{"id":3586,"date":"2016-07-19T17:33:03","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T00:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alteritas.net\/GXL\/?p=3586"},"modified":"2016-08-30T18:35:57","modified_gmt":"2016-08-31T01:35:57","slug":"quail-paella-paella-con-codorniz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alteritas.net\/GXL\/?p=3586","title":{"rendered":"Quail Paella – Paella con codorniz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paella<\/a> is as much event as food, though argument persists about its right and wrong ingredients and the steps of its confection. I can\u2019t conceive of one without imagining it cooked on a bed of coals on a beach. Purists claim pine and orange branches are a must. Rosemary cuttings would do the job, if you had an open fire.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never been someone to respect rules, culinary or not, but the confusion of variants in print and online means we have as much license as we wish so long as the spirit of the thing is respected. The dish should be not just rustic but hybrid in flavour. The main components, variously seafood, pork, poultry, hot sausage, garden\u00a0vegetables and spices, should evoke open air and the smack of both chaparral and sea. That said, I have made both pescatarian and herbal vegetarian paellas. They appeared to please\u00a0those whose personal tastes go that way.<\/p>\n

The recipes call for saffron, no problem in our Persian-inflected household where the pestled powder from the stigma\u00a0of crocus sativus (<\/i>‘cultivated crocus\u2019) is a staple always on hand. There is no substitute for its particular odour and aura, related chemically to iodine and chloroform. Yet let its absence not keep you from proceeding.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t recall why quail leapt into this particular frying pan but I do know the artichokes followed from their freshness and cheap availability in the market where I shopped that morning.<\/p>\n

This procedure might seem epic. It goes quickly with wine to hand.\u00a0 If the composed paella is kept covered and warm, it can sit for as long as a hour while the guests socialize. And you too.<\/p>\n

For a 16 inch pan:<\/b><\/p>\n

4 or 5 quail cut in half
\n2 large chorizo-style sausages, e.g. Mexican loganiza
\n<\/i>14 jumbo shrimp, perhaps shelled but definitely de-veined
\n2 1\/2 cups of paella rice
\n2 large artichokes
\n2 sweet peppers, any colour
\n1 white onion
\n5 cloves of chopped garlic
\nsmall tin of unsweetened tomato paste (such as the Sadaf brand)
\nminced lemon zest
\nflat-leaved parsley torn into pieces
\npiper\u00f3n<\/i> (smoky paprika)
\n2 cups each of white wine and chicken stock
\nolive oil
\nsaffranade<\/i> (pinch of powdered saffron dissolved in a 1\/4\u00a0cup of hot water)
\nharissa (to adduce a Moroccan note)
\nsalt and pepper<\/p>\n

For the quail rub<\/b>: tumeric, sumac and oregano muddled in olive oil with salt and pepper<\/p>\n

Serves seven<\/b><\/p>\n

***
\nSplit the quail in half. Wash and pat dry. Imbue
\nwith the rub. Leave an hour or two, keeping cool.
\nWith a serrated blade, cut off the top third
\nof each artichoke. Trim the stalks and quarter.
\nShear off the leaf spines, working in a spiral.
\nMicrowave in the steam of a covered dish
\nfor four minutes. Cool, pry the fibrous chokes out.<\/p>\n

In a skillet, not the paella pan itself,
\nsaute the chorizo pieces, extruding
\ntheir fat. Put aside. Deglaze the residue.
\nAdd a splash of olive oil. Brown the quail halves,
\nouter sides first. Do not overcook. Reserve.<\/p>\n

In the same skillet make a sofrito of
\n<\/i>onion, garlic, parsley, \u00a0lemon zest and\u00a0piper\u00f3n<\/em>.
\nJoin in the tomato paste, then wine or stock.
\nReduce. Add the rice. Stir-fry at high heat
\nuntil glaucous, adding liquids enough to
\nkeep the mixture from sticking or seizing up.
\nWhen the grains are opalescent but still hard,
\nturn in the saffranade<\/i>. Simmer ten minutes.<\/p>\n

Transfer the concoction into the heated
\npan. Arrange the quail on their bed of rice,
\naround them the shrimp, chorizo, sweet peppers
\nand artichoke sections. Cover. Nothing now
\nto do until your guests show signs of hunger.
\nWhen ready to launch, pass the composition
\ninto a very hot oven for fifteen minutes.<\/p>\n

If the grains are not yet soft, add water
\nas required. Slip briefly back in the oven.
\nWhen done, for want of a fire pit on a beach
\nset the pan onto a stove burner to toast
\nthe bottom layer of rice into a crust
\ncalled socarrat<\/i>, from the Catalan spoken
\nin the hinterlands around Valencia.<\/p>\n

Garnish with lemon wedges and parsley.
\nProvide harissa on the side. Serve with cool
\nred wine and paper towels. This food is hands-on.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2338\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paella is as much event as food, though argument persists about its right and wrong ingredients and the steps of its confection. I can\u2019t conceive of one without imagining it cooked on a bed of coals on a beach. Purists claim pine and orange branches are a must. Rosemary cuttings would do the job, if … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Quail Paella – Paella con codorniz”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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