Spanish paella

I was inspired to make this dish after watching an episode of Giada at Home where she made Spanish rice for her husband. It reminded me of one winter when I invited some girlfriends over for a Mediterranean feast because we were all missing the sun, and I made them a variation of this dish.

Paella

pinch of saffron
2 chorizo sausage links
1 white onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 hot red chili pepper (optional, finely minced)
1 bottle clam juice (~240 ml)
1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 cup water
1 green onion, chopped, white and green parts kept separate
one whole red pepper, diced
1 bay leaf
2 cups basmati rice
1/4 cup peas, thawed
1 cup of shrimp

Put the white wine in a glass or measuring cup, add the saffron to it and set aside. In a few minutes the wine will turn pink and fragrant.

Heat some olive oil in a large, high-sided frying pan. Remove the sausage meat from the casings and add to the pan, breaking up the meat into little pieces with a spatula. Cook for a few minutes until browned.

Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside. Drain all but one teaspoon of sausage fat from the pan and heat it up again with a touch of olive oil. Rinse two cups of basmati rice in a mixing bowl and drain off the water (I rinse until the water runs clear, about four times). Set the rice aside.

Add the diced white onion and the bay leaf to the frying pan, cooking a few minutes. Then add the garlic (and the chili pepper if using), and cook for a minute. Add the diced red pepper, the green onion (white part only) and the cooked sausage meat. Stir to combine and cook a couple of minutes until the red pepper is softening.

Add the rice to the hot pan and mix well for a minute to coat the grains with oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add the clam juice and wine and water and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat, put the lid on the frying pan and cook covered for 30 minutes. Add the peas, the shrimp and the green parts of the green onion. Replace the lid and cook another five minutes or until the shrimp has just cooked.

Discard the bay leaf and serve.

Lamb braise with saffron rice

Lamb braise with saffron rice, originally uploaded by beFOODled.

You may have noticed there are a lot of stew-type recipes on beFOODled. I think that's because braising is my favourite way to cook. I just really like the flavours and textures of tomato-based one-pot dishes. Plus, braises are slow food, and I often like to cook for a bit, toddle off to do something, such as blog, then return to eat. Yes, that's it. It's a method that is forgiving of distractions.

Lamb braise with saffron rice

1 kg lamb shoulder, cut into bite-size cubes
a handful of all-purpose flour
grapeseed (or canola) oil
a handful of pearl or cipollini onions, peeled
1 - 2 garlic cloves
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
100 mL of cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
a glug of your favourite BBQ sauce
28-oz can of plum tomatoes (I like San Marzano brand)
1/2 - 1 cup of chicken stock
fresh thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
ground coriander
chopped parsley

Put the flour in a large plastic bag and toss the lamb cubes until lightly coated. Brown the lamb in batches in an oiled frying pan but do not cook all the way through. Set aside.

Add some more oil and fry the carrots, celery and onions for a few minutes. Add the garlic and. Turn up the heat and add the vinegar and sugar and deglaze the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat and add the tomatoes, the BBQ sauce, chicken stock and herbs and spices. Stir and cover and cook on very low heat (about 2 or 1) for 1 to 1.5 hours. Add a bit more stock if it needs more liquid while braising. Serve with chopped parsley sprinkled over.

To make the saffron rice, make basmati rice in your rice cooker as usual, but cook it using some water that's had a pinch of saffron soaking in it for about 30 minutes. It will come out a pretty yellow and taste fantastic.

History Bites: Saffron

Mass theft and piracy. Outrageous displays of extravagance! There are few bad behaviours that saffron hasn't inspired throughout its 3,000-year history.

Yes, if ever there was a spice that sank a thousand ships, it would be saffron, the dried stigmas of the flowering crocus plant, Crocus savitus.

Cleopatra scented her baths with saffron, thinking it enhanced sexual pleasure. The emperor Nero, in one of his many mad displays of decadence, ordered that the streets of Rome be strewn with it when he entered the city. Saffron has also been long renowned for its medicinal properties. When one shipment worth at least $500,000 in today's dollars was stolen from Rhodes during the plague years, the theft caused a 14-week war!

Saffron is still the world's most expensive spice. Its collection has so far defied automation, so it's still hand-picked from ancient fields in Spain where the best saffron is said to come, and Iran, Greece, Italy and other parts of the Mediterranean. Considering that one flower yields only three threads, and that about 500 threads make up a gram, it's no wonder that half a gram costs about two dollars.

Most dishes that use saffron only call for a pinch, about 20 threads. It's excellent in rice dishes, such as paella or seafood risotto. I also make a shrimp linguine that calls for it. (I'll post links to these recipes soon.)

The best way to prepare saffron is to soak it in liquid — stock, wine or water — for about five to 10 minutes. It will turn bright yellow-orange, at which point you can add the infusion to your dish.

Just don't use too much! Saffron is dangerous in large amounts — five to 10 grams can be toxic to the central nervous system, and amounts beyond that are lethal. Thankfully, its shocking cost prohibits most people from tossing in huge amounts during cooking.

Lastly, beware of cheap imitations! Safflower, or American saffron, for example, comes from an aster family native to the Mediterranean. It looks like real saffron and may cost as much, but it's flavourless, scentless and used mainly as a dye.