New! Spanish Garden Paella
Last year we went to Andalucia just at the end of Winter and we loved the rice dishes that were on the menu everywhere from Seville tapas bars to old-fashioned Cordoba bodegas (we love Bodegas Campos www.bodegascampos.com). These dishes use Spanish rice and they’re often put on the menu so the kitchen can use up leftovers. What a great idea!
We ate ‘arroz con’ (meaning ‘rice with’) stewed beef, early Spring vegetables, chorizo and seafood from clams to squid. When you see ‘arroz con…’ on the menu you know you’re going to wait about 15 to 20 minutes after which your meal arrives in its own pan, freshly-cooked. ‘Arroz con’ is such a simple, economical way of cooking and really it’s just an everyday paella!
These dishes were the inspiration behind our new Spanish Garden Paella which is loaded with lovely vegetables and seasoned with herbs. If you’re looking for the yellow colour of a Valencian-style paella then add a few strands of saffron previously soaked for 10 minutes in a very little hot water.
Alternatively add powdered saffron when you start to cook – or you could use turmeric but this will significantly alter the flavour of the dish. Why didn’t we add saffron ourselves? It costs an astronomic amount and we felt we can offer you a lovely dish – but without the price tag.
For Serving Suggestions click through to our [serving suggestions] page