German Baker's semi-sweet baking chocolate squares can
be used. Be sure to read the microwave melting directions.

YIELD: we got 55 balls using the smallest size of a spring-release ice cream or cookie dough scoop

SOURCE: Not sure. Very easy, fast and absolutely delicious!