In praise of the slow cooker

I'm a big fan of the crock pot. I made a wonderful fresh tomato sauce in it a few weeks ago. It was the first time I made fresh tomato sauce and thought the result worth the extra effort. I've tried a few times and not thought it worth the trouble until now, and I thought the slow cooking process had a lot to do with the improved final results.

My general philosophy of cooking is that too much garlic is never enough. I'm coming around to a similar worldview on that as it relates to basil and shallots, which I used in abound to make that fresh tomato sauce. I used garlic, shallots, basil, parsley, sugar, oregano, red pepper flake, a splash of red wine and of courses seeded roma tomatoes cooked for a long time on low to make a lively red sauce.

The slow cooker is always great for making chicken stock without much skimming required. I regularly also use it for cooking whole brined, chicken with stuffing, pot roasts, sauerkraut and kielbasa cooked a long time on low with some onion and a bacon slice, as well as my favorite Portuguese dish, mariscada, which I continue to experiment with. This weekend I added saffron threads to the broth and a splash of sherry.

Rice with cilantro and lime.

I tried Marascada for the third time and it was indeed the charm. I revised my recipe. It takes longer to make, but is no more difficult and completely rocks. I'm doing all kinds of cooking given that I have access to real ingredients for the first time in a while.

Chipotle is a fabulous Mexican chain restaurant out here. I inquired and got the simple scoop on how to make the delicous Mexican rice they serve.

Cook 1 cup basmatti rice according to directions.
Squeeze in juice from one lime
Add lots of cilantro
Stir.

That's it. Simple and good. There is a green hot sauce Cuban style I used to eat over rice and beans at a place called Sophies in New York that is my next project.

Mariscada: A fantastic Portuguese dish

New Jersey has an especially large Portuguese population, and that group offers a wildly underrated cuisine that ranks among my favorites. One of the few redeeming features of Newark, N.J., is the large concentration of Portuguese restaurants. If you find yourself on a layover in Newark Airport, go pick one, and by all means get a pitcher of sangria. There aren't a lot of recipes out there for my favorite dish, Mariscada Salsa Verde, and few that remind me of the real version of this sumptuous meal, but after a long time of pondering the artistry in making this favorite, I'm quite sure this is indeed the one I've eaten in my native New Jersey dozens of times.

Paella is much better known than Mariscada, but I vastly prefer this dish because the broth has more flavor, I simply like the pure Mediterranean seafood taste and it isn't as dry as Paella. Mariscada is basically a seafood stew served over saffron rice. I've made this several times and it works very well. If you try it, let me know how it goes. I know many people have been googling this recipe, and I'd like feedback from fellow enthusiasts. The above left is how my finished products looks. My sangria is to the lower right, and all that takes is a combo of wine, triple sec, brandy, sprite, orange juice, apples and oranges.

Mariscada Salsa Verde (Serves 4-6):

Six cloves of garlic chopped
1 medium sized onion chopped
1 pound mussels cleaned and debearded.
1 pound scallops
1 pound shrimp
1 to 2 pounds littleneck clams
2 cups white wine
4 cups shellfish stock (see below)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
Salt to taste

Extras (I've tried these additions. They help, but can add significant expense.)
lobster pieces like claws
splash of sherry
saffron threads

Put two cups wine, 4 cups water, 5 mussels, 4 scallops, 5 whole shrimp plus shells of remaining pound, 4 clams, chopped cilantro, 3 chopped garlic cloves and 1/2 chopped onion in crock pot, put on high for three hours to make the shellfish stock. Leave it alone and don't worry about it.

When that's done and you're ready to eat, saute remaining garlic and onion in olive oil in a two quart saucepan until fragrant. Put strainer over pot, pour in broth from crock pot, discard shells and solids from strainer. Add remaining shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams and bring to a low boil. Add salt to taste. Simmer about 10 minutes. Serve over saffron rice.

Update: This gets hit on Google 10 times per day. I would like to hear how it went over if you tried it.