Spanish Rice #1

Preheat oven to 300 F

Bring to a boil on stove or in microwave

• 2 cups chicken broth (you can use vegetable broth or even water)

Leave it to stay hot. 

In another oven proof pot or Dutch oven with a lid add:

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic finely chopped

Sauté about 5 min until nicely wilted then stir in

• 1 cup long grained rice

Stir over medium heat until the rice turns translucent and begins to brown. 

Remove from the heat and add seasonings

• Black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt if your broth isn’t already salty

Carefully pour in all the broth. Cover and bake at 300 F for 20 minutes in the oven. The rice should be tender and the liquid absorbed. If not, we need 5 more minutes. 

Remove from oven and leave covered for 5 more minutes while preparing the vegetables. 

Prepare the vegetables:

• 1 bell pepper, deveined and seeded (or substitute a poblano or two fresh green chiles), chopped
• 1 small onion chopped
• 4-6 canned tomatoes (fish them carefully out of the can). 

Sauté in a skillet in 

• 2 Tbsp olive oil

until wilted but still a little crispness remains at the center. The tomatoes should fall apart. 

Pour the vegetables over the rice in the pot together with

• large pinch of Mexican oregano flakes
• (Optional) 1/2 cup of the tomato juice from the canned tomatoes for a more tomatoey flavor. 

Simmer over low heat 5-10 minutes to let the rice soak up the flavors. 

Serve with garnish of 

• chopped cilantro. 

Inspired by Huntley Dent’s “The Feast of Santa Fe” recipe. 

Beef Shanks with Carrots and Potatoes (Instant Pot)

This is one of the first things I cooked in my new Instant Pot using pressure cooker mode.

In an iron skillet or cookie sheet

• 1.5 to 2 lbs beef shank
• 1 tbsp marjoram
• Salt 
• pepper

Put under broiler to brown. 

In instant pot sauté 

• 1 Tbsp butter or olive oil
• small onion or medium shallot
• 2 cloves garlic

Add 

• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 cups water
• 2 tsp beef base
• Browned beef shanks
• Any drippings from broiling
• Another tsp marjoram

Pressure cook 35 min and let it release naturally for 10 min. Remove meat. 

Add

• 2 potatoes cut into 8 pieces each
• 2 carrots cut into similarly sized pieces 
• 1 onion cut in half
• Pepper

Pressure cook for 3 minutes and let release naturally for 10 min. 

Remove all but the juices. Add

• 1 Tbsp corn starch stirred into some water (to thicken)

Instant pot sautés until it boils

Serve

Tomato Basil Soup

Creamy Tomato Soup

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/creamy-tomato-soup/amp

This recipe can easily be doubled to feed a larger group—and makes for great leftovers. For a lighter soup, omit the cream; or for a little decadence, add more cream or swirl in a little crème fraîche.

Alison Roman & Christina Holmes

October 01, 2012

Adapted by Lee 2 mar 2020

Total time: 90 min

Ingredients

• ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp each thyme, rosemary, and white pepper
• Pinch crushed red pepper
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 2 28-oz. cans whole tomatoes
• 2 cans of water
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 1/2 Tbsp chicken base
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 Tbsp dried basil flakes
• 1–2 teaspoons sugar, divided
• ¼ cup (or more) heavy cream
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Melt butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add thyme, rosemary, white pepper, crushed red pepper, onion, and garlic. Sauté medium low until onion is completely soft and translucent, 10–12 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; add tomato paste. Continue cooking, stirring often, until paste has begun to caramelize in spots, 5–6 minutes.

Add tomatoes with juices, chicken base, lemon zest, basil, 1 tsp sugar, wine and 2 cans of water to pot. Increase heat to high; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer until flavors meld and soup reduces to about 2 quarts (8 cups), 45–55 minutes. Remove soup from heat; let cool slightly. Use an immersion blender or working in small batches, purée soup in a blender until smooth. Or leave some chunks. Return to pot. 

DO AHEAD: Soup can be made 2 days ahead. Let cool slightly, cover, and chill. Rewarm before continuing.

Stir in ¼ cup cream. Simmer soup until flavors meld, 10–15 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and remaining 1 tsp. sugar. Add more cream, if desired.