KULINARYA COOKING CLUB JANUARY 2012--HEALTHY BIRTHDAY DISH

Our hosts for this month, Pearl of My Sassy Chef and Thea of Words and Nosh gave us an excellent theme to start the year for Kulinarya Cooking Club. They decided to let us make a dish that we would like to have on our birthday and give it a healthy twist. I will be turning 40(!) on my birthday this year and I wanted something that is definitely over the top and not my usual favorites. I couldn't decide which one I liked best until I had a brilliant idea to combine two--Caldereta and Paella!

I used lamb for my caldereta and brown/black rice for the paella to make it healthier...

CALDERETA

1/2 kilo Lamb Cubes, trimmed of fat

6 cloves Garlic, peeled and crushed

1/4 cup White Wine

2 Tablespoons Lauric Oil (Coconut Oil)

1 medium Onion, peeled and minced

1 medium Carrot, peeled and cut into medium dice

1 Red Bellpepper, sliced into strips

250 grams Tomato Sauce

1 liter Chicken Stock

200 grams Baby Potatoes, washed (do not peel)

100 grams Green Olives, drained

1/4 cup Green Peas (frozen)

50 grams Edam Cheese (Quezo de Bola), grated

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Marinate lamb cubes in garlic and wine for 1-3 hours. Preheat pot with oil, add minced onions and lamb cubes, cook until lamb pieces are golden. Set aside the lamb on a plate, in the same pan add the carrots and bellpeppers saute for 3 minutes and add back the meat. Pour in the tomato sauce and the chicken stock. Cook until lamb is tender about 45 minutes to 1 hour. When lamb is almost done, add the potatoes and cook for a further 10 minutes. When potatoes are tender, add the olives and grated edam cheese, season with salt and pepper. Cook until sauce is reduced and thickened.

PAELLA:

1/4 cup Lauric Oil (Coconut Oil)

1 clove Garlic, peeled and sliced thinly

1/2 medium Onion, peeled and minced

4 parts Rice

8 parts Chicken Stock

Saffron

*Notice that I didn't specify the measuring unit I used for the rice and the stock, but this formula works the best for me and is perfect for my 14" paellera.

Boil chicken stock with Saffron, simultaneously preheat the paellera with oil and saute garlic and onion. Add the rice and stir it until rice grains are coated with oil. Pour all the cooked caldereta in the pan, stir until rice is coated with caldereta sauce and pour in the boiling stock. Cover with foil and allow to boil from 15-20 minutes until rice is done.

*You will need 2 burners going, and both are turned up high. This ensures that the paella is cooked in 20 minutes or less.

And there you have it, Lamb Caldereta Paella to celebrate my big 4-0! Thank you Pearl and Thea for the year 2012's first Kulinarya Cooking Club theme.
Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies (Kath, Trisha and Trissa) living in Sydney, who are passionate about Filipino culture and its colorful cuisine. Each month we will showcase a new dish. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino food as we do.If you’re interested in joining our Kulinarya Cooking Club, please visit http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/kulinarya/, and please feel free to check out and follow our members' blogs. You don't have to have a blog to join -- everyone is welcome.