Better late than never, yes? Due to vacation, then issues with Max kitty- who's STILL refusing to eat on his own, I didn't get to make this before the reveal date, let alone the week of the reveal. BUT, I did make it, I made it last night and I do not regret it.



The Challenge for August was hosted by Olga of Las Cosas de Olga and Olga’s Recipes She chose a delicious Spanish recipe, Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes by José Andrés, one of the most important Spanish Chefs at the moment. Well, so she says.}:P

I hate artichokes.

From what I understand, Cuttlefish is like squid, in taste, and guess what? I detest squid.

So. Yeah.

I had to make acceptable substitutes. In my dish, I used shrimp, sea scallops and asparagus instead. I also used Turmeric, as Saffron is gods awful expensive and after all those vet bills? Yeah, can't afford it. Also used was Arborio rice, as that was the closest I could find to the suggested rices.





First, I gathered all my ingredients. The InLaws were coming over for dinner, and I was planning to make this dish for us all. So it wouldn't do to find, just as everyone was arriving, that I was missing a key ingredient.



With the help of Mark, we peeled and de-tailed a bag of shrimp, and I rinsed, then halved a bag of sea scallops. Then set them in the fridge until I needed them.



See these tomatoes? These are homegrown Heirloom Tomatoes. I grew them. *puffs chest* What better recipe to use them in, eh? Eh? Eh? Fine, be that way. They were yummy raw, according to everyone else. Me, I don't eat raw tomatoes. Yuck. Blech. But in the Sofregit? Delicious.

Anyway...



First up was making the Allioli. That entailed peeling 4 cloves of garlic, a bit of sea salt, what turns out was supposed to be LOTS more olive oil than I used, and a few drops of fresh lemon juice. Oh, and I also learned that it works better when doing the traditional method of making Alliolli, if you have a stone or stoneware mortar and pestle instead of wood like I have and used. *nods sagely*



After I peeled the garlic cloves, I chopped them in half. I figured it'd make the mashing of them go a bit quicker. Apparently the sea salt is supposed to keep the garlic from sliding around while you pound it. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.. ahem. Sorry. I started pounding at the garlic and umm... had to catch a few. Heh. So, the garlic gets mashed into a paste of sorts. Takes a bit of doing, but I got it there. Again, a stone mortar/pestle would probably been better to use. Hrm.



Once the garlic was crushed, I took a fresh lemon, stabbed am 'X' into it, and squeezed out a few drops into the garlic. Then, I mashed it around a bit more to blend it all together well.




Now came the fun part.

Because the mortar was rather light, I had to have Mark hold it while I added the olive oil, drop by lonely drop. It took awhile to even get it to this point. It turns out, the amount of olive oil to have been used was roughly 1 cup. Mine? So does not have 1 cup in it. It barely had 1/4 cup. Hence, it does not look remotely like this. Or here. Or anything like this one. Yeah.

Anyway, I set it aside and carried on blissfully.



Next up was the Sofregit. This used those yummy homegrown tomatoes. Yup, yup. And cute little petite button mushrooms.


It also called for a Bay leaf. I happen to have my very own Bay plant growing right outside the front door. Nothing better than fresh herbs that you've grown yourself, you know?



First I chopped everything up. Well, most everything.



Then I tossed it all in a pan, with the mushrooms, olive oil, some Cumin and dried Oregano. And I added a touch of salt and pepper. Added the Bay leaf and mixed it up really well.



While I waited for the Sofregit to come to a slow boil, I chopped the asparagus into 1" pieces and set it aside with the other Bay leaf.



Let me just say- this smelled AMAZING. Even Mark said he could smell it from the living room and it made him hungry. Well, hungrier than he already was. Lowered the heat to a slow simmer and let it cook away.



In another pan, I tossed the scallops, asparagus and shrimp, with the 2nd Bay leaf. In hind sight, I should have held the shrimp back until the last few minutes of overall cooking. It wasn't TOO chewy, but it was starting to get there and would have been if I'd cooked them any longer.



Once everything started to get a bit of color, I added the white wine. I used Sutter Home Moscato white wine. It comes in those small single serving 4pks that are perfect for cooking with when you don't drink wine. Yes, I don't drink wine. Don't drink beer either. Rum and vodka on the other hand...

Anyway, moving right along. I also added about 4 tablespoons of the Sofregit, and stirred everything well.




After the temp came back up to a slow boil, I added 2 cups of Arborio rice. Yes, it's not a Spanish rice, but it was the closest I could find and worked very well. This is yummy rice.
I also used Turmeric instead of Saffron. Made everything a wonderful, bright yellow color.



I then added a couple cups of water (1 per 1/2 cup of rice) and let come back up to a boil. Then it boiled for roughly 5 minutes. I stirred it twice, maybe 3 times, to keep everything well mixed and not stuck to the bottom. Sorry, I don't like crunchy rice.}:P After it boiled for roughly 5 minutes, it was then removed from the heat and let stand for approximately 10 minutes while we set up for the plating and serving.



This was so worth it. Now, by itself, the Allioli can be a bit much. But when eaten with everything else, the flavors just sing. Nice, rich colors, lovely flavors that come through on everything. And the fresh, homegrown tomatoes made the Sofregit all that much better.



We decided that this is another of those special occasion dishes that'll get made often.*nods sagely*

Even though I made the Challenge late, I'm glad I did take the time to make it nonetheless.


THE CHALLENGE RECIPES-



Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Equipment:

•1 Chopping Board
•1 knife
•1 medium saucepan
•1 Paella pan (30 cm/11” is enough for 4 people. If not available, you may use a simple pan that size)
•1 Saucepan
Ingredients (serves 4):

•4 Artichokes (you can use jarred or frozen if fresh are not available)
•12 Mushrooms (button or Portobello)
•1 or 2 Bay leaves (optional but highly recommended)
•1 glass of white wine
•2 Cuttlefish (you can use frozen cuttlefish or squid if you don’t find it fresh)
•“Sofregit” (see recipe below)
•300 gr (2 cups) Short grain rice (Spanish types Calasparra or Montsant are preferred, but you can choose any other short grain. This kind of rice absorbs flavor very well) – about 75 gr per person ( ½ cup per person) Please read this for more info on suitable rices.
•Water or Fish Stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)
•Saffron threads (if you can’t find it or afford to buy it, you can substitute it for turmeric or yellow coloring powder)
•Allioli (olive oil and garlic sauce, similar to mayonnaise sauce) - optional

Directions:

1.Cut the cuttlefish in little strips.
2.Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the cuttlefish in the pan.
3.If you use fresh artichokes, clean them as shown in the video in tip #7. Cut artichokes in eights.
4.Clean the mushrooms and cut them in fourths.
5.Add a bay leaf to the cuttlefish and add also the artichokes and the mushrooms.
6.Sauté until we get a golden color in the artichokes.
7.Put a touch of white wine so all the solids in the bottom of the get mixed, getting a more flavorful dish.
8.Add a couple or three tablespoons of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit.
9.Add all the liquid and bring it to boil.
10.Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes in heavy heat.
11.Add some saffron thread to enrich the dish with its flavor and color. Stir a little bit so the rice and the other ingredients get the entire flavor. If you’re using turmeric or yellow coloring, use only 1/4 teaspoon.
12.Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than “al dente”)
13.Put the pan away from heat and let the rice stand a couple of minutes.


Sofregit (a well cooked and fragrant sauce made of olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and onions, and may at times
different vegetables such as peppers or mushrooms)-

Cooking time: aprox. 1 hour
Ingredients:

•2 tablespoons of olive oil
•5 big red ripe tomatoes, chopped
•2 small onions, chopped
•1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
•4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
•1 cup of button or Portobello mushrooms, chopped (optional)
•1 Bay leaf
•Salt
•Touch of ground cumin
•Touch of dried oregano
Directions:

1.Put all the ingredients together in a frying pan and sauté slowly until all vegetables are soft.
2.Taste and salt if necessary (maybe it’s not!)
Allioli is the optional part of the recipe. You must choose one of the two recipes given, even though I highly recommend you to try traditional one. Allioli is served together with the rice and it gives a very nice taste


Allioli (Traditional recipe)
Cooking time: 20 min aprox.
Ingredients:

•4 garlic cloves, peeled
•Pinch of salt
•Fresh lemon juice (some drops)
•Extra-virgin olive oil (Spanish preferred but not essential)
Directions:

1.Place the garlic in a mortar along with the salt.
2.Using a pestle, smash the garlic cloves to a smooth paste. (The salt stops the garlic from slipping at the bottom of the mortar as you pound it down.)
3.Add the lemon juice to the garlic.
4.Drop by drop; pour the olive oil into the mortar slowly as you continue to crush the paste with your pestle.
5.Keep turning your pestle in a slow, continuous circular motion in the mortar. The drip needs to be slow and steady. Make sure the paste soaks up the olive oil as you go.
6.Keep adding the oil, drop by drop, until you have the consistency of a very thick mayonnaise. If your allioli gets too dense, add water to thin it out. This takes time—around 20 minutes of slow motion around the mortar—to create a dense, rich sauce.
José's tips for traditional recipe: It's hard to think that, when you start crushing the garlic, it will ever turn into something as dense and smooth as allioli. But don't give up. It's worth the extra time and effort to see the oil and garlic come together before your eyes. Just make sure you're adding the olive oil slowly, drop by drop. Keep moving the pestle around the mortar in a circular motion and keep dreaming of the thick, creamy sauce at the end of it all.

Allioli a la moderna (Modern recipe)
Cooking time: 3-4 minutes
Ingredients:

•1 small egg
•1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (as above, Spanish oil is highly recommended)
•1 garlic clove, peeled
•1 Tbs. Spanish Sherry vinegar or lemon juice (if Sherry vinegar is not available, use can use cider or white vinegar)
•Salt to taste
Directions:

1.Break the egg into a mixing bowl.
2.Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the garlic cloves, along with the vinegar or lemon juice.
3.Using a hand blender, start mixing at high speed until the garlic is fully pureed into a loose paste.
4.Little by little, add what's left of the olive oil as you continue blending.
5.If the mixture appears too thick as you begin pouring the oil, add 1 teaspoon of water to loosen the sauce.
6.Continue adding the oil and blending until you have a rich, creamy allioli.
7.The sauce will be a lovely yellow color.
8.Add salt to taste.
José's tips for modern recipe:
(1) If you do not have access to a hand blender, you can use a hand mixer (the kind with the two beaters) or a food processor. If you use a food processor, you must double the recipe or the amount will be too little for the blades to catch and emulsify.
(2) What happens if the oil and egg separate? Don't throw it out. You can do two things. One is to whisk it and use it as a side sauce for a fish or vegetable. But if you want to rescue the allioli, take 1 tablespoon of lukewarm water in another beaker and start adding to the mix little by little. Blend it again until you create the creamy sauce you wanted.

Olga’s Tips:
(1) In Spain, rice is not stired as often as it is when cooking Italian risotto. You must stir it once or twice maximum. This tip is valid for all Spanish rice dishes like paella, arròs negre, arròs a banda…
(2) When cooking the alternative style you can change the cuttlefish or squid for diced potato.
(3) If you can’t find cuttlefish or squid, or you’re not able to eat them because of allergies, you can try to substitute them for chicken or vegetables at your choice.
(4) Sofregit can be done in advance. You can keep it in the fridge or even freeze it.
(5) For more information on how to clean and remove the heart of artichokes, please watch this video
(6) To watch how Jose Andres cooks this dish click here.
(7) For more information on how to clean and remove the heart of artichokes, please watch this video
(8) To tone down the taste when you do it by hand in a mortar, then add an egg yolk. If you want to tone it down in the alternative way use milk or soy milk. Anyway, the best alternative way is the original oil and garlic alone.
(9) Allioli must be consumed during the preparation day and preserved in the fridge before using it.