Verdinas with cuttlefish and clams

                                                                               Receta en español

The recipe I present today is famous in Asturias, 'verdinas with cuttlefish and clams'. A perfect and surprising mix.

Verdinas  are small beans with a shape remembering a kidney, they are green, that's why they are called 'verdinas' , this name comes from 'verde' (Green in spanish).

These are buttery beans, with a fine and delicate taste. These characteristics make them combine perfectly with seafood and fish.

Verdinas are typical from Llanes in Asturias.

Its greenish color comes from the time of harvest, they are harvested when grain is matured but it is still green. If they are harvested later they become white and their taste is different.

Ingredients:

For fish broth:

• 1 piece of monkfish (for instance).
• 1 piece of onion.
• 1 clove of garlic .
• 1 bay leaf.
• 1 sprig of parseley.
• 1 piece red pepper.
• salt.

For verdinas beans:

• 250 grams of verdinas beans.
• 1 cuttlefish.
• 1 onion.
• 2 cloves of garlic.
• 1 bay leaf.
• 1 parseley sprig.
• salt.
• 1 tablespoon of sweet paprika.
• Fish broth.
• a splash of Natural tomato sauce.
• 500 grams of Clams à la marinière.
  

Method:

1-   Soak verdinas for 12 hours.

2-  If you don't have a fish broth, prepare it. Put fish, onion , garlic , bay leaf , parseley , pepper and salt in a casserole with water. Put at high heat, once it reaches boiling point, reduce heat to low and cook for 30 minutes.

3-  Once broth is cold, strain it and keep the liquid. (Don't throw the rest , you can make croquettes).

4- Put cuttlefish into a pressure cooker, sprinkle a little salt. Pour the quantity of water you need to cover the bottom of the cooker.

5- Put the heat on high , when steam comes out of the safety valve , put heat on low and cook cuttlefish for 20 minutes.

6- Cut cuttlefish into small pieces and set aside.

7- Chop onion and garlic , pour a little olive oil into the pressure cooker, sautée onion and garlic for 3 minutes at low heat.

8- Add bay leaf, parseley, salt and pepper (sweet paprika) , keep on sautéing for 5 more minutes.

9- Add verdinas beans and stirr with a wooden spoon , keep on sautéing for 3 more minutes.

10- Add a trickle of natural tomato sauce, cover verdinas with fish broth, it should cover 1 cm above the verdinas. (fish broth must be cold).

11- Close pressure cooker, put on high heat, when steam comes out from the valve put heat on low heat and cook verdinas for 10 minutes.

12- Open the pressure cooker and keep cooking verdinas for 10 more minutes , on low heat and the lid ajar.

13- Add to the pressure cooker the cuttlefish and Clams à la marinière  , stirr with a wooden spoon and cook on low heat for 5 minutes.
¡Now verdinas are ready!.

My comments to the Recipe

I had never tried beans with seafood. I am delighted with this combination, besides verdinas are soft and buttery , they go perfectly with cuttlefish and clams.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Asturias

Clams à la marinière

                                                                               Receta en Español

Clams à la marinière is a typical dish in North Spain, in Asturias are very popular too. You can eat them as a dish by their own or to accompany stews, to give a sea taste to beans or pasta.

Ingredients:

•   1 clove of garlic.
•   1 Little onion.
•   1 tablespoon of flour.
•   1 cup White wine.
•   Olive oil.
•   Parseley to sprinkle.
•   500 grams of Clams.

Method:

1-   Place fresh clams in a bowl with water and a handful of salt during three hours to remove the sand. Change the water three or four times.

2-   Chop garlic and onion and sauté them in a pan with a little olive oil, sauté until onion turns transparent.

3-   Add flour and stirr well with a wooden spoon.

4-   Now add White wine, clams and parseley. Stirr with the wooden spoon. Clams will be done once they are open. If there is some of them that doesn't open , discard them. They must be rotten.

My comments to the Recipe 

It is easy to cook, and clams are delicious with the wine. It is bette If you make it with fresh clams, I bought them fresh but I froze them after cleaning. I wasn't sure if frozen clams will open but Ican asure you that even frozen clams open when they are cooked.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Asturias

Kiribati Buatoro

                                                                               Receta en Español

Buatoro is a typical dessert from Kiribati, it can also be a side dish or a starter.

The way of cooking this dish is the typical way in Oceania.
You will need banana, taro or breadfruit tree leaves, to wrap this dessert in it.

Banana leaves are the easiest to find in Sapin, in case you don't find them you can use aluminium foil asuming in this case that you will lose the original taste that this kind of leaves provide.

In kiribati Kamaimai is used to sweeten this dish, kamaimai is palm sap cooked until it becomes sweet, there is a similar product in Canary Islands called palm honey wich you can use as a substitute.

Ingredients:

•   930 grams of taro.
•   1 banana leaf.
•   300 grams of brown sugar or palm honey.
•   300 ml aprox of coconut milk.

Method:

1-   Peel and cut taro into pieces, pour a little quantity of water in a pan and cook during 40 minutes. Until taro gets a Little soft.

After cooking the taro, put it in a bowl.

2-   Add sugar to the bowl , mix well wih a mixer.

3-   Add coconut milk litle by little, add just the quantity you need to make the mix soft and to give some coconut taste to the dessert.

4-   To clean the banana leaf ,put it under the tap and after that place it in a pan full of water at low heat. Deep the leaf on both sides, very carefully given it breaks easily.

5-   Place the banana leaf on an oven proof plate, pour over it the mix made in step 3.

6-   wrap the mix into the banana leaf as if it was a parcel, use a string to fix it.

7-   Preheat oven at 180 º Celsius, then cook buatoro for 50 or 60 minutes. 

My comments to the recipe

Taro has a special taste, mixed with coconut and sugar makes a marvellous taste that takes you direct to an Oceanic island.
Besides taro is a healthy food that helps lowing your cholesterol levels.

Where to buy the ingredients

Banana leafs can be found frozen in some stores in Madrid, it is common to find them in asiatic stores. I bought them at 'Super Ventas' , José María Fernández Lanseros 1 ,metro El Carmen .
Taro can be found at fruit stores with latin products.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Kiribati