De Paella
So, let's talk Paella.
Yes, it's hard to make. I appreciated that anew when my friend Ian came over for a ballgame and some paella tonight. I had chicken, pork chops, and leftover ham from Easter in the fridge. Ian brought cannelini beans, limas, and frozen cut green beans. I had onion. I had lots of saffron. I had smoked Spanish paprika. I had garlic. Ok. Let's get started.
You can't cut stock enough, in my view. Even homemade, but the commercial stuff has way too much sodium, so I started at 4:1 water to stock. I put in one bay leaf (love 'em, totally not necessary) and put in a triple shot of saffron. No one has ever commented on the subtle taste of saffron. It's a waste of $10 to put in one "serving" of saffron. Go for three to four. [Ian, I still have your ten bucks, btw.] Also, tomatoes need alcohol, so put in 1/3 cup dry white wine or white port. Or good sherry, if you have it, which I didn't.
OK. I liked the idea of adding grape tomatoes to the onions, putting in a little garlic, quartered, for a subtle flavor. We sweated those for 30 minutes. Half way through I added about 1 tsp. of Chili de Arbol, for just a little heat. Next time I might double it. It was really subtle.
Off comes the lid and cubed meat goes in with the stock (less the bay) and is brought to a boil for 10 minutes. I grilled all my meat for extra smoke, then added a 1/2 tsp. of smoked paprika. Basically, it's a sin. I can't keep my hands off that stuff. Still, I think a little is a good addition. After the caramelization of the meats has been liquified by a boil of broth, add the beans and then the rice. I forgot to salt at this point, which is actually a huge error. Be sure to remember. You can cheat like I did with a garnish of Fleur de Sel after, if you mess up.
We also added oil cured kalamata olives, but I wish I had had oil-cured black olives. Throw in a tbsp. of chopped, fresh rosemary, too. Stir in the rosemary and olives both, is my recommendation. Don't skimp on the olives.
Then I set the whole thing to stew. Once the rice is in, so goes the wisdom, don't stir again. We had about 1.5 cups of residual liquid and at medium heat, it was mostly gone in 20 minutes. My error here was that I forgot to account for the thermal capacity of the pan. I would say that after about 10 minutes, or when you are down to a 1/3 cup of liquid, switch off the heat (under electric, the a 15 for gas). After 15 more minutes, remove the pan from the burner. If you burn the bottom, as I did, use a teaspoon to test and once you determine your error, scrape gently while serving. I avoided the worst of it in this way.
The olives and the rosemary make this dish a natural match for the wines of the Northern Rhone. I picked the 1999 Alain Voge Les Vielles Vignes, which is mostly subdued now and doesn't have much of its original sauvage left. Still, a beautifully constructed wine and one well worth drinking. I think I'll hit that magnum of the Vielles Fontaines soon, as well. Maybe on another Paella run. Or that Chave Hermitage. Who can say?
Excelsior!!