The Trash's Paella in a Pot

0. The preparation

• A big aluminium pot because it conducts heat rapidly and allows for more flexibility in timing
• Pressure cooker top for the above pot to expedite cooking time
• Borrow ingredients from mom because you didn't go grocery shopping this morning and our lunchtime guest only told you last night that he was arriving in town today

1. The meats

• Cut up chicken wings/drumsticks and quail into limb-sized pieces
• Salt both sides
• Fry in oil for a while until the skin begins to yellow/brown -- no need to cook it well
• Toss into big pot (without the oil)

2. The veggies

• Chop up large handfuls of onions, tomatoes (peeled), green peppers and red peppers into finger-nail sized bits
• Fry onions, then add in green peppers, fry, then add in red peppers, fry, then add in tomatoes, fry
  
  (If you are not a "fundamentalist" you can expedite this step by cooking all the vegetables in one go. But be warned, the Trash may frown upon you.)

3. The seafood

• Take off the heads and shells from small shrimps, collect the heads/shells in a separate small pot.
• Add some water to this small pot and boil the shrimp throwaways for a while.
• Filter this broth into a collecting cup.
• Take a pestle and gently ground the shrimp heads in the pot to squeeze the juices out.
• Add a bit of water to this mix and filter out the broth again into the same collecting cup.
  
  This broth will later be used as a substitute for water when we cook the rice.
  
  
• Collect any of the clam water into the broth cup, remember to filter.
• Cut up squid into strips.
  
  
• Toss the seafood into the pan with the vegetables and let them cook together for a while. Then toss everything into the big pot.
  

4. The extras

• Gently ground one tooth of garlic in a mortar and pestel.
• Add parsley (just the leaves, preferably dried) and gently ground.
• Add a dash of white wine and mix.
  
  
• Squeeze the juice out of half a lemon.
  
  
• Ground some saffron (threads, not powder) gently with a dash of white wine.
  

5. The rice

• Prepare one-and-a-half as much water/broth as you want rice. Use the broth collected before as much as possible and add water to make up the rest of the volume.
• Add a bit of extra water/broth and cook everything in the big pot for a while (5 minutes, no more).
• Add in the lemon juice and garlic/parsley here.
  
  
• Add in the white people's rice now. (Here we used Arroz SOS, which is known for its initial resistance to bursting/swelling.)
  
  
• Stir the contents of the pot (but never ever after) and bring to a boil.
• Add in the saffron here.
  
  
• Put the pressure cooker top on the pot and heat up until the whistle is loud and spinning. At this point, turn the heat down to low and let it sit for approxmiately 7 minutes.
  
• After 7 minutes, turn off the heat and let it sit for an additional 3 minutes.
  
  (Actually timings will depend on the technology of the pressure cooker, this one was apparently old and new ones are supposed to be even faster! If you are using a normal pot, it will take approximately twice the amount of time. If you are using a large broad pan, no lid, as most people usually do, then it will take even longer.)
  

6. The eating

• Serve with Spanish red wine (Rioja for example) because Spain is a wine counry and we have the best wines in teh world.
• Remember to also eat the toasted bits of rice stuck on the inside of the pot (called "sacarat" in some parts) because it is where the flavor has crystalized and is the best part.
• You will probably want to have dessert afterwards, followed by a shot of something from your liquor cabinet.
  
  
• The post-meal siesta is optional.
  

Apple-Cucumber Salad with Split Mung Dal

from www.bigoven.com

MBC note: I didn't have curry leaves, so I left them out. I doubled the amount of dal, and used dried cayenne instead of fresh. Or maybe it was paprika. The jar wasn't labeled.

anyway, it was delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 tb Split mung dal
• 1 lg European cucumber
• 1 Granny Smith apple
• 1 Green cayenne pepper; or two
• 3/4 c Fresh cilantro leaves;
• 2 tb Fresh lime juice
• 1/2 ts Salt; or to taste
• * Tempering *
• 1 tb Vegetable oil
• 1 ts Black mustard seed
• 1 ts Cumin seed
• 1 tb Dried curry leaves; or

Instructions

1. Place the dal in a small bowl with 1 cup water and soak for 1 hour.

2. Cut the cucumber lengthwise into 4 or 6 wedges. discard the seeds, then cut crosswise into 3/4 inch or 1/2 inch chunks. Place in a large bowl. Core the apple, but do not peel, then cut into small chunks and add to the cucumber. Add the chile. coriander, soaked dal, and lime juice and toss to blend well.

3. Heat a small heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and when it is hot, toss in the remaining tempering ingredients. Give a quick stir, then cover to prevent the mustard seeds from popping out. When most of the seeds have popped, about 30 seconds, remove from the heat and pour over the salad. Sprinkled on the salt and toss well. Served in a shallow bowl.

Caribbean Stuffed Chicken

My co-worker helped me come up with this recipe. It was very good, and my housemate said this was one of the top 10 meals I have made him.



Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
6 slices prosciutto
1 yellow plantain (on the riper side is better, but not so ripe that it's black)
1 sweet potato
6 slices mozzarella cheese
butter
salt, pepper, garlic salt
olive oil

Peel the plantain and sweet potato. Cut the sweet potato into small chunks, and cut the plantain in half. Boil them in salted water until they are cooked. They will float once they are done. Drain, then mash with some butter, salt, pepper.

Trim off the fat on the chicken thighs, and lay as flat as possible. Pound or flatten the chicken if necessary. Lay a slice of prosciutto over each slice of chicken, followed by a spoonfull of the plantain/sweet potato mixture. Fold the chicken over on itself and secure with a toothpick. Salt, garlic salt, and pepper the outside of the stuffed thighs.

In a cast iron skillet (or other oven proof skillet), heat olive oil. Place the chicken in the pan to brown on both sides. Once chicken has browned, put the cast iron skillet in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, lay the slices of cheese over the chicken so that they are melted by the end.

Enjoy!

Okonomiyaki

adapted from 101 cookbooks

2-3 cups cabbage, finely shredded
1 cup leeks, well washed and chopped (channy: i used green garlic)
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or apf flour)
a couple pinches of fine grain sea salt
3 eggs, beaten
1+ tablespoon olive oil

Garnish: whatever you have around. slivered almonds. chives, pesto, olives, cheese. I ate mine with kimchi.

Combine the cabbage, leeks, flour, and salt in a bowl. Toss until everything is coated with a dusting of flour. Stir in the eggs and mix until everything is evenly coated.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add a generous splash of olive oil. Scoop the cabbage mixture into the pan, and using a metal spatula press it into a round pancake shape, flat as you can get it. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the bottom is golden. To flip the okonomiyaki, slide it out of the skillet onto a plate. Place another plate on top and flip both (together) over. If you need a bit more oil in your skillet, add it now, before sliding the okonomiyaki back into the skillet. Again press down a bit with a spatula and cook until golden on this side - another 3 -5 minutes.

When you are finished cooking, slide it onto a cutting board to cut into wedges. Garnish and enjoy immediately.

Serves 1 - 2.

Basic Bread Pudding

i had some leftover bread lying around and i decided to channel karen alroy.

however much stale bread you have sitting around. I used about 1/3 of a sourdough batard, 1/3 of a baguette, and 2 whole grain sprouted hamburger buns. Anything will do, really.

All measurements are approximate
Oven to 350

1c heavy cream
2-3 cups milk

• heat milk and cream on medium high until almost simmering, stirring frequently. remove from heat.

3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4c sugar

• whisk all together in a large bowl.

1/2c dried currants or raisins

• soak in hot water for 15-20 minutes or until plump.

• add cream mixture slowly and evenly to egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the egg does not cook. mix in raisins/currants. pour mixture over bread in a large bowl and let sit and soak for 20 minutes or so, poking at it occasionally to submerge all the bread.

• drain, put bread in a buttered casserole dish and pour extra liquid over top. IMPORTANT: put the casserole IN a roasting pan. Put into oven and fill OUTER roasting pan halfway with boiling water. This is called a bain marie, and it prevents the outside of the pudding from cooking too much before the inside.

• bake for 50 minutes or until set and golden brown

Natasha's Grape Salad

what a weird combination of flavors. It's delicious!

red seedless grapes, halved
handful of cilantro leaves

>>toss together in a bowl

dress with lemon juice, paprika, salt, and pepper.

Hamachi Kama Shioyaki

this is so delicious and ridiculously easy. The hardest part is finding the hamachi kama. If you're in SF, they sell it at Nijiya Market in Japantown.

1 hamachi kama (yellowtail collar)
lots of sea salt

rub salt all over fish. let sit for a while. broil for 10 minutes or so.

eat.