A Paella Feast

Last spring I acquired a new 18 inch carbon steel paella pan and finally I put it to the test and made paella the "real way" in the real pan on an open fire. Actually we used our Weber kettle grill and the pan just fit on top of the grill handles leaving enough air to keep a good fire burning. I find recipes for paella, like many stews and soups, are only a rough draft and you need to do it to taste using ingredients at hand. The weather here in Jacksonville has been a total rain story and the night of my party we got all of the 20% rain that had been predicted. I invited several friend and their dogs because we are all going to Highlands, North Carolina in late October and we wanted to make sure the dogs were happy together. My guests and dogs got a little soppy and we actually had to finish it on my stove but the results were terrific and I will definitely try this again when the weather gets better. Here is how I did it.

To serve 6
Meat and Seafood

• 4 chicken thighs
• 2 chorizo sausages
• 2 thick slices of pork loin
• 3 Italian chicken sausages
• 1 pound of shrimp

Sofrito

• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 1 large onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 can well drained tomatoes

Saute peppers and onions until soft. Add garlic and stir 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cook 5 minutes. Can be made the day ahead.

Seasoning

• 1/2 teaspoon saffron
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• Salt and pepper

Garnish

• Italian parsley
• Lemon wedges
• Sliced avocado (this is totally not Spanish however I had a ripe avocado and I liked the combination of favor and the color)

2 cups Valencia rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups chicken stock
1 cup peas (frozen defrosted)

Directions:

1. Light a generous amount of charcoal and wait until coals are very hot.
2. Grill the chicken for 20 minutes. Grill the sausages and the pork about 10 minutes.
3. Take meats off grill and cut into bite sized pieces. Remove skin from chicken.
4. Clean grill and put paella pan on to heat up.
5. Add olive oil and 2 cups of rice. Stir until coated then add sofrito and stir until well blended. Add chicken stock and all chicken, pork and sausage. Heat until simmering. Cook 20 minutes and don't stir it. It is supposed to form a crust on the bottom which mine did not because of the rain and all the moving around.) Add shrimp and peas. Cook 1 minute then remove from heat.
6. Cover with a towel and let sit for 10 minutes.
7. Top with sliced avocado, lemon wedges and chopped parsley.

Normally when I make paella, I include more shellfish; mussels, clams. squid rings, even chunks of fish like grouper or snapper. I have done all seafood or various combinations but I know one thing for sure. I like the real paella pan and I could easily have made more for a larger crowd! I served this with a terrific orange and red onion salad which my friend Leila brought, and some great Albarino white wine which my friends Jack and Pam brought. Crusty bread and a fresh peach flan completed the menu. What a feast!

Feasting Necessities

If you are going to have a feast everyday, you have to stock your kitchen with some basic necessities. With a few basics you would be surprised at how many feast you can make. The most important basic is an herb garden. This is the worst time of year to grow things in North Florida... unbelievable heat, humidity and rain including a hurricane named Fay. That's why I only took a small picture of some of my rosemary rather than my whole collection. I have herbs in pots, flower beds, raised beds with vegetables, any and everywhere. My current collection includes:

1. basil
2. rosemary
3. garlic chives
4. marjoram
5. thyme
6. sage
7. mint
8. oregano

Usually I have parsley however the flat leaf Italian parsley which has the best taste does not like the heat and I forgot to plant the curly variety this year. With these 8 herbs, you can do amazing things!

Here are other basic necessities:

• Extra Virgin Olive oil, I spoke about this in an earlier blog but it bears repeating. Buy the good stuff for cooking and the really good stuff for drizzling.
• Tomatoes. Usually I have fresh from the farmers market and I always have a variety of canned, whole, sauce, puree and paste. San Marzano tomatoes really are the best canned tomatoes.
• Beans. Dried and canned white and black beans. A quick side: Drain and rinse a can of white beans. Add slivered garlic, chopped rosemary, a splash of vinegar or lemon juice and olive oil. Heat or not.
• Vinegar. Rice wine, balsamic, red wine, apple cider whatever you like just have several varieties.
• Rice. Brown, Basmati and Aborio are always in my pantry along with regular long grain white.
• Pasta. Good Italian Pasta. I love Barillo although I sometimes spurge on gourmet varieties.
• Stock. Of course it is best to make you own but who really does. I think Swanson Organic is the best tasting and I often fluff it up a bit by adding vegetable clippings from whatever I am making.
• Nuts. Sliced almonds, pecans, walnuts and pine nuts all trade places in my kitchen. I usually stock at least 2 varieties.
• Booze. Wine (food will be better if I drink a glass while cooking) I also occasionally put it in the food. Sherry, Port and Maderia are all good to have for sauces, deglazing soups etc.
• Salt and Pepper. Kosher salt and sea salt. good peppercorns to grind fresh. I am still using peppercorns I bought at the spice market in Turkey this past June. They are fabulous as were the hazelnuts and dried figs and apricots which are long gone.
• Jelly and preserves. I buy them on trips. We go to North Carolina several times a year and there and along the way in Georgia and South Carolina, we find fabulous collections of locally made preserves. Great in sauces, to glaze entrees, make salad dressing or put on toast!
• Chutney, pickles, chow chow... We find these on trips too.
• Garlic. I ALWAYS have fresh garlic.
• Spices. The usual assortment. the ones I use the most are red pepper flakes, oregano. Unusual finds are fennel seeds and coriander seeds. I bought them for a recipe but I find myself using them a lot. they both smell amazing when you grind them up. I uses a regular Braun coffee bean grinder to grind spices.
• Mustard. Dried, Dijon and Grainy county style are all essential.

I will talk about equipment later however I must address the basic of all basic. Knives! I travel with a chef's knife and a paring knife because most people don't have sharp knives. Mine are Henkels and almost all of them are over 30 years old. I have them professionally sharpened 2 to 3 times a year. Invest in a good German knife, take care of it and you will be a believer.

So here is you basic list. Next time I will give you some quick and easy ways to prepare a feast using these core ingredients and only a few fresh ones.

Roasted Vegetables

This past Sunday I forgot about our church pot luck lunch until Sunday morning. What to take??? I roasted vegetables.

I happened to have:
3 Yukon gold Potatoes
About a cup of cabbage
Some Cauliflower
1 red onion
1 red pepper
1/2 an eggplant
I cut all into bit sized pieces and put all but the red pepper and 1/2 the onion in a roasting dish, tossed with olive oil and salt and put in the oven at 400 for about 20 minutes. Then I added minced garlic and rosemary (from my garden) and roasted an additional 15 minutes. When I took it out of the oven I tossed in basil, chives and parsley and drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar glaze and additional extra virgin olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper.

Let's deconstruct (what a hot new word) this recipe.

• Mastering the art of roasting vegetables is not difficult. You put vegetables in a pan, drizzle ever so slightly with olive oil and salt, put pan in the over at 375-450 for 25-50 minutes.
• You can roast all root vegges: potatoes, butternut squash, turnips, carrots etc.
• Sometimes a single vegge is best like asparagus.
• You can roast at any temperature so don't hesitate to throw in some vegges when cooking something else in you oven.
• Many herbs are suitable alone or combined. Sage, bay leaf, thyme, marjoram. Put sturdy herbs like thyme and rosemary in 10-15 minutes before the end and leafy herbs like basil, mint and parsley in after the dish comes out of the oven.
• I use 2 kinds of olive oil, both extra virgin. The first I get at Costco, their4 brand, Kirkland. It's inexpensive and great for cooking. For salads and drizzling after cooking I use gourmet olive oils that I get often from my favorite wine store. I like young, fruity, green oils.
• You can also grate cheese on you finished dish. I do asparagus roasted and top it with Locatelli Romano cheese, drizzle of olive oil, grated lemon zest and a big squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
• I use kosher salt and sea salt always. Fresh ground pepper!
• The balsamic glaze you can buy in specialty stores or simple take balsamic vinegar and simmer until it gets syrupy. Keep it in a clean jar to drizzle o9ver meats, poultry seafood, vegges...
  

So look in your fridge and see what you can roast. Think about the flavors not being diluted with water and the wonderful carmelization you get by roasting. And then there is the smell! Feast on roasted vegetables and you will boil no more. The photo above was taken last Easter. I served roasted stuffed lamb and roasted root vegetables.

Meet Quinoa

It's a grain and it is pronounced keen-wa'.
It is also tasty and very nutritious. Over 5 thousand years ago ancient Inca's were gobbling up the stuff and it is still raised today in the highlands of the Andes mountains. I first had Quinoa in a very tasty salad served by folks from the New Leaf Market (very cool organic coop in Tallahassee,FL) at Sweet Grass Dairy outside of Thomasville, GA. The salad was a simple mix of quinoa and crunchy chopped fresh veggies with a very light citrus vinaigrette. Last night I served salmon with quinoa salad and steamed veggies for dinner. Today my husband, Nick feasted on the leftovers. Here are the recipes.

Quinoa Salad

• Bring 4 cups of water to boil and add 1 cup of thoroughly rinsed quinoa.
• Simmer of about 10 minutes.
• Boil 2 inches of water in the pot
• Drain and return quinoa in a sieve to the pot
• Cover with a folded dish towel and cover with pot lid
• Steam over low heat for another 6-10 minutes until dry and fluffy

(this is a good standard preparation for quinoa)

Make vinaigrette by whisking these ingredients in a large bowl

• Zest of 1 lime
• Juice of 1 lime (or 2 if your lime is not very juicy!)
• 1 T. canola oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Add

• Cooked quinoa
• 1 large chopped tomato
• 3 thinly slice scallions
• 1/4 cup of cilantro or Italian parsley

Serve!
You could add a can of black beans rinsed and drained, feta cheese, chopped jalapeno peppers; substitute lemons for the limes, add other herbs like Basil (my favorite also the name of my 98 lb. boxer/Rottweiler), thyme or chives. Whatever you like. Feast!

I served this with slow roasted salmon. Put fish on foil lined pan. top with salt and pepper, sprinkle with white wine. Top with herbs. I mounded it with lots of fresh thyme. Bake at 250-275 for 30 to 40 minutes until just cooked. Fish will be delightfully juicy. Feast!

EverydayFeasting

I love food; fresh from the garden peppery arugula; local Florida shrimp; juicy peaches from the farmer's market; just picked blueberries, basil and summer tomatoes with shaved Locatelli Romano cheese; silver queen corn from the family patch; butter lettuce with mango, edamane, sprouts and grilled chicken from a local bistro; fall rack of lamb from a farm in NY for people who want to know where their food has been; grouper grilled blackened sauteed fried sauced plain... any old way; Haas avocados with sliced Videlia onions, olive oil and lime; pasta all kinds all ways always particularly tossed with fresh herbs, olive oil, veggies in season and Parmesan cheese; Maytag blue cheese; herbs I grow like basil (my favorite), tarragon, thyme, bay leaf, oregano, parsley and chives; any locally grown vegetables; young green extra virgin olive oil; dark chocolate; Mediterranean food like artichokes from Turkey, Greek salad, basmati rice, cous cous, eggplant and anything in Filo pastry. I love food and want to share my food experiences.

EverydayFeasting will be all about cooking, traveling, dining out, gardening, entertaining.