Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Seafood/Pork/Beef Combo Whatzitcalled...

One nice chunk of pork belly, about 1 pound, cut into small pieces, about a pound of the meat from beef short ribs, also cut into small pieces (about 1/2x1/2"), one pound of baby octopus cleaned and cut into small mouth sized pieces, one pound of squid cleaned and cut like the octopus, one pound of cleaned shrimp (25-30 count per pound), one small can tomato paste, two 8 ounce cans of plain tomato sauce, garlic powder to taste, sea salt to taste, black pepper about 1/2 teaspoon, two large dollops of hot pepper sauce with garlic to taste (some stuff I picked up in Chinatown), a few sprinkles of cinnamon (maybe even a 1/8 teaspoon), a bit or oregano (only a few sprinkles), about 6 green onions diced at least from the bottom to halfway up the greens), about 1/2 pound of very small potatoes (this were about the size of walnuts) cut into halves or quarters.

I browned the pork to crispy on the outside, then the beef in the same pan in just a squirt of olive oil. Then added the octopus and squid to it and let it cook for a while in a deep pan. I did this as I got the other ingredients ready. I added all the other ingredients, except the shrimp, into a large pot, put the browned the beef, pork belly, octopus and squid into the pot with the sauce ingredients, and then brought it to a boil. As soon as brought to a boil, I lowered flame and let it simmer for one hour. Then I added the shrimp for about 5 minutes. All the while, as this was cooking I kept checking to make sure it did not boil over, and I stirred every 15 to 10 minutes for just a bit.

Whatzitcalled - who knows: but boy does it taste good right out of the pot. Tomorrow it will be for my lunch over a bit of white rice. My son thought it was good too, and especially liked the hot flavoring I added. Next time though, only the other spices, no really hot stuff, I want to enjoy the taste of the seafood more than the hot stuff. Next time, I think I'll use fresh tomatoes, maybe some fresh basil leaves, and no to very little sauce or paste.

All the best,
GB