Flaherty Wines

At our last harvest party, we had paella for lunch. Paella is a great one-dish meal that’s fairly easy to put together. If you have everything prepped before hand, there isn’t a lot of work involved in getting it on the stove. While the paella cooked, we all crowded around the kitchen with a glass of wine, making the salad and setting the table. The environment was relaxed, and the results were impressive, which is pretty much what I was aiming for. We paired the dish with a 2007 Gewurtztraminer from Errázuriz, followed by our 2007 Flaherty. Both the white and the red worked well. For dessert we had Jerry Traunfeld’s amazing Pear Rosemary Upside-Down Cake. The appearance of rosemary in a gooey caramelized cake is just so unexpected and rich and delicious. It would be a bit much to have on a regular basis, but it is crazy good for a special occasion. I don’t want to risk copyright infringement by reprinting the recipe here, but this site has no such qualms. The recipe is at the bottom of the page.

The word paella originally referred to the pan rather than the rice dish. I have a small paella pan that I picked up for about US$10 at the local grocery store, which is perfect for our family of four, and a large one that serves ten to twelve. The other key element for ensuring a good paella is the rice: use arborio rice (for risotto) to get the right texture. Other than that, the dish is quite versatile. You can include meat or sausage, use different shellfish, add in veggies. You just have to adjust the timing so that everything is ready when the rice is finished cooking. Incidentally, that’s why I use chicken wing drummettes instead of the more traditional drumsticks, as I don’t want to worry about whether they are cooked through. Finally, for the stock, I typically use about one-third fish stock to two-thirds chicken stock. If you don’t have fish stock on hand, just simmer the shells from the shrimp in water for about twenty minutes. The recipe below is for the large paella I made the other day. Below the recipe, I’ve included the ingredients list for a smaller version.

Paella

500 grams shrimp with shells
1 kilo fresh clams
2 cups white wine
olive oil
20–25 chicken wing drummettes (2–3 per person)
2 large onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 kilo (5 cups) arborio rice
2 cans tomatoes with juice, chopped (total drained weight about 650 grams)
1 teaspoon saffron threads
2 cups fish or shrimp stock
6–7 cups chicken stock
400 grams calamari, sliced thinly into rings
salt and pepper

Shell the shrimp. If using shrimp stock,
cover the shells with about three cups of water and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain the stock and set aside.

Steam the clams in the white wine until they open. Drain, reserving the wine.

Crush the saffron threads in a mortar. Add hot water to cover and let sit to soften the saffron.

Heat the olive oil in the paella pan. Add the chicken drummettes and brown on all side. Remove the drummettes to a plate. Add the onions to the pan and saute until transulcent, being careful not to brown the onions. Add the garlic and saute briefly. Add the rice and saute until the ends of the  grains start to look translucent. Add the white wine from the clams, the tomatoes with their juice, and the saffron. Stir briefly to mix. Add the fish (or shrimp) stock and 6 cups of chicken stock all at once. Nestle the chicken drummettes into the rice mixture, and then season liberally with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat, and cook for about 20 to 25 miuntes, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked. If necessary, add additional stock or water. Note that you do not stir paella as you would risotto; just leave the rice to simmer in the open pan, srtirring only occasionally to see how it is progressing. When the rice is nearly ready, add the shrimp and cook until pink (just a couple of minutes). Add the calamari (this cooks very quickly, in just a minute), and arrange the cooked clams on top of the rice. Serve directly from the paella pan. One last note: keep the fire low for most of the cooking, but turn it up at the end. A proper paella has a burnt crust on the bottom, which aficionados consider the best part.

Paella for four

200 grams shrimp with shells
12  fresh clams
1 cup white wine
olive oil
8–10 chicken wing drummettes (2–3 per person)
1 medium onion, diced
2–3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1  1/3 cups arborio rice
1 can tomatoes with juice, chopped (drained weight about 300 grams)
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1 cup fish or shrimp stock
2 cups chicken stock
200 grams calamari, sliced thinly into rings
salt and pepper

Proceed as for the large paella.