This month Daring Cooks Challenge was hosted by Olga from Las Cosas de Olga and Olga’s Recipes . She has chosen a delicious Spanish recipe, Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes by José Andrés, one of the most important Spanish Chefs at the moment.

Though this recipe asks for fish, it is so versatile. I used a medley of vegetables, artichokes and paneer (Cottage Cheese). Once you have the Sofregit ready its easy to cook this and a nice meal in itself. The rice I used was Sona Masoori and did not get to make the allioli, I will try to make it and post about it soon. Thanks Olga was this lovely recipe.

Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Equipment:
1 Chopping Board
1 knife
1 medium saucepan
1 Paella pan (30 cm/11” is enough for 4 people. If not available, you may use a simple pan that size)
1 Saucepan

Ingredients (serves 4):
4 Artichokes (you can use jarred or freezed if fresh are not available)
12 Mushrooms (button or Portobello)
1 or 2 Bay leaves (optional but highly recommended)
1 glass of white wine
2 Cuttlefish (you can use freezed cuttlefish or squid if you don’t find it fresh)
“Sofregit” (see recipe below)
300 gr (2 cups) Short grain rice (Spanish types Calasparra or Montsant are preferred, but you can choose any other short grain. This kind of rice absorbs flavor very well) – about 75 gr per person ( ½ cup per person) Please read this for more info on suitable rices.
Water or Fish Stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)
Saffron threads (if you can’t find it or afford to buy it, you can substitute it for turmeric or yellow coloring powder)
Allioli (olive oil and garlic sauce, similar to mayonnaise sauce) - optional

Directions:

1. Cut the cuttlefish in little strips.
   
2. Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the cuttlefish in the pan.
   
3. If you use fresh artichokes, clean them as shown in the video in tip #7. Cut artichokes in eights.
   
4. Clean the mushrooms and cut them in fourths.
   
5. Add a bay leaf to the cuttlefish and add also the artichokes and the mushrooms.
   
6. Sauté until we get a golden color in the artichokes. (I added the vegetables after browning the artichokes and cooked for another few monutes.)
   
7. Put a touch of white wine so all the solids in the bottom of the get mixed, getting a more flavorful dish.
   
8. Add a couple or three tablespoons of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit.
   
9. Add all the liquid and bring it to boil.
   
10. Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes in heavy heat.
    
11. Add some saffron thread to enrich the dish with its flavor and color. Stir a little bit so the rice and the other ingredients get the entire flavor. If you’re using turmeric or yellow coloring, use only 1/4 teaspoon.
    
12. Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than “al dente”)
    
13. 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)

Cooking time: aprox. 1 hour
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
5 big red ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 small onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup of button or Portobello mushrooms, chopped (optional)
1 Bay leaf
Salt
Touch of ground cumin
Touch of dried oregano

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients together in a frying pan and sauté slowly until all vegetables are soft.
   
2. Taste and salt if necessary (maybe it’s not!)
   

Allioli is the optional part of the recipe. You must choose one of the two recipes given, even though I highly recommend you to try traditional one. Allioli is served together with the rice and it gives a very nice taste

Allioli (Traditional recipe)
Cooking time: 20 min aprox.
Ingredients:
4 garlic cloves, peeled
Pinch of salt
Fresh lemon juice (some drops)
Extra-virgin olive oil (Spanish preferred but not essential)

Directions:

1. Place the garlic in a mortar along with the salt.
   
2. Using a pestle, smash the garlic cloves to a smooth paste. (The salt stops the garlic from slipping at the bottom of the mortar as you pound it down.)
   
3. Add the lemon juice to the garlic.
   
4. Drop by drop; pour the olive oil into the mortar slowly as you continue to crush the paste with your pestle.
   
5. Keep turning your pestle in a slow, continuous circular motion in the mortar.
6. The drip needs to be slow and steady. Make sure the paste soaks up the olive oil as you go.
   
7. Keep adding the oil, drop by drop, until you have the consistency of a very thick mayonnaise. If your allioli gets too dense, add water to thin it out. This takes time—around 20 minutes of slow motion around the mortar—to create a dense, rich sauce.
   

Allioli a la moderna (Modern recipe)
Cooking time: 3-4 minutes
Ingredients:
1 small egg
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (as above, Spanish oil is highly recommended)
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 Tbs. Spanish Sherry vinegar or lemon juice (if Sherry vinegar is not available, use can use cider or white vinegar)
Salt to taste

Directions:

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