Thursday, August 13, 2009

August 2009 Daring Cooks Challenge: Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes

I'm so excited to have participated in my first Daring Cooks Challenge. August's challenge was hosted by Olga from Olga's Recipes, and the recipe was a Catalan dish: rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes. I had been meaning to make paella for some time now (I had even bought saffron!) so this was a perfect opportunity to try it out!

Modifications
Instead of using cuttlefish, I used pre-cleaned squid -- partly because Seafood Counter Guy at Whole Foods had never heard of cuttlefish and partly because I saw some pictures of not-cleaned cuttlefish (ink sac and innards and all) and I got REALLY scared.

I also substituted the fish head stock with chicken broth and a dash of Japanese dashi since I was scared of dealing with fish heads (yes, I know, I'm Chinese - how could I be afraid of some fish heads?)

Finally, instead of cleaning out 4 fresh artichokes, I bought canned artichokes.

Over all, this dish was a success! It met the HAF - Husband Approval Factor (actually, my husband's quite a foodie, so this means something. :) The allioli totally made the dish - the pungent raw garlicky essence on the rice really created a zing that made this dish incredible.

Thanks Olga!

Ingredients (serves 4):
  • 4 Artichokes
  • 12 Mushrooms (Baby Bellas)
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • 1 glass of white wine
  • 3/4 lb cuttlefish
  • Sofregit (click here for recipe)
  • 300 gr (2 cups) Short grain rice
  • Fish stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)
  • Saffron threads
  • Allioli (click here for recipe)
I had never bought or cooked squid before so I was slightly scared when I opened up the package. Yeeks!
I guess they didn't look too bad. At least they were clean, and quite easy to chop.

1) Add 1-2 T of olive oil in a pan and saute the squid.
2) Add a bay leaf, artichokes, and mushroom.
3) Saute until the artichokes turn golden brown. (since my artichokes came from a can and were already sort of yellow, I just sauteed until the veggies softened a bit ~ 5 minutes)
4) Add a splash of white wine so that all the solids in the pan get mixed together
5) Add 2-3 tablespoons of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit. (I ended up dumping ALL the sofregit that I had made into the pan - it still turned out great!)
6) Add all the liquids (1 cup wine and 6 cups stock) and bring to a boil
7) Add all the rice. Let boil for 5 minutes.
8) Add saffron (I added like 10-20 threads)
9) Bring to a simmer and let cook for 8 minutes or until "al dente"
10) Remove pan from heat and let it rest for another few minutes

Serve with allioli on top.

21 comments :

  1. YUM. i wonder if i have the patience to make this, with all the different parts....

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  2. this looks good. and buying cleaned squid makes a big difference. the uncleaned stuff is a little scary. i bet you'll start making squid at home a lot more now that you've tried it.

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  3. Yum. One suggestion -- maybe for you r recipes you could posted estimated preparation and cooking times.

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  4. Yum! The squid looks terrific. Good job forming the rice into an appetizing mound, mine was more of a pile of food in the middle of the plate.

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  5. Congratulations on a first DC Challenege extremely well done! Your plating is gorgeous, as is the photo of it! It looks mouth watering!

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  6. Livia - thanks for the suggestion. This dish isn't so bad to make, especially if you have sofregit already made (that's the most time-consuming part, but I guess Catalan people just have it on hand usually?) The rest of the dish takes about 45 minutes to prepare max. I think I spent close to 2 hours when I made it for this challenge, but that's because I messed up on the allioli once, made the sofregit first (serially), etc.

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  7. Wonderful, that is the type of recipe I like! I can smell it from here. Love your blog.

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  8. Beautiful! I love your presentation!

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  9. Looks great, I love the composed presentation!

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  10. Congratulations on your first challenge. You've made a fantastic job!!

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  11. Well done on your first DC challenge. I would have cleaned your whole squid in exchange for the ink. Just saying.

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  12. I agree completely about the allioli making this one. Great presentation!

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  13. Oooo, sorry if I scared you off my that terrible photo of the squid insides..lol... Well, it was kind of gross and scary so very wise decision to use precleaned squid. I totally love that first photo of yours. What a beautiful presentation and well done on your first challenge too!

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  14. Your plating is so professional just like your finished recipe. Love all your pixs and I noticed your allioli posting also yours is so white. bravo bravo bravo on a fabulous challenge well done. Cheers from Audax in Australia

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  15. Good choice on the squid. The waitress in Italy warned me that cuttlefish is a "black" fish. It really was the worst meal in the whole country.

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  16. Beautiful job!! Your dish looks amazing, and the plating is gorgeous =D.

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  17. Stunning presentation. Glad you enjoyed your first challenge. It was my second challenge and really enjoyed it too.

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  18. I love your presentation, you have a lot of patience. Lovely work.

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  19. Good job on the challenge, and GREAT plating!

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  20. Great job! Beautifully plated :)

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  21. Hello from Barcelona, Catalonia. You are right, the Catalan people it is easy to cook the sauce. Thanks for this recipe. a pleasure and an honor.

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