Paella night

A recent email from Sur la Table made me jump out of my office chair and hot-foot it across the street to the Ferry Building, in search of a great deal on a paella pan.  Pan in hand, what else was a girl to do besides organize a paella night?

A group of friends joined me one Saturday night for an amazing Spanish style feast.  To start, we had a salad made with roasted red and yellow peppers, capers, and sevillana olives in a sherry vinaigrette topped with Manchego cheese and toasted almonds. 

From a recent cooking class I learned to blister the peppers directly on the flame of my gas stovetop before sweating them and removing the skin.  This was WAY more effective than trying to do the same in the broiler, and an inspiration to start eating homemade roasted peppers more frequently.

I served the salad alongside some crusty bread (courtesy of my neighborhood Boulange) and of course the paella, a chicken, chorizo, and mixed seafood combination that did not disappoint.  I made a basic sofrito to start (sauteed onions with tomato and garlic), and added about a teaspoon of saffron threads I had bloomed in hot water as well as paprika.  I stirred in rice and stock, and buried the meat and seafood inside the rice, adding the mussels and clams last.  When the mussels and clams opened it was nearly finished, although I tasted the rice to be sure. 

I brought the paellera to the table so that all could dig in directly to the broad and inviting dish ... and of course scoop their own crusty rice from the bottom.  The socarrat, as it's called, is coveted in Spain and now in my house as well!