This entry was posted on Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 at 12:42 pm and is filed under Misc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Mediterranean Recipes – Paella from Denia
Englishman in Spain – Spanish Food
Prawn and Paellar (Paella de Gambas y Coliflo)
In the various regions of Spain you will come across a many different types of the famous rice dish called Paella . The dish I bring you today is from the town of Denia, Costa Blanca, in the Valencian community.
Originally the paella was a dish eaten by shepherds who would venture into the countryside with their flockfor many days at a time . They would always carry a bag of rice with them. When they were ready to prepare food they would trap a rabbit and search for edible snails. With the rice , their rabbit and snails and some water they had all the ingredients to make paella Valenciana. Closer to the sea the the ingredients became seafood, and there are several variations of seafood paellas.
Today we have a Prawn and Cauliflower recipe. It is a really easydish to make .This dish is eaten with salad and crusty bread, and of course, copious amounts of Red Wine ! You can make this in a good size frying pan on the hob but for best results you can buy paella dishes in different sizes.
Ingredients for 4-6 People.
1 kg of fresh large Prawns (these can be pre cooked an frozen)
1 small cauliflower cut into small florets
300 grams of Paella Rice
2 litres water
1 table spoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of saffron or paella mix if you can find it.
1 teaspoon ground black pepper corns
4 good size pieces of chopped garlic
1 Teaspoon of mixed Mediterranean herbs
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 fish stock cubes
first of all , peal all the prawns saving12 which we will use to decorate the top . Take the shells and heads and simmer in a pan for 20-30 mins. Do not let this boil . Strain off the husks leaving the liquid stock in the saucepan . Add the black pepper and the stock cubes . leave to one side. Heat up your pan and add the olive oil, half the salt and half the garlic . Fry the florets of cauliflower Mediterranean herbs and olive oil , until they start to brown. At this point add the rice to the oil and stir a few seconds and then pour in the prawn stock. Mix in the saffron and ensure that the rice is equally covering the base of the pan. Pour in half a litre of water and bring to the boil. Once boiling lower the heat to a simmer.
In a another frying pan fry your prawns in the remaining salt, garlic, oil, herbs and black . Add the prawns to your rice (keeping back the unshelled prawns) and stir in, again be sure that once stirred the mixture is left even in the pan. Decorate the surface of the rice with the remaining unshelled prawns . at this point a paella must not be stirred again. As the water reduces into the rice , check regularly to see if the rice is ready. If not and the mixture begins to dry out add more water . Keep topping up the water until the rice is cooked. Turn up the heat for a few seconds so that all the water reduces and the rice forms a crust. Take of the heat and leave to stand for 5 minutes and then enjoy !
The Englishman in Spain lives with his wife and pets in Gandia in the Valencia Community. They run a small e commerce business selling Purse Hooks or Handbag Hooks and Purse Accessories.