We now have an expanded assortment of paella pans in almost every size imaginable! Choose your metal: we have carbon steel, enamel-coated steel, or stainless steel pans. What’s the difference? Carbon steel pans (pictured) are the least expensive but must be seasoned before use like a wok or cast iron pan. Also, they need to be coated with oil after use to prevent them from rusting. Enamel-coated steel pans have a black enamel color and don’t require any maintenance. The price is slightly more than carbon steel. Stainless steel pans are the best quality metal and do not require any maintenance. A bit easier to clean, stainless steel paelleras’ beautiful looks last for years. We carry traditional shaped stainless pans (slightly concave so the shape doesn’t change when hot), in a 12-serving size. And, we have a limited number of stainless steel pans that are made for induction stoves. These are completely flat on the bottom with a thicker bottom. Come in now and start cooking paella the Spanish way!
Paella burners are back in stock for making paella outdoors. We now have sizes ranging from 12″ single-ring burners that can accommodate up to 10-serving paellera., all the way up to a triple ring set that can cook a 50-serving paella. The multi-ring burners are incredibly versatile as each ring has its own power control. And even though these left Spain in April, they arrived just in time for August family reunions, weddings and backyard get-togethers!
PARIS-MADRID GROCERY’S CLASSIC PAELLA RECIPE
From The Spanish Table Cookbook by Steve Winston
This style of Paella, paella mista, is what most people associate with the name. There are many, many paellas and other rice dishes, most of which are traditionally cooked in a paella pan over a heat source, but some of which are cooked in a cazuela or baked, al horno, in the oven. There are paellas which are all seafood, all shellfish, made only with lobster and lobster stock, meat paellas, and vegetarian paellas which may even include turnips. Pictured is a “mista”, containing shrimp, clams, garbanzo beans, bomba rice, chicken legs, and chunks of pork.
Measurements are per serving so use this list as a multiplication table. We recommend serving a paella mista with a Spanish Rioja wine, such as La Rioja Alta’s Viña Alberdi Reserva, or Zarate Albariño, if a white wine is preferred.
½ cup Uncooked Valencian Rice per person, OR 1/3 cup Bomba Rice per person
1 cup Chicken stock per ½ cup of Valencian rice, OR 1 cup broth per 1/3 cup Bomba rice
5 threads of Saffron per person, dissolved in ½ cup white warm dry white wine or dry sherry
2 tablespoons Olive oil per serving capacity of the pan, enough to completely cover bottom of the pan when it is cool. The oil will expand as it heats.
1 piece chicken, such as a thigh, per person
½ to 1 Soft, cooking, Spanish-style chorizo
½ teaspoon Sweet or bittersweet pimentón
1 clove garlic Per person, finely chopped
¼ cup Chopped onion per person
⅛ cup Tomato, grated (cut in half, grate and discard the skin) per person
2 Shrimp and/or prawns per portion
2-4 Small clams and/or mussels per portion
Some Vegetables:
Red piquillo or morrón peppers cut in strips
Peas, green beans and/or artichoke hearts
Cooked garrofón beans from Valencia (Alubias) (optional)
Lemon wedges for garnish
Minced parsley for garnish
THE ORDER OF COOKING
Paella is cooked in a pan by adding ingredients progressively and allowing their flavors to merge and mingle and be absorbed into the rice. Ingredients are never removed once they are added. Exception: When using a pan slightly beyond its capacity, I remove the chicken pieces and keep them warm until everything else is in the pan and then I put them back on top where they can float on the surface, rising slightly above the rim of the pan.
Warm wine or sherry gently in a small pan. Add the saffron threads and steep until aroma is released.
Allow the wine to come to a near boil then remove from heat.
Coat the bottom of paella pan with olive oil and heat over medium heat.
Add chicken and fry, turning, until golden brown.
When chicken’s juice runs clear, add garlic and onions and sauté until translucent.
Add chorizo and cook until heated through and begins to sweat fat.
Add the rice and pimentón, stirring until well coated with oil (about one minute).
Add the grated tomato (You can just grate it directly into the paella pan).
Add the liquid, stock or water and the saffron steeped in wine.
Bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of pan, and adjust heat to maintain a simmer.
Add cooked beans or other pre-cooked vegetables you are using.
After cooking for 15 minutes, add the seafood.
Cook for 5 minutes, then check to see if the rice is done.
At this point, it is traditional to let the paella, dormir, rest for fifteen minutes while the cook has an aperitif. It is loosely covered, in Spain often with a section of the daily newspaper (but not the section with the soccer scores). I set a sheet of aluminum foil over the paella without crimping the edges so it can breath a little.
Sprinkle with minced parsley, garnish with lemon wedges and serve.