A Purple Birthday Cake

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Purple Velvet CakeWe made a special cake in Claudia’s favorite color for her Birthday this year.

Almost every year since we have been together, Claudia has requested an Angel Food Cake with berries and Cool Whip icing for her birthday. Since it falls just after the holidays, she has said that she’s had enough of rich foods by the time her birthday arrives.

In October of last year, she shared a recipe from the Shaireen’s Delight Facebook Page, tagging me and our child, saying “My next birthday cake?”

I’ve only baked cakes from mixes in the past, and those only rarely, so I was thankful that I had a couple of months to review the recipe and work out my anxiety about before actually baking.

It turned out really good, although quite moist and dense – almost like the texture of brownies. I think this is because I overworked the batter, adding the purple food coloring a little at a time and remixing it each time. If I were to make the recipe again, I would just go for broke when first adding it, and hope for a little airier crumb.

Not bad for a first attempt at a scratch cake, though. Kid did the decorating, and it turned out right pretty.

We used sparkler candles, and they were quite trippy. Would probably opt for something simpler next time.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

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Blue Corn Tortillas

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Blue Corn Tortilla With Pintos, Salsa and CilantroOur friend, Kristin, gave us some ears of Blue Corn from her garden recently, so I decided to cook up nixtamal and press some tortillas. It was my first time working with quicklime.

The kernels weighed out at a little over half a pound after shelling the ears, so I added them to two quarts of boiling water and a couple tablespoons of pickling lime. After boiling for half an hour, I covered the pot and let the corn soak overnight in the solution.

After rinsing and scrubbing by hand, the cooked nixtamal went into the food processor with 1/4 cup of water, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of raw sugar and 2 tablespoons of avocado oil. Processed smooth, it was ready for the tortilla press.

Six smallish ears made eight nice tortillas. I considered cutting them into triangles and deep frying into chips, but decided to just load them up with some pintos and salsa. They were very, very good.

There’s something especially satisfying in taking a home grown product through an old fashioned process like this, rather than just mixing up store bought masa, no matter how high the quality. This is definitely something I’ll take the time to do again.

 

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Cataplana

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CataplanaI’ve been listening to the Spirit of the Camino podcast lately on my morning runs. In the first season, there’s a lot of discussion about the culture of Portugal, where Nick and Wendy live. They mentioned Cataplana at some point, and I was intrigued.

I researched recipes online and ran across a couple that were either Vegan or nearly so, and adapted them.

It seems like the three essential ingredients are tomatoes, bell peppers and onions, so those feature prominently in my version. I’d love to try the “authentic” dish one of these days, to learn whether or not my spice and herb mix was close. I can’t vouch that this recipe would pass as a genuine Cataplana in Portugal, but it sure was tasty.

I didn’t have an actual Cataplana dish to cook in, so I used a 6 quart stock pot.

Sauté:

  • 2 Large Onions, Chopped (I used 1 yellow and 1 red), Salt and Ground Black Pepper
  • 5 Cloves of Garlic, Minced (after the onions are pretty well cooked)

Season With:

  • 2 T Paprika
  • 2 T Cumin
  • Some Red Pepper Flakes and Oregano
  • 1/2 Can Tomato Paste

If you wanted, you could probably use Tarragon instead of the Oregano. It might be a little more typical of Portuguese seasoning.

Once all of that mess is combined and fragrant, I added some garden fresh green beans that we had on hand, and stirred them around in the mixture.

Deglaze:

  • 1/2 Cup Sherry (you could use white wine if you want)
  • 2 Cups Veggie Stock

Add:

  • 2 Cans Diced Tomatoes (fire roasted is nice)
  • 2 Bell Peppers, Chopped
  • 6 Medium Potatoes, Cubed
  • Some Miso Paste
  • 1 Sheet Nori, Cut Into Small Pieces

Cover and cook until the veggies are tender. I added some frozen peas toward the end, so they could warm through, but not get mushy.

You could also add or substitute whatever other vegetables you would like. Zucchini and Eggplant would be good choices. Perhaps Snow Peas or Chick Peas as well. If you wanted to add some spicy peppers, they should work fine too.

We served this with some “take and bake” Italian bread from Aldi. The soup was savory, tangy and nicely sweet. It must’ve been beginner’s luck, but this goes right onto my list of favorite soups.

If you’re not Vegan, you could add some shrimp, clams or whitefish.

Here are links to some of the recipes I reviewed.

https://vegancooking.livejournal.com/3345350.html

https://www.veganbearchef.com/vegan-cataplana.html

https://food52.com/recipes/41744-portuguese-cataplana

http://yumblog.co.uk/archives/9727

https://www.luisa-paixao.us/blogs/life-in-portugal/cataplana-the-5-best-recipes

 

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Paella de Verduras

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Paella de VerdurasPaella is one of those dishes that seem to put everyone in a festive mood. When I first began making it five years ago, I did my best to keep it as authentic as I could, which I thought meant including pork, poultry and shellfish.

As our family moved more and more toward plant-based cooking, I substituted Vegan Chorizo for the pork, but always included shrimp and chicken atop the pan for the folks around the table who still consumed them, thinking that it really wouldn’t be Paella without them.

I was delighted to learn recently that Paella de Verduras is also a traditional dish in Spain. I decided to try this vegetable-only version for supper the last evening that my sons were back in the US for a visit. From start to finish, the meal took about an hour and a half to prepare, so it’s not a quick weeknight meal, but I was still able to pull it off in time to eat at a decent hour even beginning after the work day ended.

Broth for the Rice

Sauté 5 cloves of garlic in some olive oil. Add 3 T of tomato paste and 1 1/2 T paprika and let it caramelize just a bit. Add 2/3 cup of Sherry and a quart of veggie stock. Since I was leaving out clam juice this time to keep things Vegan, I added a splash of apple cider vinegar and some soy sauce to kick up the umami a bit, and then let this boil for a few minutes to bring all the flavors together.

On the Grill

I fired up the Weber Genesis gas grill and started by grilling some strips of Red Bell Pepper, and some chunks of Zucchini and Eggplant that I’d hit with olive oil, salt and ground black pepper. Then I got my Paella Pan good and hot, and sautéed a couple of Spanish Onions in some olive oil. 3 cups of medium grain rice went in next, and then the broth. Once it cooked with the grill closed for 15 minutes, I rotated the pan a quarter of a turn and put the grilled veggies on top. After another 15 minutes, I turned the pan again and topped it with jarred artichoke hearts, some pimiento stuffed olives and frozen peas. From there on, I just checked and rotated the pan every five minutes or so until it looked like things were pretty well done. I grabbed a spoon of rice to check for doneness, and then brought the pan in to rest at table for a little while before we ate.

I think everyone enjoyed this, as there were few leftovers. It was every bit as tasty as the meat and seafood version. The only thing I will change next time is to get a little more seasoning into the broth. Maybe some salt and some red pepper flakes or cumin or somesuch.

Ingredients list is below, in case you want to try it yourself. If you don’t have a Paella pan, you could use a large iron skillet or Dutch Oven and cut the recipe in half or thirds. One of the tricks is to not stir the rice after you add the broth. The dark, almost burnt crusty rice closest to the pan is part of what makes the dish unique and tasty.

Ingredients

  • 5 Cloves Garlic, Crushed and Diced or Pressed
  • 3 T Tomato Paste
  • 1 1/2 T Paprika
  • 2/3 C Sherry
  • 1 Quart Vegetable Stock
  • 3 Red Bell Peppers cut into strips
  • 1 Medium Eggplant cut into rounds, then quartered
  • 4 Small Zucchini cut into rounds, then quartered
  • 1 Jar Quartered Artichoke Hearts, drained
  • 1 Jar Spanish Style Pimiento Stuffed Olives, drained
  • 2 Cups Frozen Peas

¡Buen Apetito!

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Mexicali Rice and Beans

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Beans and Rice PlatedThis made for a tasty weeknight meal, that came together in about 45 minutes.

I chopped up an onion, a green bell pepper and a red bell pepper in the Cuisinart, and sautéed them in a 6 quart pot with a sprinkle of salt. Once they were caramelized pretty well, I added a couple cloves of minced garlic. Spices went next (some red pepper flakes and about a teaspoon each of paprika and cumin), then a can of fire roasted tomatoes.

Once those flavors started to meld, I added a cup of vegetable stock, a can of drained black beans, a can of drained sweet corn and a cup of brown Basmati rice. When this mess began to boil, I turned down the heat and put on the lid.

As the rice was cooking, I mixed up some Masa Harina, water and a pinch of salt and pressed it out into tortillas, cooking them in an iron skillet with a tiny bit of vegetable oil.

The rice wasn’t done at 30 minutes, so I covered it again and left it another ten before killing the heat.

The recipe I adapted said that it serves 4, but two of us ate our fill and there was a lot left over, so I think you could probably feed six with this, especially if you include tortillas or other sides. The dish reminded me of a grownup version of the “Spanish Rice” my mom used to serve when I was a kid. Same basic flavor and texture profile, but a lot heartier and more complex.

Would highly recommend making the homemade tortillas, by the way. So much better in all ways compared to storebought, and worth the time it takes to mix the batter, press them out, and fry. Claudia gave me a Victoria tortilla press for Father’s Day this year, and it makes the process a breeze.

I wasn’t sure what to call this, because it’s not authentic Mexican cuisine, and not even really Tex-Mex. Gene Autry’s “Mexicali Rose” came to mind for some reason while I was cooking, so there you go.

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