Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category

A few years ago, my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas a wonderful gift for a foodie like me – a paella kit. It included a paella pan, Spanish rice and olive oil, and some saffron.

Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, because harvesting it is so labor-intensive. Saffron threads are the stamens of a variety of crocus. There are three stamens per flower and each must be picked individually by hand. It has a delicate flavor; liquids are generally infused with saffron and then used in recipes.

Paella is a classic Spanish dish of saffron-flavored rice with seafood, chicken and sometimes chorizo, or Spanish sausage. I made this dish for a dinner party and it was a big hit. Serve with a nice green salad and a vinaigrette made with sherry vinegar.

Ultimate Paella with Seafood, Chicken and Chorizo

The term comes from the Latin patella, a flat plate on which offerings were made to the gods. The prepared dish is placed in the middle of the dining table, as it is traditionally eaten straight from the pan.

1/2 tsp. sweet paprika (preferably Spanish smoked paprika)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. kosher salt
3 chicken thighs, cut in half
5 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Spanish chorizo sausage, thickly sliced (about ½ cup)
1/3 cup coarsely chopped roasted red peppers
1/2 cup Spanish onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped (reserve some for garnish)
2 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
3 cups short-grain Spanish rice, preferably Calasparra
5 1/2 cups strong chicken broth
Generous pinch saffron threads (about 1/2 tsp.)
1 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed
1 dozen mussels, scrubbed
1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 lemons, cut into wedges

Combine paprika, oregano and salt. Rub spice mixture all over the chicken, cover and refrigerate for one hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325*.

Warm chicken broth in a saucepan to just below a simmer. Crush saffron slightly and stir into broth; keep warm.

Heat the oil in a 14-inch paella pan or large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the chorizo until lightly browned; remove from pan and set aside. Add chicken skin-side down and brown well on all sides; remove from pan and set aside. Sauté onions in the same pan; when the onions start to brown, add red peppers, garlic and half of parsley. Cook for 3 minutes over medium heat. Add tomatoes; cook until mixture caramelizes a bit, stirring occasionally.

Fold in the rice and stir-fry to coat the grains with the onion mixture. Pour in the chicken broth and stir gently to loosen browned bits from the bottom of the pan. The broth will almost fill the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring the mixture a couple of times.

Press the clams into the rice. Simmer for 5 minutes more, occasionally moving the pan on top of the flame so the rice cooks evenly and starts to absorb the liquid. You should still have a lot of liquid in the pan.

Press the chicken (with any accumulated juices), chorizo, mussels and shrimp into the rice. Place the pan into the oven and bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven. Place the pan on the stovetop and sprinkle with peas and parsley. Cover with foil and let rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve.

When we were in Florence, Italy, in September 2009, we went to the Mercado Centrale, or Central Market. I’ve never seen anything like it – all kinds of fresh and preserved foods, wines, vinegars, oils – it went on and on and on. Took my breath away to think about being able to shop in a place like that every day.

This is my entry in the weekly photo challenge at Photo Friday. Last week’s topic was Breathtaking (yeah, I’m late posting again).

Time flies when you’re freezing half to death. I can’t believe it’s been so cold here in January. So that’s my excuse for not blogging more That and my micro-studio fell apart and I haven’t found a suitable new box for it yet. Anyway …

This week’s Photo Friday challenge is Travels, and those of you who know us know we love to travel. So for this challenge, I went back to the photos from our 25th anniversary trip to Europe in 2009. We had purchased train tickets for traveling from Rome to Florence and then from Florence to Zurich to Frankfurt to go home, and we had an extra day of travel on the tickets. So while we were in Florence, we took a side trip to Pisa.

This is when you find out how important prior planning is Since the tower isn’t stable (it’s leaning, after all), they limit the number of people who can climb it at one time, and you have to buy tickets in advance. We had no tickets, so we spent a beautiful afternoon wandering the grounds and taking pictures of the tower, the cathedral and the baptistery.

I was hungry after we traveled to Pisa and walked several blocks from the train station to the grounds, so I bought a local specialty as a snack – marinated seafood salad – and ate that as we sat and admired the beautiful marble that comprised the buildings.

Marinated seafood salad and Pisa guidebook

The popular thing to do in Pisa, apparently, is to hold your arms as if you’re preventing the tower from falling over. I can’t tell you how funny it was to see dozens of people from all over the world all posing the same way.

“Holding up" the Leaning Tower of Pisa

The tower *is* leaning to a frightening degree. It was definitely worth the side trip to see it again (for me – Dan had never seen it before).

I printed out this recipe last year, but this year I finally made chocolate bark for the first time and OMG was it good. It was amazingly easy to make, beautiful to look at, and GOOD FOR YOU! Dark chocolate, dried fruit, and cashew nuts – what could be better? It was popular with everyone I shared it with.

Barefood Contessa’s French Chocolate Bark

8 oz. dark chocolate chips (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
8 oz. milk chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup cashew pieces

Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Draw a 10″x14″ rectangle on the paper; turn the paper over so the drawing side is down and set aside.

Place a stainless steel bowl over a medium saucepan containing 1 inch of simmering water. Place chocolate chips in the steel bowl and stir till completely melted. Use a spatula to scrape the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper and spread out until the rectangle is covered. Sprinkle the fruit and nuts over the chocolate and press lightly to adhere.

Set aside in a cool place for 2 hours (or in the freezer for 10 minutes) to harden. Cut into 1″x2″ pieces.

Dad is here for Christmas and brought with him my cousin’s (Margaret) husband’s (Eric) slow-cooker recipe for pork carnitas, or pork cooked in its own fat. They can be served on their own or as a filling for tacos, burritos, quesadillas, etc.

The Orange Crush is an unusual ingredient, but the carnitas did taste quite good. And it may seem like a lot of jalapenos, but we thought it had a pleasant but not searing heat.

Dan and Dad had the carnitas with rice and beans, but I made soft tacos with mine. One of the toppings is homemade pickled onions – yummy!

And have a very Merry Christmas!

Slow-Cooker Carnitas by Eric

5 lbs. pork shoulder roast
1 large red onion, trimmed, peeled and cut into large chunks
6 jalapeno peppers, stemmed and cut in quarters; you may remove seeds and membranes for less heat
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed a bit with the side of a chef’s knife
12 oz. Orange Crush
toppings of choice: lettuce, tomato, cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, pickled onions, hot sauce
Optional: rice and beans; flour tortillas

Trim excess fat from pork shoulder and place in the slow cooker. Place the red onion, jalapenos, garlic and 8 oz. Orange Crush in a blender and puree. Pour contents over the roast, then pour the rest of the Orange Crush into the slow cooker. Turn heat to low and cook for 10-12 hours. Shred with two forks.

Serve with rice and beans, or as a filling for tacos.

Tacos with Pork Carnitas

We grew the jalapenos in our garden last summer, and had a bumper crop yet again. Even after sharing with some co-workers who like hot food, we had plenty to freeze. Just put them on a baking sheet, so they don’t stick together in a clump, and place in the freezer till frozen solid. Transfer to plastic bags. When you’re ready to use one or more, leave them on the counter for 1/2 hour or so to thaw, or put them on a microwave-safe plate and microwave for 30-45 seconds.

This is my entry in the food blogging event Grow Your Own, originated by Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes.

Have I told you I’m on the board of the League of Women Voters of South Hampton Roads? Yesterday was our annual program planning/general membership/holiday party meeting, and traditionally, board members, and sometimes others, bring brunch-type goodies to have during the meeting.

I got up early to make scones and realized I was out of whipping cream. So I used what I had – I substituted a few tbsp. of low-fat cream cheese and a half cup of skim milk for the whipping cream. I’ve made these scones for this event for several years now, and I got more compliments than ever, so I guess low-fat is the way to go.

Cranberry-Orange Scones

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) firm unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries (such as Craisins)
2 tsp. grated orange peel
1/4 tsp. orange extract

Optional: Instead of whipping cream, cut 3 tbsp. low-fat cream cheese into flour with the butter and add 1/2 cup skim milk with the liquid ingredients.

Optional: Sprinkle with candy sprinkles – I used fall colors with leaves.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or spray with cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender or fork, mix butter, and optional cream cheese, into dry ingredients until mixture is the size of small peas. Add remaining ingredients, mixing just until the dry ingredients are moist.

Using a small spoon, scoop out golf-ball size pieces of dough, put on the baking sheet, and pat down lightly, or you can turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a circle 3/4-inch thick, then cut dough into 8 to 10 wedges. I like a more rustic look, so I spoon it out.

Place on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and optional candy sprinkles. Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 20 scones.