THE RAIN IN SPAIN FALLS MAINLY ON THE PLAIN (SHOUT OUT TO HILLARY)

Our friends Mary and Kevin recently took a trip to Spain (Andalucía, Granada, Valencia, Barcelona), partially tracing our route from May.  To celebrate their return, Sherry and I planned to make a Spanish dinner, highlighting the best memories of the meals we had during our trip, as well as my own version of Paella.  We have a 16 inch paella pan, and have always had difficulty just making a small meal with it, so this was the opportunity to bring it out for guests. I had also purchased some Bomba rice in Spain (the recommended rice for paella) and was anxious to see how it came out.

We began with two tapas:  Champiñones Al Ajillo and Patatas Bravas.  These were two of Hillary’s favorite tapas from Barcelona, and started the meal off on the right foot.  The mushrooms are garlicky and sherried, and the potatoes are crunchy with a tomatoe-y aioli sauce.

Champiñones al ajillo (garlic mushrooms)

There are not many tapas recipes more Spanish than this. Gorgeous mushrooms infused with the exotic flavours of spices, olive oil, garlic and Spanish Sherry.

3 Tbsp. olive oil

250g (8 oz) mushrooms, sliced or quartered

6 cloves garlic, sliced, chopped or minced to taste

¼ cup dry sherry

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp pimenton (paprika)

Salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a frying pan or skillet and fry the mushrooms over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Lower the heat to medium and add the garlic, lemon juice, sherry, paprika, smoked paprika, chili flakes (optional), salt and pepper.

Cook for another 5 minutes or so until the garlic and mushrooms have softened then remove from the heat, and divide up into pre-heated 'little dishes'.

Serve with plenty of fresh, crusty bread to mop up those seriously-garlicky juices.

PATATAS BRAVAS

Ingredients:

3 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges lengthwise
2 tsp. kosher salt (twice)
1/4 c. cooking oil

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Cover the potatoes with water in a pan. Add the 2 tsp. of salt and boil for 5 minutes. Drain. Heat up the cooking oil in a pan. Tip in all of the potatoes. Stir to coat with oil and additional salt. Transfer to a non stick baking tray or tray with a non-stick liner and bake for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp.  Pour sauce over potatoes and serve.

Bravas sauce:

1/2 c. light mayonnaise
1/4 c. ketchup
1 tsp. lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. paprika (or to taste)
1 tsp. sugar
10 drops hot sauce (or to taste)

The tapas were followed by a course of Spanish meats, cheeses, olives and grilled eggplants and peppers.  Salchichon, chorizo, and Jamon Iberico were our usual lunch/snacks while traveling – available everywhere, wide variety of choices, and incredibly tasty.  Manchego cheese, both aged and semi-hard, was the cheese of choice, and green and black olives were fresh and delicious.  In Madrid, we found the Museo del Jamon, which carried a huge variety of hams, salamis and cheeses.

The main course was Paella, with chicken, chorizo, mussels, shrimp, calamari and scallops.  It has a great balance of spice and flavor, but I like the facts that the only spices used in the entire dish are paprika, smoked paprika and saffron (which could be optional if you don’t have any).

The key to making this paella is a lot of advanced preparation.  Saturday or Sunday have always been the days to make paella, so that you are not rushed; you can chop up the ingredients, cook the meats and shellfish before the rice, and assemble the dish just-in-time for dinner.

Turned out that the Calasparra Bomba rice was the perfect rice for paella.  It’s a very small-grained rice, that expands in the middle to absorb the stock, rather than lengthening.  I’ve used short-grained rice before, which works fine, but is more sticky than Bomba.

Paella Nadworniana

Ingredients:

1 green pepper, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 red onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 can diced, tomatoes, drained

1 tsp. paprika (or more to taste)

1 tsp. smoked paprika (or more to taste)

1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 lb. calamari rings

1 lb scallops

(alternatively, buy a 1 lb package of Seafood Blend at Trader Joes)

1 lb. mussels, scrubbed

1 chicken breast, cut into small pieces

2 package chorizo, cut into small pieces

1 ½ cups Calasparra Bomba rice (or other short-grained rice

6 cups chicken stock

Directions

1.  Chop the vegetables

Finely chop 1 red onion and 4 cloves of garlic. Place garlic and red onion in one bowl.

Dice 1 red and 1 green pepper.  Place peppers in another bowl.

Place tomatoes in a bowl.  Add paprikas and stir to mix.

2. Prepare the seafood

Peel and devein 16 large raw shrimp (prawns), cut 2 squid tubes into rings, and scrub and debeard 12 fresh mussels. Cover and refrigerate.

3. Make the sofrito        

Sofrito is a Spanish tomato and onion sauce which is used as a flavor base for a variety of dishes, including paella. To make the sofrito, heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in the paella pan over a medium heat and cook the chopped red onion and garlic for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the pureed tomatoes and paprikas and cook until all the liquid from the tomatoes has evaporated and the sofrito has the consistency of jam. Transfer the sofrito to a small bowl and wipe clean the paella pan. 

4.  Cook the mussels

While the sofrito is cooking, place the mussels in a saucepan with half a cup of simmering water. Cover and steam on a low heat for 5 minutes. Remove mussels and set aside, discarding any that haven't opened.

5. Cook the meats

Heat 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a separate skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken and chorizo and cook, stirring, until the chicken is cooked through.  Remove from heat, place in a bowl and cover.

6. Cook the shrimp, scallops and squid

Heat 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in the same skillet as the meat over a medium-high heat. Add the scallops, and shrimp and cook for 1½ minutes, tossing continuously. Add the squid rings and cook for a further 1½ minutes. Remove the shrimp and squid from the pan. Place in a bowl, cover and set aside.            

Make the paella:

7. Heat stock and saffron in a saucepot until hot

8. Cook the diced red and green peppers

Heat 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in the paella pan over a medium heat and cook the diced red and green peppers for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

9. Add the sofrito and rice

Add the sofrito to the pan along with 1½ cups of Spanish Calasparra or Bomba rice (regular medium-grain rice makes a good substitute) and cook for a minute, stirring to coat the grains.       

10.  Add hot stock and saffron

Add heated chicken stock with a pinch of saffron threads. Stir to combine, and bring to a rolling simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, uncovered without stirring. (To make sure the rice cooks evenly you may need to regularly move the paella pan around the heat source, or you can straddle the paella pan over two burners.)

11. Lower the heat and continue cooking           

Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for a further 15-20 minutes without stirring, until most of the liquid has been absorbed.  (If the rice is not fully soft, you may need to add another cup of stock or water to the pan.) After 15 minutes, turn the heat up to medium-high for a minute or so until you can smell the rice toasting at the bottom, then remove the paella pan from the heat. (The toasted rice bottom of paella is called socorrat and is highly prized.)          

12.  Add seafood and meats

Push the meats, shrimp, scallops, mussels and squid into the cooked rice, and stir. Cover the pan with foil or a clean cloth, and let the paella rest for 5 minutes before serving.

13.  Serve paella. Eat happy.