We are hiring! If you or someone you know loves to cook, is passionate about great wines, specialty foods and likes to interact with customers who share these passions, we would like to talk to you. Work even part-time here and receive a 20% employee discount! This is a part-time position with added shifts during the holidays and filling in when other staffers are on leave. Click details for more information, and interested parties, please email a resumé to sharon@parismadridgrocery.com.
It’s really fall now, which means mushrooms are sprouting! Fresh, wild mushrooms are a seasonal delicacy here, and incredibly popular in Spain and France. Fantastic recipes abound, from grilled mushrooms to mushroom soup, chanterelle tart and many more. And mushrooms pair well with an amazing range of wines which just adds more pleasure. Serve Champagne with a butter-cream chanterelle sauce over pasta; grilled mushrooms with a French rosé, an earthy red such as Spanish Rioja with pork chops topped with sautéed garlic, madeira wine and porcini mushroom sauce. Serve a sherry with mushroom soup to amp up the complexity. We carry dried mushrooms from France at Paris-Madrid Grocery; stock up on them for those nights when you crave fungi but don’t want to leave the house.
5J uncooked Secreto Iberico de Bellota pork – We now carry Cinco Jotas uncured Secreto Iberico de Bellota pork. This is a luscious pork, made from Spain’s indigenous Iberico, black footed pig which has been fed a diet of acorns. To serve this pork, simply thaw and quickly grill, broil or pan-fry to medium-rare, to fully enjoy the amazing tenderness and flavor. We continue to stock Fermin uncooked Iberico de Bellota Solomillo (Tenderloin), Secreto and Carrilleras (cheeks), all which are an incredible culinary delight. 5J was the first to feed acorns to their Pata Negra pigs, in 1879. Try both brands and discover your favorite!
Cider: Fall is cider season, and Paris-Madrid Grocery stocks Spanish ciders from Asturias, The Basque country, French ciders from Normandy and Brittany. We also carry a French pear cider and Pommeau, which is two-thirds unfermented apple juice fortified with Calvados, and is a great dessert drink. Regular cider pairs wonderfully with cheeses, such as Brie, Camembert, Caña de Cabra goat cheese, or aged Mahon la Payesa cow milk cheese. Cider can also be used in recipes, such as chorizo cooked in cider, or chicken and mushrooms cooked in cider.
WINE CORNER
Bodegas Valderiz Tinto 2018, Ribera del Duero ($30.00) Bodegas y Viñedos Valderiz’s vineyards date back to 1932 when Tomás Esteban’s father planted 24 acres of vines. Today, their vines inhabit over 35 separate plots on varying soil types, with everything grafted from cuttings of the initial family vineyards (now 90 years old). The Esteban family is one of Ribera del Duero’s pioneers when it comes to the adoption and evolution of biodynamic and organic agriculture. This is a powerful and balanced wine, which will appeal to lovers of Zinfindel and Cabernet Sauvignon. Fermentations are gentle with long, cold macerations and native yeast fermentation. Absolutely no artificial winemaking additives (acidifiers, tannins, glucose, enzymes, etc.) are used. “This velvety red offers generous layers of cherry reduction, espresso, clove and loamy earth notes that are flanked with licorice, graphite and floral hints. Shows freshness and concentration. Drink now through 2039.” 95 points Wine Spectator
Lustau En Rama sherries ($27.99/500 ml)- Cellar Master Sergio Martinez selects sherry from the best casks to be bottled “En Rama”, which means the sherry is bottled straight from the cask without filtering or any additional treatments. In stock now are Lustau Fino en Rama from Jerez and Manzanilla en Rama from Sanlucar de Barremeda, both from saca spring 2021 (the spring of 2021 bottling) when the layer of living yeast (flor) is at its most vigorous. These sherries are the closest experience to drinking sherry right out of the casks, and offer up superb freshness and depth of flavor. Both sherries are vinified exactly the same and both made from the Palomino grape. The only difference is that Manzanilla en Rama has a lighter, more saline character due to its proximity to the sea whereas Fino en Rama has more body and intensity. We recommend trying a bottle of each, or gift them to a sherry aficianado.
Mushroom Rice
Serves 6 as a side dish or 4 as a main course. Based on a recipe from The Spanish Table Cookbook by Steve Winston
To elevate this recipe to an entrée, add a pork tenderloin cut into cubes and browned in the oil before adding the mushrooms.
½ cup Spanish Olive Oil
1 pound fresh mushrooms – Chantrelles or another flavorful wild variety, sliced (or 1/2 cup dried mushrooms,rehydrated)
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons french butter
½ cup dry Madeira wine, such as Belem’s Seco
1 cup dry Garbanzo beans, soaked overnight
1 tablespoon fresh thyme or rosemary, chopped
2-3 whole garlic cloves, peeled
2 cups Spanish Calasparra Rice (Bomba rice can be substituted if Calasparra rice is not available)
3-4 cups Aneto Chicken stock
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Heat Olive Oil in a clay cazuela or 13 inch or larger paella pan.
Add garlic and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Add butter and let it melt.
Add Madeira and fresh mushrooms; cook until soft.. If using dry fungi, stir for 5 minutes to warm.
Add cream and bring to a simmer.
Add garbanzos, thyme or rosemary and the rice; stir to warm and combine all of the ingredients.
Add chicken stock.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook at a brisk simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally so the rice doesn’t burn. Test the rice after 30 minutes for doneness, cook longer if necessary. When rice is al dente, remove from the heat and top with chopped parsley, then serve.