Crab Cioppino

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Recipe Ingredients
2 medium sized Dungeness Crabs, 1 1/2 lbs. each
1 lb. Lg. Shrimp, in shells
12 medium sized fresh Clams
1 lg. onion, sliced
6 green onions, sliced using part of tops
1 bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 cloves fresh garlic
1 can (16oz) tomato puree
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1/3 cup olive oil, extra virgin
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
**Optional** **Always Check With Guests First Before Cooking with Alcohol** 1 cup dry red or dry white wine
2 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 tbls. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp dried rosemary
1/8 tsp. thyme
Cooking Crab Cioppino

To cook cioppino, using a Dutch oven, heavy frying pan or deep cast iron skillet with cover, saute the onion, green pepper and garlic in olive oil for about 5 minutes over medium high heat. Add parsley, tomato sauce, tomato puree, water, *wine optional-see above*, bay leaf, salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme. Cover and simmer about 1 hour. Remove garlic.

Clean and crack Dungeness crab, place in bottom of large pan, at least 8 quart size. Scrub clams under running water to remove sand and then lay on top of crabs. Cut shrimp down backs, wash out sand and de-vein. Lay on top of crab and clams. Pour hot prepared sauce over top of shellfish, cover and simmer very gently until clam shells begin to open, 15 to 25 minutes.

To serve Crab Cioppino, use large soup bowls adding some of each kind of shell fish. Provide plenty of napkins and sourdough french bread.

Grilled Shrimp & Chicken

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Recipe Ingredients
1/2 lb medium shrimp

1 lb. chicken breast, bone-less

1/4 cup melted butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tbs. lime juice

Grilling Shrimp & Chicken

To grill shrimp, peel and de-vein by spliting on underside down to tail. Try to avoid cutting meat. (use sharp knife or scissors). Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes. Combine garlic, lime juice, butter, onion powder and cumin in a bowl, add shrimp and chicken. Stir to coat with butter sauce and refrigerate 1 hour.

While starting the barbecue, string chicken and shrimp on separate skewers. Grill about 4 to 5 inches over hot to medium coals, turning a few times and basting with remaining marinade. Cook shrimp 5 to 6 minutes and chicken 10 to 12 minutes. Adjust grilling time according to temperature of coals and outside air. Serve this grilled shrimp recipe with rice or Italian pasta. Serves 2

Baked Trout Italian Recipe

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Recipe Ingredients
4 or 5 trout 3/4 to 1 pound each

1/3 to 1/2 cup olive oil

4 or 5 cloves garlic, chopped

fresh ground black pepper

salt

1/2 to 3/4 pound fresh mushrooms
1/2 cube butter

4 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs

3 or 4 green onions, sliced

3 fresh lemons (can substitute with lemon concentrate)

2 tablespoons minced parsley
Cooking Directions

To cook trout, wash and dry the fish inside and out and coat sides with a little olive oil. Slice mushrooms and place half in the bottom of a shallow baking dish. Salt and pepper fish, inside and out, to taste and place in dish on top of mushrooms. Sprinkle with bread crumbs along with the minced parsley, chopped garlic and the green onion. If using fresh lemons, squeeze 1 or 2 directly over the entire trout including the inside.

Meanwhile melt butter, add to olive oil and the juice of 2 lemons. Pour slowly over fish saving about half of the mixture. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 375 degrees or until they are tender and bread crumbs are light brown. Fish is done when the meat flakes easily when a fork is inserted into the flesh and lifted up slightly.

Just before the fish are done, saute 1 to 2 minutes, the remaining mushrooms in the sauce that is left and pour over top after placing trout on a serving plate. Garnish with a few lemon wedges and a few sprigs of fresh parsley. Serve this Italian Trout recipe with rice, or Italian pasta, and a vegetable.

Paella Traditional

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Paella is a typical Spanish dish and is traditionally cooked in a "paellera" - a round flat pan with two handles - which is then put on the table. It is normally made using shellfish but can also be made with chicken or rabbit. In many Spanish villages, especially in coastal areas, they use a giant paellera to cook a paella on festival days which is big enough to feed everybody.

A paella is very flexible so if you don’t have the exact ingredients or if you find some of them hard to get hold of, substitute them for something similar. Getting fresh shellfish can be a problem, but you can always use frozen fish and use fish stock instead of water to increase the flavour.

There are literally hundreds of ways to cook a paella and every cook has their own favourite recipe. Here’s mine (it will serve 6 people depending on how hungry you are):

INGREDIENTS:

1 small onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped

½ red pepper, boiled until soft and then cut into long thin strips

2 medium-sized tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

100g peas, cooked

200g prawns (if using cooked prawns substitute fish stock for the water)

200g small clams

200g squid

12 mussels

350g rice (traditionally short grain rice is used but I prefer to use long grain)

2 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped

a pinch of saffron strands (if you can’t get saffron, use yellow food colouring instead and add it once you have added the liquid)

a sprig of parsley, finely chopped

olive oil

about 800ml water

PREPARATION:
MUSSELS: Wash the mussels, removing the beards. Throw away any that don’t shut on contact with water.

FRESH SQUID: Rub off the outer dark skin. Pull out the insides (including the transparent back bone) and pinch the eye away from the tentacles. Save the tentacles. Cut the squid into rings.

CLAMS: Wash in water and then put in a bowl with some salt so that the grit comes out. Throw away any that are open.

PRAWNS: Whether you peel them or not is up to you. If you decide to peel them, save the shells and boil in water for about ten minutes. Save the liquid and add later instead of water.

GARLIC: In a pestle and mortar, grind the garlic, saffron (if using), parsley and a pinch of salt.

RECIPE:

Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion, green pepper and carrot and fry gently for about five minutes. Add the chopped tomato and squid (with the tentacles) and fry on a low heat for another ten minutes.

Add the rice and stir well to make sure that it is thoroughly coated. Add water (or the water from boiling the prawn shells or fish stock if using frozen fish), clams and the garlic/saffron/parsley mixture and bring to the boil. Season with salt. Put a lid on it, turn the heat right down and cook very slowly for about ten minutes. Add the prawns and peas and give it a stir. Arrange the mussels and strips of red pepper artistically on top, put the lid back on and leave for another ten minutes - checking that it has enough water. If you think it is getting too dry, add more water, but shake the handle of the pan rather than stir so as not to upset the pattern. Once the rice is cooked and the mussels have opened, it is ready to eat.

PATATAS A LO POBRE

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This could roughly be translated as "Poor man’s potatoes" and is a simple dish of slowly fried potatoes, green peppers and onions. A more substantial version is called "Plato Alpujarreño" (named after the Alpujarra mountains just south of Granada where it is traditionally served) Pieces of Spanish spicy chorizo sausage and black pudding are added at the end along with a couple of fried eggs. The recipe below is for the simple version: Here in Andalucia this is a typical dish which is served in a "venta". A "venta" is a small simple restaurant in the country where city dwellers go out with their family or friends to eat in the country usually on a Sunday and normally in the open air.

INGREDIENTS:

4 large potatoes, thinly sliced (leave in water for about 20 minutes to get rid of the starch and then drain)
1 green pepper, either roughly chopped or cut into thick strips

1 onion, roughly chopped

about ½ litre olive oil

salt

RECIPE:
Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan. Add the potatoes and season with salt. Fry on a high heat for 5 minutes, turning the potatoes over, and then turn the heat right down. Put a lid on the pan and gently fry for 10 minutes. Add the green pepper and onion and give everything a good stir. Cover the pan and leave to fry gently for another 10 minutes. Check from time to time to make sure that they are not sticking too much to the bottom of the pan.

At the end of this time look to see whether the potatoes are cooked and taste for salt, adding more if necessary. The idea is for the potatoes to be soft but with some of them a bit crispier to add to the flavour. If the potatoes are not cooked, put the lid back on and leave for another 5 minutes or so. Remove the potatoes from the pan with a slatted spoon and serve.

Habas con Jamón

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This is a delicious dish best made with fresh broad beans and mountain-cured Serrano ham. It works best with large spring onions or scallions, which have a gentler flavour than normal onions. It is definitely one of my favourites.

INGREDIENTS:

2 kg broad beans, podded

100g mountain-cured Serrano ham, chopped

2 small onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

olive oil

salt

RECIPE:

First, heat the oil in a frying pan and then add the chopped onion and garlic. Fry gently until soft and then add the ham and fry for another 5 minutes. Add the broad beans and stir-fry for another couple of minutes. Cover the frying pan and turn the heat down very low. Cook on a low heat until the beans are soft (add a little water if necessary). Season with salt.

GARBANZOS - Chick Peas in rich sauce

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8oz jar Chick Peas
1 medium Onion, chopped
Pork or Beef scraps, chopped
1 Beef Stock cube
1 litre of water/Vegetable stock
Little olive oil
1 teaspoon mixed herbs

NOTE: Chickpeas in Jars are just convenient - use dried chick peas if you prefer, (soaked in fresh water overnight and then boiled for 90 minutes.)
Heat oil in deep pan, add onion and fry till transparent, add meat and fry for 2 min, add stock, herbs and chickpeas, simmer until stock has reduced to 1/4, serve with crispy bread.

SALSA MOJO PICANTE - Tasty hot Chilli

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200 grams light olive oil
1/2 to 1 whole garlic to taste
2 tablespoon fresh Coriander
Salt, Pepper to taste
Dash Lemon juice to taste
Dash Vinegar to taste
4 fresh hot chillies
1 teaspoon ground Chilli
Water as required.

Put oil, salt, pepper, vinegar, coriander, 1/2 of garlic, 1/2 of chillies in liquidising vessel - liquidise - taste - add more garlic and more chilli to suit taste. Add a little water if too thick. Serve with fresh crusty bread, salad, salchichas (home made sausages/grilled chicken optional) Take care not to 'over-liquidise' the sauce, the 'coarsely-chopped' appearance of the chilli pieces enhances the overall effect nicely.

POLLO CON AJO - Tender Chicken

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1 kg Chicken
4 large cloves Garlic
1/2 teaspoons Salt
5 tablespoons Olive Oil
Freshly ground Black Pepper
1 tablespoon Coriander Leaves
8 fl oz Chicken Stock
1 flat teaspoon of Oregano
1/2 teaspoon of Marjoram.

Cut up chicken as desired. Legs only, or fillets can be used (important to leave skin on). Chop the Garlic, add the Salt, Pepper, Oregano and Marjoram mashing to a paste with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, finally mixing in the shredded Coriander. Spread mixture over the Chicken pieces and leave to marinate until needed. Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil and add chicken pieces - cook for about 10 min. turning until golden on medium. heat. Add 1 chicken stock cube plus 8 fl. oz of water or 8 fl oz home made chicken stock - simmer for further 45 min until chicken is loose on bones - serve with crispy bread, Boiled or Canarian potatoes, and green vegetable

PAPAS AGUARDIAS - Canarian Potatoes boiled

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2 kg Small potatoes
- (Black if possible)
4 Tablespoons Rock Salt
- (NOT table salt)
Water

Wash the potatoes thoroughly in fresh water. Do not peel, add potatoes to saucepan of fresh water with 4 tablespoons of Rock Salt. Bring to the boil and simmer fast for 20 min until cooked. Drain off excess water, leaving small amount of water in bottom. Return to heat an boil off remaining liquid, keeping potatoes moving until skin are dry. Remove, any excess salt (not all) from skins with tissue and serve in separate, warmed bowl.