Paella 2.0, on a Barbecue, in Warlingham

Anna and Jose gave a slightly rough review of my last attempt to make Paella. The main problems they highlighted were that I'd used chicken drumsticks rather than wings, the prawns were not in their shells, nor the mussels, that the rice wasn't yellow enough and I had no lemon as garnish. I think the lack of yellowness might just have been my camera performing badly with the colour with the poor lighting, but even so, I got the saffron as ordered, and made Paella 2.0 using that instead of turmeric.

I'm cat-sitting Nutmeg for my parents over the next couple of weeks, and they have pretty decent (although filthy) barbecue with adjustable grill height, so I decided to try and make it on that. I'd brought my Paella with me, knowing that my sister would be a willing taster, that cooking facilities and that better local shops would help with the endeavor. There was also the added bonus of getting my sister to do all the food photography with her decent camera. Although, saying that, she did manage to drain her battery taking pictures of Nutmeg, then have to bolt back home for the spare so that she could take pictures of the finished food.


The recipe was pretty much the same as before, except that I used Dwarf Beans instead of Fine Beans, a good pinch of crushed saffron instead of turmeric, and chicken wings, instead of legs (as per Anna and Joses' instructions), plus prawns and mussels in their shells. Also, I used about 50% more rice this time as I was fairly certain it wasn't enough last time.

Recipe for Paella 2.0

• 5 Whole Chicken Wings, cut in their 2 halves
  2 Pork Ribs, cut into bit size pieces
• 1 clove Garlic
• 4-5 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 large Red Pepper, cut into 6 strips
• 1.5 cups Dwarf Beans
• 2 medium Fresh Tomatoes
• 1.5 cups Paella Rice
• 4.5 cups Boiling Water
• A pinch of Saffron (enough, when crushed, to turn the water yellow)
• 1 teaspoon Smoked Spanish Paprika
• 1 can of Chickpeas
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• Lots of Prawns in their Shells (could have been bigger in our case)
• Lots of Mussels in their Shells
• A Lemon
  

The method was exactly as before, only done on a barbecue instead of the stove. The Mussels were cooked briefly in White Wine before adding to the top of the Paella in the last few minutes of cooking. The other difference is that I didn't use any stock as I seemed to end up with a better stock in the pan this time around, so just added the Saffron and Paprika to the boiling water (3 times that of the rice). I also remembered to add the Chickpeas as I had them washed and drained and out with the rest of my ingredients before I started to make sure nothing was forgotten.

My sister's hectic schedule for the day meant that I didn't get started on cooking until there was no real sunlight left in the garden and it was getting dark by the time I'd finished cooking. This was partly caused by the barbecue dying halfway through (luckily at a good moment to pause in the cooking) and us having to get it started again before getting the rice in. So, rather than a nice afternoon meal in the sunshine, it ended up as an evening meal around the dining table.

Although I pretty much followed their instructions to the letter this time, I can still almost hear the comments Jose and Anna are going to make. For one, I'm sure they are going to say that I put too many prawns and mussels on the top so that the chicken and peppers are nearly invisible. The rice was cooked to perfection though, with that slightly caramelised bottom, but without sticking to the pan. Definitely got a lot more confidence after cooking this one. I just need to get the time of day right.

Valencian Paella, made in Willesden Green

This was a recipe which I could not get wrong. Well, I could get it wrong, and probably have got bits of it wrong, but I'm satisfied enough with the results of this, my first ever paella, made from a recipe from Jose and Anna, using the Paella, Rice and Paprika they left me (and no Chorizo!).

Once again, I'm cooking for Caroline and Gabriel, so I figured that Paella would be a good thing to do as it's not really spicy and so would go down well with Gabriel. Plus it was a good one to flex my cooking muscles, as the instructions from Jose and Anna were pretty intricate. To be honest, like all the recipes I put up on this blog, if it had been a failure, it wouldn't be here. Even more so with this one, given that Anna and Jose will no doubt examine this particular blog entry and give thorough feedback on whether this was a success or failure.

Pretty much everything went according to plan with this recipe, although I was having to rush back to the computer to double check the email from Anna and Jose to make sure I was doing everything correctly. I totally forgot about adding the chickpeas, which I think would have been a nice addition. Plus I think I could have got away with a little more rice in the size pan I have. Also, I exchanged one of the mugs of hot water for chicken stock, as I remember them having some in their Paella, so I figured one mug wouldn't be so bad, especially as it was the nice stock cubes they left me.

Recipe for the Paella (Serves 2-3)

This is based on the size dish I have. So you need to adjust the proportions depending on the dish of Paella you have.

• 4 Chicken Drumsticks
• 2 Pork Spare Ribs, cut into chunks
• 250g Cooked Seafood Medley (from Waitrose in my case, with mussels, prawns, squid and cockles)
• 1.5 Red Peppers, cut into about 6 strips per pepper
• 2 Tomatoes, pureed with a little Salt and Olive Oil (Anna used a cheese grater and so did I)
• 1 Clove Garlic, finely sliced
• 1 Cup of Fine Beans
• 1 Cup of Chick Peas (optional, and forgotten in my case)
• 1 large mug Paella Rice
• 1 large mug Chicken Stock
• 2 large mugs Water
• 1 teaspoon Spanish Smoked Paprika
• 0.5 teaspoons Turmerric
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 5-6 tablespoons Olive Oil

First, prepare all the vegetables and other ingredients so that it's easy to just get everything together as you're cooking. Put a little salt over the meat and heat up the 5 or 6 tablespoons of Olive Oil in the Paella. When it is hot enough, add the meat and cook until it is golden all over. Halfway through this process, add garlic and the Red Pepper and cook until the Red Pepper is easy to peel. The stove should be on a moderate heat. Nothing should burn, and you should just be moving pieces around the dish to make sure nothing sticks and cooks evenly.

Remove the meat as it is cooked and set aside. Once the Red Pepper is easy to peel, remove from the pan and set aside, then add the fine beans.

Once all the meat is cooked and you just have beans remaining in the pan, add the pureed Tomato and fry until cooked. Then add the Paella Rice and fry with the tomato, making sure it is all coated with the tomato and oil. You can now start adding the boiling water and stock if using (3:1 ratio to rice). Also add the Salt, Paprika and Tumeric (or Saffron), and make sure that the rice is boiling all over. Add the chickpeas (if you remember) at this point, then bring the heat down to a simmer. Stir the rice about to ensure that there are no peaks or troughs. It should be totally flat and even all over, as should the heat being applied underneath.

It will cook for about 20 minutes or so, until the rice is aldente. You need to add the cooked seafood in the last 6 minutes or so of cooking, then arrange the Chicken, Pork and Red Pepper pieces on the top. Once the Rice is aldente, switch off the heat and cover the Paella with a newspaper to help the top cook for a few more minutes.

You are now ready to serve. Bring the whole dish to the table and impress your friends!

Caroline and Gabriel both loved it. What little leftovers there are, Gabriel wants for breakfast. Personally, I'm quite pleased with the result for a first attempt.