August Daring Cooks: Rice with Mushrooms, Cuttlefish and Artichokes

This month's August Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Olga at Las Cosas de Olga and Olga’s Recipes. She chose Rice with Mushrooms, Cuttlefish and Artichokes by José Andrés.

This recipe was very intriguing to me as I love rice dishes, seafood and garlic. I wasn't quite brave enough to use cuttlefish (my husband would have refused to eat it anyway) so I chose to use shrimps instead.

I wish I could say it was a hit and I loved it... but I didn't. :( Maybe it's because I made my sofregit in the slow cooker and the flavour was too strong? Or maybe it's because I added the shrimps too early and they got a tad tough? Maybe it's because my aioli was bitter and didn't take? I don't know. Maybe if I had followed the recipe more closely I would have had better results.



Original recipe found here. The recipe listed below represents the changes I've made.

4 artichokes (I used 2)
12 mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 glass of white wine
2 cuttlefish (I used shrimps)
“Sofregit” (see recipe below)
2 cups short grain rice (I couldn't find Spanish rice so I used Arborio)
Shrimp stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)
1/4 tsp Turmeric
Allioli

Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the shrimps in the pan. If you use fresh artichokes, clean them and cut them in eights. Add mushrooms. Add a bay leaf to the shrimps and add also the artichokes and the mushrooms. Sauté until we get a golden color in the artichokes. Put a touch of white wine so all the solids in the bottom of the get mixed, getting a more flavorful dish. Add a couple or three tablespoons of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit. Add all the liquid and bring it to boil. Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes in heavy heat. Add turmeric. Stir a little bit so the rice and the other ingredients get the entire flavor. Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than “al dente”). Put the pan away from heat and let the rice stand a couple of minutes.

Sofregit (A well cooked and fragrant sauce made of olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and onions, and may at times different vegetables such as peppers or mushrooms)

2 tablespoons of olive oil
5 big red ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 small onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup of mushrooms, chopped
1 bay leaf
Salt
Touch of ground cumin
Touch of dried oregano

Put all the ingredients together in a slow cooker and cook until all vegetables are soft. Taste and salt if necessary (maybe it’s not!)

Allioli a la moderna (Modern recipe)

1 small egg
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt to taste

Break the egg into a mixing bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the garlic cloves, along with the lemon juice. Using a hand blender, start mixing at high speed until the garlic is fully pureed into a loose paste. Little by little, add what's left of the olive oil as you continue blending. If the mixture appears too thick as you begin pouring the oil, add 1 teaspoon of water to loosen the sauce. Continue adding the oil and blending until you have a rich, creamy allioli. Add salt to taste.