recipe: green rice with mahi mahi

There is actually a reason I did not name this arroz verde… it is because, if I were going to do this as a true verde sauce, in my mind, should probably include some tomitillios, of which this recipe does not include (see my chili verde recipe). It is closer to perhaps a riz vert insomuch as it is built on a base of the color green and is rice based in a Delta cooking style. This version includes steaming the mahi mahi over the top of the cooking the rice. The fish (as well as some of the other ingreds) are interchangeable, as usual, but this was truly inspired by the fact that there were all these pretty colors of green in my fridge to draw from along with the fresh fish I picked up. I have fresh made veggie stock at home that has this great deep green brown color that came from some really nice veggies I had and has a brilliant flavor to help set the base flavors (being it was born out of them), but a fish stock or broth might work well too. I am not a huge okra fan, but it adds to the green, and it helps give the rice a nice, thick, sticky consistency. These are always the best reasons to invent new dishes and always my faves in the way they come out.

Poblano pepper
green bell pepper
yellow onion
garlic
jalapeno pepper
celery
okra
chicory
collard greens
brown rice
cilantro
mahi mahi
fresh cracked pepper (black and white corns if possible) and / or house seasoning
stock pot
veggie stock
butter

Chop all three pepper types, garlic, celery, onion and okra
Combine the veggies in the stock pot over low heat and sweat to combine flavors
While the flavors meld, coarsly chop the cilantro, collard, chicory (and/or other dark leafy greens)
Add a bit of butter to the pot and add the rice. All the rice to become translucent
Add stock to the rice, typically about a 2:1 ration, bring to a boil and back down to a low simmer.
Season with pepper, house seasonings.
Season both sides of the fish filets with house seasoning
Allow the rice to cook 15-20 minutes then add the chopped greens to the pot and mix.
Once the greens are integrated with the rice place the fish filets on top of the rice.
Add any additional liquid necessary at this point, cover and allow the filets to cook through and the rice to finish cooking until it is completely tender.
Remember, the rice should have a sticky and thick consistency around it, it should not be dry and separated.

I serve with a leaf or two of the greens on the play, with the rice then piled partly over and the fillet of fish offset on the rice, maybe a leaf or two of cilantro for good measure.

recipe: cephalopod & mollusk stew

So, yes, no meat recipes for the next so many days as I undergo a self cleansing and hold true to the Lenten traditions of a bygone era, not that anyone would question my cooking in that, apart from the lack of pork based on the recipes. When I went grocery shopping there were a bunch of specials that I took advantage of. Scary enough, there is one inclusion here that had been bought at full price would actually encompass the cost of the entire meal I think.

The cephalopods were all frozen and on-sale uncleaned (so I had to de-beak and clean then, fun for me! It isn’t difficult, but time consuming, and considering how much fun I have doing it the almost 3x price even on sale between the two was worth the fun… note, if you can, save the ink sacs, they really do under a good boil add great flavor to the dishes.

The mollusks were also on sale frozen, uncooked. I rarely do this, but in dragging myself through the store I saw them and they were labeled “local caught” Mississippi, NOLA, OBNC and I couldn’t help myself because so much sea food is now labeled “farm raised” and/or “product of China” (btw, I don’t care origin on some products, farm raise it anywhere to provide me with non-regional fair, that’s fine, but with China, I get scarred because they don’t have formal farming rules, then again, I’m getting skeptical of the US after the peanut problem… argh) Canned could and would absolutely work too, just reduced the cooking time for them. A huge note on working with cephalopods is to remember they cook one minute or one hour (if you don’t they will be rubbery!).

Anyway, the premise of the dish is fish casserole or stew or soup, it is truly determined by how “wet” you choose to make it and what you serve it over. Doing it like tonight, I went with brown rice, which I went for more a stew consistency in order to work with the rice, but over a pasta, I would do this much thicker and more like a sauce, and, if I did this with potatoes or other heavy root starches, I can envision it being much richer but using the starch in the base probably a thinner soupy base. There are three ways to adjust the thickness. The first is the darkness of the roux. The darker the roux, the more it will be rustic and smokey, but the less thick it will be so, if you go for a dark roux you’ll need twice as much for a stew. The second way is to go for a medium roux (peanut butter to brick) and use another thickener, such as corn meal or okra in the cooking depending on your serving method. The final way is to do it near table side and go for file and related thickeners known as “at dish”

This meal, for me, is a hybrid, it incorporates some of the delta cuisine I adore and my own Iberian heritage. It should be noted that there are a lot of sub in, sub out in the recipe, and I’ve been messing around with variants for years and am just writing this one down now because I can. Should it be done with a sausage or hamhock or other meat product, absolutely, but the stock is a fruit stock I worked on saving for ’tilll this spring and am glad I truly had. You can add the sausage (charise, andoulie, pork chopped, etc) in your own recipe.

Base
onion
celery
bell pepper
cubano pepper
garlic
flour
olive oil

rice
stock (fruit or veggie or fish, but pork works well)

Top
cleaned calamares (fresh or frozen squid)
cleaned octopus (frsh or frozen)
cleaned cuttlefish (fresh or frozen, or canned or not used)
clams (canned, but fresh or frozen would steam over the dish)
oysters (canned, but fresh or frozen would steam over the dish)
muscles (canned, but fresh or frozen would steam over the dish)
stock (fruit or veggie or fish, but pork works well)
Collard or other dark leafy green (Kale is my other top choice, fresh or frozen of each would work

Seasonings
Rosemary
Bay
Tarragon
House seasoning

In the skillet mix equal parts (by weight) the flour and oil
Begin working the roux
Finely dice the veggies (onion, celery, bell pepper, cubano pepper, garlic) and add them to the pan opposite where you are working the roux)
Once the veggies begin to brown, add some black pepper, house seasoning and rosemary and keep browning
Combine the veggies and the roux in the skillet as the roux gets to the appropriate darkness
Put the veggies and roux to one side of the skillet and add the (fresh) cephalopods diced to the pan and begin to sear them
Once the cephalopods sear off and begin to saute you can decide if you want to take them to browning or now
In a pot place the rice and some oil and begin to brown the rice
Add the stock slowly to the skillet and begin to combine the roux and veggies and cephalopods, add additional rosemary and house seasoning, the bay and tarragon and combine until it becomes skilky
Bring the combination to a boil and then back down to a very low simmer and allow to meld, watching the consistency of stock base during cooking
Once the rice is browned add the liquid and cover to simmer (usually with brown rice it is 1 to 2 rice to liquid) over low heat
Watch the rice for consistency and add liquid as necessary
As the skillet begins to thicken up, re-season with tarragon and house seasoning and add liquid as necessary depending on your preference, add the shredded collard
After everything is cooked out, you want to add the mollusks to the skillet and let them steam into the dish, they cook very quick. If they are fresh, cook till they open, frozen or out of shell (such as canned) just add them and let them warm over the the steam), add additional tarragon as necessary
At the same time you add the mullusk, crank the heat on the rice and let it begin to crisp to the bottom of the pot

Serve
If you are using fresh collard add a leaf to the bottom to the dish
Position the rice over the collard
Spoon the stew over the rice and collard
Serve hot, if the mollusk are in shell, be sure to spoon out the shells equally, if out of shell, give the dish a good slosh or two before serving to mix the mollusks in before serving so they are fully integrated
A quick topping I like to the serving is a bit of ground paprika and some goat cheese with fresh tarragon but you can determine that based on your perference

RECIPE: Porto-American Charise-Saffron Rice

It’s probably true that most people cook that which they know best and derive recipes that originate from their youth which probably includes a lot of Americanized cultural references. For me, I (eric doormouse) grew up with intersperced elements of Iberian, specifically Portuguese cuisine, and there’s still a soft spot for those recipes in my cooking. I am by no means versed in the subtilites of this cooking, but thanks to my proximity to the Iron Bound section of Newark, I am blessed with large neighborhoods of Portuguese from which to enjoy meals in.

I would venture a guess, many of the ingredents I take for granted I know them the way I do, but they are not as exotic as they might seem… The saffron itself is one of the more expensive spices you can cook with being derived from the crocus flower. It is very common in Iberian cooking but shows up in Italian and other traditional Mediterrean as well as in middle-Eastern and across the Indian subcontinent among other places. It produces a wonderful yellow color and a grassy fragrance when steeped and comes as threads produced from the flowers as well as in powdered form and is used generally for flavoring grains and sauces (you can buy fake “yellow rice” in packets as a cheap substitute)… The chorizo (in Portuguese chouriço or charise when spoken in American slang) is a wonderful pork sausage flavored with smoked red peppers, paprika and garlic. It comes cured or fresh, though, the cured version is more typical (and for me comes jam packed with memories along with the flavor).

Rice Part
saffron
rice (traditional is long grain white, but brown works too)
olive oil
water
stock (chicken or veggie)
skillet
cooling dish

boil water and then add the saffron, turn off heat, cover and allow to steep
drizzle oil in the skillet and allow to being to warm, add the rice, combine till all the rice is covered and simmer until the rice becomes translucent – do not brown rice or burn butter
add the saffron steeped water with the saffron and a 2:1 stock to water mixture to the rice
bring to a boil, back it down to a very low simmer, cover and allow to cook until rice is tender and the water is absorbed
remove from heat and allow to cool in cooling dish

The Dish
onion
garlic
Chroizo sausage (or Linguiça or a hot Italian-American sausage also works)
collard greens (other dark leafy greens can be used as a substitute)
hot pepper (piri piri would be perfect, but a good frutescens chilis or other hot peppers would work, chipolte are what I used in this recipe)
oilive oil
coriander
cillantro
saffron
port wine
black pepper
skillet

place the choriso, sliced pepper, onion and garlic in the skillet and allow to begin to lightly brown with a little olive oil as necessary
once it begins to brown add the rice to the dish, season with coriander, cillantro, saffron, black pepper
once the rice begins to sear / fry add the shredded Collard greens
add the port wine, do not allow the wine to flame up if possible, just let it get absorbed into the ingreds and provide a liquid base to the meal
let the greens wilt, reseason as necessary
reduce heat and let the flavors meld

serve over whole collard greens in a bowl, I like coarsley chopped flat leaf parsely and Azores cheeses or a dry goat’s milk cheese to serve with it if you can find them along with a thick crusty bread on the side. The dish should not be really heavily spicy but rather a nice round flavor with a lot of bold charactor to it when complete, if it is too “hot” the cheese will help balance the flavors.