A tale of two Paella's

This post is a throwback to my days as a child going to the best Spanish restaurant in town, Casa Madrid.  This lovely place (which unfortunately is no more) was owned by my mothers cousin's father in-law (yeah us Italians always know someone who knows someone) and prove to be some of the most delicious Spanish food I have ever tasted.  Their signature dish was their seafood paella which was above all magical when it entered your mouth.  This magic is what I tried to recreate being here in Grenada with an abundance of fresh fish.  

First you start with the goods.  This dish was made possible from my friend Ellery who brought down some delicious Chorizo for me as a gift.  Pictured here is the beautiful slices of pork that I must admit, not all of the slices made it into the pot.

I had to make sure they were crisped up a bit so I put them in the pan with a little oil and let them sizzle down.  This also adds tremendous flavor to the oil (style points if you want, this is purely an optional step in the process)

Next I add my (1 whole) chopped onion, parsley, and garlic and let it get softened for about 5-10 minutes. 

While making this meal I realized the pot wasn't big enough, so I set up another one! Plus I wanted to make a second batch for my friends who don't eat pork.  I deal with all food sensibilities and want my friends to enjoy the fruits of my labor.  So down below is batch number #2 (notice the lack in color, but thats okay...)

Then I threw in the rice.  I used your plain old ordinary rice but traditionally a short grained rice is used for paella.  I let the rice cook for a couple minutes, toasting them a bit (like you would do with risotto), then I added the (hot) water to the mix.  Shortly after you can add about a teaspoon or two of Saffron for that beautiful yellow color and taste.  Let this all cook for about 10-15 minutes.  With paella, you don't want the rice to be too soft.  

Shown here is some fresh lambie as the locals call it.  I call it conch or squingili (which is also the nickname I give to my sister Victoria).  I diced this up into small chunks and added a bevy of other seafood, such as mussels, shrimps, octopus, and clams.  The proper way to make this would be to get the seafood in their shells (for the mussels and clams that is) but work with what you got!

 After about 20 minutes and a couple chopped tomatoes (as well as seasoning with salt, pepper, and paprika along the way...), you'll get something that looks like this.  One big thing that I forgot to mention is that throughout this whole process, you shouldn't stir the very botom of the pot.  This is so you can create whats called the "Socarrat" or the bottom crust of rice that is super delicious and is preferred amongst aficionados.

And there you have it.  Throw some fresh parsley on top at the end for garnish and you've got yourself a creamy delicious paella.  Buen Provecho!

My friend Dan can tell you how he enjoyed it...just look at that smile.