Aprons & Tapas: abril 2017

So we are cooking today stuffed squids. I have to say that this recipe is my mother's, in case that eventually the recipe becomes famous, she will be requesting the credits for it hehe.

Stuffed Squids/ Calamares Rellenos

Ingredients:

2 fresh dirty squids

1 Onion

2 Garlic cloves

Green peas

2-3 Potatoes

2 Boiled eggs

Breadcrumbs

Parsley

2 Bay leaves

1/2 Glass cooking wine

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

How to cook it:

1. Wash the squid and clean them. How to clean it: you have to separate the head from the body. Grab the squid tail in one hand and pull firmly from the head, it should come out easily. Save the body for later and now separate the tentacles from the head. Chop the tentacles and put them in a small bowl. On the body you will find a thin, clear sliver of cartilage, it is not edible, you have o remove it frm the body, just grasp and pull. The last step is peeling the squid, it is going to be easy to separate from the flesh. Once the skin is removed, wash the squid.

2. Chop super thin half of the onion, the parsley, the boiled eggs and add them to the same bowl where you saved the tentacles before. Add some breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.

3. Take one by one the squids and stuff them with the mixture using a teaspoon.

4. And once you fill them, you will close them with a tooth stick, like sewing the edge.

5. That is everything for the squids. now we are going to prepare the sauce. Slice the other half of the onion and put it in a pan, add some parsley, 2 bay leaves, green peas, diced potatoes, the cooking wine and the squids. Cover all the ingredients with water, bring it to boil. Add salt and pepper.

6. Leave it boiling for about 10-15 minutes, ir until the potatoes are cooked. Serve warm. Enjoy!

Paella with seafood and chicken (4 people)

Ingredients:

1 Garlic bulb

1 Green pepper

1 Red pepper

5 Ripe Tomatoes

200 grams of Shrimps

150 grams of Mussels

150 grams of clams

1/2 Chicken (in pieces)

A pinch of saffron

2 tsp of Salt

Olive Oil

1 tsp food colorant

1 cup of arborio rice (round rice)

2 cups of hot water

Instructions to cook:

1, In a "paellera" (special fry pan) put 3 to 4 table spoons of oil to heat. Meanwhile, peel the garlic bulb not on its entirety, but keeping it together and cut it all the way around without split it. Place it on the paellera.

2. Wash and clean the peppers, cut them in stripes and place them on the paellera. Stir them in medium heat until they are tender.

3. Now wash and peel the tomatoes, take one by one and squeeze them on the sink, to avoid the exceed water. Dice them and add them to the rest of the ingredients. Follow the pictures below.

4. Stir the tomatoes for about 10 minutes until they become more creamy. In the meantime, wash and clean the chicken, separate it into pieces. If you are using chicken breast, dice it. Now add the chicken to the rest of the ingredients.

5. Once the chicken is sealed, it's time to add the rice. You will use 1 cup of rice for every 4 people. Stir the rice for 3 to 4 minutes so the rice takes the flour of the ingredients.

6. At this point we are going to add the hot water. So, it is going to be the double amount of water that the amount of rice. On this recipe we have used 1 cup of rice, therefore, now we are going to add 2 cups of hot water.

7. It is the time to add the salt, the food colorant and the saffron.

8. We will add te seafood, in this case we used shrimps, clams and mussels but in other occasions we have used squid rings. Spread them over the rice. We stop stirring the rice until the end of the cook. Leave boiling at medium heat until the rice is done.

9. Serve yourself a "tapa" while waiting, it can take around 25 minutes to be ready. If you see the rice is needing water but is still not done, add some more hot water.