A dream came true this weekend--I was able to feast on home-cooked paella, with real Spanish saffron that a wonderful friend had brought with her to the U.S. from Europe. She made us paella with flame-roasted red bell peppers, Italian-style tomato puree, chewy calamari ring slices and tentacles, shell-on pink shrimp, and open-faced mussels. Green peas also were scattered across the paella pan and cooked into the softened long-grain rice. The rice was saturated with deliciousness, and was cooked until it formed a browned and crispy pan crust. Here are the pictures! Enjoy!
Mmm... I love paella. I make it for my little brother whenever he's visiting from Stanford. I should put up my paella recipe.
ReplyDelete- CP
I've never had proper paella. I salivate at the sight of that big paella pan whenever I see cooking shows do a segment on it. You are so lucky to have someone cook it for you!
ReplyDeletearrrrg i love paella! looks spectacular!
ReplyDeleteYUM... looks good... =)
ReplyDeletehey p.e.!
ReplyDeletemiss ya... lucky you, so hard to get good paella... not an easy dish to cook at all .. everytime i order something like that the rice is always overcooked or undercooked aye... your blog is looking better than ever! nice pics!
I like that you took pictures of the dish in its different settings (on the plate, in the pan, zoomed in). Eating shrimp with the shell on is a lot of fun! At the end of the meal, it is satisfying to see a collection of shells on the side of your plate. Are you a "hands on" peeler or a "directly in mouth" (common amongst more ppl than I would ever expect)?
ReplyDeleteThat looks absolutely scrumptious!
ReplyDeleteYes, please Chubby Panda! I'd love to try your recipe!
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly Elmo Monster, I am lucky. I'd love to learn how to make paella, but Chubby Panda said that he'd put up his recipe, so I'll be keeping tabs on that!
Thank you Jeff L and Pink Nest! I thought it looked incredible too!
Where you been Rick James? I agree, I've had bad paella with narley tasting saffron and crispy rice or soggy kernels (that weren't supposed to be crispy or soggy).
Haha Jinerous, that is an interesting question. I don't have the tongue dexterity to peel shrimp in my mouth!
I agree Rachel, I am happy I was able to eat it and that my friend made it for us.