The High-Tech Paella

So this week, I am going to nail down the Spanish paella dish. Paella is basically a rice casserole dish. It was developed on the east coast of Spain, in a strip of Mediterranean coastline known as Valencia. The Valencians use a lot fish and shell fish in their Paellas. The rest of the Spaniards tend to prefer chicken and rabbit.

I am not a big fan of sea foods. I was raised in the desert of California. We don't eat a lot of funky fish products there. For this reason I think I am going to go for rabbit and chicken. I think I ate rabbit once in Germany. It was good. It was breaded with seasoning like shake-n-bake chicken. I enjoyed the flavor.

I have never attempted to cook the old hossenfeffer. This will be a first. I am sure somebody in Los Angeles sells rabbit meat. I just don't know who. This will be a challenge.

Besides the rabbit meat, there are a number of other key ingredients which you have to obtain, or you won't have a legit Paella. Here they are enumerated:

1. Calasparra Bomba rice.

So-called Bomba rice is a variety that was developed in Calasparra under the Moores. It is a short grained rice that takes a long time to grow, vis-a-vis other rice varieties. This stuff is expensive. I just bough 11 pounds (5 kilos) of imported St. Thomas Calasparra Bomb rice imported from Spain. It set me back $70 bucks. Most Asians in California would scoff at that.

It is a big chubby grain. It is the preferred type of rice in Valencia. It has two key characteristics: It can absorb 300% of its mass in water, and it is very non-sticky. Ever since I've been cooking rice, I've added water and/or broth at a 2:1 ratio. Not with Bomba. Bomba requires a 3:1 ratio.

Bomba is unique among rice because it can suck up 150% of the liquid other rices can without getting sloppy. It's the ShamWow of rice. It can absorb more chicken broth, of clam stock, or beef broth, than any other variety of rice. If you intend to use chicken stock, and I do, this means more flavor in every grain of rice. Cooks shower this rice with praise, calling it the rock-n-roll star of the rice world.

2. Smoked Spicy Paprika

I am told that Paprika is the staple spice in the Spaniard's diet. Consider it like black-pepper in our American diet. You throw it on everything. I find Paprika to be very weak, even in the hottest form. You have to add a punch, like two tablespoons full, to obtain a result. It adds color, but not much flavor unless you heap it on. Then you should expect everything to be red. I am told you add a full tablespoon or more to a good 15 inch Paella.

3. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (cold pressed)

We like to season a fry pan with butter here in America. Not so in Spain. You do it with olive oil, just as you would in Italian cooking. The Spaniards claim they have the very best olive oil. The Italians dispute that. I cannot tell whether there is a difference between the two. Rather, let me rephrase that. I have cooked with both, and I cannot taste or smell any differences in the end product. I would rather use California olives not exposed to Chernobyl radiation.

I think an olive is an olive. As long as you make sure you get extra virgin cold pressed oil, your good to go.

4. Slow Roasted Roma Tomatoes

I am not buying them canned. I am going to roast them myself. It's pretty easy. You just set the NuWave Oven on low and let it run for 60 minutes. Roasting vegtables has a way of browing the skin, adding flavor, and evaporating water, concentrating the good stuff (sugars and oils). This brings out a lot of flavor.

5. Broth/stock

Paella is not cooked in plain water. Broth gives it distinction. The broth you use depends on the Paella you are going for. Sea food Paella should have fish stock, or clam stock, or something like it. Chicken based Paellas should have chicken stock. A beefy Paella should have beef stock.

6. Roasted Piquillo peppers

Supposedly, these need to be imported from Spain. I don't think so. I think red bell peppers and red Serrano's will work just fine. I might even try an Anaheim here. They're all going into the NuWave Oven Pro. I am roasting them myself.

7. Saffron

Now we come to the real featured performer of the show: Saffron. In their most honest moments, Spaniards will tell you that you can mess around with all the ingredients of the paella except two. Two are sacred. The first is the Bomba rice. The second is the Saffron. Without these two ingredients, you just didn't get it right, and the product cannot be called a Paella.

Just what the hell is Saffron, and why does it cost $300 per ounce? Saffron is a spice derived from the Saffron Crocus (Crocus Sativus). Flocks of Spanish women walk over the hillsides where millions of these flowers grow, and they hand-pluck the stigmas out of the carpel of these flows. Each flower has only 3 stigmas. The stigmas are dry roasted, mostly by hand.

When you buy Saffron, the good vendors will literally send you a bunch of dried out flower stigmas in a tin can or a bottle. Saffron has long been the most expensive spice in the world. Once again, the Spaniards claim they have the best stuff, despite the fact that this flower is native to Asia. Spain is European Union country. They get paid in Euros, and they have a pretty outrageous set of labor laws that make any kind of work, expensive. So get ready to pay through the nose, consumers.

When you throw a bit of this stuff in your Paella (1/4 teaspoon for a 3 quart dish) it will color your entire rice dish saffron-yellow. It also adds a lot of flavor. People who try it, like it. I find Turmeric does a fine job coloring rice yellow, and adds a better flavor, but I wouldn't dare mess with the tradition. My dad claims Saffron is 90% bullshit hype; but you have to put some Saffron in the dish. You can also use some Turmeric.

Traditional Chinese medicine declares that there are 252 medical aliments that can be treated with Saffron in your diet. Consider this a bonus. Western medicine has determined that Turmeric has the greatest cancer-fighting power of any dietary product known to mankind. Consider using them both together. They are good for your health.

Prep-tech

Paella is supposed to be cooked out-doors, over an open wood fire. It takes a long time; 3 hours in most cases. They usually use a cheap steel Paella (which litterally means pan). It is typically made out of a low-grade of stainless steel. This is not 18-10 culinary stainless surgical steel.

I'm not going to go that route. I have picked out a 5 quart casserole dish from Le Creuset, which is made out of enameled cast iron... of course. That puppy is going on top of a Fagor portable induction cooktop I have. This sucker cranks at 1600w and turns the entire pan into a heating element. It destroys gas in terms of CO2 output, and crushes electric radiants in terms of energy efficiency.

I am banking that enameled cast iron and induction will combine to produce the best results. A Paella purist would not approve, but I don't give a damn about that. I intend to get better results.

Paella is a dish that is cooked in an open pan. Unlike almost every other rise dish known world-wide, you never cover the paella pan. Let the water evaporate off naturally in an open pan. This dish is cooked over low heat for a long period of time. Typically it is brewed over a small open-fire at low temperature for something like 2-3 hours. This is a comparatively slow cooking process.

Set your induction cooktop for something like 150 to 160 degrees.

Update

I just found a source of rabbit meat. The source is Harmony Farms 2824 Foothill Boulevard, La Crescenta, CA 91214-3499. The also claim that they have Alligator meat. I suppose that is legal. There are now too many of those critters dwelling in limited habitats in the south. To prevent incursions into human territory, they are issuing licenses to commercial hunters.

Adding some Gator to the Paella would be interesting. According to the rumor, Gators have the most succulent meat.

Enameled Cast Iron?

Lately, I have been looking into upgrading my cookware. I do a lot of cooking for myself. Pretty soon, I will have to cook all the time. When I have that Gastric Bypass surgery, there will be no more adventures out for eats for yours truly.

The educational courses I have already had warn us to forget about eating out for about a year or so after the surgery. There is no way it will ever work out. You will either have to carry out 80% your food, or you will throw up. In either case, you will be malnourished. You have to watch your micro-nutrients very closely when you have this surgery.

We have been warned they everyone throws up at least once. Sooner or later, your co-workers lure you out to McDonalds for a Happy Meal. Surely you can eat something as small as a child's happy meal, right? Nope. The grease will make you sick immediately. Remember, they bypass the upper intestine where that grease is processed. You will throw up violently, and then the mere smell of McDonald's hamburgers and fries will make you sick.

No more ventures out for food. Consider cooking for the rest of your life. It will workout better for you that way.

Well... if I am going to cook every damn meal, I intend to get the most out of it. I am going to do the gourmet thing. I am watching the Food Network now more than ever. I am mastering at least one new dish per week. This week I am cheating. I'm learning Alton Brown's apple pie.

Next week Paella. The week after that, engagement chicken.

This brings us back to the topic at hand: Enameled Cast Iron. Just what the hell is it? I am sure you all have seen old-fashioned black cast iron pots and pans. These are the ones traditional american settlers used to cook on the Prairie.

Enameled Cast Iron contains the same core black iron pot or pan. The difference is that they coat it with a robust layer of porcelain enamel. We're not talking about just any old enamel either. We're talking about the good stuff; the same material they make Glock handguns out of. The same material dentists use to make the most robust surgically implanted artificial teeth.

Why would anybody coat iron in enamel? First of all, you get the toughest non-stick surface you've ever seen. It's much more robust than Teflon, which is a cheap substitute. Second it is way more non-stick than Teflon. Teflon is easier to clean than Steel or Iron, but it still isn't easy to clean. Enameled Cast Iron usually wipes clean with a plain cloth. I'm not joking. I tried it. It's stupid easy to clean these things. If you hate washing the pots and pans, try this. It will take the surgeons 3 hours to get the smile off your face.

Just think of how easy it is to clean your toilet brilliant white. With a simple spray and a quick wipe, it's clean. Just think of what it is subjected too. This is what porcelain is capable of doing for you. Toilet porcelain is not good quality stuff either. This is cheap porcelain.

Second of all, enameled cast iron works with induction. I am going to have to write a piece about induction cooking soon. Suffice it to say that electrical coils and gas ovens are obsolete. You know that Viking Oven everybody used to want? Forget it. Totally outdated and outmoded.

Induction is a trip. You put you pot or pan on top of an electromagnet cranking waves at up to 1,800 watts. The electromagnet never gets hot. The pot or pan does. The pot or pan is the heating element. The entire pot or the whole pan becomes the heating element. It doesn't have one hotspot. Chefs who try it praise the amazing evenness of the cooking they get out of induction. They usually switch.

Now the problem with using electromagnets to heat metal is that you must use a metal that responds to magnetism. You have two options: Iron and Steel. No bloody Aluminum. No bloody copper. No bloody glass. This is a shame, to a certain degree, because copper has marvelous qualities to recommend it.

Enameled cast iron is iron. It works fine with induction. You'll love it.

There are some other reason to go with enameled cast iron: acid and base. Lime and Lemon are two very important ingredients in a lot of recipes. Oranges and tomatoes are also. All of these pack a corrosive whallop. They will degrade Teflon and Iron. Tobasco and hot sauces will rip these materials to shreds. Stainless steel is mostly immune if it is good quality stuff. Enameled cast iron survives just fine thanks.

For a guy like Tyler Florence, Bobby Flay, or Alton Brown the choice is simple: 18-10 Culinary Stainless Steel. They claim they don't like anything else, although everyone of these guys has at least one enameled cast iron Dutch oven. Every time they have to braise something, the enameled cast iron comes out from under the counter.

Some of the cooks on the Food Network have been making the switch to enameled cast iron lately. Giada DeLaurentis has been using this gear for her latest shows. She has good reason too. This is is really good gear.

So why the hang-up on stainless steel? There are some reasons, good and bad:

1. Stainless can take pretty extreme heat. This is presuming your recipe requires extreme heat, which is almost never. This also presumes your grill can produce extreme heat, which is almost never.
2. Alton Brown claims that you cannot make a pan sauce on a non-stick surface. He's mostly talking about Teflon. He's partially talking about Porcelain. You need sticky steel to produce all that good nasty brown stuff that makes a good pan sauce. I will admit: I like a nice pan-sauce, but I am not at all certain it is impossible to do with a porcelain surface.
3. Stainless is the traditional weapon of choice. A deep bias in favor of Stainless steel is bred into professional cooks who go to cooking schools. They demonstrate this bias every day on the cooking shows. The bias is passed on.
4. Steel heats faster than iron. Enameled cast iron takes longer to heat than regular iron. This is mostly a thing of the past. If you intend to use induction, this is not much of an issue. Enameled cast iron heats up very fast under induction.

Personally, I have gotten to the point where I have been convinced that enameled cast iron is the way to go. If you are going to get an induction cooktop, or if you have one already: Consider enameled cast iron.

So how did I discover enameled cast iron? Two pathways of research simultaneously converged on enameled cast iron. First, I was looking hard at induction cooktops. Second, I discovered this French brand of enameled cast iron cookware called Le Creuset at Whole Foods.

Le Creuset pots and pans sell for outrageous prices. The tags say $200 and $300 per piece for each one of these things. I wondered just why the hell rich people would be stupid enough to spend that kind of money for colorful cookware. Well, it turns out there are a few reasons. They claim these enameled cast iron pieces are so durable they will last for generations. Your grandkids can use them. Second, they work with induction. Third, they wipe clean with a paper towel. No need for the washing machine.

It turns out there are several more vendors of enameled cast iron out there in the world. There is a little Tennessee company called Lodge that has been in business for over 100 years that does this cookware also. They do it for a fraction of the cost of Le Creuset. They make good stuff also.

So I am going to buy a bunch of Lodge enameled cast iron and help Tennessee to recover from the flood.