When Lindsey turned 50 we hired a bus to drive a group of her friends from Santa Cruz 40 miles to a wonderful Spanish restaurant, Iberia, in Menlo Park, CA. The twist was that we were going to learn to cook some Spanish dishes, the centerpiece being a couple of paellas. It isn't often you get to use a restaurant's kitchen under the guidance of the chef/owner and learn the secrets of a dish. This would be a blast - and it was.
The day was spent chopping, drinking mind-numbing sangria, cooking, continued drinking and then eating our creations. Our host chef, José Luis Relinque was simply the epitome of charismatic warmth. Luckily we had a big yellow bus to take us home.
So what follows is a rendition of that recipe, modified a bit here and there. In some ways there is more theater to making paella than cooking. You'll see what I mean as we go along. The end result is a dish stunning to the eye and the mouth. This takes time in preparing the myriad of ingredients but once collected, the dish comes together relatively easily.
The downside: again, sort of pricey if you include a lot of seafood and it takes work. The upside: make this in front of your guests and you will become a god. I swear - people will think you can just walk on water after eating this. But making it is simply a blast. And there are just a million variations on the creation. Except it cannot be made with tofu.
The Gestalt
OK, so when I first decided to make this I got a paellera (a large flat pan used to cook the paella). You must have one of these. They come in different sizes and I have 3 to accommodate different numbers of folks. To serve about 8 people I use a 21" pan. The problem was I had no way to use this thing on my stove. The gas burners delivered hot spots and could never throw enough BTU's and so it wouldn't cook properly anyway. What to do?
Traditionally a paella is cooked over an open fire, often on the beach. So not cooking on the stove shouldn't be a big deal but I didn't feel like moving the dinner party to the beach so I decided to use my Weber kettle. This is perfect for a paella but be careful and attentive because you are cooking with a changing heat; that ups the degree of difficulty a bit. Also, I like to cook with mesquite charcoal lumps (pieces of wood - not the pressed stuff). It imparts a great smokey flavor but has the downside of starting up roaring hot and then cooling relatively quickly. Don't sweat it. It's all gonna work out.
José told us that paella is a rice dish. Really? All that other stuff, all that work and this is a rice dish? Yep - all the goodies are just ways to make this rice simply mind blowing. So rice is important and you have to use the right type. I use aborio rice which is used for classic Italian risotto. There is a Spanish equivalent from Valencia (bomba) but is a bit harder to find although José insisted that it was superior. I've found the kernels of bomba are smaller than aborio and impart a different tooth feel. Don't use just any rice; you will waste your time, money and worst, your friends will not think you are a god.
We'll build a couple of required pieces for the dish - a tomato based savory flavor and a rich chicken stock with saffron. Then most of the rest is preparation of a gazillion ingredients which are cooked in a pretty rational sequence. The last bit, where the magic happens, is adding the rice and stock. Flare and aplomb during assembly are essential.
The Recipe
Act I - Prelude - The Sofrito
Here is a bit of versatility. Sofrito is a cooked-down tomato sauce reduced to nearly a paste and can be used to flavor many of your recipes. Make it and keep it around like stock. In contrast to tomato paste, sofrito contains garlic, onion and red peppers. Since there are no federal or state laws governing sofrito, you can probably add anything else but those ingredients will certainly overpower everything else. You can make the sofrito days in advance so do yourself that favor and make it ahead and refrigerate.
To make the Sofrito:
1 can of canned crushed tomatoes (22 oz)
1 sweet red pepper diced
2 large onions diced
1/2 c olive oil
There are a variety of recipes for this. Some will include garlic but since garlic will be added separately I didn't include in this recipe. Other people will add cilantro and parsley as well as other kinds of pepper.
Cook the onions and red pepper until translucent but not yet browned, then add the tomato. Cook until the mixture has lost a great deal of its water and has the consistency of wet tomato paste.
To make the Sofrito:
1 can of canned crushed tomatoes (22 oz)
1 sweet red pepper diced
2 large onions diced
1/2 c olive oil
There are a variety of recipes for this. Some will include garlic but since garlic will be added separately I didn't include in this recipe. Other people will add cilantro and parsley as well as other kinds of pepper.
Cook the onions and red pepper until translucent but not yet browned, then add the tomato. Cook until the mixture has lost a great deal of its water and has the consistency of wet tomato paste.
Act II The Chicken Stock
You could buy high quality stock but most of what I've found is a bit gross. I just haven't found chicken stock that is both rich in flavor and clear. Jose sells a wonderful stock, actually a double strength stock (make your stock using chicken stock instead of water!). Oy, talk about rich! The stock we will use is infused with saffron, a costly spice. More precisely it is the the stigma of the crocus flower (a female flower part to which pollen sticks). Always buy fresh whole saffron. Saffron like all spices contains essential oils which give the unique flavor of the spice. The oils and other organics are volatile and delicate so fresh spices are always better than old. Also, powdered saffron may or may not actually be saffron and the best way to tell the real thing is to see the saffron threads with your own eyes. Its expensive stuff so buy the real thing and make sure it is fresh.
You could buy high quality stock but most of what I've found is a bit gross. I just haven't found chicken stock that is both rich in flavor and clear. Jose sells a wonderful stock, actually a double strength stock (make your stock using chicken stock instead of water!). Oy, talk about rich! The stock we will use is infused with saffron, a costly spice. More precisely it is the the stigma of the crocus flower (a female flower part to which pollen sticks). Always buy fresh whole saffron. Saffron like all spices contains essential oils which give the unique flavor of the spice. The oils and other organics are volatile and delicate so fresh spices are always better than old. Also, powdered saffron may or may not actually be saffron and the best way to tell the real thing is to see the saffron threads with your own eyes. Its expensive stuff so buy the real thing and make sure it is fresh.
Act III - The Fire and the Assembly
1/2 cup sofrito
10 Chicken thighs
1/2 lb Spanish chorizo sausage (about 1/2 died sausage julienned)
1/4 lb Spanish Serrano ham diced (hard to find!)
2 green bell peppers diced
8 clove garlic, minced
1-1/1/2 lb squid, cleaned and cut into rings with tentacles separate
1 tbs sweet Spanish paprika (+ 1tsp hot Spanish Paprika)
1/2 lb cooked bay shrimp
3 cup Valencia Bomba or Arborio rice
6 cup chicken stock infused with saffron
1 lb shelled prawn 16-20 count (Reserve the shells for roasting and cooking with wine - see below)
1.5 lb fish cut into 1" chunks (Should be a reasonably oily fish like monkfish or cod. I used Ono last time and it ended up dry and tough)
1.5 - 2 lb clams
20 mussels
6 artichoke hearts (don't use canned)
Pimento for a garnish (or sweet red pepper)
10 Chicken thighs
1/2 lb Spanish chorizo sausage (about 1/2 died sausage julienned)
1/4 lb Spanish Serrano ham diced (hard to find!)
2 green bell peppers diced
8 clove garlic, minced
1-1/1/2 lb squid, cleaned and cut into rings with tentacles separate
1 tbs sweet Spanish paprika (+ 1tsp hot Spanish Paprika)
1/2 lb cooked bay shrimp
3 cup Valencia Bomba or Arborio rice
6 cup chicken stock infused with saffron
1 lb shelled prawn 16-20 count (Reserve the shells for roasting and cooking with wine - see below)
1.5 lb fish cut into 1" chunks (Should be a reasonably oily fish like monkfish or cod. I used Ono last time and it ended up dry and tough)
1.5 - 2 lb clams
20 mussels
6 artichoke hearts (don't use canned)
Pimento for a garnish (or sweet red pepper)
Lots of other things can be used. I once did a dish with sausage and rabbit. I would not use chicken breast primarily because they can get dry and unappealing. Thighs and drumsticks are a better choice.
The chorizo should be the dry Spanish variety. Mexican chorizo will NOT WORK! I've had a hard time finding Serrano Ham and when unavailable I just omit. I am not a big fan of cured hams but love Spanish ham. Use it if you can get it.
Often scallops are included with the seafood. Since I am allergic I have not included it in the recipe but feel free to drop some into your creation. Since cooking time for scallop is short I would add it right at the end of cooking along with the other fish.
I cook over a 23" Weber kettle using plain briquettes. I've used mesquite charcoal (the whole wood pieces) but mesquite tends to get very hot and then cool faster than standard briquettes. Either fuel works but mesquite is trickier to manage. The coals should cover the center of the grill. Note that the Weber is perfect for the large 21" paellera.
Now after you have collected all of your ingredients add in the following order:
1. Salt seafood generously and the chicken lightly
2. Heat broth add the saffron. I roast the the shrimp shells and then cook in some white wine to extract the flavor adding the filtered reduction to the broth.
3. Heat about 1/2 cup olive oil and brown chicken
4. Add chorizo and green pepper. When green pepper browns
5. Add garlic until it just browns
6. Add squid let some moisture evaporate
7. Add paprika
8. Add bay shrimp and sofrito and mix thoroughly
9. Add rice and distribute let pan get hot again
10. Add stock
11. Push everything else into the rice mixture except mussels
12. When the clams start to open push in mussels
13. Jiggle occasionally and allow the rice to finish cooking
14. Rest for 10 minutes. Carnish with peas and red pepper (pimento)
No comments:
Post a Comment