Monday May 26, 2014 After a brief break from Monday Night Dining, for vacation, we decided on a Spanish theme this week. Guests include our regular trio, John (an old friend of Steph’s), Trish and Merry-Anne. When we arrived to prep, we are greeted by a rather large and appealing jug of Sangria, with lots of boozy fruit!! The weather is gorgeous, so we are eating al fresco. I suggested that we not overdo the tapas course, otherwise nobody would have interest in the rest of the meal, so we managed to whittle it down to: Spanish Tomato Bread with Jamon Serrano
Croquettas with Smoke Paprika Aioli Grilled Artichoke Hearts
Piquillo Peppers stuffed with Goat Cheese.
Tortilla espanola (finally got to use some of those spoons)
and Lamb Albondigas with Saffron Tomato Sauce
Whew! Someone has a different idea of what “don’t overdo the Tapas” means. I hope they will still be hungry….. Now let’s see if we can manage our first attempt at Paella over real charcoal. Start with Mom’s Paella pan, olive oil, leeks and Chorizo.
Add the smoked Paprika and La Bomba rice. If I may quote the Paella Professor “There is only one way to truly honor Jesus in our lives, and it is not to keep his commandments, nor honor his sacrifice, nor study his teachings. Rather, it is to pour your rice in a cross when making a Paella. Now, while I have seen great Paella chefs pour the rice erratically throughout the pan, such an exhibition has been the exception rather than rule. The great majority of Paella experts all agree: the rice is to be poured in the shape of a cross (please cross yourself now).” I have also heard it said that it helps judge the amount of rice to use, but I think I will go with the professor, but I’ll gloss over the sacrilegious part in the middle…..
Add the broth and saffron and let it cook down. Now we get to add the Mussels, clams, calamari, shrimp, and realize that we are again out of control and there is no room for the cod.
So I added the cod anyway. with peas and some parsley and voila!!!!
Unfortunately two things happened during this course. The sky was not cooperating and insisted on sending rain drops earthward, and much worse one of our diners had a reaction to the smoked paprika and had to take a miss on the dessert. After the Paella I heard the words I was dreading…. “I am stuffed.” I may have whined a bit, “but there’s dessert.” The reply “well of course there’s room for dessert” gave me hope. So we finished with “The Perfect Flan.”
Well it seemed we were not quite done… We needed to have our musical selections for the evening, and look Steph bought me a harmonica, after reading the Indian dinner blog… So with Shawn on piano, John on guitar, Steph on Violin and me on harmonica, we set out on a series of English Country Dances, which tied up our evening on the right note. As I always say, if you start on the right note and end on the right note, it’s all good.
I was delighted this morning to find left over Paella in the fridge, which will serve as lunch, dinner and breakfast for several days! The dessert was wonderful as well, so I’m glad there was a little room left for that. The English country dances were perfect for our musical combo – as long as they were in C major or A minor we could all squeeze out some notes. Thanks again to the best chefs in Toronto for a marvellous tour de force. What’s on for next week?
Not Spanish country dances?
Sounds like a great evening, as usual. The tapas alone would have been enough! Looks delicious.
Fabulous blog with excellent photographic detail. I especially enjoyed the tip about pouring the rice in the shape of a cross when making paella. Adds a little ceremonial rite to the whole endeavour. So glad you’re capturing a record of your wonderful menus. Great idea.
The best part is that we were discussing exactly this, during the tapas course. How the ceremony and traditions of food add to the experience. Plus I love a good story!