NOT PAELLA—RICE WITH RIBS AND MUSHROOMS

 

A rice dish with chunks of ribs, mushrooms and beans. 

Here’s the perfect dish for using the season’s wild mushrooms. The only problem is, I don’t have any wild mushrooms. Prolonged drought in much of Spain has slowed the appearance of the boletus, níscalos (saffron milk cap) and other autumn mushrooms. So, I'm making this--a rice dish that's not paella--with cultivated oyster mushrooms. 

You could use any mushroom, foraged or cultivated, and, depending on the season, change off the vegetable add-in. For example, I’m using end-of-season green beans. In the winter, chard or other greens will be nice. With spring’s chanterelles or gurumelos, asparagus, artichokes or fava beans would be ideal.

Not saffron, but pimentón adds color and depth of flavor to the rice.

The rice is not "dry," like paella, but meloso, juicy.

Change the mushrooms and vegetables with the seasons. Here, green beans and cultivated oyster mushrooms.

Bands of fat on the ribs keep the meat juicy and flavor the rice.

The rack of ribs needs to be cut lengthwise in thirds, then cut crosswise, between the bones, making small pieces. Unless you’re clever with a cleaver, best to have the butcher do the cutting. To eat, you can either cut the meat off the bones with knife and fork or, for a family meal, let everyone chew the meat off the bones. Pass the paper towels!

Use the same type of rice as for paella, a medium-short-grain variety. Bomba is especially good. This rice is not cooked “dry,” as for paella, nor “caldoso,” soupy. It’s arroz meloso, or slightly juicy. Cook the rice in a paella pan, deep skillet, flat-bottomed wok or earthenware cazuela.

Rice with Ribs and Mushrooms

Arroz con Costillas y Setas

Serves 4.

1 ¼ pounds spareribs, cut into 1 ½ -inch pieces

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon vinegar

 3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped red bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon sweet pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)

¼ teaspoon pimentón picante (hot paprika)

½ cup crushed tomatoes

1/3 cup white wine

5 cups hot water

1 bay leaf

Sprig of thyme

2 cups medium-short grain rice, such as Bomba

1 cup cooked green beans, cut in short pieces 

Brown the pieces of ribs.

Season the pieces of ribs with salt, pepper and vinegar. Allow to come to room temperature.

Heat the oil in a paella pan, large skillet or cazuela. Add the meat and brown it, turning to brown all sides, 5 minutes. Add the onion, red pepper and garlic. Sauté until onions are softened and beginning to brown, 3 minutes. 

Sprinkle the two kinds of pimentón over the ingredients in the pan. Add the tomatoes and cook 1 minute. Add the wine and cook off the alcohol, 2 minutes. Add 2 cups of the hot water and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook the ribs, covered, until they are almost tender, 15 minutes. Taste for salt and add additional if needed.

Stir in the rice. Add remaining 3 cups of hot water. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, on high heat for 5 minutes. Lower the heat and cook until rice is al dente tender, about 14 minutes. Add the green beans. Remove the pan from the heat. Cover and allow to set 5 minutes before serving. Discard the bay leaf and thyme.

More melosa rice dishes:

Rice "On the Side" (Arroz Abanda).

Rice with Fish and Artichokes.

Rice with Chicken (Arroz con Pollo).

Rice in a Skillet (Perol).

MY SUGAR-FREE BIRTHDAY CAKE

My usual dilemma: what to serve guests for dessert—in this case, my birthday cake—when I do not eat anything with sugar? Certainly, I’ve been known to serve desserts and simply abstain. But, on this occasion, I want to partake of my own celebration!

Here is my trial run—a spice cake sweetened with fruit and an artificial sweetener. I’m quite pleased with it. I intend to double the recipe to make a larger cake for my gathering. What do you think, should I do it in two layer cake pans, a sheet pan, springform, bundt pan or cupcakes?

The taste-test: Is this sugar-free applesauce cake good enough to serve to guests?

It's my birthday and it's good enough for me! The cake is light and moist, sweet enough, in my opinion.  Now to freeze it and see if it's good after defrosting.

Serving options: for me, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Or, for those who want it sweeter, a drizzle of honey. 

Nobody needs to know the cake has no sugar. Nobody needs to know it’s made with apples and prunes. Maybe I’ll call it “spice cake”. Dried figs, also intensely sweet, could be used instead of prunes to make the applesauce. 

The apples and prunes provide sweetness, but I added a non-caloric sweetener (edulcorante) as well. I used ¼ cup of a powdered preparation containing stevia (Natreen), which is not the same as powdered stevia. I’ll make a spoon sauce using local honey cooked with cream. Folks who want something really sweet can spoon the sauce over the (plain) cake.  

The cake freezes well, so can be made in advance. The recipe makes one 9-inch cake. It can be simply doubled for two layers or a larger pan. (Larger pan will require longer baking time. 

Applesauce-Prune Spice Cake

Bizcocho de Manzanas y Ciruelas Pasas

As sweetener, I used ¼ cup of a powdered preparation containing stevia (Natreen), which is not the same as powdered stevia . If you are using a different sweetener, adjust the quantities according to package directions. (If in doubt, taste the batter.)

The cake freezes well, so can be made in advance. The recipe makes one 9-inch cake. It can be simply doubled for two layers or a larger pan. (Larger pan will require longer baking time.) 

Makes one (9-inch) cake, serving 8.

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon allspice

1 egg

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil + additional for greasing the cake pan

Sweetener (optional)

1 cup apple-prune sauce (recipe follows)

1 teaspoon grated ginger

Grated orange zest

Pinch of aniseed

2 tablespoons orange or lemon juice

¼ cup ground almonds (unsweetened)

Cinnamon, to serve (optional)

Greek yogurt, whipped cream or ice cream (optional)

Honey, to serve (optional)

Lightly oil a 9-inch cake pan and line with baking parchment. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Sift together the flour, soda, salt, cardamom and allspice. Place the egg in a mixing bowl and beat until light and lemony in color. Beat in the oil and the powdered sweetener, if using. Add the apple-prune sauce, ginger, orange zest and aniseed. Beat in half of the flour and other dry ingredients. Beat in the juice. Fold in the remaining dry ingredients and the ground almonds.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and a thin skewer comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan 15 minutes. Unmold the cake onto a rack and allow to cool completely.

If to be served immediately, place the cake on a serving platter. If to be frozen, wrap the cake in plastic wrap and seal in a freezer bag. 

Apple-Prune Sauce

Puré de Manzanas y Ciruelas Pasas

A thick sauce of apples plus prunes sweetens the cake. 

I made enough apple-prune sauce to make a second, larger cake next week.

Sweet pears can be substituted for the apples and dried figs for the prunes.

Makes 3 cups pureed apples and prunes.

1 ¾ pounds apples (5 medium)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

10 ounces pitted prunes

2-inch cinnamon stick

Pinch of ground cloves

¼ cup sweet wine (muscatel)

Peel and core the apples. Chop them and place in a pan. Add the lemon juice. Cut the prunes in halves or quarters and add to the pan. Add the wine. Place on medium-high heat until liquid begins to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the fruit, covered, until very soft, about 20 minutes. Stir from time to time to prevent scorching. Add a little water if necessary.

Remove the pan from the heat. Discard the cinnamon stick. Use an immersion blender to blend the fruit to a puree. Keeps, covered and refrigerated, up to a week.

More sugar-free cakes:

No-Sugar Date Bars.

Failed Chocolate Birthday Cake.

Sugar-Free Chocolate-Almond Cake.

Almond Torte.

A RUSTIC STEW FOR OLIVE PICKERS

 

I’ve invited some friends to come round and help me with the olive picking. I plan to serve a merienda de aceituneros, olive pickers’ lunch. In advance, I’m trying out some easy, rustic dishes that I can serve to a crowd. 

In bygone times, when transport was on foot or by mule, olive pickers would spend the whole day in the olive groves, pausing for a midday meal cooked outdoors. Cured foods such as sausages and dry salt cod were packed along with bread and oil. 

That’s what inspired this potato stew. The traditional La Mancha version of this stew is made with salt cod. 

I’m going to serve ibérico ham as the centerpiece of the lunch, so I want this dish to be vegetarian. I sure don’t want to be stirring the pot while everybody is out picking and drinking wine, so I’ll cook the potatoes the day before and reheat them at lunch time. This is my rehearsal. What do you think?

Potatoes cook in a sofrito with onions and peppers. Eggs are added right before serving.

A bowl of vegetarian potato stew. 

Olive Pickers’ Potato Stew

Pote Aceitunero con Patatas

Let whites set, then cut eggs into the potatoes.

On my first attempt at this dish, following the original recipe, I stirred the eggs into the hot potatoes. They thickened the sauce nicely, but I didn’t think they looked very appetizing. I liked the presentation better when the eggs were allowed to set on top of the potatoes, then broken up to serve (as for huevos rotos, if you’ve ever tried that terrific tapa dish). The runny yolks combined with the broth of the stew create the sauce. 

The best potato for this dish is para freir, a variety best for frying such as Agria, Kennebec and MonaLisa. You don’t want potatoes that will fall apart with reheating. Take care not to overcook them, as they will cook 5 minutes longer when the eggs are added.

Serves 4 as a main; 8 as a side.

2 pounds potatoes

1/3 cup olive oil

1 cup thinly sliced onions

1 cup green pepper, cut in strips

4 cloves garlic

1 dried red chile (optional)

1 teaspoon smoked pimentón (paprika)

½ teaspoon cumin

½ cup peeled and diced tomato

¼ cup white wine

2 cups water or stock + additional for reheating

Pinch of chopped fennel leaves or fennel pollen

Sprig of thyme or pinch of dried thyme

1 ½ teaspoons salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3-4 eggs

Chopped parsley to garnish

Chopped scallion greens to garnish

Peel the potatoes and cut them in bite-size chunks. Place them in a bowl and cover with cold water. Soak the potatoes 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. Drain them well and pat dry.

Fry potatoes in olive oil.

Heat the oil in a deep skillet on moderately high heat. Add the potatoes and carefully turn them in the oil. Allow them to fry without turning until they begin to brown on one side, about 1 minute. Turn and fry until slightly browned on the other side. The idea is to fry just enough to make a crust on all sides of the potatoes.

Use a slotted spoon or skimmer to lift the potatoes out of the oil and into a cazuela or pot. Add the onions and green pepper to the oil. With the side of a knife, lightly crush the cloves of garlic and add them, whole and unpeeled, to the oil with the chile, if using. 

Sauté the vegetables until onion is softened, 4 minutes. Stir in the pimentón and cumin. Immediately add the tomato. Let the tomato cook until it releases its liquid. Add the wine and cook off the alcohol. Add the water, fennel, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce heat and let the potatoes bubble gently, uncovered, until they are nearly tender, about 10 minutes. There should still be some liquid left.

Break eggs on top of the potatoes.

If the potatoes are to be served the following day, transfer them to a covered container, cool and refrigerate. Let them come to room temperature before finishing the cooking.

Place the potatoes in a pan, adding enough water or stock so they are juicy. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are thoroughly heated. Carefully break 3 or 4 eggs on top of the potatoes. Cover the pan and continue cooking until the whites of the eggs are set, but the yolks still runny, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat. 

Sprinkle the eggs with a little salt and pimentón. Garnish with chopped parsley and scallion greens. Immediately before serving, use a knife and fork to cut up the eggs. Let the yolks mix with the potatoes. 

The stew is accompanied by cracked, brine-cured olives with garlic, fennel and thyme. These are the last of the previous year's olives. This year I haven't yet picked any for curing because I'm still waiting for a good rain to plump them. It may not happen---- The olives to be picked by my invited crew will be taken to the mill and exchanged for new oil. 

Related recipes:

Olive Mill Breakfast (Desayuno Molinero).

Olive Pickers' Stew with Cod.

Curing Olives.