[UKBusinessLive]

Originally Posted by sharkee

Hmm...come to think of it, I don't really know much about Spanish cuisines. What are the popular, globally-renown Spanish foods around? I eat all kinds of food, it would be really cool if anything I'm into actually originated from Spain.

Hi Sharkee,

I guess the most famous Spanish rice dish in the world is the Paella! Before you start cooking it is helpful to know that Paella is best made in a wide, shallow pan with looped handles; the Paellera. My recipe below is to serve 4 but if you really love it 3 persons. Paella seems like an extravagant dish, well it is, but it’s easy to make, and pretty ecomonical



lets do it!!

Finely chop:
1 red onion, 1 red and 1 green pepper, 4 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of ( by preference fresh) flat-leaf parsley.

Puree tomatoes:
You can either buy canned peeled tomatoes but by preference use to fresh ones. Peel of the skin and than rasp them with a grater.

Prepare the seafood:
Peel and devein 16 large raw shrimps, cut 2 squid tubes into rings, and scrub and debeard 12 fresh mussels. Cover this all and put them into the refrigerator.

Make the sauce: Sofrito
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in the paellera, cook a chopped red onion in it, add the 2 tablespoons of parsley and 3 of the 4 chopped garlic cloves. Cook this all for 8 minutes with an occasional stir. Now add the pureed tomatoes and 2 teaspoons of paprika and keep on cooking until the juice from the tomatoes has evaporated and the sauce is as consistent as a jam. Now put the Sofrito into a bowl and clean the paellera.

Cook the mussels:
Start cooking the mussels while the Sofrito is cooking. Put the mussels in a saucepan with a cup of simmering water, cover and steam it for 5 minutes. Remove the mussels discarding unopened and put them aside.

Cook the shrimps and squids:
Put 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the paellera and put it on a medium to high heat and add the last clove of chopped garlic. Place the shrimps in the paellera and cook them for 1,5 minute. Now add the squid rings and cook for another 1,5 minutes. Keep on tossing the paellera continuously. After this remove the shrimps and squid and flavour them with a little salt & black pepper. Now cover it all up and put it aside.

Cook the diced red and green peppers:
Cook them in a medium heated paellera with two tablespoons of olive oil and stir occasionally for 6 minutes. Now add the sofrito to the pan and 1,5 cup of rice; this may be Calasparra, Bomba or regular grain rice is fine. Cook this for a minute with some stirring. Now add a pinch of saffron threads, 3 cups of heated fish or chicken stock, 1,5 teaspoon of salt and 1,5 teaspoon of black pepper, sir it a little to mix it up. Now let it cook for 10 minutes without stirring. Make sure all the rice is cooking; adjust the pan a bit when necessary.
Now let it cook on a low heat level for 15 minutes. After this turn up the heat for a minute until you can smell the rice toasting. Remove the paellera from the stove and add the seafood, cover it all up and let it rest for 5 minutes.

?Que aproveche!



--------------- Added [DATE]1243577680[/DATE] at [TIME]1243577680[/TIME] ---------------

Originally Posted by Wayne Luke

Sounds interesting. Have never had Spanish food before. Don't even recall a Spanish restaurant nearby though we have everything else. Japanese, Korean, Chinese, French, Indian, Persian, Turkish, English Pub. We do have a lot of Mexican and Baja (Cali-Mex) style restaurants though.

Wow Wayne, I can't beleive you've not tried any Spanish Food. Perhaps Mrs Luke might like to try one of my recipes for your approval