As I browse through my blog, I can’t help but notice how often rice seems to come up. I really can’t help it, I have a love affair with that little grain. My only hope is that I offer some variety for you. That said, this is a rice post. Yep. Mas arroz.
In Panama, we prepare rice in many different ways; sometimes with coconut milk, or various beans and peas. Anything you want, really. Two of my favorites are Arroz con Frijoles Negros (rice with black beans) and Arroz con Camarones Secos (rice with dried shrimp).
They’re both easy to make and follow the same process as the recipe for Arroz con Guandú. For the black beans, I used dried beans and cooked them in the coconut milk, as detailed in the recipe below, but you can use canned beans . For the one with the dried shrimp and guandú, I cooked both of those in the coconut milk first, then followed the recipe.
For the Arroz con Coco y Frijoles Negros (Black beans & rice)
2 cps rice
1/2 cp dry black beans
2 cps coconut milk
3 cps water
1/3 cp salt pork or bacon
1 tbsp vegetable oil
For the Arroz con Camaroncitos Secos y Guandú (Rice w/dried shrimp & pigeon peas)
2 cps rice
1 cp frozen guandú (pigeon peas)
1/2 cp dried shrimp
2 cps coconut milk
3 cps water
1/3 cp salt pork or bacon
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Method for both versions:
In a pot with a tight-fitting lid, brown the salt pork/bacon rendering some of its fat. Add the guandúes (pigeon peas), coconut milk. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat until it simmers. Cook it until the peas are tender, about 40 minutes. Strain the liquid and measure, add enough water to make 3-1/3 cps of liquid, set aside.
This recipe uses the frozen peas, however, if you are using the canned variety, just skip the step above. Instead, drain, rinse and strain the beans, then add coconut milk and water to measure 3-1/3 cups. Fry the salt pork or bacon just before adding the rinsed rice.
Add oil to the pan with the peas, rinse the rice and add it to the pot stirring all the ingredients. Add the liquid, check the salt, stir this well. Make sure you remove any drippings that may have been stuck to the bottom of the pan. Bring it to a slow boil; once the liquid boils do not stir it again. Keep the temperature on medium high.
Once the liquid is almost completely evaporated, bring the temperature to low and cover with the lid. Allow to steam undisturbed for 40 minutes. When you remove the lid, all the peas will be at the top, go ahead and stir them into the rice. You’re done!
Note: The flavor of the coconut milk will intensify with time. You can cook the peas a day ahead to allow the flavors to meld together.
Every now and again I find myself enjoying what I describe as a gastronomical religious experience. I’m a food snob, I admit it. I love good food, the rest isn’t worth the calories. I recently had one of those meals in Austin, Texas.
Do you know who Tyson Cole is? Only the latest recipient of the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Southwest, an honor that celebrates how he expresses his genius on plate after plate at Uchi and its little sister dining room, Uchiko.
On the recommendation of a local, I had a meal at Uchiko my last night in town. You can read all about it over at Eating Our Words. I thumbed through their cookbook while I ate my Fried Milk dessert, immediately knew I had to own a copy. Armed with the cookbook featuring fantastic cooking techniques and my lingering Uchiko-buzz, I attempted a new dish inspired by Cole and his cookbook (by the way, you really should a copy of it). You can click on this link to see more of the Uchiko food porn shots.
I came across a recipe for tuna steak coupled with compressed watermelon and other fancy accoutrements I chose to skip. I don’t really have a recipe for this, I’ll simply walk you through the method. This was very easy and quick to put together. I decided to allow the tuna steaks to marinate for about an hour and at the same time this allowed me time to dehydrate the watermelon slices.
Tuna Steaks with Dehydrated Watermelon
serves 2
For the steaks:
2 tuna steaks, marinated
Marinade:
2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
Crushed black pepper
Sea salt
Dehydrated Watermelon
4 watermelon slices (about 1/2-in thick)
Fish sauce
Cooling rack
Remove any seeds and sprinkle each side of the watermelon slices with a couple drops of the fish sauce. Then place them on the cooling rack over a cookie sheet and allow some of the liquid to drain out of the watermelon.
Peach & Habanero Sauce
2-3 ripe peaches, peeled & diced
Water
Pinch of salt
Habanero sauce, to taste
Throw everything, except the water, into a small saucepan. Add enough water just to come to the tops of the peach cubes, bring it to a slow boil/heavy simmer and cook until the peaches have softened to mush. Keep warm.
Sear the steaks in a nonstick skillet, we like ours medium rare, but cook it to your preference. Lay 2 slices of watermelon, spread a bit of the peach sauce and top with the seared tuna steaks.
I know this combination of ingredients may sound odd, but it really works. The tuna steaks were simply flavored, so you can really appreciate their flavor. The watermelon, which is always just mildly sweet, is accented by the complex saltiness of the fish sauce and all of this balanced out by the fresh sweetness and spiciness of the peach sauce. It was a perfectly harmonized dish.
Enjoy!
Cookingly yours,
Anamaris
I had not been back to this spot in eons. It was nice to find it redecorated and still as unforgettable as it was the first time. Follow this link to Eating Our Words for my full post.
Anamaris!
Remember these?
Patacones or Tostones (fried green plantains)
Bacon-wrapped asparagus
Salmon with Beurre Blanc Sauce
Lavender-Crusted Lamb
Seared Scallops with Red Pepper Sauce
Kick-ass Pasta Salad
Hungry yet?
Cookingly yours,
Anamaris
With Spring almost over and Summer staring me right in the face and its heat chasing me around Houston, I’ve had no choice but to start thinking about lighter, cooler meals. I’m also supposed to be making an effort to eat healthier, which is always a battle for me, but I’m trying–get off my back already!
So, since I’m not the biggest salad fan, I have to find ways to get them in, but they have to be interesting. That’s how this one came about. For some reason I found thoughts of sofrito running around my head; I guess that’s not so unusual, since that is the base to almost every Latin/Caribbean dish. Onions, bell peppers, garlic, tomatoes, culantro and sometimes carrots –standards in most sofritos. Then the lightbulb moment happened: I bet that would make for a good salad! Add some cheese, a vinaigrette, oooooh roast the veggies…YUM!
And so it happened. And, let me tell you. Oh.eM.Gee! This turned out so amazingly delicious! I roasted everything in the oven for a few minutes to bring out the natural sweetness of the ingredients and to tame the zing of the onion and garlic. You can opt to use them fresh, uncooked, but I do hope you take a few minutes to roast them, because, well, its just heavenly. No real recipe here, just a bit of this and that. Make it! Do it today!
Roasted Sofrito Salad
Sweet or red onion
Red & orange bell peppers
Garlic, whole
Baby carrots
I sliced the onion and peppers into 1/4-in or so pieces, not too big, not too small. Left the garlic and baby carrots whole. If you go for regular-sized carrots, then cut them into sticks. You want the veggies to still have a bite to them after roasting.
I threw it all onto a lined baking sheet, drizzled about 1-2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkling of salt & pepper and popped it all under the broiler. I tossed the veggies around after 5 minutes or so, when they starting caramelizing, I didn’t want them to burn. 10 minutes was enough. Allow them to cool, while you work on the vinaigrette.
Culantro Vinaigrette
Culantro/cilantro, chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
White wine vinegar
Salt & fresh black pepper
Blend the culantro into the oil to puree. Remove from blender, add vinegar, then slowly drizzle in the culantro oil until creamy. Adjust seasoning as necessary.
Plating
Iceberg lettuce wedges, very cold
Tomatoes, wedges
Culantro vinaigrette
Queso Cotija or Fresco
Combine the roasted veggies with the lettuce, add tomato wedges and dress with the vinaigrette. Serve with crumbled Cotija or Queso Fresco. Ay, que rico!
Freshly yours,
Anamaris
Hello my Bloggies!
No, I haven’t run off with the milkman. I’m still around, lurking, throwing yummy looking food on the screen to keep you glued to your seats… Weird, all of a sudden my voice (in my head, yes!) sounded low and creepy as I typed that sentence. Uff!
Anyway. I have something for you to read, but you’ll have to follow me over to Eating Our Words. Remember? That’s where I’m leading my secret agent double life. Click here. Do it quickly, this message will self-destruct in 5 4 3
See ya after the jump!
Anamaris
I’m a lucky girl; I have a pretty cool day job. When they’re not making me work for my money, I get the opportunity to accrue travel miles. Imagine my delight when I found out I was Argentina-bound. As The Hubbz’ new t-shirt says ‘Buenos F*ckn Aires’. Yeah, baby!
I have often dreamt of visiting this city and getting lost in its architectural beauty. The dream didn’t include spending hours upon hours locked up in a basement attending a conference, but hey. I’m a clever girl, I found ways to sneak away and play a little.
As I share some of the pictures with you, let me tell you my impressions of Buenos Aires. The layout and architecture reminded me of 2 of my favorite European cities: Madrid and Paris. It especially reminded me of Paris, buildings so ornate and fancy looking. Incredibly wide thoroughfares dissected by tiny-cobbled streets. Plazas at every turn. Locals casually, yet elegantly clad.
I think I’ve mentioned my love of Paris, well Buenos Aires felt to me much the same, but better because I was surrounded by fellow Spanish speakers. There is just something that makes my heart sing when I’m surrounded by Latinos. The guys were GORGEOUS, there are some seriously good genes running through those veins. I hadn’t even made it out of the airport before I was texting my single friends to book their next vacation to Bs. As. Seriously. It didn’t matter what age they were, young teens to old men in their 70s, they looked GOOD! Then they start talking and swoon over their accent. Sigh.
I have often heard that Argentines are stuck up, as a matter of fact, they’re referred to as the French of South America. I’m here to tell you that I didn’t have an unpleasant exchange with a single person in Paris or in Buenos Aires. There was a dismissive waiter at the first cafe I stopped at for lunch, but even the local sitting next to me found him to be a pill. It really was no biggie, though. OK, I tend to limit my advice tidbits to the kitchen, but let me share this little travel nugget: when you go to another country, think of it as going to someone else’s home.
My new bestie!
If you invited yourself to someone’s home, you would go out of your way to be gracious, unimposing and to appreciate their customs and traditions, even if they didn’t resonate with yours. You would respect their space and find enjoyment in their way of living. It’s the same with travel, once you let go of the mentality of the way things are supposed to be, which is probably based on American standards, and open up to the way things are in this new, undiscovered place, I promise you the locals will welcome you with open arms and hearts and your visit will be unforgettable. Trust me on that.
Anyway, no more talking or typing, for more shots, follow this link. It will take you directly to the photostream. It seemed every time I spoke to an Argentinean and thanked them for their help, they had this little reply which I need to commit to memory:
Me: Muchas gracias (thanks so much)
Them: No, por favor! (no, please!)
As if to say ‘it was MY pleasure to help you’, ‘really, don’t mention it’. I will take that with me and make it a part of my repertoire.
Still crying for more Argentina,
Anamaris
No stories, just pictures. Go!
View from the tram.
Mounted Police Superstar.
Bridge.
Cherry Blossoms.
Vista House.
Rainy day @ the Columbia Gorge.
Little fall.
Big fall.
There’s more, you didn’t think I would only take 6 pictures, did ya? Go to the Flickr stream, here.
See ya!
Anamaris
About a month ago, I had the pleasure of heading out to Portland for about a week. Unfortunately, it was on business, but believe me when I say, I made it my business to get some fun in. I managed to see bit of the outlying beauty of this city, but mostly, I managed to get a LOT of awesome food in. Lots. Loads. Really, a lot! Oh and some awesome beer and wines and coffee, and…, well, you get the picture.
I’ve told you about my FoodTV obsession, so it should be no surprise that I’m an avid fan of Unique Eats and Guy’s DD&Ds. Why do I mention those shows, you ask? Because, Portland is ALWAYS all up in there! Man! That’s a really ‘good food’ food-town. Let me share some highlights, if you don’t mind.
By pure accident, we bumped into VooDoo Doughnuts.
We were trying to drive out to the coast and the NaggiGator kept getting confused and making us drive around in circles when all we were looking for was a drive-thru. But, maybe the navigation system knew better and tried to make sure we didn’t miss out on this little gem.
If you like doughnuts, probably even if you don’t, you’ll find something here to tickle your fancy. I did, and I’m not a huge fan of doughnuts, if they’re not piping hot off the fryer and simply plain-glazed, I’m not interested.
Enter… The Maple Bacon Doughnut. O.M.G!!!
This thing was good, like crazy good! So good, we went back right before leaving to bring some home for our loved ones. We’re nice that way.
Another memorable moment happened at Public Domain, a nearby coffee shop. I had a cup of a Panamanian brew, but it was the way it was prepared that had me entranced.
They call it a Pour Over and the barista takes about 10 minutes to hand pour the water over the grounds.
He mentioned that they pour at different speeds and on different spots to vary the flavor of the final cup. It was mesmerizing.
From there, a proper breakfast at the Byways Cafe in the Pearl District. I had the most awesome Corned Beef Hash, next time I’ll skip the bell peppers, though.
The other thing I loved about Portland, was the street food scene. Oh my! The little carts were EVERYWHERE!
I stopped by the Frying Scotsman and had some fish & chips. Cute chef, great accent, awesome halibut and fries!
The other FoodNetwork find was Pine State Biscuits. These guys are rocking the biscuit! Anything you can dream of, they put on a biscuit and do so with gusto!
I had the most popular one, The Reggie.
Yep, that’s fried chicken breast. No, that’s GOOD fried chicken breast. Topped with bacon, gravy and insane amounts of cheddar. I want one NOW.
Did mention Portland is a beer town? My! I had some awesome beer at too many places to mention.
But…, I found the home of Rogue Ales… I scored megapoints with The Hubbz on that one.
I ate and drank and walked and had fun and repeated. Oh. I also got some work done (wink, wink). To see more of the food porn, just click here. Go on, you know you wanna.
Cookingly yours,
Anamaris
My seafood obsession is well documented. If you were to do a search on this here blog, you will probably find that fish and/or seafood appear more often than anything else. The Hubbz says I have the ocean(s) running through my veins and I suppose he’s partly right. After all, I grew up with quick and easy access to the Atlantic and the Pacific and to all the goodness harnessed within their waters.
Yesterday I made my required stop by the Asian market, the one place in Houston where I know I will find seafood-a-plenty, all on display, glistening and fresh. I had to stop myself from buying everything I saw and craved, reminding myself of my limited freezer. I can almost imagine that is how those midnight shoppers feel when they go into the stores on Black Friday. Frantically going through the options and picking up marked down items to fill their carts.
This time, I’m going back to one of my all-time-standbys: Al Ajillo (garlic sauce), with yet, another twist. The addition of cream to end up with a silky, creamy sauce. I also used cod fillets, instead of my usual snapper or red fish or shrimp. It was so good and super easy and it came together in a snap. This will work with almost any fish, I even think it would be great to sub the fish with chicken or pork cutlets.
Cod in Creamy Garlic Sauce
1 lb cod fillets, seasoned with a sprinkling of salt and pepper
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cp onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 cp parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cp sherry or white wine
1/4 cp heavy cream
You will need to use a saute pan with a lid. On medium-high, heat the olive oil and butter until melted, then add the onions. Cook onions until translucent before adding the garlic, bay leaf and parsley, cook for 2 or 3 more minutes.
Bring the temperature to high and add the sherry, stirring constantly and allowing the alcohol to cook down. Add the fillets, giving them a turn to make sure both sides enjoy the sauciness.
Allow them to cook for about 2 minutes per side (this may vary depending on thickness). Add the cream and swirl the pan around to distribute the cream evenly. Turn off the heat and cover with the lid, allow the steam and heat contained in the pan to continue cooking the fish.
Serve it over white rice or with steamed veggies.
Cookingly yours,
Anamaris