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The sultry jazzy sound of Spanish Flamenco singer, Buika, greets us as we enter the door of The Paella Club, in the heart of the Barri Gòtic, in Barcelona. Tonight is about cooking, eating, drinking, music and making new friends. Alex hosts his 3000th class as enthusiastically as he did his first. The 10 of us (from Wales, the Netherlands and California) will be cooking traditional Spanish paella together. We pick a station and start by sautéing whole garlic and lemon rind until it’s golden and then into the hot pan the whole shrimp sizzle and crack.
Alex moves among us, deglazing our pans with white wine and repeating, “guys, this is love and wine, love and wine.” He chooses our dish for demonstration. Taking our wooden spoon, he says’ “Now, I‘m gonna be doin’ diz, I’ma gonna make a hole in the center, and my dear you’re gonna help me out. Olive oil goes to the center, now dis is spices, dump them in the center and wit the tip of the spoon we’re gonna mix it up nice and easy in the middle, right there, nice and easy very gentle, an ina bout 5 secons your gonna starta smellin’ all the benefits. We call dis bloomin’ de spices”.
Rice is added and fully mixed into the safrito, followed by fish broth. And then we wait, stirring in a small circular motion across the paella pan. When the mixture becomes thick and gelatinous, we take the handles firmly and “shakea shakea” for 60 seconds. Then, we wait again. The smoke begins to smell like burnt toast as the rice caramelizes, and we’re left with a perfectly crusty crispy layer of “socarrat”.
Below is a recipe from class. Enjoy!
Preheat oven to 395 degrees. Dry rub your meat with salt , tapioca flour and sweet paprika. Set aside.
Heat a 16″ paella pan over medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic clove and rosemary sprigs and sauté until golden. Remove and reserve for later. Sear the meat for 4-5 minutes on each side and remove.
To begin the sofrito, add a little more olive oil to the pan. Finely mince the sautéed garlic clove. Add onion and garlic and cook until caramelized. Add the scallions and cook 2 or 3 minutes, constantly move your ingredients around to evenly distribute the heat.
Move the ingredients to the side of the pan, add more oil if necessary, and add the mushrooms and cook 2-3 minutes. Mix all of the ingredients together.
Deglaze the pan with the red wine. When the alcohol has evaporated, add the tomatoes and allow the mixture to reduce until it reaches a jam like texture (2 minutes). Bloom your spices by making a small well in the center of the mixture, add a little olive oil and place the saffron powder and remainder of sweet paprika into it. When the spices begin to bubble and become fragrant, incorporate them into the sofrito.
Add in the rice and combine and cook in the sauce for 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and mix well, and slowly take the temperature up to a medium heat , making small circular motions across the circumference of the pan and cook for 5-7 minutes. When the starch has been extracted from the rice, the mixture will become thick and gelatinous.
Using the handles, keep the pan firmly on the stove top and shake it slowly for 60 seconds until the mixture is evenly spread out across the pan.
In order to achieve the crispy layer of rice “socarrat”, leave the pan on the stove on a medium heat. The smoke released from the center of the pan will indicate that the rice is caramelizing properly. When the smoke begins to smell like burnt toast, turn the heat off. Place the meat very delicately on top of the rice, do not press into the rice or stir it.
Cook the paella in the oven at 395 degrees for 15 minutes.
Drizzle olive oil and serve.
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“There are really no new recipes, only millions of variations sparked by somebody’s imagination and desire to be a little bit creative and different.” James Beard’s collection of essays, Beard on Food, published in 1974, is filled with delightful stories, recipes and tales of culinary travel. Below is a plate based on his Favorite Hamburger recipe.
Loosely combine ground chuck, herbs, grated onion and heavy cream and form into patties.
In a cast iron skillet, heat oil and butter on medium high heat. Cook hamburgers on each side 4-5 minutes, and finish with a sprinkling of salt. Remove the burgers and place them in a warm oven. In the skillet, sauté onion slices until golden and caramelized. Add mushrooms and cook until browned, adding more butter if needed. Add bourbon, ignite, and shake the skillet until the flames die out. Place onions and mushroom on top of the skillet hamburgers and place them back in a warm oven.
Add 1 cup of heavy cream to the skillet and reduce to thicken. Add basil.
These skillet hamburgers put out quite a bit of grease, so make sure to clean your hood vent afterward. I prefer to cook theses outside.
Serve with buttered parmesan gluten free (Jovial egg tagliatelle) pasta and blanched peeled tomatoes or blistered asparagus. Garnish with parsley.
Prepare noodles according to package directions.
In a sauce pan, heat 6 tbs of butter and brown over medium heat. Off the heat add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a tbs of chopped parsley. Toss cooked pasta in the sauce and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Serve with extra parmesan and parsley.
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If rice is part of the dinner menu, make extra. Its nice to have prepared rice in the refrigerator for a quick lunch (rice bowl with chicken and wok vegetables). Cilantro lime rice is fresh, quick and easy, and packed full of flavor.
Heat a dutch oven, add a drizzle of olive oil. Sauté shallots on low heat 1 – 2 minutes. Add uncooked rice and stir to coat 1-2 minutes. Add 3 cups of water, season with salt, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 15-20 minutes, or until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender. Add zest of 1 lime, squeeze of lime juice, and chopped fresh cilantro to taste. Fluff with a fork to incorporate. Serve as a side dish or with tacos.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a wok on medium high and add a drizzle of olive oil. Sauté red bell pepper 3-4 minutes until soft. Add cabbage and chicken and cook to heat through. Pour miso sauce over and incorporate. Place corn tortillas directly on the oven rack and heat 5 – 7 minutes. Plate: starting with 2 tortillas, a heaping spoonful of cilantro lime rice, chicken and vegetables in miso sauce, and garnish with raw carrot ribbons (use a vegetable peeler to shave ribbons). Inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi.
Combine all ingredients.
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