Ole! A little taste Espana in cloudy Britian

This month's Daring Cooks challenge is brought to you by Olga from Las Casas de Olga and Olga's Recipes. It is Jose Andres's recipe, Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes. It's been a while since I last made a paella-like dish and even longer since my last trip to Spain. However, after tasting this delicious dish those two things I should do much more often.

The preparation is relatively straightforward, although can be daunting with lots of details and instructions for those who haven't created a one pan rice dish previously. Somehow all London supermarkets did not have cuttlefish or squid, so sadly I replaced with white fish and shrimp. I'm sure the intended ingredients would have really made this dish divine, but the swamp was muy delicioso. Also, because I am an addict of chorizo I included that in the Sofregit (sort of a paste base for the dish).

I must say the aioli was sadly the most frustrating and difficult part of this dish, as I have never made aioli or mayonnaise before. In the end it just required to whip, whip, whip and worked beautifully with the sprouting broccoli we had on the side.

(Apologies for the poor photo quality, got too excited between the rest of the bottle of white wine and dinner time :) ).

Rice dish Ingredients:

- 4 Artichokes (used 1 jar of artichokes)

- Button mushrooms

- Originally recipe called for cuttlefish, however replaced with appox 200 grams cod and 200 grams fresh shrimp

- Sofregit (see below)

-- 1 or 2 bay leaves

- 1 glass white wine 300 grams short grain or paella rice

- Fish stock (approx 1.5 cups for every 0.5 cup rice)

- Saffron threats

- Aioli

- Cilantro to garnish

1. Prepare the fish, and saute in olive oil.

2. Add the artichokes and mushroom. Then add the bay leaf. Saute until golden.

3. Add a touch of white wine and 3 tbsp of the sofregit.

4. Add all the liquid and bring to a boil.

5. Add all the rice and let boil.

6. Add the saffron.

7. Turn to a low heat and let the rice absorb all the liquid.

8. Pull off heat and let the rice stand.

Sofregit Ingredients:

- 2 small onions

- 1 can of tomatoes

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1 green and one red pepper

- 5 garlic cloves

- 1 bay leaf

- diced chorizo

- 1 bay leaf

- a tsp of cumin and tsp of oregano

1. Add all to pan and let simmer.

2. Season with salt if necessary.

Disasters to Delicious

I will be the first to admit that over the years there have been a few disasters in the kitchen, however I like to reserve those for special occasions and large dinner parties (as evident in the caramel and macadamia nut cheesecake catastrophe of '09, the brownie debacle of '08, the red wine reduction destruction of '07).

In hopes to encourage all new chefs out there (namely Jussi) and to coincide with the first Daring Cooks challenge, below are some words of encouragement, advice, and/or confusion. I've just learned to cook through watching my grandmother and my father, and although not nearly enough Foodnetwork, and of course lots of eating along the way.


Experiment Even if math or chemistry isn't your favourite subject, the principles of the Scientific method still apply. Its been awhile since I dissected a pig and whirled tubes around, but the basic steps are to:

a) Use your experience and think. What kinds of things have you made/eaten before, what would you like to do/eat more of? Consider your background, or I especially like to think of where I've traveled and get inspired.

b) Form a hypothesis & methodology, aka figure out what exactly you want and how you want to create/make. This includes gathering different options for a recipe or interpretations of a classic. Also, think about where things may have gone wrong last time (aka burning, people politely ate it, etc) and how you can fix it.

c) Test & Repeat. This is the fundamental element to the kitchen. Get your hands, pants, apron, face, everything dirty (if you are me of course). The key is then to repeat these tests. I tend to make the same thing with different recipes, so you can really examine the effects, impact of different methods and ingredients.


Go with your instincts & herbs You can't go wrong (to a large extent) with pairing unique flavours/textures together. Your instinct should guide your cooking, this is where the spontaneity and creativity come in hand (plus a dash of chili flakes, a bit of garlic). Along the same lines, you can't really go wrong with fresh herbs (particularly my favorites are basil, cilantro, rosemary, sage). Its what sets any dish aside.

Food brings people together, so no matter how ridiculous the food turns out in the end, it is the fact that people convene together that they will remember. It is the total experience and food is simply the catalyst for that enjoyment. This is why I always prefer to sit at a table for a meal, as there are less distractions and it becomes a unique event and something to look forward to. So even in our tiny, tiny apartment we have a dinner table occupying nearly half the space to sit down and enjoy a glass of wine with a plate of cheese.

And of course: Never give up or stop learning. Culinary techniques and combinations are always evolving and so is any chef's skill. That's what this here blog is about, a personal challenge to do more and document the evolving nature of it all.


Well now, I shouldn't take your time up much longer. Time for you to get in the kitchen. And as there is a first for everything, this is the first Daring Cooks challenge (hosted by founders Lis & Ivonne) and my first time making gnocchi. I can't say that everything went smoothly, but it surely went tastily.


So if you don't succeed with beautiful gnocchi, you apply those skills listed above - past knowledge of flavour combinations (ricotta & eggplant - check), add some fresh herbs (lots of basil - check), enjoy the glass of wine and good company (always check), and never decide even if you burnt the eggplant slightly, had a little soggy gnocchi get you down. Meanwhile, you simply wrap the (better) pieces of roasted eggplant around the gnocchi add a bit of homemade pesto and tomato sauce, bake in oven, and walla beautiful tasty dish.


Recipe for gnocchi from my next cookbook purchase, because I am in love with every recipe from it: Zuni Cafe cookbook. Eggplant wrapped gnocchi inspired from the Ottolenghi cookbook.