Calamari filled with Rice, prosciutto and chorizo - Lulas Recheadas

 

I know I know, seafood again. I think I should have named this blog Portuguese seafood kitchen.
I guess you all know by now that my heritage is from the Algarve, so I do love my seafood. It may seem as though my family and I eat nothing but seafood but I promise we don't. Usually just once per week. Seafood I find is really easy and quick to cook. I know some people out there are afraid of seafood, thinking it's really hard to cook and very time consuming.
A lot of the dishes I feature are traditional fare and so the majority of recipes were made up by peasants who had little money, time and culinary skills to design anything very complicated. This is not to say the food isn't tasty, on the contrary it's delicious. Simple I feel doesn't mean it lacks flavour or depth.
These recipes are very simple and easy to prepare, with a hectic life I have little time to spend slaving over a hot stove especially in this 30+ degree weather. 

RECIPE

• 1 medium brown onion, chopped small dice
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red capsicum, diced small
• 6 slices, prosciutto, chopped
• 1 chorizo, skin removed,chopped small pieces
• 2 rashes bacon, rind removed, chopped 
• 3 bay leaves
• 150ml olive oil
• 1 cup long grain rice
• 1 tea paprika
• 1 bunch parsley, chopped, keeping stalk part aside
• 300ml white wine
• 800g tinned tomato pulp
• 1 lt water
• 3 tea salt
• 2 kg calamari fresh, medium size

1. Holding the calamari firmly, grasp the head and pull gently, twisting if necessary, to pull the head away from the body without breaking the ink sac. The internal body and tentacles will come with it.
2. Cut the tentacles from the head just below the eyes. 
3. Set aside the the tentacles and the wings to use (they're edible and tasty).Keep the ink sack, if desired.
4. At the top of the body, there is a clear piece of cartilage. Pull it out and discard.
5. If the squid has an outer spotted membrane-type skin, pull it off.
6. Under cold water, wash the tube carefully, inside and out, to get rid of any sand or other remaining tissues, and wash the tentacles carefully as well, making sure you don't break the tube.
7. Keep the tentacles and wings on the side, cutting them into small bite size pieces.

On a medium heat place a fry pan and heat  the olive oil. Add the onion and garlic saute for 1 min then add the capsicum, and bay leaves, saute a further 3 min until the ingredients are soft. Then add chorizo, prosciutto and bacon and fry for 4 min. Add the tentacles and the wings of the calamari.

Add the rice stir for 3 min adding paprika and the stalks of parsley. Coat the rice well with all the ingredients, then add the white wine, tomato pulp, chopped parsley, water and salt. Bring to the boil then turn off the heat immediately (the rice will at this stage still be raw, this is what you want).


 

With a large sieve drain the rice mixture, into a bowl keeping the liquid. Transfer the rice to separate bowl.

Once the rice mixture is a bit cool, fill each calamari tube with some rice with a teaspoon. Secure the end of the calamari tube with a toothpick so that none of the mixture falls out. Place each filled calamari tube onto a plate.

In a baking dish place some rice if any is left.  Then place calamari tubes on top of the rice. Then place the reserved liquid on top and cover  the calamari tubes. Place a drizzle of virgin olive oil on top of the calamari. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes on 180 degrees.

NOTE

• I always separate stalk and leaf. I then fry the stalk part, as this add extra flavour to the food.
• Try to get medium size fresh calamari. I find that  the frozen calamari is usually too large and only good to be used for deep fried calamari.
• Bring the rice to a boil then switch off heat immediately otherwise the rice will over cook. The rice finishes cooking in the calamari. 

Cuttlefish in black ink - Chocos com tinta

Happy New Year everyone.
Blogger has introduced a new section that shows your stats & I was blown away by how many people are reading my blog a week,several thousand, which totally surprised me as I only have 10 followers, it's great to know people are enjoying something I love.
So I encourage you to either leave a comment or sign up to become a follower, we bloggers love to know what you think of what is posted as a lot of work goes into a post.

During the holidays I had a family member visit from the UK & they requested seafood, as the part of the UK they live doesn't have the quantity or quality that we Australians enjoy.
I made all the favorites, octopus, mussels with garlic,wine & parsley, garlic prawns, cuttlefish in black ink.

I have memories of eating this dish as a small child & remember very vividly watching my mother clean the cuttlefish.
I can't tell you how delicious this dish is, the black ink has the intense flavour of the sea. 

Ingredients

• 100ml olive oil

• 1 kg cuttlefish

• 6 garlic cloves chopped

• 4  bay leaves

• 1/2 tea salt

• 100ml white wine

• 1 tab parsley, chopped

1. Hold the cuttlefish in your hand & pull the tentacles out being very careful to not break the ink sac.
Once the tentacles are removed, remove the ink sac by cutting it away from the intestines & placing it aside in a bowl.
Pull out the cuttle bone & under cold running water pull the skin off.
Cut the cuttle fish into bit size pieces.

2. Heat a fry pan on medium heat add the oil then the garlic,  20 seconds later add the cuttlefish, bay leaves & then the ink sacs, stir for 1 min. The ink sacs should release the black ink, add the salt & the white wine & cook a further 3 min.  
Transfer the cuttlefish to a serving dish & sprinkle with chopped parsley. 




 

Octopus with Potatoes - Polvo Lagareiro

I think octopus is one of those foods you either love or hate (maybe squirm at).
In Australia as in most western countries,octopus is as foreign & unknown to the Australian palette as Vegemite would be to the Portuguese.
When I was travelling around Portugal, octopus was everywhere & is much loved by the Portuguese.
When I was in Portugal, I had a memorable dish called polvo lagareiro, it was so delicious that I had to try & find the recipe & recreate it.
We found this nice small cafe/restaurant in the middle of Lisbon, it looked like nothing special, in fact it seemed a little bit touristy. Which are the type of places I stay well clear of.That old saying of you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover was definitely true in this situation. 

Braising the octopus makes it really really tender.I've heard & read people say that octopus is quite difficult to cook,you need to add a cork to tenderise it or you have to freeze it,then cook it, as fresh is too difficult to work with, but they all couldn't be further from the truth.
The truth is, all that's needed is a bit of TLC.

Lagareiro is a a style of cooking that's usually used on seafood,the dish is baked in the oven with flavors & then is grilled or BBQ  then drizzled with large amounts of olive oil.
I think this style of cooking is similar to the french style on confit.
I've modernised the dish slightly, & have used less olive oil to dress the dish.
If you've never tried octopus then I encourage you to try it.It's a dish that can be put in a roasting pan or pot & braised slowly with any ingredients you fancy. It's my version of a pot roast.

RECIPE

• 2 kg large whole octopus
• 4 cups olive oil
• 2 cups whits wine
• 1 bunch parsley chopped
• 6 bay leaves
• 6 large potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks
• 1 tab salt

1. Clean the octopus by cutting the tentacles into pieces, then remove the eyes.

2. In a large deep baking dish, lay all the octopus on the bottom of the dish, then pour the olive oil, the white wine, bay leaves, half the parsley & salt onto the octopus, cover with foil.
Bake in a medium oven 170 degrees for 45 min.

3. After 45min remove the octopus from the liquid, leaving it to one side.
Make sure the octopus is tender, if not cook a further 20 min or until the octopus is tender.
Add the potatoes to the liquid & bake for 30 min, uncovered or till the potatoes are tender.

4. While the potatoes are cooking, heat a fry pan on medium heat, add add a bit of olive oil to a fry pan.
Once the oil is hot add the octopus & fry the octopus on both sides till they are golden brown & crispy.

5. Once the potatoes are cooked, sprinkle the rest of  the chopped parsley over the potatoes.  Once the octopus is fried, assemble the dish.
Put 3 pieces of potatoes on a plate the add the octopus placing it on top of the potatoes.
Pour the liquid from the baking dish on top of the octopus & serve.
Serve the dish with either a green salad or cooked green beans.

TIPS

• If you find the liquid is going dry add 1/2 a cup of water to the dish
• You can either pan fry the octopus or BBQ the pieces. 

This is the octopus dish I had in the cafe/restaurant in Portugal. Check out the amount of oil.
The octopus was beautifully tender.

 

     

Braised Calamari - Polvo guisado

 
I'm very late with my post, I was hoping to have put this up a week ago, I have no excuse really, just poor time management.
As you can see from my blog, I make a lot of seafood, it's the type of food that I grew up with & the type of food I love.
This dish is something I threw together with ingredients I had in the fridge.
You can serve this dish with boiled potatoes, or rice pilaf ( made with onions, garlic)
I'm sorry about the quality of the photos,every hot dish I make is always made for dinner & served up immediately so I'm always scrambling to take a quick photo before it goes cold, so I never have time to style the dish.
Sometimes I put the dish down on the table & won't let anyone touch it till I've got  the right photo, this day wasn't one of them.
It's probably the 3rd time I've included a recipe with capsicum paste so I promise I'll include a post about it very very soon. 

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg squid
• 100ml olive oil 
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tab red capsicum paste
• ink sac
• 1 tab parsley, chopped

Marinate

• 3 garlic cloves chopped
• 100ml white wine
• 1 tab red capsicum paste
• 2 tab chili sauce (optional)
• 1/2 tea paprika sweet
• 2 tea salt

1. Holding the body firmly, grasp the head and pull gently, twisting if necessary, to pull the head away from the body without breaking the ink sac. The internal body and tentacles will come with it.
2. Cut the tentacles from the head just below the eyes. 
3. Set aside the the tentacles to use (they're edible and tasty).Keep the ink sack, if desired.
4. At the top of the body, there is a clear piece of cartilage. Pull it out and discard.
5. If the squid has an outer spotted membrane-type skin, pull it off and discard if you like, I don't.
6. Under cold water, wash the tube carefully, inside and out, to get rid of any sand or other remaining tissues, and wash the tentacles carefully as well, making sure you don't break the tube.
7. Cut the squid into 2 cm tubes, keeping the wings. 

8. Once the squid has been cut, place the squid in a bowl & marinate with the marinate ingredients for at least 2 hours.

9.  Drain the squid in a colander keeping the marinate.

10.  On a high heat, heat the fry pan, add the oil then add small batches of the squid, fry for 2 min, tossing the squid with a spoon,
Once cooked reserve the squid in a bowl & set aside in a warm place till the rest is cooked.

11.  Clean the pan with a paper towel & continue the process of frying the squid or wash the pan if it's to dirty.

12.  Once all the squid is cooked add a bit more oil (100ml) fry the garlic, add the capsicum paste fry for 1 min, add the ink sac if you like, then add the marinate & reduce for 2 min. 
Add the squid tossing it in the sauce, add the chopped parsley to finish.




TIPS

• If the ink sac breaks, just rinse the squid under cold running water to clear away 
• Cook the squid on high heat,  it must be fast & quick 
• If you over cook the squid it will become tough & rubbery

 

Oven Roasted Octopus- Polvo no Forno

 

I wanted to do this dish, because it's one of my absolute favorites.

While I was making this dish my 5 year old nephew asked "Tia (untie) what's for dinner", I replyed octopus, "Yum, I love octopus, it's one of my favorite". It made me smile.

At dinner I turned to my sister in law who was commenting on how this is fast becoming one of her favorites as well , & said this dish will be one of those childhood dishes he will look back on & love.

I am pleased be part of his childhood food memories.

When I was in Portugal, I had an octopus dish in a restaurant that blew me away. The octopus was so tender & full of flavor, so when I got back to Australia I decided to re create the dish, it's slightly different to the dish I had, but it's no less wonderful.

The octopus is really tender & the flavore has a depth.

If you like seafood, then you'll love this dish.

Choose large octopus. I get mine from my local fishmonger, so they are pretty easy to get.

Ingredients

• 2kg large octopus
• 2 tab capsicum paste (massa de pimentao)
• 2 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 cup virgin olive oil
• 1 cup water
• 6 fresh or dryed bayleaves
• 9 garlic cloves
• 2 medium onions, cut chunky
• 1/2 bunch fresh coriander, cut stalks & leaves then seperate them
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Serves 4

For this recipe I like to use large sized octopus, the baby ones can be used if you like, but I find the larger ones have more flavor, but it's just a personal prefrance on my part. 
Clean & cut the octopus. Cut the part just below the head, the beak part, discard this piece. Cut the tenticles. I leave the tenticles whole but cut them into two pieces.

In a roasting pan lay all the octopus down, add the olive oil, white wine, bayleaves, coriander stalks, 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves, capsicum paste, salt, water, cover the pan with foil & bake at 180 degrees for 50 min.
After this time take out the pan, remove the foil & add the rest of the onions & garlic & increase the heat to 200 degrees, cook for a further 40 minutes.
You want the octopus soft & tender & full of juice.

Add the chopped coriander on top as your about to serve.
I served boiled potatoes sprinkled with coriander, with this dish & a garden salad.

 Notes

•  It may seem like a lot of liquid but a lot of it will evaporate during the cooking time.
• If the liquid evaporates too quickly add more water & some wine.
• If you dont like coriander substitute it for parsley

                                                                      

              

Clams in a Cataplana

Selection of Clam at the market

Razor Clams
Clam Stew
This dish was made when I was traveling in Portugal. I was visiting the south which is called the Algarve. My family comes from this region.
My mother has an apartment in a town called Loule. Her apartment is a 5 minute walk to a huge fresh food market.This market sells fresh bread, seafood, fruit & vegetables, as well as meat & poultry. But, it's most famous for it's seafood.
I'd wake up earlier than everyone else & stroll down to the market. On this particular day the clams looked fresh so I decided to make one of the Algarves famous dishes, Ameijoas na Cataplana, which means Clams in a Cataplana.
I was also eager to try razor clams as I'd never tried them before as you can't get them in Australia.
As I was traveling I didn't have my Cataplana so I made it in a normal pan.
I'll write a post soon about what a Cataplana is, but it's not really that necessary to have one as my photos show, just a fantastic way to present this dish.
Make sure you soak your clams in fresh water,how long depends on where you got them from.
Most seafood mongers do this for you, but it's best to ask if you need to soak them.

3 large onions,sliced
6 cloves garlic,chopped
1 large red capsicum,diced in large pieces
4 large tomatoes,chopped
1 bunch coriander,chopped
1 chorizo
1 cup water
2 teaspoons salt
3 tab massa de pimentao (capsicum paste)
2 kg of clams

Saute the onions in olive oil on med to high heat till they start to become soft then add the garlic.
When this mix has a bit of color add the chorizo & stir,then add the capsicum.
Add a bit more oil if the mixture appears a bit dry,then add the stalks of the coriander.Give everything a good stir.Then add the salt, massa de pimentao & cook for 1 min.
Then add the water & allow the mixture to cook for 10 min on a med heat.
Bring the mixture up to the boil & add the clams coating the clams in the mixture.
Immediately cover the clams with a lid & cook for 10 min or till clams are cooked.
When the clams are cooked add the chopped coriander.
Serve with a salad cooked rice or fresh bread.