Arroz negro / Arròs negre - Black rice with squid ink recipe?

[loki]

A friend and I were quite successful with a paella last weekend - a tryout for a large party.  Since neither of us have a huge paella (the pan) I suggested and offered to make another one - Arroz negro.  But perusing recipes I have not really found one that pops.  The one that I did see that looked really great is one made in LA - at AOC with saffron aioli. I saw it on an episode of "Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the Cooking Chanel (I think, could have been another show).  I can't find it online - though there would not have recipes anyway.  But they did show it being made.

 

Another issue is the cooking of the squid.  The recipes say add at or near the beginning with the other ingredients, then the rice and cook till done.  That says rubbery to me - overcooked, but not cooked long enough to soften again.  

 

Any suggestions?

[loki]

The show is "Unique Eats" - Small Plates Episode - Season 2 Episode 13.  But I can't find anything else about it.

[CharlieDi]

We have a chef in Spain called David de Jorge whom I recommend to everyone.

If you like spanish food it's a must.

 

And now the recipe:

 

2kg. Prawns
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 handful parsley leaves
1 glass of Txakoli
1 dash of brandy
1 pinch of tomato concentrate
Water

200 g fresh squid into cubes 1 × 1 cm.
2 chopped spring onion
1 green pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons tomato sauce
300 g of rice bomba (La fallera, Sivaris...)
The squid ink
Olive oil

chopped chives


Separate the heads of bodies of prawns and peel the tails.
 

For the broth:
Put oil in a saucepan + rest of prawns + Garlic mashed with parsley in a mortar.
Add txakoli + brandy + tomato concentrate + water and boil 20 mn.
 

For the rice

Put olive oil in a paellear (or saucepan) with salt and diced squid over high heat.
Add spring onion + peppers + garlic.
Mix and add the tomato, the ink and the rice and saute for a while
Pour the broth + salt, cook about 18 mn. (3-4 min to high heat and then 13-15 min to low heat) 

A few minutes before finishing, you cover rice with spiced prawn, scattered across the surface.
Let it do with the residual heat.
Sprinkle chives.

Ready.

 

PS: Broth:Rice ratio is 2.5:1

PS2: You can follow the recipe here: http://blog.daviddejorge.com/2014/05/23/robinfood-arroz-negro-con-chipirones-y-carabineros/

[loki]

Thanks, CharlieDi, that recipe actually is similar to what I did, except I added the squid later. Anyway, I found the episode, watched it and came up with my own recipe.  It's not a true recipe in that I have no measurements. I was at a friends house, cooking outside over a fire, so did not record amounts very well.  I our paella tests however, we found that measurements were not that important as was observing and adapting.

 

First add chopped red peppers, onions, and garlic (I am not sure if I added any tomatoes?) to a pan (a cast iron pan is what was used, and I did as well).  Fry these in oil for a bit, then add the rice (Spanish short-grained, I had Mexican bomba short grained, which unfortunately they no longer carry here).  Fry this till the grains get a bit more opaque.  Add some squid ink (a dab - it's really strong).  Add a little white wine (I found a Spanish white, don't remember which kind) and cook this till it's absorbed.  Then add hot fish stock (made with some shrimp would be perfect, and make sure it's a bit salty as the rest of the dish is bland), but salted water could work.  Cover the rice a bit, and cook.  I cooked this outside on a wood fire.  In the video they made this in a wood oven.  After about 10 minutes, add cut up squid, and more stock.  After about 10 more minutes this is probably done.  Put slivered green onions and parsley on the dish, and let rest for awhile.  Serve with saffron aioli - which did not turn out well for me - tasted good but would not thicken.  It was really more of a saffron mayonaise (which looks to me what they used on the episode) and not aoili (which is just garlic, salt, and oil).  I used egg yolks, saffron (ground in a mortar and pestle), salt, garlic, and olive oil, and I believe a little lemon juice.  I will work on this to get it to thicken if I make this again. I actually think the egg-less version would be better (Allioli in Catalan).

 

For amounts, I used about equal amounts of onions and red peppers, with a couple cloves of garlic (again can't remember if I added tomatoes).  Then about twice this amount of rice. The wine was just enough to almost come up halfway on the rice. You will then need at least twice the amount of this as stock (though you can supplement with water).  Then the squid - is enough to cover the dish - about the same amount as the rice.  And garnishes of green onions and parsley - again enough to cover pan. Oh and the pan size is important - you don't want the rice to be deeper than 2 inches, so this will determine amounts.