DC: Rice with Cod, Artichoke and Mushroom

This month's challenge was Rice with Cuttlefish, Artichoke and Mushroom from Olga of Las Cosas de Olga and Olga's Recipes. The recipe is a Spanish dish by Jose Andres. Olga's version of the recipe looked smiply fabulous, but I feel like mine definitely did not add up!! I tried, but oh well. I was a little rushed, and honestly not really into it, but I had to make it then or else I wouldn't get around to it in time!! I didn't feel like looking for cuttlefish or cooking squid, so I went with Cod. Nice firm fleshy fish. I used canned artichokes, sushi rice, and a mixture of white button and shiitake mushrooms. I also bought some steak on impulse at the grocery store b/c it was like half off or something, but that means I had to cook it that day for fear of spoilage. Yumm. Cod and Rice and Artichokes and STEAK!

Overall it was really good. I think if I'd spent more time on it, put a little more love in it, it would have tasted better. It didn't taste bad, for sure. Don't get me wrong. I liked it, the BF loved it, but I thought it could have been better. I would definitely consider trying it again, and I would definitely recommend it to a friend!! Don't forget to check out the other Daring Cooks' creations, as well as my kitchen cohort Diana of Thyme to Lime.

Rice with Cod, Artichoke and Mushroom

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 freezed 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 freezed 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.
  Sofregeit

  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!)
  
  

One of my best performances...

Two words: Oh WOW! When the BF won a bet and I was obligated to make him a meal of his choice of protein, he requested steak. I was a little nervous, my previous steak encounters have been alright, but not fantastic. I surprised myself with this one. The BF even called it exquisite, heavenly, tender and more! I read about steak and protein cooking in my Cookwise book (awesome book, I can't stop reading it!), and armed with knowledge, I went to my average, local, grocery store. I contemplated a cheaper cut of meat, but decided to go with the King of Steaks, the Filet. Expensive, yes, but juicy, tender and full of flavor. After this meal, I'm ready to go back to the store RIGHT NOW and buy more.

Using my Cookwise smarts and after reading a few bloggers experiences I went for it. I decided to marinate the room temp steak for 30 min. Then I wrapped the steaks in center cut bacon, and seared. There was some smoke, and a lot of noise, but it created a nice crust. After searing on all sides I transferred the whole skillet to the oven which had been set at 275 for the Mini Cheesecakes, and let them finish off for a few minutes in there while I got on with the sauce. I sauteed mushrooms coated in flour and bacon with some olive oil, added wine, fish sauce, soy sauce, sour cream, pepper, water and let it reduce a bit.

For the potatoes, I started them in the oven, but they had a failure to progress, so I nuked those suckers until they were soft. Then I mashed them with whipping cream, butter, brown sugar, nutmeg and white pepper until they were silky smooth.

All the BF could say was, "whoa, this is really good....really really good." For the next hour after he keep talking about how good the steak was, how it was better than a restaurant. He gushed praise for it. My brother got a small piece of steak as a leftover, and he loved it. He also said it was better than a restaurant. My recipe is definitely different and interesting, but it works! Who needs to spend $100 bucks at an expensive steakhouse when you can beat the flavor at home!? Jess 1, Steakhouse 0.

Seared Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon

2 8 oz filets

approx 4 tbsp: soy sauce, fish sauce, red wine

4 strips center cut bacon

3 tbsp oil

Marinate steaks in liquid mixture in a zipper bag and leave to come to room temp for 30 min or more. Remove steaks from bag, pat dry, season with salt and pepper. Wrap each with bacon, and secure with toothpicks or wooden skewers.

Heat heavy non coated ovenproof pan over med-high heat until hot, add oil. Turn on fan. It will begin to smoke almost immediately, so work fast and put steaks in immediately. Let cook a few minutes on each side....maybe 3-4 min each side, so bacon gets crispy and steaks have a nice crust. Move entire pan to hot oven preheated to 275. Turn off oven, and let finish cooking to desired doneness, about 8 min or so.

Mushroom Wine Sauce

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 package baby bella mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp flour

2 strips center cut bacon, sliced into bite sized pieces

1/4 cup red wine

3 Tbsp fish sauce

3 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp sour cream

Water

Heat med skillet on medium heat, add olive oil and bacon. Cook bacon until crisp. Toss mushrooms with flour to coat lightly. Drain extra flour off with sieve (or your hand), add mushrooms to pan, sautee about 5 min until starting to become tender. Add red wine, fish sauce, soy sauce and sour cream. Let reduce 10 minutes on low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

3 med sweet potatoes

nutmeg

1/4 c brown sugar

4 tbsp whipping cream

3 tbsp butter

Cook potatoes thoroughly. I punched holes with a fork in the skins and microwaved for about 10 min on high heat or until soft throughout. peel skins and put flesh into bowl. Add butter, brown sugar and whipping cream and whip with a fork or potato masher until homogeneous. Add 2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg, or to taste. Serve!