Paella Negra con langostinos

It was an event full evening for my brother and his family as a powerful typhoon had passed by and power was lost in majority of the city. I was home for the weekend in Manila as I was still based in Singapore during that period of my life and my brother and his family stayed at my house as I was lucky enough to have power immediately after the storm passed.

That time I was experimenting making black paella (Paella Negra). He enjoyed it so much that he bought a paellero for my birthday and some special paella rice on another year.

Ingredients (This all depends on the size of your paellero, mine is about good enough for 6 people.

3 cups     Paella Rice (this is available in a few spanish deli shops.)

1 pinch    Saffron

2 cups     Chopped fresh tomatoes

8 pcs       Prawns (Supermarket Medium Size)

1 kilo       Squid (cleaned, remove guts and backbone, separate head and collect ink sacs)

1 cup       onion choped

1/4 cup    Garlic chopped

2 pcs        Shrimp cube

6 cups      water

2 pcs         Green and/or Red bell pepper cut into strips

1/2 cup     Olive Oil

1 tbsp       Pimenton

Salt and pepper to taste

Boil 6 cups water and put 2 shrimp cubes to create a shrimp stock. Once the the cubes have been dissolved and boiled for about 5 minutes. Set aside as we will use this for the paella later in the process.

Very important when cooking paella is to ensure enough heat on all sides of the paellero. Since I my brother has yet to buy me a paellero burner, I used a charcoal grill. One advantage to doing this is the great improvement in taste when cooking over wood or charcoal. I put enough coals to last about 30 mins. Put the paellero when the coals have all been lit. This will give you enough heat around the paellero to start cooking. Make sure all ingredients are ready when you begin.

Put the olive oil. It will only take a few seconds to heat up. Put the prawns and saute in the olive oil until red and almost cooked. Set aside.

Saute the bell pepper next for about 2 minutes and set aside.

Add olive oil to the pan if needed. Saute the garlic for about 30 seconds then put the squid for about another 5 minutes. Then put the pimenton, garlic, onions and tomatoes. Continue stirring for about  5 minutes as the tomatoes turn soft. Put the rice and stir for about 5 minutes to allow the sauce to coat the rice completely. By this time the coal should be about low enough to just simmer the rice. Then put the shrimp stock. Put the saffron and ink sacs and stir to mix the ingredients completely. Cover the paellero with aluminum foil enough to cover completely and allow to boil for about 8 minutes. Uncover after and put the strips of bell pepper and prawns above the rice. Cover again with the foil and allow for the rice to cook completely maybe another 5 mins.

Some prefer with about 2 tablespoons of aioli over the completed pealla for the additional olive oil and garlic taste. I prefer this one just as it is.

Adobong Manok sa Gata

Once in a while you want to eat something for a change. Adobo is a weekly meal for me but you can get sick of it. So here's my version of adobong manok sa gata.

Ingredients

1 kilo          Chicken cut into parts
1 tbsp         Minced garlic
1/2 cup       Chopped onions (red or white)
1/4 cup       Chopped ginger
1 cup           Vinegar
1 tbsp          Pimenton
3 pcs           Laurel leaves
1 tbsp          Whole pepper
2 pcs           Finger Chillies
1 can           Coconut Cream (or milk)
2 cups         Sili leaves
1 tbsp          Fish Sauce
1 pc              Thai chilli or siling labuyo chopped (if you want it spicy).
Salt to taste.

Heat some oil in a pan. Put the onion, garlic and ginger. Heat till onion is soft. Then put the chicken parts and brown. Salt the chicken as desired. (If you want it spicy, fry the Thai chili in the oil before putting the onion, garlic and ginger.)

When chicken is brown, put the vinegar and cover pan. Simmer for around 5 mins to allow the vinegar to evaporate slightly. Then put the coconut cream. Don't put too much to cover the chicken. Put the pimenton, fish sauce, whole pepper and laurel leaves and cover pan.

Allow to simmer until the chicken is cooked. When cooked put the finger chilli and sili leaves and cover for about a minute and that's it.

In these photo, I used red thai finger chillies chopped instead of the whole finger chilli. I wanted an even spicier version.

Callos alla Novenario

My mom always made the best callos as far as I know. She put a lot of love into it and this could seen by the way her family and friends enjoyed the dish. I quickly learned the dish when I started my own family as she limited cooking callos only during Christmas and a few special occasions.

When I was separated from my wife, I also quickly learned that women do actually enjoy this dish. Its a nice dish to start and end the evening. Serve with a baguette or some garlic rice. So here's my recipe, hope it works for you too.

Ingredients:

1 Kilo       Ox tripe
1 Kilo       Ox feet
1 pc.         Beef bouillon
4 pc.         Bay leaf or dried laurel leaf
2 pc.         Whole chorizo Bilbao
3 tbsp       Garlic
1 cup       Onion cubed
1 cup       Tomatoes cubed
1 Cup      Cubed bell peppers
3 tbsp       Olive oil
1 tbsp      Pimenton
1 tbsp      Cumin
1 tbsp      Thyme
1 tbsp      Rosemary
1 tbsp      Basil
2 cups     Red Wine (Rioja or Tempranillo)
1 can       Small can of tomato paste
1 can       Garbanzos


Before everything else, get started by simmering the ox tripe and ox feet with enough water to cover. Put the beef bouillon cube in the pot along with some bay leaf. This will take a few hours if you don't have a pressure cooker.

Once the ox parts are tender, set aside and keep the broth.

Cut the chorizo Bilbao (please not chinese chorizo or any cheap chorizo, the worse you can do is use one of those canned local variety) and fry until the oil from the chorizo comes out. (The secret to any good callos is the chorizo). Set aside the chorizo. Put the olive oil and garlic. When the garlic is slightly brown, put the tomatoes, onion and bell peppers. When those have softened, put the pimenton, cumin, thyme , rosemary, ox parts and chorizo into the pot. Mix all the ingredients well in the pot. Pour the red wine (preferably a rioja or  a tempranillo). Simmer a bit till the alcohol evaporates. Put the tomato paste and just enough beef broth. Put the canned garbanzos. Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer some more until you get the consistency you prefer. More or less to the thickness you desire. Garnish with some parsley.

And there you have it! Callos.