We will be open holiday hours tomorrow, Memorial Day, May 25 from 10 AM to 4 PM. Memorial Day typically kicks off summer and paella season. Stop in for a new paella pan and burner set and basic ingredients to make paella. Even if Monday’s weather is not the best for cooking paella outdoors, starting Tuesday, the sun comes back out!
We received our annual shipment of paella pans, burners and accessories from Spain this week. We are now fully stocked with paella pans ranging in size from 4 servings to 85 servings, made out of carbon steel, enameled steel, and stainless steel in limited sizes. We’ve got large serving spoons in 3 sizes, windshields, and rectangular cast iron griddles which will gloriously sear a steak on the grill. We are fully stocked with paella burners ranging in size from the smallest which accommodates a 12″ pan, up to model 700 which will cook a paella for 50 people!
We also received a pallet of Graupera clay cookware from Spain. We’ve restocked the medium-size cazuelas in the terracotta color and a couple of sizes in red. We also have a limited number of cazuelas available in eggplant, chocolate brown, and black.
Rocha port sale! We took advantage of a distributor sale to pick up two Rocha ports at terrific prices:
Rocha LBV 2013 ($15.99) – This ruby style port is from the excellent 2013 harvest which was a declared port vintage. (Producers only declare a vintage port in years with extraordinary quality). The 2013 Rocha LBV has a ruby color and red cherry notes, this sweet dessert wine is excellent with fruit desserts or on its own.
Rocha 10 year tawny port ($17.99) – 10-year tawny ports are delightful sippers and Rocha’s 10 year offers up roasted walnut, a touch of smoke and dark chocolate flavors. Serve it with pecan pie for a fantastic dessert.
We love to throw a paella cooking demo in front of the store when our new shipment of paella pans and burners arrive. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic makes that impossible this year. In lieu of a cooking demo, our newsletters will be featuring new paella recipes over the course of the summer.
Prawn, Calamari, Scallop and Mushroom Paella 4 servings
I used wild-caught frozen seafood in this paella. I thawed it in a bowl and added the liquid from the seafood to the paella.
3-4 cups Clam Juice*
6 cloves Garlic, cloves peeled and chopped
½ medium onion, chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
½ cup Spanish Olive Oil*
½ pound Wild White Prawns
½ pound Calamari cut into rings and tentacles
2 large sea scallops, each cut into 4 pieces
1 Palacios mini chorizo, sliced*
½ cup fresh mushrooms or dried mushrooms, rehydrated*
1/3 cup Barbadillo Fino sherry*
1 large pinch saffron threads*
1/3 cup Fredesvinto Tomate Frito*
4 piquillo peppers, chopped*
10 baby artichokes, cooked*
1 1/3 cups Bomba Rice*
½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika*
Salt and pepper to taste
In a glass measuring cup, warm the Fino sherry for 20 seconds, then add saffron threads and steep while ingredients are prepared.
Heat the olive oil in a six-person paella pan.
When the oil is hot, add the garlic and onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook until golden brown.
Add mushrooms and sherry-saffron mix. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add chopped piquillo pepper, tomate frito, chorizo slices, and smoked paprika. Stir to combine.
Add the rice to the paella pan and stir until the rice is coated with the pan liquids.
Add 3 cups of clam juice and stir
Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 12 minutes. More broth might be needed if the rice gets too dry.
Then add the cooked artichokes, seafood and its liquid, continue simmering for another 5 minutes until the rice is done. Add more liquid if needed at this point.
When the rice is al dente, remove from the heat and cover with foil.
Allow the paella ten minutes to dormir before serving.
*These ingredients are available at Paris Madrid Grocery.