spanish meal

8/8/2019 Spanish Meal

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GazpachoThis recipe originates with my mother-in-law, Carmen Perujo, and is a classic example of this Sevillano dish. Tomatoes with very

thin skins tend to separate from the pulp during processing. If this happens, you'll probably want to process the gazpacho until

it's perfectly smooth and then strain it through a fine sieve to remove the fibrous skins. Tomatoes with thicker skins can survive

the food processor a little better and don't need straining; they can be left more coarsely pureed.

Serves four. Yields four cups.

y 2cloves garlic, slicedy 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and coarsely choppedy 11/2lb. very red, ripe tomatoes, cut into large piecesy 3-inch-long piece of baguette, sliced and dried overnight or until hardy 1/2cup good-quality extra-virgin olive oily 2Tbs. sherry vinegar or red-wine vinegar; more to tastey 2 tsp. kosher or coarse salt; more to tastey 1 cup peeled, diced cucumbery 1 cup diced onion, for garnish (optional)

Put the garlic, green pepper, tomatoes, bread, olive oil, vinegar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients begin to

puree; continue processing until the mixture is as fine a puree as you want.

If you're straining the soup, pass it through a large fine sieve set over a large bowl, pressing until only solids remain in the sieve;

discard the solids. If you're not straining, pour the soup directly into a bowl.

Stir in 1/4 to 1/2cup water, or enough to give the soup the consistency of a thin milkshake. If you want a thicker soup, add less

water, or none at all. Add more salt or vinegar to taste. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 1 hour.

Ladle the gazpacho into chilled bowls or cups. Pass bowls of diced cucumber and onion, if using, so people can garnish their

own.


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Paella

This recipe serves four and works well in a 16inch pan. To make a paella with more servings in a larger pan, scale up the

ingredients proportionately by using ourrecipe sizing guide.

The recipe may look long, but that's only because it explains all the little tricks that will give you success. It involves 1 hour of

preparation plus 20to 30minutes cooking time. If you don't feel like prepping fresh artichokes, you can substitute with frozen

artichoke hearts. Just add them to the paella pan along with the rice.

Serves Four

y 41/2cups chicken broth; more if necessaryy Pinch saffron threads (about20threads)y Kosher salt and freshly ground black peppery 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oily 4 chicken thighs, chopped in half across the bone with a meat cleavery 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut in 1-inch wide stripsy 1 small whole head garlic; plus 6medium garlic cloves, peeledy 2artichokes, trimmed down to the hearts and quartered (optional)y Small handful green beans, trimmedy 1/2onion, grated on the largest holes of a box gratery 1 tomato, halved horizontally and grated on the largest holes of a box grater to get a coarse pure (discard the skin)y 1/2teaspoon pimentony 11/2cups medium grain ricey 1/4 cup cooked or canned chickpeas, drained (optional)y 2 lemons, cut in wedges

Heat the saffron broth:

In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a boil; lower to a simmer Toast the saffron gently in a dry skillet or toaster oven (just

until aromatic, 1 to 2minutes; don't let them burn). Crumble the threads in a mortar or between your fingers, and add to the

broth. Taste and add salt if necessary (it should be very well-seasoned, salted as if it were a soup). Remove from the heat until

you're ready to add to the rice.

Saute the chicken and vegetables:

Season the chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper. Pour the olive in a 16-inch paella pan. Over medium high heat,

saut the chicken until browned, 10to 15minutes. Transfer to a platter.


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Reduce the heat to medium low. In the paella pan, cook the red pepper and head of garlic until the peppers are completely limp

but not brown, 15to 20min. Transfer the peppers to a plate (leave the garlic in the pan) and cover with aluminum foil. Add the

artichoke hearts (if using) to the pan, and after5min., add the green beans. Saut until the artichokes are tender and the green

beans are soft and wrinkled, about10min.

Meanwhile, peel the skin off the red peppers. Transfer the green beans and artichokes to a plate.

Make the sofrito:

Increase the heat to medium and saut the onion until softened, about5min. Add the tomato, pimenton, and the six garlic

cloves, season with salt, and cook, stirring often, until the mixture has darkened to a deep burgundy and is thick like a compote,

15 to 20min. If it starts to stick to the pan or burn, add a little water to the pan. If not cooking the rice immediately, remove the

paella pan from the heat. (This tomato-onion-garlic mixture, called a sofrito, is the flavor base for the paella.) You may make the

paella several hours ahead up to this point.

Add the rice and cook:

About a half hour before you're ready to eat, bring the broth back to a simmer and set the paella pan with the sofrito over your

largest burner (or over two burners) on medium high heat. Add the rice, stirring until it's opaque, 1 to 2min.

Spread the rice in the pan, put the head of garlic in the center, and pour in the hot broth. Shake the pan a bit to make sure the

rice is evenly distributed. Arrange the chicken, artichokes, red peppers, and green beans in the pan. If using chickpeas, distribute

them on top. Do not stir the rice from this point on. Simmer vigorously, moving the pan over one and two burners to distribute the

heat and to cook the rice as evenly as possible. When the rice is at the same level as the liquid, after 8 to 10min., reduce the

heat to medium low.

Continue to simmer more gently, rotating the pan as necessary, until the liquid has been absorbed, about10min. more. Taste a

grain just below the top layer of rice; it should be al dente, with a tiny white dot in the center. (If the rice is not done but all the

liquid has been absorbed, add a bit more broth or water to the pan and cook a few minutes more.)

Create the socarrat:

Increase the heat to medium-high and, rotating the pan, cook for about2min., until the bottom layer of rice starts to caramelize,

creating the socarrat. The rice will crackle, but if it starts to smell burned, remove the pan from the heat immediately.

Let the paella rest:

Remove the pan from the heat. Cover loosely with foil or a clean kitchen towel and let the paella rest for5min. to even the

cooking and let the flavors meld.

Serve!


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Set the paella pan in the center of a round or square table. Remove the foil and invite people to eat directly from the pan, starting

at the perimeter, working toward the center, and squeezing lemon over their section, if they want.

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