Come to Paris-Madrid Grocery tomorrow Saturday, May 13 beginning at 12:30 p.m. to watch a paella being prepared, enjoy a sample, and then taste a range of Spanish Rioja wines.
At 12:30 p.m., the paella preparation begins
At about 1:30 p.m., the paella samples should be ready to share
From 1:30 – 3:30 p.m., taste a range of El Coto Rioja wines with Marc Stotland (regional manager with Opici Wines, importer of El Coto).
The cost is $5.00 per person.
Bring Mom, and for Mother’s Day, gift her paella gear, ingredients and a bottle or two of Rioja wine. Make it a fun & memorable day!
Paris-Madrid Grocery is open regular hours on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 14 (from 11 AM – 5 PM). If Mom already has a paella setup, we’ve got other options for her special day. We’ve put together a gorgeous gift basket of specialty groceries and a bottle of sparkling French rosé. The gift box is a perfect combination of sweets, chocolates, festive, fishy, savory and crunchy. Or, make your own basket! For $5.00, we’ll supply the wooden box and tissue paper and you can fill it with Mom’s favorite products. Separately, we can also make a charcuterie board so Mom doesn’t have to cook.
And don’t miss the 15th Annual Flower Festival at the Pike Place Market – click here for a schedule of events and music performances. The festival runs Saturday and Sunday.
Looking for a way to cool off this weekend? We’ve got Spanish Gazpacho and Salmorejo (a cold tomato soup) in our cooler, along with chilled beverages, Estrella Damm and Estrella Galicia beer from Spain, rosé wines from Spain, France and Portugal!
Below is the recipe for the paella that will be prepared on Saturday, subject to last-minute substitutions.
There are many, many “paella” recipes. Originally paella was a dish made in Valencia using chicken, rabbit, snails and three kinds of fresh beans. Now, paella is almost always associated with seafood, chicken and vegetables. There is no right or wrong recipe, only the recipe that pleases you. Paella ingredients vary from place to place, and time to time, depending on local traditions and the ingredients available. Anything from fresh garden produce to holiday left-overs can inspire a cook to create an original version of this one-dish feast! The dish was named after the pan it is cooked in, a paellera, which is also used for a variety of rice dishes, such as arroz negro, as well as the Spanish pasta dish: fideuá. This is only one recipe, use your imagination and the ingredients at hand, varying the ingredients can make paella an everyday dish:
PAELLA MIXTA (Measurements are per serving)
1/3 cup Bomba rice per person
1 cup Aneto Valencian Paella broth per 1/3 cup Bomba rice
5 threads saffron per person, dissolved in 1 tablespoon dry sherry such as Tio Pepe, warmed
1/8 cup chopped onion per person
4 tablespoons, or more olive oil, to cover the bottom of the pan (not per person)
1 piece of chicken, such as a thigh, per person
½ to 1 chorizo, a mix of Bilbao semi-cured and Palacios cured, per person
1/4 teaspoon Spanish smoked bittersweet pimentón (paprika) per person
1/4 tsp chopped fresh rosemary or thyme (not per person)
¼ cup chopped onion per person*
⅛ cup grated tomato per person (halved, grated, and without the skin)*
2 shrimp or prawns per person
red piquillo or other roasted red peppers cut into strips
artichoke hearts, green beans, asparagus spears or peas
cooked Granja beans, 1 jar (optional)
Fresh parsley, chopped, to taste
lemon wedges for garnish
*Substitute Matiz Sofrito for the Onion and Tomato for more flavor.
When possible, bring stock to a boil then remove from heat. Add saffron threads and let them steep in the broth. Or heat sherry and steep saffron in it.
Heat paella pan over medium heat, add olive oil and sauté onion until soft. Add chicken and cook until golden and the juice runs clear. Add tomato (or sofrito) and sauté. Add chorizo and cook until heated.
Add the rice, stirring until well coated with pan juices (about one minute). Add the paprika and stir. Add ¾ of the saffron flavored stock and Aneto Paella mixture. Bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of pan, then add piquillo pepper, artichoke hearts, and granja beans. Adjust heat to maintain a slow boil. After about 15 minutes, add the seafood and add more broth if necessary. Cook another 5 minutes, or until rice is done. Place foil over the top and let the Paella rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Traditionally, paella is not stirred during the second half of the cooking time. This produces a caramelized layer of rice on the bottom of the pan considered by many to be the best part. With a large pan, it is difficult to accomplish this on an American stove and you may prefer to stir the paella occasionally or move the pan around on the burner(s). Another alternative is to finish the paella by placing it in a 350º oven for the last 10-15 minutes of cooking. Paelleras can also be used on a barbeque, over an open fire (the most traditional), or on a counter top grill.