Arroz con Pollo an easy substitute for paella

So I thought I knew what paella was and that I had eaten and enjoyed it, but until last month, I apparently had never really had paella.

Now this is paella. I apologize that there's nothing in the photo to show you how incredibly huge this dish was, but realizing that all of those wedges on the corners are lemons oughtta help!

Bryan and I indulged in this deliciousness last month at one of the Thursday Night Chef's Dinners at The Wandering Cafe, a catering company in our neighborhood that swings its doors open for special parties throughout the year. You can read more about all of the other delicious courses we ate that night on a blog post I wrote for Maple Leaf Life.

As for the paella, after watching chef and owner Kristine Pottle slaving over her giant skillet for at least an hour, I'm not sure I want to follow in her footsteps. After browning the meats (which included chorizo, gigantic and delicious shrimp, and what Bryan called the best chicken he'd ever had), she slowly poured ladle after ladle of broth into the rice, which I know I do for risotto, but it's hard enough when I'm just using a regular stockpot rather than a giant skillet!

Needless to say, I found a shortcut tonight that though not even half as good as Kristine's paella, is sufficient for Bryan and me and doesn't require me to buy a paella pan and other "must-have" accessories.

Arroz con Pollo from Greg Atkinson's "West Coast Cooking." Similar to the paella, I started by browning the sausage (I used spicy Italian sausage because good chorizo is so hard to find!), then browning the chicken. Onions came next, then the rice mixed with smoked spicy paprika, diced canned tomatoes and beer(!). Instead of pouring ladle after ladle of broth into it like Kristine did for the paella, I just threw the meat back in and let it cook for 35 minutes. Green peas on top are the finishing touch (and no, Bryan did not tell me that these chicken thighs were better than Kristine's!).

Love this book.

Drunk pears waiting for winter!

I love it when I spend two days cooking for a party, then get sooo much more from my guests when they arrive. There were chips and dips, cheese and crackers and sausages, side dishes galore, and more beer and wine than Bryan and I will be able to drink in a month!

And a few guests even brought gifts from their own gardens for me to indulge in the days to come. It didn't take long for me to take advantage of the pears from Adam, Emily and Penny, especially after I found this recipe for Canning Pears Mulled in Red Wine. Since I'd never canned pears before, I looked online and was immediately smitten by this recipe. I didn't even bother looking at any other ones!

The wine syrup smelled delicious, the pears were juicy and crunchy, there is no way these won't be the best pears EVER!!! I'll let you know this winter when I'm in the mood for some drunk pears on ice cream!

The anti-Mom CHEESY Spinach Enchiladas

Last night I went to Mom's and she had quesadilla appetizers waiting for me when I walked in the door. They were delicious. I couldn't get her to tell me exactly what was in them, a few dashes of dried Thai chile pepper, a tiny bit of curry — and just a smidge, I mean a smidge, of cheese.

I don't know how she can use so little cheese in a meal that is supposed to be mainly cheese, but she does it. So what do I do? I ruin it.

I know! That's what I get for following an Emeril recipe for Spinach Enchiladas. Loads and loads of cheese. I used queso blanco, cotija and pepper jack, not to mention the whole milk (which I substituted for half-and-half, thank you very much!) and the heavy cream thrown in there.

Besides substituting (whole) milk for half-and-half, I did one other good thing: I used kale in addition to the spinach, which gave the filling more body and flavor. So it wasn't completely unhealthy!

But it was oh so delicious, served with Dos Padres-Style Spanish Rice from Greg Atkinson's "West Coast Cooking," and refried beans from Crescent Dragonwagon's "Bean by Bean."

An edible 5-year annivesary in Kauai

It was so tempting to post all of the photos of the food we ate in Kaui on my Facebook page, but if I'm sick of looking at other people's food on Facebook, I'm probably not the only one. Instead, I will torture you with the deliciousness we devoured during our return to Kauai for our five-year anniversary.

Our first night, after an entire day of travel and three flights (two that were first class so I can't complain!), we crossed the street from our home for the week at the Wailua Bayview Condos and headed to the Korean Bar-B-Q. It was late, and I wasn't really hungry after all of those Mai Tais on the plane, but both Bryan and I couldn't resist the Dinner Special.

Clockwise from the top: bean sprout salad, green salad, potato salad, shrimp tempura, Meat Jun (which was a beef coated with egg batter then lightly fried) and Kalbi. What a wonderful welcome to the island!

Being a sucker for a good deal, we also grabbed a few steaks from Costco, which carries a dizzying supply of Asian snacks, including pork-filled humbao, seaweed salad and my favorite king oyster mushrooms, shown at right. (Which showcases the beginning of my no-veggie week. Yes, I gained back the 5 pounds I lost before the trip, but it doesn't matter anymore!)

By now, we were ready for some Hawaiian food, and I had found quite a few places in "The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook" that I thought would do the trick. But as tourists our timing was way off the islander schedule and we kept missing lunch, and instead had to settle for some takeout poke from the Pono Market that was so delicious, it just made us hungry for more!

We got lucky during another stop at Costco and found a generous sashimi tray for two for a steal at $20 — a friend on the island says it's the best deal available, so bravo to us!

But my favorite night on the island was at Caffe Coco, an outdoor BYOB eatery that also was right across the street from our condo. We were quickly won over by the live music by Ken Solin and Co., and tempted to come back again because the cafe offers up live music nightly. And then our dinner arrived.

By the time I was served this spectacular seared ahi with a wasabi-coconut milk-mushroom sauce (and the only salad I had all week), the tears were flowing with joy at the perfection of the evening.

Bryan liked his Charmoula plate so much, he gave me one just itty-bitty bite of the sweet-potato pastry on the right. Of course we wanted to come back, who wouldn't? But we also knew that a night that perfect just can't be repeated ... at least not until our next visit to the island!

Despite the perfect ambiance at Caffe Coco, it did lack a view, which we made up for at Scotty's Beachside BBQ. Eh, I could give a rip about American barbecue, but on the night of our anniversary, I wanted to be able to gaze out at the ocean with dreamy eyes.

Service was unbelievably fast, Mai Tai was the best on the island, barbecue was forgettable, but the view was unbeatable.

So, you ask, did I ever get my Hawaiian food? Indeed, on our last day, as we were wandering around Koloa trying to find the restaurant we ate at before our wedding, we figured out it was Tomkats Grill.

Of course, I had to get the same Kalua Pig I got five years earlier, and yes, I was satisfied.

Bryan also had been wanting Kalua Pig all week, but he hates getting the same thing as me so he got these beautiful ahi tacos instead.

And to top it all off, I finished my visit in Kauai with Spam Musubi from the airport, which was the exact same place I had my very first Spam Musubi, also at the end of our first visit to the island five years ago.

Kauai, I missed you before we even got off the ground, and I hope to be back before another five years have passed!

Sweet and Sour revisited ... 3 years later

Back when I first started this blog, I posted a recipe for Sweet & Sour Pork that Mom had handed out at a business function years or even decades ago. So long ago that I don't remember, but since I didn't even remember making the dish word-for-word when I posted the recipe three years ago, I guess that isn't saying much.

Needless to say, when I decided over the weekend that I was going to give this recipe another shot (kind of), I had no idea it would lead to an epiphany of me realizing just how far I have come as a home chef.

My attempt from June 8, 2009.

And here I am in 2012.

I might still be ruining Mom's recipes, but at least I've learned how to at least make a recipe look like hers along the way. I used the same vegetables and sauce ingredients, but made it Mom 2012 style by cutting the fat in a big way.

Sweet & Sour Shrimp, 2012
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup red wine
4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon coconut oil (or other high-heat oil)
1 onion, cut in 1-inch chunks
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red and 1 green bell pepper, cut in 1-inch chunks
2 pounds uncooked shrimp
2 roma tomatoes, cut in 1-inch chunks

Mix sugar and corn starch in a small bowl until no more chunks are visible. Add soy sauce, ketchup, wine and vinegar, and stir until well combined.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet or wok to medium high. Add coconut oil, then cook onions until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add garlic for last minute of cooking, then add bell peppers and cook until softened, but still crisp, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer vegetables to a bowl.

Cook shrimp in batches, so they're in a single layer while cooking. Cook for about a minute on each side, then add to the vegetables.

When shrimp are done, add tomatoes to the skillet and stir-fry for a couple of minutes, until heated through. Add sweet and sour sauce to skillet and bring to a simmer. When sauce starts to thicken, add all of the shrimp and vegetables back to the bowl and toss until just combined. Serve with rice.

Belgian Waffle Epic Fail No. 1

Every once in a while, I'll have an incredible craving for a Belgian waffle, which I usually soothe by either forcing Bryan to join me for a continental breakfast during vacation or simply stopping by my work cafeteria. But after reading about Ham-and-Cheese Belgian Waffles in Bon Appetit, it became much more necessary to buy our own.

So far, the results have not turned out as planned.

Two days after our magazine-recommended model arrived in the mail, we've already experience Epic Fail No. 1. Seriously, it's not even as thick as the normal waffles Mom made when we were growing up!

There are a number of things I could have done wrong. First, I split the recipe so I would only have to use one egg, and one egg makes it a bit difficult to create "medium-soft peaks." Plus, I didn't have any soda water, so I simply substituted it with milk, and I used dry buttermilk instead of wet, which could have been just fine, but I guess I'll never really know.

Point being, I will actually follow the recipe for real next time. Let's hope that won't turn into Epic Fail No. 2!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!