Paella, Ras el Hanut, Chuletas, Dairy-free Scones, Squash Casserole

Paella Bajoqueta
That's a vegetarian paella featuring green beans as the primary subject.  Bajoqueta is the Catalan (not Spanish) word for green beans.  Not all paella include seafood; many Catalan and Spanish traditional paella do not.  You really want the biggest skillet you can find, or a true paella pan for this dish.  I decided to employ our seldom-used 15" Saladmastertm skillet even though we have traditional paella pans.  The big skillet has an oil core which will help make the heat even all across the bottom.  Trying to work a thin metal paella pan across two burners can be frustrating. 

1 lb Green Beans, topped and tailed but left long
4 cups Vegetable Broth (1 box)
2 cans Garbanzos, drained and rinsed
1 Sweet Onion, chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped
1 Ancho Chili Pepper, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, chopped
2 Beefsteak Tomatoes, diced
1 tsp crumbled Saffron threads
1 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Smoked or Sweet Paprika (or 1 of each...)

Pour the rice in the pan, add the vegetable broth, and start bringing the liquid up to a boil.

The basic principle of cooking a paella is to add the components in the "longest to cook, goes first" order.  So... rice, then as it starts to get warm liquid, next comes the green beans, followed by other ingredients each in its turn, tomatoes being last.  As the dish progresses, the rice cooks up through the other components.

When all the liquid has been absorbed by the rice, the other ingredients should be cooked as well.  If the rice is sticking to the bottom of your pan, that's good!

Paella aficionados fight over who gets the wonderful crusty, almost burnt rice from the bottom of the pan!  See the big piece I got there on my plate of paella?  Yummm!

Ras el Hanut
The name of this quintessential Moroccan spice blend means "head of the shop".  It's a melange of the spices which a spice merchant in the souks of Marrakesh or Tangiers might sell.  Each local merchant's blend would vary depending on what spices he kept in stock.  Some versions have as many as 50 spices...

The blend is essential for Shakshuka -- the now popular in the West dish of 'eggs poached in tomato' dish that has long been a favorite meal in Israel and across the Middle East and North Africa.  I serve it as a breakfast here at our Poolside Cabana Airbnb listing.

Here's a simplified blend of just ten "essential" spices.  It's the proportions that count, so I'm not giving any measure -- you can use teaspoons, tablespoons, ounces, pounds, buckets.  You can even swap out a spice here or there, or add one or two...

1  Cumin
1  Ground Ginger
1  Salt
3/4 Pepper
1/2 Cinnamon
1/2 Coriander
1/2 Cayenne
1/2 Allspice
1/2 Turmeric
1/4 Cloves

Chuletas de Puerco en  Salsa Verde
Chuleta means "chop", and Puerco... well, you know (or at least you should).  Pork Chops in Salsa Verde.  This is classic Mexican home cooking.  Sally was out of town so I made this all for myself.  

Thin cut chops are the secret to this dish.  I get mine from a Mexican carnicería just down the road about a mile.

And don't you dare use bottled salsa verde, when I gave you a perfect recipe for making your own, on January 13th!  

You want the salsa fairly thin for this recipe.  If yours is too thick, just add a couple tablespoons of water and stir to thin it out.

2 extra thin cut Pork Chops
Salt & Pepper to taste
1+ cups Salsa Verde
Spanish Rice for your side dish

Brown the lightly spiced chops on both sides in a splash of oil.  Remove the meat, and add about half of the salsa verde to the skillet.  Put the chops on the salsa and top them with the remaining sauce.

Turn the heat down low and simmer for about 15 minutes while the salsa reduces and thickens.

Here I served the chuleta with some wonderful Peruvian Vegetable Tacu Tacu that Sally brought home from our favorite Peruvian restaurant.  Or, you could serve it with this side:

Quick Spanish Rice
1 cup White Rice
1-2 tsp Badiatm Sazon Tropicale Orange (or 1 packet)

Cook the rice your usual way (I use a rice cooker), but add the sazon tropicale to the liquid as the water comes to a boil.  Perfect Spanish Rice every time.  You can doctor it with some cooked diced red bell pepper and onion if you want!

Dairy-Free Blueberry Scones
We had a Guest at the Poolside Cabana who's partner was dairy-free, but really wanted scones.  Then I found this recipe... happy Guests!  I made this as a "sconebread" using self-rising flour, but of course you can make wedge scones or round scones as well...

2 cups AP flour*
2 tsp Baking Powder*
¾ tsp Salt
½ cup fresh Blueberries or rehydrated dried berries
1 cup canned Coconut Cream not coconut milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract or other extract (lemon would be good) that you like
Coarse Sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

* or use 2 c Self-Rising Flour and no Baking Powder, like I did...

Goya brand coconut cream is available in many megamart canned milk sections, or at you local Latin market(s).

Preheat oven to 425F.  Prepare a baking sheet or pan with parchment paper and/or spray.

Meanwhile... whisk the flour, baking powder if using, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add blueberries and toss lightly to coat.

Stir in 1/2 cup of warmed coconut cream and the vanilla extract. If you warm the cream it becomes thinner and easy to pour rather than spoon.   Add enough more cream to get a cohesive dough, plop it out on a heavily floured work surface and dust with additional flour.  Knead a few times to get a dough that is not too sticky.  Chill dough in the fridge until in the oven comes up to temp.

Remove the baking sheet from the fridge and cut each disk into 4 wedges. Separate the wedges to give them room to expand.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.   If you make a sconebread in a 6" or 7" pan, like I did, it will need to bake for 30+ minutes.  After you get a good brown top, cover with tinfoil to stop additional browning.  

Can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the refrigerator for up to a week, or individually frozen for longer.

Winter Squash CasseroleThis one was inspired by a Meatless Monday acorn squash casserole which was nice and creamy, but I felt needed more 'body', so I combined it with parcooked butternut squash.

2 Acorn Squash, halves and seeded

1 small/medium Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

1 cup diced Sweet Onion
1/2 cup Skyr or Greek Yogurt
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp Cavender'stm Greek Seasoning
1/4 cup Parmesan from a can
1/4 cup Panko
Optional -- 1/4 cup Feta cheese crumbles

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Microwave or roast the Acorn squash, cut side down, until very tender.  Cool and scoop the meat into a bowl and mash.  Add the yogurt, onion, salt & pepper and fold it all together.  

Microwave or roast the Butternut cubes al dente (they'll cook some more but you don't want them falling apart).  Cool slightly, then fold into the Acorn mixture.

Spoon into an appropriate baking dish which has been sprayed or oiled to prevent sticking.  Top with the panko, parmesan and optional feta.  Bake 25-35 minutes until bubbly.  

This got Two Thumbs Up from Sally.  Great taste!!