Sardinas en Escabeche (Preserved Sardines/ Pickled)

I first saw this recipe at "Nuria's" blog "Spanish Recipes" when I saw it I knew it was something I had to make, looked so delicious and I love fish too so yeah :)

It's pretty much fish that is floured then fried, finally preserved in a mixture of oil, vinegar, aromatics and spices of one's choice. So it's cooked and in a sense pickled because of the vinegar. In Spain things preserved in oil and vinegar are known as "Escabeche" it can be done with meats as well but it's a different process.

Growing up my grandmother would love buying canned sardines and fish that came packed in olive oil from Spain. Nowadays those are harder to come by and are getting pricey. So this satisfied her craving, and honestly it taste way better :)

Ingredients:
-1/5- 2 lbs. sardines (cleaned, gutted, heads removed, rinsed well, pat-fry)
-salt to taste
-flour (enough to coat fish lightly)
-1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
-6 cloves garlic skin (lower stem removed, lightly pressed with a knife)
-2 bay leaves
-2 sprigs thyme or 2-4 sprigs rosemary or tablespoon dried oregano (aromatic herbs of your choice I used 4 rosemary sprigs)
-1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns (optional)
-1 tablespoon sweet smoked Spanish paprika (Pimenton Dulce de la Vera)
-1/2 cup vinegar (red, white, apple which ever your choice I use white)
-1/4 cup water

Directions:
(1) Clean and gut the sardines, it's easy, simply make an incision down the stomach, pull everything out, and scrape out any black parts, remove the head (slice it off with a knife) then just pat-dry it.

(2) Get your sardines and season them with salt, then roll them in flour, and set the sardines aside.

(3) Heat olive oil in a large shallow pan on high heat as soon as the oil get's hot, it will release a fragrance not smoking however, to test if it is hot enough dip a wooden spoon or put once fish in it, if it bubbles and sizzles the oil is hot enough. At this point add sardines and lower heat to medium high. Fry them until golden brown on both sides. You may have to fry them in batches. I had to fry my sardines in two batches.

(3) Set them aside in a container.

(4) In the same oil, lower heat to medium high fry the garlic, bay leaves, aromatic herbs and black pepper corns.
(5) When the garlic changes color, remove from heat the pan, throw in sweet smoked spanish paprika, give a quick stir, add vinegar and water (careful it jumps) and a bit of salt, stir well. Bring to a boil on high heat for about 1 -2 minutes.
(6) Pour the boiling oil, vinegar, water, garlic and spice mixture over the sardines
These can last in the fridge a couple weeks maybe more, we finished them in less than a week, they taste better the next day :) You can eat them with anything, simply remove from the oil mixture and you can make sardine sandwiches inside a mini- baguette, put them on toast with some fire roasted red bell pepper, eat them with rice and any other sides, I like to eat them with just a large leafy salad dressed in olive oil, lime, and salt for a light healthy meal, etc. Truth be told I love love the oil it's preserved in I drizzle it with some of that oil whenever I eat it ;)

Please Note:
(1) I love the leftover oil, when you finish all the sardines and you don't know what to do with all that oil, I really like it drizzled over things or use it to make salads (I know I know sinful but the oil is infused with garlic, aromatics in my case I used rosemary, bay leaves, black peppercorns, and the wonderful sweet smoked Spanish paprika so it is so flavorful)

(2) This can be done with Mackarel fish, or fish steaks, in Cuban cooking they also make Escabeche usually using shark, sword fish or red snapper fillets/ steaks cut into pieces and the spice blend is different and maybe the procedure I honestly have never had "Escabeche" before until this time, so if anyone has any recipes for the "Cuban" version of this (I know my reader/ friend Mamey/ Omar might have a recipe he uses since he knows so much about Cuban cooking :)

Nigerian Red Chicken Stew

Before I begin I am not sure if this is "authentic" or not, I've seen recipes and videos on youtube by Nigerian and non- Nigerian people cooking it and they all do it different, even some blogs I've seen. (some boil the meat first, etc.)

The recipe I use as a guideline is from a woman that calls her self "Chi Chi" (yes I know what that could be slang for in Spanish ha ha), but I don't do everything exactly as directed I just kinda do it my way.

http://www.africancooking.co.uk/recipes/red-stew-with-chicken.php

Now with that said, I love love this stew, the commonalities I've seen among all recipes is that they all use onion, garlic, habaneros or scotch bonnets, salt, and bouillon cubes or powder.

My way is different when I cook chicken in the sense that I brown the chicken really well , creating a "fond"/ base for my sauce using the delicious caramelized brown bits on the bottom of the pan which I de-glaze. It makes a big difference, I also like to cut up my chicken bone in into small pieces it makes it very very flavorful, and the chicken cooks in the sauce as well until tender. Everything marries well. This stew can be done with any meat of your choice (goat, chicken, pork, beef, etc.)

I am not an expert or know anything about African cooking, but I do know how to make meat stews come out delicious :)

Ingredients:
-3 lbs/ 1 whole chicken, cut into bite size pieces, cleaned
-salt and pepper to taste
-cooking oil
-1 large onion minced
-1 large thumb size piece of ginger minced
-1/2 head of garlic minced
-1 cup tomato sauce
-2 scotch bonnets or habanero peppers
-2 teaspoons curry powder (whatever your favorite curry powder is)
-1 teaspoon dried thyme (fresh works to)
-1 bay leaf
-2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
-water (enough to barely cover chicken)

Directions:
(1) Heat a large pot on high heat, add oil, and when it's almost gonna smoke, add chicken and allow to brown on all sides.
(2) Meanwhile puree your tomato sauce with your habanero or scotch peppers, set aside.

(3) Chop everything and get everything ready while your chicken is browning, when chicken is done browning set aside, and add a little more oil, add your minced onion, garlic, and ginger sautee until fragrant, make sure to scrape to get the flavorful golden caramelization.
(4) Then add your curry powder, thyme, and bay leaf. Stir together until fragrant maybe 30 seconds don't let it burn. Add the chicken back and coat with everything.
(5) Add enough water to barely cover the chicken and the bouillon, bring to a rolling boil and add salt to taste. Allow to simmer 30 minutes until chicken is very tender.
(6) After 30 minutes remove from heat.
It goes very well served over white fluffy rice, with some fried plantains and if you wish some cooked greens or something. At home we sauteed some asparagus with lots of olive oil and garlic.

PLEASE NOTE:
(1) I use 2-3 scotch bonnets or habaneros with the seeds and all because I like it very very spicy, you can use 1 habanero if you wish, or substitute it for a green or red bell pepper then it wouldn't be spicy at all.

(2) The black pepper, curry powder, dried thyme, bay leaf, and ginger are optional but I really like the flavor of all those combines together and I believe it's what makes it special and unique. If it didn't have that, it would taste like the spicy Mexican tomato based sauces then you can add cilantro ha ha.

(3) You can also use 6 tomatoes really well pureed instead of the tomato sauce, but I prefer the tomato sauce.

(4) Let me tell you this is my boyfriends favorite stews and has become one of my favorites as well.

Arroz Con Pollo en Forma de Paella (Chicken and Rice in Paella form)

Before I begin for this recipe your going to need a "Paellera" which is a large flat round pan, or a large round kinda flat clay pot, if not it won't come out the same or work. Also if your burner is too small it won't work well or you'll have to rotate it many times.

I've been looking forward to making a Seafood Paella, but wanted to give myself a practice round so I made "Arroz Con Pollo" (chicken with rice) and cooked it in the same fashion (cooking time, liquid ratios, technique) that I would use to make the seafood paella.

Traditionally the technique to cook "Paella" is to cook outdoors on charcoal or wood fire or indoors over flaming coals. Some people use large burners also. The rice is never covered, it's cooked open in a large flat pan called a "Paellera"in english a "Paella pan" I didn't feel like cooking it outdoors and was okay using one of my normal stove burners since it was large enough, and I ended up using to burners towards the end to get my rice to cook evenly. Rotating and technique was important on my stove top.

I've made this dish before for a friend at his house, unfortunately his stove was really small and the burner so i could never get my paellera in the center of the fire, the rice didn't cook evenly, parts burnt and the fire just wasn't large and wide enough to make all the water evaporate perfectly. I ended up with mushy rice.

But here at home it came out perfect :)

Ingredients:
-3 lbs. chicken cut into small pieces
-1 onion minced
-1 bell pepper minced
-1/2 head garlic minced
-2 ripe grated tomatoes or chopped or 1/2 cup tomato sauce
-salt to taste
-ground black pepper to taste
-1 teaspoon ground cumin
-2 bay leaves
-1 can or bottle of your favorite beer or 1 cup dry white wine
-5 cups water plus 1 more so I guess 6 (you may need more depending on your burner or stove)
-2 1/2 cups short grain rice
-1 tsp. bijol/ colorante/ saffron or a sazon goya packet with achiote or azafran for color

Optional:
-1/2- 1 cup frozen peas for color
-1 fire roasted red bell pepper cut into strips for color

Directions:
(1) Heat a the large pan on high heat, when hot, quickly add olive oil, lower heat to medium high, sprinkle with salt so chicken won't stick to much, and add chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Brown chicken on all sides

(2) While chicken is browning, chop your onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Once browned, stir in onion and bell pepper, allow to cook down until translucent, add garlic cook until fragrant, add tomato sauce stir well and reduce, add all your spices, bay leave, cumin, oregano. Stir well, and stream in beer all of it, allow to reduce on high heat and it will deglaze everything to until it's thick and coats the chicken.
(3) Add your water and bring to a boil on high heat, add saffron or bijol or whatever coloring you used, along with 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon (optional) lower heat to medium high and allow chicken to boil for about 10-15 minutes uncovered or more until it's tender.
(4) Somewhere in between while doing all that stuff, clean your rice by washing it 3 times, and drain it well, add it to the boiling pot in the form of a cross (I don't know why it's superstition or tradition I guess)
(5) Spread it evenly, throw your peas (optional) allow to boil on high heat for 5 minutes, then lower heat to medium high for 15 minutes
(6) Turn off heat, cover with a cloth, and seal with a top if you have one let it rest at least 10 more minutes (this will make the harder rice on top poof or be tender enough to eat)
(7) Uncover, decorate with fire roasted red bell pepper
(8) Served it at the table family style so everyone can just pile it up on their plates, along with a delicious salad. Felt like doing this close- up
On my plate, I went a little light on the yellow coloring but it was still delicious
PLEASE NOTE:
*I have a pot of boiling water on the side, in case the rice absorbs all the liquid to quickly and needs more, I ladle hot boiling water or broth carefully.

*Also this is the best Arroz Con Pollo I have made, my family loved it! From now on this will be the "Arroz Con Pollo" I will be making :)