Spanish and Cook

Archive for the ‘Paella Dishes’ Category

What is a quick easy dinner I can make in one pan? is a question most often asked of me. While I know the expected answer is a recipe, they’d be asking the wrong person for a recipe. I’ve been urging people to “Burn Your Recipes” through my online cooking classes and DVDs for years now, motivating them to cook with basic cooking methods over written instructions, and seafood Paella is no different.

While aspiring chefs and home cooks love to ask me questions, some also tell me I talk too much. If you remember Cooking Coarse, my original cooking video series on YouTube, you’ll remember episodes that included much of my well-spoken philosophies that lasted 8 to 10 minutes sometimes. For those that love new methods of cooking without recipes, and don’t want to hear me talk, I created the Food iPod.

The shuffle function lands on Maroon 5 as I start to create my seafood Paella in one pan. It’s a basic sautee method that will also call upon my knowledge of gelatinization of starches as well. That’s to say how rice absorbs liquid and swells during cooking. This dish is a perfect quick easy dinner because we can accomplish both of these goals in the same pan.

Once I’m sure that the pan is hot by sprinkling a little water on it to evaporate, I’ll add a small amount of olive oil, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. The addition of dry rice, onions, peppers, garlic, shrimp, sausage, chicken, tomatoes, shrimp stock and tomato juice will all cook together at the same time.

The advantage of this type of cooking is that you are cooking with steam and moisture to cook delicate items. Often, a seafood Paella can be ruined by high heat that makes the seafood rubbery and the vegetables limp. But, as the ingredients cook in a moist fashion, they also perspire liquids that are absorbed into the rice as the starches gelatinize. This gives a great consistent flavor throughout.

The perfect seasoning for this Spanish staple is saffron. It’s perfect because saffron threads must be steeped in liquid to best use their flavor. Nobody sprinkles saffron on a dish like salt. It’s best macerated in the liquid over time. Plus, it IS the signature flavor of a great paella.

seafood Paella is a great example of a quick easy dinner that you can make in one pan. It needn’t be made with seafood either. When you cook with basic cooking methods, you can use any ingredients you desire. This method is one worth repeating in your own home.

seafood Paella is a Quick Easy Dinner is also a video. Watch it HERE

Miami, Florida is ranked the seventh largest city in the United States with a population of over 5,400,000 people. Located on the Atlantic coast, Miami is an extremely popular city to visit and to live in and it has been dubbed The Gateway to the Americas because of the variety of cultures to which Miami is home. Food is one of the many areas in which this meshing of cultures is apparent. It is possible to find all varieties of food in Miami from fine French cuisine to authentic Italian dishes and more. Rising in popularity in Miami is the category of Spanish foods including paella. Paella Miami can be found in many restaurants all over the city and tourists to the area should not leave without giving it a try.

The name “paella” is derived from the Old French word paella which means pan. Valencians refer to all types of pans as paella, including the special, shallow type used for cooking paellas. A paella pan is typically shallow and round, made of polished steel and featuring two handles. The national dish of Spain, paella is a rice dish that comes in three varieties. Valencian paella consists of white rice, green vegetables, snails, beans, seasoning, and meat such as rabbit, chicken, or duck. This type of paella was frequently cooked for special occasions in the 18th century, utilizing the open air of the Valencian orchards. Early paella used marsh rat as a main ingredient, but as living standards rose in the 19th century, paella ingredients began to change in order to include rabbit, chicken, and duck in place of marsh rat and eel. The second type of paella, seafood paella, was developed along the Mediterranean coast. Seafood paella is much the same as Valencian paella but it replaces the snails and meat with seafood.

Throughout the 20th century, the popularity of this dish spread past the borders of Spain and many other cultures began to create paella-like dishes. As a result, paella recipes went from being rather simple to being more complex, including a variety of seafood, sausage, and other meats. The third type of paella is referred to as mixed paella and it consists of a combination of meat, seafood, vegetables, and occasionally beans. Some Spanish restaurants and some in other countries like the United States serve this type of paella under the name Valencian paella, but Valencians claim that only the original Valencian recipe can boast this name.

Paella Miami can be found in any of these three varieties and there are many restaurants which have perfected their recipes to the degree that their paella delivers a near-perfect reflection of the paella you would taste in Spain. For those who enjoy new dining experiences, paella Miami is a great way to experience the cuisine of a different culture. Because it is such a popular dish, many Miami restaurants serve paella so it is even possible to sample a variety of recipes to get an even fuller experience.

Paella Dishes




Paella, the Queen of all Spanish Dishes

do you know any information about the spanish dish: La Paella?

ingredients, contents of the dish?,if it’s for breakfast, lunch, or dinner?

OK. You have several answers all slightly correct all slightly wrong. Paella is in fact a Spanish dish. There are different kinds of paella and different colors. They all use rice with pork, sausages, chicken or seafood. The most famous is Valencian paella which derives it’s yellow color from saffron. Some non Spaniards mix all of the meat ingredients in one paella. Other purists in Spain will tell you that if you use seafood you don’t use meat/sausages and if you use meat/sausages you don’t use seafood.
In my trips to Spain I have had shrimp paella, octopus paella, sausage paella, pork and chicken, red, white, yellow and black paella. They are all good.
Paella is usually a dinner dish. Drink a nice Ribera del Duero wine with it. If you are having pork paella you might want a heavier Rioja wine-if you like very hearty wine that is. Lager also goes well with paella.

Paderno World Cuisine 18.5 Inch Polished Carbon Steel Paella Pan $31.41 This Paderno World Cuisine 18.5 inch polished carbon steel paella pan, with it’s depth and flared sides makes it easy to cook paella, as the shape encourages the quick evaporation of liquid. The pan is constructed of black steel with dual handles….

Calphalon Commercial Nonstick 10-Inch Everyday Pan with Glass Lid $49.99 The 10-in. Everyday Pan is an all-purpose pan. Use it for searing, browning and sauteing vegetables and meats as well as making the classic Spanish dish Paella. The two loop handles make for easier lifting, and the domed glass lid prevents the moisture from escaping and allows heat to easily circulate. Backed by a lifetime warranty, Calphalon’s Commercial Nonstick Cookware is made to professional …

Calphalon D1382PB Commercial Hard-Anodized 12-Inch Everyday Pan with Lid $168.00 The 12-in. Everyday Pan is an all-purpose pan. Use it for searing, browning and sauteing vegetables and meats. It also works well for making paella, jambalaya and all-in-one meals that you can bring right to the table to serve. The 2 loop handles make for easier lifting.Backed by a lifetime warranty, Calphalon’s Commercial Hard-Anodized Cookware is made to professional standards, offering the home…

Wallmonkeys Peel and Stick Wall Decals – Spanish Rice: Paella – Removable Graphic WallMonkeys wall graphics are printed on the highest quality re-positionable, self-adhesive fabric paper. Each order is printed in-house and on-demand. WallMonkeys uses premium materials & state-of-the-art production technologies. Our white fabric material is superior to vinyl decals. You can literally see and feel the difference. Our wall graphics apply in minutes and won’t damage your paint or l…

Wallmonkeys Peel and Stick Wall Decals – Spanish Rice: Paella – Removable Graphic WallMonkeys wall graphics are printed on the highest quality re-positionable, self-adhesive fabric paper. Each order is printed in-house and on-demand. WallMonkeys uses premium materials & state-of-the-art production technologies. Our white fabric material is superior to vinyl decals. You can literally see and feel the difference. Our wall graphics apply in minutes and won’t damage your paint or l…