Delectable Shrimp and Calamari in Pepper Sauce with Homemade Plantain Chips

Over Spring Break, I tried Bolivian food at this restaurant nearby (I am still in Miami) that I've had on my list since I randomly passed by it while working as a census taker in Little Havana last summer.  I have never had Bolivian food and had no clue what to expect.  I must say, I was absolutely amazed.  I can't believe you don't hear more about Bolivian food.  It's delicious!  

Bolivian food has a distinctly indigenous Andean flair--most dishes contain potatoes in some form with easy-over eggs, there's a heavy use of peppers (not necessarily hot), and most dishes are accompanied with rice as well.  The dish I had was asado borracho, which came with the characteristically Bolivian chorrellana, which is a sauce made of julienned peppers and onions with tomato.  

I've been craving seafood this week, but I've also had a taste for that delicious, peppery, slightly smoky, lightly spicy sauce.  I decided that I would try to recreate it using what I had at home and make a seafood dish with it.  Voila shrimp and calamari in pepper sauce :)!  I must admit, the flavors were spot on!  I loved how the combo of peppers created a nice layered burn--some of it was a slow burn, some was a smoky burn, and some was a a more delayed burn, and the sweet peppers created a wonderful balance.  

Here is a photo of the inspiration for my dish, Las Americas Restaurant's asado borracho (drunken grilled steak on a bed of fried potato rounds topped with a fried egg and chorrellana sauce with a side of toasty grilled hot dog, yes hot dog).

So, if you've never had Bolivian food before, here's your chance to try something similar; if you're looking for something new to do with seafood, this is for you, too.  Serve with white rice and, if you like, throw in an easy-over egg to make it more authentic.  Bolivians don't seem big on seafood, by the way, likely because they're landlocked.  The seafood is my own thing.  Don't forget the mariquitas (plaintain chips ;).  I had a huge craving, so I threw that in, too.

                        

Ingredients:

1 lb of shrimp, peeled and de-veined

1/3 lb of calamari

red bell pepper, julienned (maybe 6 sticks)

green bell pepper, julienned (maybe 8 sticks) 

yellow bell pepper, julienned (maybe 6 sticks

Hungarian pepper (in reg. supermarket, use Cubanelle if you don't see it), julienned (about 5 sticks)

2 thai peppers, sliced as thinly as possible on a bias

about 6 thin slices of jalapeño, cut on bias

1/3 habanero pepper, julienned as finely as possible

1 small onion, julienned

4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly

1 full-size can of diced tomatoes (not flavored, Hunt's brand recommended)

2 TB of smoked pork chop or smoked ham, in small cubes

1/8 cup olive oil

salt to taste

Procedure:

Sautee the garlic in the olive oil over low heat for a minute or two to get the flavor into the oil.  Don't cut back on the oil amount.  You'll need it to sautee all of the veggies.  The point of adding it all in the beginning is to let the garlic flavor seep into it.  

Add in the onions and bring up the heat to medium low.

Toss the onions in the oil until coated.  Sautee until mildly softened and add peppers.  You want to let the onions soften first so that they are near caramelization by the time the peppers are cooked, and they will release more sweetness.  Salt and sautee until softened.  

Stir in pork and sautee for a minute or two to let flavors blend.

Add the can of tomatoes, re-salt, blend everything together, and turn the heat up to medium.  Let sautee a minute or two so that the flavors blend.  

Add in the shrimp only, cover and cook for about 5 minutes.  They should only be half-way done at this point.

Give everything a gentle stir and add in the calamari.  Cook no more than 5 minutes, until  the seafood is cooked.  Be sure that throughout the whole process of cooking the seafood that you never have a full boil going.  You just want a simmer to avoid overcooking the seafood.  Calamari should be tender, not chewy when done and shrimp should be bright pink and slightly curled, but not in a ring when it reaches doneness.  If all of the shrimp form a ring, they are likely overcooked.

Plantain Chips (Mariquitas)

1 pot of oil 

1 plantain, sliced thinly, either on a bias or in rounds

1 clove of garlic cut into three pieces

salt

water

Heat oil with garlic slices over medium high heat.  Meanwhile, soak plantain slices in salt water to remove sticky residue and flavor the chips.  Once the oil is ready, pat the plantain slices dry and add the one-by-one into the oil, stirring constantly.  Let the chips fry until golden brown and crispy.  Be sure to stir constantly as they can and will stick if you don't.  After the first minute or so of frying, remove the garlic, as it has already released it's flavor and you don't want it to begin to get bitter.

Remove the chips from the oil and let drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.  Enjoy their crispy, garlicky goodness!!  No need to add salt since they were soaked in salt water and are already perfectly seasoned ;).  If you so desire, serve with Cuban mojo sauce.  Here is a recipe http://www.tasteofcuba.com/mojo.html.  Just be sure that you're using mariquita mojo (not the one with all of the herbs that you use to marinade).

This Summer's Festival Line-Up!!

Any good Richmonder knows that the best part of living in this city has to be the amazing variety of festivals we have, especially in the summer.  Richmond's festivals are a great chance to explore new cuisines, learn about different cultures, buy some cool handicrafts, and enjoy some great music and dance performances.  Although it's been a while since I've lived full-time in Richmond, I always get super excited about filling up my calendar with festival dates!

I've checked out a couple, but I definitely have a lot more to see.  Somehow I always end up missing the Filipino Festival, but this year, I am going to make absolutely sure that I make it there.  Who can say know to lechon and halo halo?  Not me!  Lechon is one of my favorite foods, so I just have to try it Filipino-style.

So here's the rest of this year's amazing line-up!

Church Hill Irish Festival - tomorrow (Mar 25th) and Sunday, rain or shine! http://www.churchhillirishfestival.com/

French Food Festival - Apr 30
http://www.littlesistersofthepoor.org/

Lebanese Food Festival - May 13-15
http://stanthonymaronitechurch.org/festival/index.htm

Greek Food Festival - May 20-22
http://greekfoodfest.com/

Broad Appetit - June 5th
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=76385860964

St. Joseph's Italian Festival - June 11th
http://events.richmond.com/richmond-va/venues/show/3326565-saint-joseph-italian-festival

Filipino Festival - August 12th and 13th http://filipinofestival.org/  Last year, they even had a drive-thru!

Festival of India - no date set this year; normally in Sept
http://thefestivalofindia.org/home.asp

Que Pasa Festival - Oct 1
http://www.vahcc.com/?page=quepasa

Imagine Festival - Oct 8
http://www.richmondgov.com/

St. Benedict Oktoberfest - Oct 16-18
http://www.stbenedictoktoberfest.com/

Richmond Oktoberfest - October 21-22
http://www.richmondoktoberfestinc.com/


Festivals Nearby
DC National BBQ Battle - June 25-26
DC Caribbean Carnival - June 25-26 (admission $10)

Not Your Mama's Lentil Soup

While I was doing my veggie challenge, I actually fell in love with lentils.  Lentils are a great alternative to beans since they cook in a fraction of the time that it takes to whip up a pot of beans.  Just about thirty minutes is all you need to have your lentils ready to eat.  I love all kinds of lentil soups and I also like making a spread out of lentils and mashing them with salt, oil, garlic, herbs, and other seasonings before having them on flatbread with fresh veggies such as cucumber, tomato, olives, etc.  Sometimes I even season them up with curry and put raisins in the mix. 

Here's a simple yet delicious recipe for a tasty lentil soup.  The flavor is dark, garlicky, and somewhat smoky and spicy from the Thai chili with a bit of brightness from the culantro. I came up with this recipe in an attempt to make a dish that was well-balanced both in nutrition and in flavor.  Remember that red pepper is very high in vitamin C.  Buttercup squash is a great source of vitamin A and also contains vitamin C, calcium, and iron.  Celery also contains the same vitamins.  Who said healthy food had to be boring?  Enjoy!

References: http://www.produceoasis.com/Items_folder/Vegetables/Buttercup.html, http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2840/2

Lentil Soup

1 package lentils

¼  buttercup squash (any grocery store--do NOT substitute with the similar-looking acorn squash)

2 cloves of garlic, smashed

1/8 cup diced red pepper

1/8 cup diced onion

2-3 culantro leaves (sawleaf herb--easily found at SE Asian market) (a substitute, but not equivalent is the much brighter cilantro)

Half stalk of celery, diced

2 thai peppers, whole with stem removed (SE Asian market)

Handful of black peppercorns

Pinch of dried oregano

1 tsp turmeric

2-3 tsp salt

Goya Adobo to taste (I used the one with the blue top)

Mix ingredients together and cook according to package instructions, until desired tenderness. 

Serve with sliced avocado and even rice, if you so desire.  Yum!!

Dominican Seafood and Dumplings in Coconut Sauce

As far as Dominican food goes, it's easy to believe that such a small island has a homogeneous national cuisine.  In fact, to think that actually is partially correct. There is a basic sazon (seasoning) that is used all over the country and a huge shared repertoire of braised meats, casseroles, soups, and stews.  However, if you take a closer look, there are some important regional variations.

The Cibao Valley region is known for its heavy use of plantains.  In the Southwest, near the border, there is more Haitian influence, so food tends to be somewhat spicy, whereas traditional Dominican food is anything but spicy.  In the capital, there are many more immigrants, so beloved dishes such as quipe (the Dominican version of kibbeh), and tipili (Tabbouleh) from Lebanese immigrants, as well as chofan (chow fan) from the Chinese immigrants first entered the Dominican kitchen there and are now enjoyed all over the nation.

Finally, in the East, where there is the highest concentration of sugar plantations, there is much more West Indian influence from the cocolos (West Indian immigrants) who came to cut sugar cane before the cane cutting labor force became primarily Haitian in the mid 1900s.  There is also more Haitian influence for the same reason.  As a result, there is a greater use of flour preparations, such as dumplings being added into sancocho (as they are in similar Haitian dishes) and full dumpling-based dishes (such as domplines ahogados) as well as johnny cakes, or yaniqueques from the West Indian influence.

In Samana, West Indian-influenced favorites include ginger beer and conconete (sweet spiced coconut bread rounds) in addition to yaniqueques.   Samana (in the east), because it hasan abundance of coconut trees, and I believe the highest concentration of coconut trees in the world, is famous for dishes using coconut milk.  Among these dishes is  their famous pescado con coco or fish in coconut sauce (see past post), which has become beloved all over the nation.

So, as I was looking up information about the Southwest, I came across a recipe from the region. The recipe was for something I'd never had before, domplines sancristobaleros (San Cristobal style dumplings) or Domplin de PicaPica (picapica is the name for sardines sold in a spicy tomato sauce). These dumplings are in finger-like oblong shapes and are added to a stew of shrimp, sardines in tomato sauce, corn, coconut milk, and Dominican sazon.  Dominican sazon consists of about a 1:2 ratio of parsley to cilantro, along with onion, garlic, cubanelle pepper, oregano, tomato paste, and sometimes celery and/or celery leaf.

End result--a rich, lightly creamy, flavorful broth with tender seafood and dumplings.

This recipe was adapted from:
http://es-es.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=137750072935213 (you can find a photo here as well)

Domplines de PicaPica

Ingredients for Stew:
1 smoked pork chop, cubed
4 cans of sardines in tomato sauce (I prefer without bones, if possible, otherwise, you can opt to leave the bones or carefully remove by hand)
1 lb of shrimp
1/4 cup or just over of diced onion
1/3 cup or so of finely diced cubanelle pepper

half a habanero or scotch bonnet pepper (Since pica pica is not easily found in the US, we have to make it spicy ourselves)

3 or 4 cloves of garlic
2 tsp chopped cilantro
1 tsp chopped parlsey

1/2 to 3/4 can of corn (or get the half size can), drained

1 can of coconut milk

2/3 - 3/4 cup of water
1 TB fresh lime juice
a pinch of oregano (less than 1/8 tsp)

salt 

pepper

Dumplings
1 Cup of flour
warm water (or you could use milk, but that's not the traditional way) to form dumplilng dough
1/2 tsp baking powder (optional--traditionally, Dominican dumplings are harder than American, but I prefer more tender ones and baking powder helps with this)
salt
oil (butter would likely make them even more tender, but oil is traditional)

Water for Boiling Dumplings
2-3 cloves of garlic, slice in half or smashed
5 sprigs of cilantro
salt
oil

Directions:
Bring to a boil a pot of water with cilantro, garlic, salt, and oil.  Meanwhile, mix 1 cup of flour with water, oil, salt, and baking powder.  Drop the dumplings into the seasoned boiling water, stirring occasionally.  Let boil until they rise to the surface.  Remove from the water and set aside.

Sautee the onions and peppers, salted, over medium low heat until translucent.  Add in the garlic and herbs and sautee for about 20-30 seconds.  Sometimes I like to add 2/3 of the herbs in now and add the rest just before adding the coconut milk.

Add in the cubed smoked pork chop and sautee a bit for it to pick up the flavor of the sazon.  Add in the corn and lime and sautee until it has a chance to absorb the flavors.  Add in the water and the shrimp and sautee until almost cooked.

Add in the habanero pepper, four cans of sardines, with the tomato sauce they are canned in.  Remove some of ingredients from the stew (preferably the shrimp so they don't overcook) to make room for the coconut milk to be distributed.  Add in the coconut milk and gently blend it in.

Add in the reserved dumplings and let the dish sautee a bit so that the flavors blend.

Taste for salt and pepper and enjoy!  Serve with tostones (twice fried green plantains--if you are clueless on this, comment and I'll help) and a slice of lime to squeeze over the top.

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