A LITTLE TASTE OF JOY
Our lives are a deep dish of many ingredients, all very different but delicious when they are blended together. Together. What a remarkable word.
Janene Kraft
These are the images of a beautiful life—multiple forks dipping into one impossibly large pan, chairs scootched way too close, and words between bites that signal an intimacy earned from years strung out like pearls. Precious.
Paella is best-prepared the way I like my people. Layered. Complex. Seasoned…and Spicy.
I think Paella is the one dish that has as much to do with the ingredients outside the pan as in—Inviting kitchen. Warm hosts. Lively music. Laughter. Open sky.
Paella can never ever be cooked or eaten when angry because the most essential ingredient is joy.
I can vouch for the joy part, particularly our moments with Kyle and Erin sipping Miraval rosé and feasting on French coastal Paella on a Sunday afternoon in Saint-Tropez.
With four forks dipped deep into fresh-caught shrimp, we joined the locals in celebrating a life of love and affection not only between families but lifelong friends.
There’s a secret to life, like Paella—it’s the scrape at the bottom that’s the prize.
Amateurs will discard this as useless, but the Master knows that’s where the flavor resides.
Sometimes the bitter is the real delicacy, and the very thing that makes the rest of the feast so sweet.
A LITTLE HISTORY: Sometimes called, “The most international Spanish dish,” Paella is all about variety, as rich and dimensional as the tastes and traditions of families who claim this provincial favorite as their own. To settle the argument, Paella originated in rural Valencia, made from local and available ingredients including rabbit, garden vegetables and free-range chickens. The one luxurious ingredient that cannot be absent from the perfect paella is saffron.
If you’re desiring to serve a meal that is authentic, free-form, and casual, Paella is your choice.
A RECIPE JUST FOR YOU: My life-long friend, Mindy Marinos [who was the Maid of Honor at our wedding nearly 40 years ago] is one of the most breathtaking chefs I know. Her unusual authenticity and warmth in the kitchen inspired her nickname, “The Loving Chef.”
Through her brand, Savor Your Soul, Mindy coaches her clients to live their best lives through connecting mind, body, and spirit in healthy ways from the inside out.
I invited Mindy to provide two of her favorite Paella recipes, one for the ambitious gourmet and the other for the curious chef.
Paella Made Simple
by Savor Your Soul
INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
2 chicken breasts (medium)
1/4 onion (small)
10 grape tomatoes
1 Tbsp oil
2 cups rice (dry)
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 lb cooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveinedsalt/pepper1 lemon
1. Cut the chicken into cubes.2. Chop the onion and grape tomatoes.3. Cook the onion and chicken in the oil over medium-high heat in a skillet for about 5 minutes.4. Place a cover over the skillet for about 3 minutes to keep chicken from drying out.5. Add in the dry rice, crushed saffron threads, paprika, parsley, red chili powder, garlic, and turmeric.6. Stir for about 3 minutes.7. Add in the broth and bring to a boil for 5 minutes.8. Cover and allow to simmer for 15 minutes (or until rice is soft), sometimes the rice might take a little longer to cook.9. Add in the shrimp and tomatoes.10. Cook for another 3 minutes (or until the shrimp is cooked/opaque)11. Serve with fresh lemon slices and a squeeze of lemon juice!
Paella for the Spicy Gourmet
by Savor Your Soul
INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
3 cloves garlic1/2 onion, chopped1/2 red bell pepper, chopped1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil1/2 cup tomato puree or crushed tomatoes1/2 tsp smoked paprikasea saltblack pepper2 1/2 cups fish broth or vegetable broth (chicken can be used as well)1 sachet Spanish saffron in powder form1 cup rice12 raw jumbo shrimp (peeled and deveined)8 fresh mussels (debearded and cleaned) optionalfresh parsleylemon
1. First you want to cut up all your ingredients, mince 3 cloves of garlic, dice 1/2 of an onion, dice 1/2 of a red bell pepper also reserve 12 raw jumbo shrimp that have been peeled and deveined and 8 fresh cleaned mussels (if using)2. Heat a paella pan or large frying pan with a medium-high heat and add 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, once the oil gets hot, add the onions and garlic into the pan and mix with the oil, after 1 minute add the red bell pepper, mix and cook for 3 minutes, then add 1/2 cup of tomato puree, season everything with a generous 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika, a generous pinch of sea salt and a hint of freshly cracked black pepper, continue to cook for 2 minutes, add 2 1/2 cups of fish broth (or broth of choice) and the saffron, gently mix everything together3. Once the broth comes to a boil, add 1 cup of rice to the pan and then gently distribute the rice throughout the pan with a wooden spoon, do not mix the rice, after 5 minutes of cooking add the shrimp and the mussels, cook for another 5 minutes and then lower the fire to a low-medium heat (do not mix the rice after this point, you can give the pan a quick shake once in a while)4. After simmering for 10 minutes and there is very little broth left, turn the fire back to a medium-high heat for 1 minute, this technique is to make the socarrat (burnt rice on the bottom of the pan), then turn off the heat, cover the paella pan completely and let it rest between 5-7 minutes5. Uncover the paella, garnish with freshly chopped parsley and sliced lemon wedges