Paella

 

Paella is Spain’s version of pulau or pilaf - as you can guess from the name.    Although everyone associates it with shellfish, oddly enough, seafood isn’t always included, but on the other hand meat is, so this version could hardly be described as authentic.    However, I have tried to use the traditional method and seasoning.    Paella can contain a number of different vegetables such as green beans or fresh broad beans.    A lot of veg~an cooks add artichokes, but I can always taste the vinegar that has been added to the jars and I feel this would not improve the flavour.    Many paella include white beans of one sort or another so I’ve included cooked cannellini beans (very popular in Spain), but broad, lima, haricot or any white bean would all work well.    You can leave them out altogether if you want: I do when the weather is really hot and I have less appetite.   

One of the ways in which paella is similar to Persian pilaf is that it is cooked in such a way that the rice at the bottom of the pan forms a crust, know as socarrat.    This is full of flavour and adds to this already delicious dish.     All the cookery books tell you that this crust won’t form if you use a non-stick frying pan: that may well be correct if you have one coated in Teflon, but my Spanish Valira frying pan/skillet apparently has a multi-layer non-stick surface made from titanium (!) and this certainly allows for the socarrat to develop.   I reckon you need to be reasonably generous with the olive oil, but, more importantly, once you’ve added the water, don’t stir it.    If you do, you’ll lift up the rice that’s at the bottom of the pan and the socarrat will have to start all over again.    However, don’t worry it it doesn't form: the paella will still be yummy.

As a reality check, for voyagers who don’t want to make or buy sausage of some description, I’ve tried leaving out the sausage. It still tastes fantastic. In fact, I’m often too lazy to make chorizo, and the photo shows an alternative with no sausage and with chick peas instead of white beans.

Serves 2

 

Ingredients

1/2 tsp saffron threads, crumbled

1 tbsp white wine or water

1/4 cup freeze-dried peas

2 veg~an Italian sausages or 1/2 Chorizo, thickly sliced

olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1 small red bell pepper, cut into strips

2 cloves garlic, chopped, minced or crushed

 a handful of green beans cut into 30 mm lengths

1 medium tomato, diced

1 tbsp capers

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/2 tsp thyme

 1/4 tsp cayenne

3/4 cups Spanish or arborio rice

1 1/2 cups water

 1/2 cup of cooked cannellini beans

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp mushroom stock powder 

black pepper to taste

fresh parsley

Method:

• Put the water or white wine into a bowl.    If it’s cold, try and warm it a little to help infuse the saffron.    Add the crumbled strands to the bowl and set aside.
• In a small saucepan, add the peas to ¼ cup lightly-salted water, cover, bring to the boil and turn off the heat.    Set aside. Or pour boiling water over the pea and add a little salt.
• Before starting on the paella itself, and assuming you only have one large frying pan or skillet, cook the slices of sausage in this now, in some olive oil.    Fry both sides until slightly crisp and then remove them from the pan onto a plate.    An additional advantage of doing this now is that the remaining oil adds additional flavour to the paella.
• Heat a little more oil in a the pan, over a medium heat. Once heated, add the onions and peppers. Sauté until softened and lightly browned, about 3-5 minutes.
• Add the garlic and sauté for a further minute.
• If you are using them, add the green beans.
• Now add the tomato, capers, smoked paprika, sweet paprika and thyme. Sauté for a couple of minutes.
• Put a little more oil in the pan and add the rice.    Stir everything thoroughly so that everything is well mixed and all the grains of rice coated with the various seasonings. Lightly toast the rice for a minute or so until it’s just starting to stick.
• Now add the water, salt, pepper, mushroom stock, saffron plus its water and the cannellini beans.    Now add your sausage pieces and stir quickly to ensure everything is evenly distributed.    Bring to a slow boil.
• Turn the heat down and keep an eye on the pan for a few minutes.    You want the liquid to be just moving, but not boiling.    The rice should take about 20 minutes to cook.    If all the liquid is absorbed at 15 minutes, carefully add another ¼ cup of water.   
• After 20 minutes, all the water should be absorbed and the rice should be cooked – this rice is not as soft as risotto, but certainly you don’t want it al dente.
• By now you should be able to hear a gentle crackling as the socarrat forms and there should be a nice toasty smell.    If it doesn’t happen, well it doesn’t happen.    With luck, practice will make perfect.    The problem with this sort of recipe is that it does rather depend on variables like how absorbent the rice is, how hot your burner is and the quality of the frying pan.    But if there is no lovely, crusty rice, the paella will still be very good.
• When you are sure that the rice is cooked, turn the heat down as low as it can go (and/or put the pan on a flame-tamer).    This will allow the crust to keep on forming. Take out a teaspoon or so of paella and check the salt.    If it needs more, sprinkle some over the whole pan – there’s still time for it to be absorbed.
• Spread the drained peas over the top of the rice (don't mix in). Cover the pan and and let the paella stand for 5 minutes or so.    If there’s the slightest smell of burning, turn off the flame.   
• Once the peas are heated through, turn off the flame and sprinkle chopped, fresh parsley over everything, should you be lucky enough to have some.    Grind some more black pepper over the top and then serve on hot plates.

Notes:

• If you don’t have mushroom stock powder, leave it out.    The mushroom adds a nice earthy taste you won’t get from other stock powders.
• Saffron gives the paella its distinct flavour and colour.    Well, certainly the colour: with ingredients like sausage and tomato, it doesn’t always come through. I suspect real paella has a greater proportion of rice than this recipe. However, you can’t be mean with it, if you want to be able to taste it.    Saffron also happens to be a shocking price and some would say a very wasteful crop, seeing that only the stamens are taken from a zillion crocuses.    (However, the fields must look gorgeous when they flower!)    If either of these reasons puts you off using saffron, substitute a ¼ tsp turmeric, which will give you a similar, lovely colour.    Bear in mind that the flavour is not only different, but quite noticeable, so only use as much as you need to colour the rice.
• This recipe really needs freeze-dried peas (or, I suppose, if you are voyaging on a rather larger income, frozen).    These are readily available in many countries and, as long as the locker doesn’t get too hot, keep well for several years. Apparently they still retain a lot of their nutrients, so are more than just a pretty addition.  If you don’t have them, try and add something else green, to keep the paella looking attractive.  You could substitute half the red pepper for green and add some diced carrot, if you don’t have anything beyond the normal vegetables on board.
• The green beans are a traditional addition but not always easy for sailors to find.  I have successfully used thinly-sliced carrots to add to the variety.
• If you have no fresh tomato, you can use one from a tin, or ¼ cup diced tomatoes from a can, or some tomato purée (in which case, add it with the water).
• Mushrooms can be used instead of the white beans if you don’t want the paella to be too filling, but I don’t feel they really go too well with everything else in this instance.
• Chick peas substitute well for white beans, and are, of course, very popular in Spain.
• Swiss chard is also a good addition and can stand in for the peas and/or beans if necessary. I realise that it’s far from being a voyaging vegetable, but it will keep up to a week if bought very fresh and treated with care.

 

You will find many more rice recipes here 

Some notes on cooking rice

 

 

I entitled this 'Some notes', because it definitely is not definitive.  For a start, I cannot tell you how to cook long-grain white rice because I haven't personally done so since I was around 20 years old.  However, if you are a veg~an, chances are that you are interested in both food and health (as well as being compassionate towards animals), so I will assume that you, too, will want to eat brown rice, with its extra nutrition and fibre.  In a nutshell, the bran and germ, the two outer layers of brown rice, contain most of the vitamins and minerals in the grain. Those layers get removed when manufacturers make white rice, and that’s why brown rice is the healthier choice.  You can find out a lot more on the Internet - there are thousands and thousands of websites comparing and contrasting white and brown rice.  In my opinion, white rice, like white flour and white sugar comes under the description of 'pure, white and deadly'.

For me, the best of them all is brown basmati rice and while I will endlessly sing the praises of brown basmati rice, if I don't actually state it in the ingredient list, assume the recipe is written for 'brown rice', which takes longer to cook, although any Indian recipes can be assumed to include it.

To cook perfect brown rice in a saucepan

 

2 portions

1 cup water OR 1/3 cup seawater + 2/3 cup fresh

1/2 cup brown rice

1/4 tsp salt

 

Method:

• Put the water and rice in a medium saucepan. Add the salt if you're not using seawater.
• Bring to the boil and cover.
• Put the pan over a low heat and cook for 35 to 40 minutes.  Use a flame tamer if necessary, but the water should be just simmering.  If it boils too quickly, the water will steam off rather than beaing absorbed
• Take off the heat and let the rice stand for a few minutes to absorb the last of the water, if necessary.

Notes:

• Brown basmati rice, as well as tasting the best, in my opinion, is much quicker to cook - 20 - 25 minutes - and much more likely to absorb the water perfectly and end up with nicely separated grains.  I really recommend it.
• If you are buying 'long grain, brown rice', it will vary tremendously from one brand to another.  While the 2 of water to 1 of rice has always worked for me, the cooking time can vary from about 25 minutes up to 45 minutes, obviously depending on the varietal.  When you stock up with new rice, its worth spending a bit of time getting to know it.
• If you have only one burner, you can cook the rice for 5 minutes, take it off for 5 minutes, put it back on, etc.
• If you don’t want to juggle or use more than one burner, cook the rice for 20 minutes and then leave it to one side. It will continue cooking. About 5 minutes before you intend to serve it, check to ensure that it’s fully cooked and that all the water is absorbed. If it isn’t or hasn’t, put the pan back on for 5 minutes. This method is not entirely foolproof, however, and you might end up with a less-than-perfect result, although the rice will still be satisfactory.
• If you have good appetites, you might find 3/4 cup a more appropriate amount for 2 people.  I find 1/2 cup makes me two ample portions.

Pressure cooker rice

It's hardly worth doing this with brown basmati, but the other types vary tremendously.  It appears to me that the longer and thinner the grains, the easier and quicker brown rice is to cook.  You will have gathered by now that to me, brown basmati is the queen of rice, and well worth investing in if you find some that is affordable.  Because I am now almost vegan, I have a bit more money to spend on food, and so basmati rice is one of my primary indulgences.

 

Cooking rice in the pressure cooker is a bit more hit and miss than in the saucepan, simply because of its variability, so you may need to experiment a little with the timing.  However, the good news is that the longer it needs to cook, the less chance you have of overcooking it.  Moreover,  I think that brown rice is anyway much more forgiving and much less likely to dissolve into a horrid mush.  (To be perfectly honest, it is literally decades since I cooked long-grain, white rice, so forgive me if some of my comments about it are awry.)  I have also come to realise that there is a big difference between cooking on paraffin and cooking on meths, for example, so it's hard to be too definite with timings, something which is only exacerbated by the facts that not all pressure cookers announce at what pressure they cook and a big stainless steel pressure cooker will take a lot longer to heat up than a small alloy one.  All in all, I am rather flabbergasted at how the majority of recipe bloggers can tell me that my onions will be cooked to perfection in 7 minutes and similar statements!  I find cooking - well at least cooking on a boat - much more art than science.  Anyway, back to the pressure cooker rice, assuming 'standard' brown rice. 

 

2 portions

Ingredients

 

1 cup water OR 1/3 cup seawater + 2/3 cup fresh

1/2 cup brown rice

1/4 tsp salt

Method:

• Put the water and rice into a pressure cooker. Add the salt if you are using all fresh water.
• Bring up to pressure.
• Lower the flame and cook over a medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, just keeping the pressure going.
• Take the pan off and let the pressure reduce naturally. The rice will stay hot for a long time in the sealed pressure cooker, and, within reason, the longer it stands, the drier it will be.

Note:

• As mentioned above, brown rice varies widely from varietal to varietal and brand to brand.  If you eat a lot of rice, like I do, you will probably be buying at least 5 kilos at a time, so it's well worth carefully experimenting with cooking times, when you restock.  When I was voyaging I would often buy 20 k at a time.

Wild rice takes a long time to cook - you want to give it 45 minutes.  However, It will cook in the pressure cooker in 10 to 15 minutes (depending on the usual variables) and when I mix it with basmati, I find the latter hasn't suffered from the extra time.  If I am cooking it on the stove top, I put the wild rice in first and put the basmati in about 10 minutes later.

 

Black rice and red rice also take a lot of cooking.  I can't say I am impressed with black rice and that being so, I'm afraid I haven't tried red rice.  But then, I'm besotted with basmati!

 

Short grain, eg Arborio  I'm about to make a liar out of myself here: I use Arborio rice for risotto and paella and it confess to using white.  This is because my attempts with brown shot-grain rice have been less than successful.  Because New Zealand is a small country and because I live far away from cities in the Far North, there is little demand for 'exotic' foods.  Possibly there are types of short-grain, brown rice that go satisfactorily starchy, but the are not available to me.  To cook this type of rice, simply follow the instructions in the recipe, because sometimes you want obviously separate grains and other times you want the result to be creamy.  

There is a lot more about cooking rice here.