I registered for the restaurant’s monthly paella cooking class with the intent of getting hands-on experience making paella from scratch. Little did I know, I arrived finding out that the class was more of a demonstration session by one of the chefs while the audience was served a six course brunch. I was slightly disappointed. Plus, having four different types of wine to pair with the courses before noon was quite ambitious even though I adore wine. Chef Cottini began the class by providing the audience with a brief background and history on paella, along with describing several of its main ingredients. He then verbally polled the audience by asking questions like “Who has ever eaten tapas?” and “Who has ever eaten paella?” About 90% of the crowd raised their hands for the first two questions. The final question was “Who has ever made paella?” All hands fell, yet mine shyly remained risen. Hmm…okay, now what. “Well then, you get to come cook paella with me!” Before I knew it, I was cooking side by side with him, shadowing his every step. It was totally uncalled for, but what a thrill!

According to the Paella cookbook that was given for us to keep, the word “Paella” defines the utensil used to cook the dish: a flat bottom, lidless frying pan without the “tail”, yet with two handles, and many little dents or “dimples” in a circular pattern that are essential for cooking the rice and achieving authentic and traditional flavors. I bought one from Cafe Iberico’s deli for a bargain price of $10:

The recipe below is adapted from the Paella Cookbook, created by the executive chefs of Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba. Some of the key ingredients that truly make the dish outstanding are saffron, Spanish rice (medium grain), and chicken stock. The saffron creates a luscious, deep golden color in the rice, with a floral fragrance unlike any other spice, therefore being the most expensive spice in the world. Rice and stock are also essential to paella because the Spanish rice variety absorbs liquids extremely well, allowing the stock to add flavor and depth without the grains getting mushy like risotto. The flavor complexity of paella is simply amazing.

Paella Valenciana Recipe

Preparation time: 35 minutes (5 minutes ingredients preparation, 10 minutes stovetop, 20 minutes oven and rest)
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2/3 cup pork tenderloin, diced
• 2/3 cup boneless skinless chicken thighs, diced
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced (about 1 clove)
• 1 teaspoon sweet pimenton (paprika)
• ½ cup tomato puree
• 1 ¼ cup Spanish rice
• 1/8 teaspoon saffron, simmered in 4 ounces of water and removed from heat to cool
• 1 cup frozen Italian green beans
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock, heated but not boiling
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)

Tools

• Oven
• Small saucepan (for saffron water)
• Medium saucepan (for chicken stock)
• Chef knife and cutting board
• 13 inch paella pan
• Tongs or wooden spoon

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring chicken stock to a simmer and keep warm.
2. In the paella pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Sear the pork and chicken together until golden brown (do not move the meat around too much; allow to sear on each side to get a good color).
3. Add the garlic, sweet pimenton, and tomato puree; mix to combine. While constantly stirring, add the Spanish rice, saffron water, snap peas, and chicken stock. Continue cooking until the rice begins to rise. Add fresh thyme and rosemary sprigs; season with salt and bring to a boil. At this point you may taste the cooking liquid and adjust seasonings as needed.
4. Place pan in the oven for 17 minutes, until liquid is mostly absorbed into the rice. Before serving, let it rest for at least 2 minutes to allow rice to finish absorbing the liquid completely. Remove thyme and rosemary sprigs before serving.

Selina’s Notes

• It is best to use homemade chicken stock (recipe coming later), but store-bought cartons are fine too, as long as it is the low-sodium type
• To get a nice crunchy, caramelized crust on the edges and bottom (like the kind on brownies and lasagna), you can try returning the paella to the stove over high heat immediately after coming out of the oven. After 1-2 minutes, remove from heat and allow time for paella to rest.
• The first ten minutes of the recipe (before going into the oven) moves quickly. I found it easiest to measure out all ingredients and arrange in groups before beginning.
• Spanish cooking tools and ingredients can be purchased at Tienda and PaellaPans