Paella Tips And Tricks, Please?
 

I have to make paella for 8 people this Sunday.

Never made paella before, have eaten both good and bad paella, and I know I don't want something that is bland, mushy, and tastes steamed (describes the bad paella I've had).

Assume I will read some paella recipes and have my brand-new 18" carbon steel paella pan with the cute dimples (on sale at Sur La Table right now). Are there any tips, tricks, etc for great paella, that are omitted from most recipes?

Not sure what I will put in it, but I am partial to chorizo and shrimp. I like some heat and spice, and colorful.

The main thing is to put the various ingredients in the order than they take to cook. Otherwise, some of your stuff is gonna be mushy. So, if you use fish fillets (there are a hundred recipes), put them in last. There is an art to paella, but I'm sure the Food Network has some great recipes.

Don't scrimp on the saffron.

GO TO THE SPANISH TABLE IN BERKELEY!

Real paella rice, ingredients for the sofrito, the best chorizo's from La Espanola meats (authentic), etc. Their basic recipe works pretty well too.

I make mine on an open fire:


http://im1.shutterfly.com/procsrserv...9atmAbl5etGTDg

What do you want to know!

(edit, add link for spanish table)

Off the top of my head:

briefly cook shrimp, squid - reserve
mostly cook chorizos, rabbit/chicken - reserve
cook onions, garlic, tomatoes, pimenton
grind saffron threads in mortar/pestle, add
cook rice until well colored
add chicken broth (usually 2 cups per 1 cup rice, more if bomba rice)
add meats, simmer
add pimentos morones, beans
add seafood (timing here important - not too early)
add mussels, clams
Cooke to develop a crust on the rice, enjoy with a great Rose!

Check Spainontheroadagain.com Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow. It is great, I have gotten a few good meals out of them. But, if you can't find it, I have the book

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 large scampi or dublin bay prawns in the shell
1 medium spanish onion cut into 1/4 inch dice
1/2 cup pureed ripe tomatoes
1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
1 teaspoon saffron threads
1 tablespoons sweet pimenton (spanish smoked paprika)
1 pound cleaned cuttlefish (or calamari) cut into 1 inch pieces
2 quarts fish stock
2 cups bomba or other short grain rice
1 pound monkfish tail, cleaned and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 pound manila clams, scrubbed

Heat a 14-18 inch paella pan over medium high heat
Add the oil and heat until smoking, add the scampi and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add the onion to the pan and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato puree, stirring it into the onions and cook for 3 minutes. Add the salf, saffron, pimenton and cuttlefish and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until th e cuttlefish firms up slightly. Add the stock, bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir well to distribute it evenly. Add the monkfish and clams, arranging them nicely, bring the stock back to a boil, and cook, without stirring for 10 minutes. Add the scampi, taste for salt and cook, again without stirring, for 10-15 ore minutes, or until the liquid is almost completely absorbed and the pan starts to make a crackling noise (don't worry, this is what you want). remove from theheat and let rest for 10 minutes fefore serving.

I may have made spelling errors or typing errors. If you get on the web sight you can buy this really great cook book or watch for the show on tv.

This was for only 6 people

Weird, I have scanned several paella recipes from epicurious and cooks.com and so far none actually use a paella pan. They call for sauteeing stuff in oil and heavy skillets and assembling the ingredients then serving. I thought this was a one-pan, layer rice and whatnot, then slow cook and get a crispy crust at the bottom. More reading needed.

Ok, more

It's difficult to duplicate the experience of cooking paella with Manuelo ooutdoors in Valencia over burning embers of wood from orange trees, but you could do it on a grill on high heat. Most important, buy a proper pan, cook it a little longer than you think and DON'T STIR. If you are cooking it indoors on the stove, be generous with the super smoky pimenton since it will provide the requisite almost but not quite burned flavor. In Spain, the almost burned slightly sticky, crunchy crust that forms on the bottom of the paella pan, called soccarat, is the most coveted part of the dish. Some cooks stir the soccarat into the rest of the paella when serving, others save it for the end.

From the book, Spain, A Culinary Road Trip
Mario Batali with Gwyneth Paltrow.

heed the porsche pilot......don't be frugal with the saffron.
brown your onions, don't scorch the garlic, and get a good crust on the bottom.
should be really good.

There is a right way to cook it, then the American way. Stick with the paella pan. Season it before you use it. If it were me, I'd make a practice batch before the weekend. The show quoted above with Mario B. has some good footage of the technique and lot's of useful tips. The video of the show is probably available; I know the book is...

Serve it with a nice Spanish wine.

JR

Don't undercook the rice. All that time and money wasted. I was pissed.

yeh - it is a special rice

one of my crazed friends likes to cook -- he bought a specil paella pan from NYC and had it shipped all the way across the US

another tip: very smoky fire - really great paella he made -- of course getting drunk helps with the taste too

We make it a lot at home, a few tips we've learned:

Use the good rice, either Calasparra or Bomba
Smoked paprika is awesome
We use Palacios chorizo, the spicy variety.
Add a cube of powdered shrimp broth to every 2 cups chicken broth.

A great book is Paella by Penelope Casas, the best place we've found for ingredients is latienda.com. Great place and great people.

Yum, make sure you make enough for leftovers, reheats very well.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1241790524.jpg

"What am I going to do with all this Paella" ;)

My wife and I will happily eat leftovers for 3-4 days straight. Sometimes it doesn't last that long.

My advice:

Do not use fish stock when you have a lot of seafood in the recipe. The fish taste will overpower the dish if you do.

Use chicken stock or a combination of chicken stock and white wine and you will get a much richer flavor.

My wife made some minnestrone early in the week and we still have about a quart left. I'm sick of it. I could have it to you in a couple days, worst case by the first of next week, if you want.

Might be able to find a few more things if I go digging through the fridge.

Just let me know,
JR

My friend tells me I bought too large a pan. I bought a 18", he says that is too large for a stove burner as the edges will not be heated enough. So I guess I will use the fire pit and cook on charcoal. Or, if it raining, the oven. He uses a special paella burner fired by propane.

That's the advantage of getting a heavy-bottomed pan—rather than a traditional thin paella pan. The heavy bottom will distribute heat evenly—even from a smaller stove-top burner.

"I will not tolerate infestation."