So my 21 year old son is semi-famous. I say semi because you probably have never heard of him. But in his world and in ours, he is. He competes professionally in a sport that is not one of the major ones, golf, tennis, football. But for those people that follow it, he’s getting to be a rock star. It is amusing to us, his family, because, come on? Really? The little shit never would clean his room up and we’ve always considered him high-strung and a little bit bitchy when he gets tired.
But his public persona is very humble and kind and well mannered. Just like we taught him to be. He is also, humble, kind and well mannered at home, except when he’s tired and bitchy and he gets that way from traveling so much. He is also on the Dean's list at college, works part time as a waiter and occasionaly does manual labor for our construction business. Meaning, he's a good kid growing up to be a good man. Yes, I will take credit. It allows me private haughtiness. In public I am humble, kind and well mannered. I keep my bitchiness at home.
Most everyone in our town knows him or of him. People we meet in odd places have heard of him. It gets a little weird. I can be at the hair salon (beauty operator as my Grandma still calls it), or coffee shop and run into friends that introduce me to their acquaintances as “The Semi-Famous Son’s Mother.” Gushing and fawning ensue. My husband recently has some pretty major surgery requiring an overnight stay in the hospital. The nurses, mostly twenty-something’s, recognized our last name and asked if “Semi-Famous Son” was ours. Gushing and fawning ensued. Pain medication flowed freely, which it probably would have anyway, but with no eye rolling or waiting as can happen when nurses are busy and stressed. The health system being what it is, I give them a free pass when they do. I called a travel agency out of state a couple of months to inquire about traveling to Spain. They recognized his name.
He was in Spain the last week competing in a contest that he took 2nd place in. Second place out of the top 16 in the world at this sport. Pretty amazing to us. We would have gone to see him, but with Husband’s surgery, we couldn’t travel. It was his first major international contest and I would have really liked to see it. Instead, I made Paella.
I know the following recipe is not totally authentic, but I’ve refined it so it works well for me and with ingredients I am able to find. A good Paella pan is essential. I found a rather large one that has a lid and is non-stick, which is not authentic, but like I said, it works for me. I used a pizza pan in place of a lid on my old one. You can combine whatever you want in Paella, chicken, seafood, sausage, in any combination, but you don't want to many ingriedients overwhelming the rice. In this version I've used all of these, but just remember to keep the quantity of ingredients in check. If you have a smaller pan, reduce the amount of amounts accordingly .
Paella
12-24 each of clams and mussels, scrubbed and cleaned . If you don’t know that, maybe you should try something easier, like poptarts. What you may not know is that if you put them in a large bowl, cover with cold water and stir in about a half a cup of grits or cornmeal, they will spit out their grit making for a much more pleasant dining experience. Leave them sit about an hour and then rinse well. I steam the clams and mussels first and remove all but 6 of each from the shell. They release liquid as they cook and after so many attempts at this with mushy rice, I finally gave up and measure rice and liquid. Just before the Paella is done, I stick the remaining shells in and make it look like it’s supposed to.
18 medium size shrimp, shelled and cleaned, reserve the shells.
*Optional ½ lb Calamari, okay squid. Cut into bite size pieces, and don’t be afraid of those tentacles.
1 lb of boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces. The real Paella from Spain sometime contains rabbit, but my local grocer doesn’t carry those, this is as close as I can get.
1 lb of Cured Chorizo sausage. Sometimes I can get the real stuff that looks like a pepperoni link; sometimes I can get it sliced like salami, sometimes I can’t get it. I’ve substituted pepperoni or linguica, but Chorizo is definitely better. It is not the uncured, melty Mexican kind you fry with eggs to make breakfast tacos. Again, cut into bite size pieces.
You are also going to need ½ cup of chopped white onion, one red bell pepper 1/2 chopped, 1/2 cut into strips, 3-4 cloves of garlic pressed, a heaping teaspoon or so of sweet smoked paprika, ¾ cups of small frozen peas . The peas are an American addition, so you can leave them out if you want, but it makes a nice one dish meal. Oh, and olive oil, a couple or three cups of chicken broth and one of those little teeny packages of saffron threads that are like $7. Two cups of Arborio rice. A short grain or sushi rice will substitute, but not long grain or Jasmine rice. Rice is not just rice as it turns out. If you are know what Bomba rice is and can get it, use your own Paella recipe and don't make fun of mine.
In a steam pot, throw the shrimp shells in along with about a glass of wine. Place the steam basket on top and steam the clams and mussels in small batches and remove them as quickly as they open. This is dangerous if you’ve already been into the wine, so use some l o n g tongs or you’ll burn yourself. You don’t want to overcook them because they have to go back in to re-heat later. As they cool, remove all but six of each from the shell and reserve.
Remove the steamer basket and strain the resulting broth into a smaller sauce pan. Add the chicken broth and simmer to reduce to about 3 cups of liquid. Add the saffron and simmer for just a minute or two more and keep it at the back of the stove until you are ready for it.
Okay, now it all comes together.
Heat the Paella pan to hot, but not so much the oil smokes when you drizzle in the olive oil. Coat the bottom of the pan with a very thin layer. Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper and brown on all sides in the paella pan. You don’t need to cook it all the way through, it’s got to go through some more cooking with everything else. About the time you get the chicken done, add the chorizo sausage pieces and the onion, garlic, paprika and the chopped red bell pepper and brown until the onion and pepper is wilted. You want a good bit of carmelization on everything and on the bottom of the pan. During this process push everything to the side for a few minutes and roast the strips of red pepper until just done and then remove. You’ll need a few tablespoons of resulting oil in the pan, but not too much more than that. Stir in the rice and get it coated all over with the oil. Add a cup or so of the broth and scrape up all that good stuff on the bottom of the pan. Let it simmer until that liquid is almost gone and then add two cups of the broth. Continue to simmer and have on hand an extra ¼ cup of broth, or water and test the rice once in a while to see if there is enough liquid, and add only about a tablespoon or so at a time if you need it. Don't cover just yet.
Add the shrimp and calamari, okay squid, if you are using them and just gently stir them in. Try not to stir up too much of the bottom of the pan now. Now you cover it. When the shrimp starts turning pink, add the peas on top. Cover and steam for a few minutes. Arrange the red bell peppers, clams and mussels still in their shells on top and steam until they are heated through. You don’t want the peas done done, just not frozen anymore and still bright green.
Socarrat. Funny thing about Paella, it’s a success if you get that crusty under the rice and that is what it is called, socarrat. This is why I resorted to steaming the clams beforehand because too much liquid and not only will you not get the socarrat, you’ll have mushy rice. Too much stirring while the rice is cooking and you won’t get the socarrat either. At the very end, turn up the heat for a few moments and listen and smell carefully. You'll hear popping and crackling and smell something like popcorn. Don't go too long, you want crusty crispy not blackened. It took me several tries to get this, so don’t feel bad if you don’t get it on the first try. As long as you don’t burn the rice, it still taste good!
Serve with lemon wedges, a simple green salad and lots of wine. Gather round and serve it directly from the pan.
