Cooking Mommy: Paella

In a previous post, I wrote that I (somewhat foolishly, hehehe) told my husband that I will cook paella before the year ends. This statement was uttered in the throes of happiness over our new kitchen :P.

Well, since I want to become a good mommy cook, I took on the challenge and overcame my fear: I cooked paella!

I asked Tita Gigi for the recipe, since it was her paella which inspired me to cook it. She taught me her recipe and encouraged me to cook.

I did not have a paellera, so I used a flat-bottomed pan about 4-5 inches in height. I lightly fried strips of green bell pepper and set it aside, then sauteed onion and garlic, then fried chicken strips, chopped chorizo, tomatoes and chopped black olives. Then I put in the tomato paste, then the rice and the chicken broth. After the rice is cooked I included the shrimps (should have used prawns), then garnished using the bell pepper and lemon wedges. Paella success! 🙂

Cooking Mommy

I must confess: I am not a great cook.

When I was young, my parents made sure that we did not grow up to be spoiled princesses, and made us work around the house: during summers, we were required to wash dishes everyday. I also used to hang around with our kasambahays when they’re doing their work, so I learned how to wash clothes, clean the house and buff the floors; I even learned how to iron clothes by watching them do it. The one thing, however, that I was not able to learn, was how to cook. By the time I got married, the only thing I can do in the kitchen is cook hotdog.

Being that my husband was a better cook than me, I resolved to (slowly but surely) learn how to cook. After all, what my friend Cgel said was correct: kids always remember their mothers’ distinct cooking. I wanted to be able to cook for my husband and my Gabby, and I want them to like what I cook. 🙂

The experiments started with spaghetti, then carbonara; there was also one time I attempted bistek (not good), and french toast (horrible). I actually found out that I am better at baking: my choco chip cookies were great hits, time and again. But I guess necessity really is the mother of, not invention in my case, but cooking well: it was when our kasambahay got sick for a week and there’s no one to cook that I was forced to do so in order to feed my boys. Happily for the eaters of my cooking, the food I was able to churn out were good. 🙂 I cooked sinigang na baka sa bayabas, suam na mais, and fried chicken.

Now that I have a bit more confidence in the kitchen, I started to be more “adventurous,” and took on cooking challenges. Though my cooking is by no means perfect or great, I am slowly getting more adept in the kitchen. I am optimistic that the time will come when I can be proud of my cooking skills, and my Anzen and Gabby will love whatever I make them eat. 🙂

Our Brand-Spanking-New (Looking) Kitchen

Finally, after almost a month of demolition and renovation; after countless trips to Wilcon Builders’ Depot and other hardware stores; after filling out numerous Wilcon raffle tickets as a result of our frequent purchases; after weeks of arriving home to a dusty, dirty and disorganized house and workers coming in and out of the kitchen; after days of no water in the kitchen sink (and actually, no kitchen sink at all); after days of enduring the high-decibel noise of grinders, saws, and construction what-nots, and coming home to the smell of rugby, we are happy to present *drumroll*–

Tada! Our kitchen!!!! I’m soo happy!!!! 😀

The pretty sink

New cabinets, and look! The oven is clean 😛

To celebrate, I vacuumed, and cleaned the oven. 🙂 I cannot emphasize enough how much I appreciate a nice, clean kitchen, and a nice, clean house. Living in a constant state of disarray takes its toll. There is just now the matter of getting all the stuff back to where they belong. Then I can bake cookies again! And continue learning how to cook different dishes. Hopefully I learn how to cook delicious paella soon, as I (over)confidently told my husband I’ll cook it for him before the year ends.

Challenge… accepted!