September 26, 2014 New Recipe: Mixed Paella

September 26, 2014  New Recipe: Mixed Paella  

Suzette left for NY and Pennsylvania in the morning for the funeral of her brother in law.

We were accumulating lots of PPIs  like roasted chicken and asparagus and shrimp, so while talking to a client Rosemary, who owned Rose’s Table that recently closed, about a legal matter, I mentioned wanting to cook a paella.  Rosemary said she knew how to make paella.  So I invited her over to teach me how to cook paella. We set the time to start cooking at 6:15 and discussed ingredients.  .  Rosemary said we needed 7 cups of chicken broth, fresh chicken meat, Spanish sausage/chorizo, bell pepper and short grain rice. I said I had Knorr dehydrated chicken stock, PPI chicken breast, saffron and shrimp but no bell pepper, fresh chicken or Bomba style short grain rice.  We also discussed whether we wanted clams or mussels and Rosemary said, “Mussels would be preferable.”  So after lunch I chilled a French 2013 Le Pont rose from Bandol and when I finished filing a pleading at 5:15 drove to Costco and bought a five pound bag of mussels ($2.99/lb.), mushrooms and eggs.

Shortly after I returned at 6:15, Rosemary arrived with a large shopping bag filled with Smoked Paprika, a small container of Spanish seasoning that included saffron and cornstarch, a large red bell pepper, a jar of saffron leaves, four chicken thighs, a packet of fresh Portuguese Linguica sausage, a two pound bag of short grain rice, a covered plate of goat cheese, kalamata olives and slices of French baguette and in a separate pie container, a lovely pear pie.  I fetched the last of a bunch of asparagus that had seen better days and about ½ lb. of heads on 30-40 count shrimp (TaLin $8.69/lb.) and put the mussels into a large pot filled with ice water.

We discussed how we would prepare the paella.  When I showed her our 17 inch wide paella pan Rosemary said, “Perfect.”  Unfortunately the paella pan had last been used to dry lavender we picked from our garden this year, so we washed the pan and Rosemary cured it by heating olive oil in it to a high heat for a few minutes. 

Then we divided up tasks.  When I told her my traditional task was to prep and Suzette’s normal task was the cooking and since Rosemary knew how to make the paella, it made the most sense for her to cook, she agreed.

 

We started by heating seven cups of water in a large sauce pan to which we added 3 1/2 Tbsps. of Knorr dehydrated chicken stock.  Then Rosemary selected thirty threads of saffron and soaked the threads of saffron in ½ cup of warm water. 

Saffron (pronounced /ˈsæfrən/ or /ˈsæfrɒn/)^[1] is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the saffron crocus. Crocus is a genus in the family Iridaceae. Saffron crocus grows to 20–30 cm (8–12 in) and bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are the distal end of a carpel.

We used the larger gas burner on our stove for our heat source.  After she cured the paella pan, Rosemary heated about 2 Tbsps. of olive oil in the paella pan.  While Rosemary added the four chicken thighs and squeezed clumps of the linguica sausage out of their casings into the hot olive oil, 

I chopped one medium onion, four large cloves of garlic, four medium tomatoes, the red bell pepper, and asparagus. 

When I had thawed the 1/2 lb. of head on shrimp in hot water Rosemary said, “We need to cook the shrimp to yield their flavor and then remove them so they don't become tough.”  So Rosemary cooked the shrimp for a couple of minutes and then removed them. She then added the chopped onion and garlic and then the chopped tomatoes.  After another ten minutes Rosemary added the seven cups of chicken stock and the saffron plus its ½ cup of soaking liquid that the saffron had reddened and the chopped bell pepper and asparagus to the paella pan.

meat onion, garlic and tomatoes cooking

cooking shrimp after adding liquid, bell pepper and saffrom

After stirring all the ingredients to mix them well and integrate their flavors.  Rosemary said, “This is the most important part of the preparation; we add the rice and then we do not stir the paella again.”  She then sprinkled 2 ½ cups of the short grain rice evenly across the whole surface of the paella and we watched it sink into the liquid. 

Adding the rice

Due to the fact that the burner only covered about ¼ of the paella pan with direct heat, while I discarded the floating, cracked and dead mussels and pulled the beards out of the live mussels with a needle nosed pliers, Rosemary patiently rotated the paella pan every few minutes to evenly distribute the heat across the bottom of the pan.  We could see the rice begin to rise in the pan as it cooked. 

When the mussels were cleaned, Rosemary placed them on top of the paella with their opening facing upward.  She continued to turn the paella pan until all the mussels all opened and the liquid had mostly evaporated.  She then placed the shrimp back on the top of the paella and declared the paella cooked. 

raising heat to open mussels and drive off some liquid

Then Rosemary did something I had never known about that turned out to be the other most important part of cooking the dish.  She asked, “Do you have aluminum foil, so we can cover the paella and let it rest for 10 to fifteen minutes?”  I fetched the aluminum foil and covered the paella pan and covered the paella and crimped the edges to obtain a tight seal. 

At Rosemary's instruction, I then removed the ends of lemon and sliced the lemon into quarters to garnish and flavor the paella and toasted slices of baguette that Rosemary had brought and we then discussed where to eat the paella and decided to eat outside, so I opened the 2013 Le Pont Bandol, which I think is the perfect accompaniment to paella because it is raised in the far south of France and has a uniformly smooth flavor.  I poured glasses of wine and turned on the lights by the pond in the garden.  In another ten minutes we carried the paella and several of the bread slices I toasted and the glasses of wine to the table in the garden. When everything was set on the table, which was probably fifteen minutes after we covered the paella with foil, I scooped spoonfuls of paella into two pasta bowls.

The paella was delicious, the rice was amazingly soft and everything seemed fully cooked and flavorful, with no errant notes of flavor; just clumps of rice encrusted with sausage, chicken and vegetables.  We removed mussels from their shells and peeled shrimp and sipped wine as we enjoyed the paella.  When I opened the aluminum foil to scoop paella onto our plates the heat of the paella released a noticeable aroma of saffron and seafood.  I judge this cooking experience to be the most successful preparation of paella I have witnessed, thanks to the knowledge of Rosemary.  I asked Rosemary what her family’s origins were and she said she was ½ half Spanish from the south of Spain (Mallorca and Seville) and ½ Mayan, and spent her earliest years in Progresso, Mexico.  So perhaps knowing how to cook paella is in her DNA.

 

This paella tasted like none I have ever tasted before, not scorched on the bottom, which often happens with a single direct heat source with well integrated flavors and a uniformly moist yet cake like consistency, obviously due to all the right ingredients in the correct proportions and careful cooking.  We did not have fresh pimiento peppers, so the choice of a ripe red bell pepper was a not a noticeable difference to me and the addition of the fresh linguica sausage was brilliant because it infused its flavor throughout the paella.

Here is a recipe for linguica sausage: 

Make Your Own Portuguese Linguica Sausage

Linguica is a robust Portuguese sausage that receives far less attention than it deserves. Unlike its cousin, chorizo, linguica is more flavorful than hot, and takes full advantage of its signature ingredient, paprika. Linguica works as well with egg and fish dishes as it does with beef in hearty stews. If you are having trouble finding a local source for this under-appreciated delicacy, try making your own linguica using the recipe below.

Homemade Linguica Recipe

5 lbs. boneless pork butt
8 cloves garlic minced fine or pulverized
4 tbsp. paprika (sweet)
3 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. coriander
1 tbsp. cayenne
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. allspice
¼ cup sherry (sweet)
¼ cup vinegar
¼ cup cold water
Sausage casings (optional)
Meat smoker (optional)

Cut pork into cubes and grind on the coarse setting of your grinder. Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for 48 hours. Fill casings with mixture or create loose patties, smoke, and freeze. Smoking adds flavor and complexity to the sausage, so give it a try. The raw sausage should lose about 20% of its volume in the process.

You can see by the ingredient list that linguica relies heavily on paprika for flavor, and includes a bouquet of spices that make a distinctive blend. Underestimated as a flavoring agent, when heated, a quality paprika can make a huge impact on a dish. Here it marries well with sherry and pork to create a truly unique and delicious sausage.

One of my favorite ways to serve linguica is fried in iron skillet in two-inch sections and served for breakfast with scrambled eggs. But it is also wonderful when diced and added to green beans or in a variation on the country hearty beans and rice. For a special treat, try linguica with fresh coriander (cilantro), black beans, and shallots. I'll try and dig up the recipe for next time.

Special Note: Don't short change yourself by freezing your sausage too soon. The longer the ingredients marinate, the better the sausage will be. Oh, and use a quality sherry. Sherry is not a traditional ingredient in 'old country' linguica recipes, but it helps to create authentic flavor - really. Try it.

After leisurely savoring the soft mounds of flavor and texture in the paella, we decided it was time to eat dessert.  We went back inside and cut the pear pie into slices and brought it and plates back outside and enjoyed slices of fresh pear custard pie Rosemary had baked with pears from a tree in her neighborhood. 

Pear custard pie

We finally said goodnight and I thanked Rosemary for teaching me the authentic way to make paella including the correct ingredients and all the little cooking secrets that made this paella authentic paella.  The success of the dish was due in no small part to the fact that Rosemary is a great cook.  What a special evening!

I was sad that Suzette was not here to enjoy the making of this authentic paella, but there was lots of PPI paella left that I stored in the fridge to share with Suzette when she returns from her trip.

Bon Appétit