Paella and Kukkula Pas de Deux

To my imaginary fans: I have not been keeping up with this. Maybe it doesn’t matter, as I am not sure anyone is reading this. Regardless part of the problem is I have been having too much fun to write. The other part is (although I believe I have been cooking some yummy things), I don’t think I am always pairing it with the perfect wine. I can be a bit of a perfection, so I have several recipes lined up to try again with a different wine. Who knows when I will get it just right. Therefore, I have decided this blog should be amended to be more along the lines of this is what I cooked and what I drank with it. The reality is that I drink a lot if small production wine, so they are often hard to find. Instead I’ll tell you what I drank and what are things that should go well with the dish and you can create your own adventure. And then let me know what you drank. I think that sounds like more fun anyway.
PS. My current two followers don’t even drink wine, so I believe the recipe is the most important part.

WINE: N/V Kukkula Pas de Deux, Paso Robles
http://www.kukkulawine.com/

What you should drink: I used up the last glass of an open bottle of Chardonnay for the white wine in this recipe. If you are opening a bottle of white wine, you can easily drink that with this recipe. I haven’t tried it but I think Pinot Grigio or an off-dry Riesling would work well with this. If you are a red fan like me a Tempranillo (or Rioja if from Spain) would be your best bet.
What we drank: I wasn’t in the mood for white (I’m usually not unless it is hot). I also didn’t have any Tempranillo or other Spanish wines. Last week, my husband, some friends and I went to Paso Robles. Kevin, the owner of Kukkula, graciously opened his new tasting room to us on a Monday (they are open weekends). We loved their wines and brought several bottles including a 50/50 Grenache Syrah blend. A nice smooth medium body with cheery cola and subtle spice notes, it finishes with soft tannins. It probably didn’t add anything to the meal, but definitely didn’t take anything away. And I am really enjoying it finishing it while I write.

RECIPE: Paella
Servings: 3-4 (I think we got three, my husband ate a lot)

My husband asked me about a year ago to make Paella. For some reason it intimidated me. I combed recipes, printed a template and bought the saffron, but never actually made the paella. Sifting through recipes today, I rediscovered this and decided to make it this week. After locking myself out of the house this morning and feeling like an idiot, I hoped to redeem myself by cooking a special Monday night dinner. After rereading the original recipe, I decided to make some modifications, which if I do say so myself resulted in a great dinner. It was also one that I should not have been fearful of. The recipe is a little time consuming and requires quite a bit of vigilance but is not technically difficult. I have successfully made risotto several times this year, so that did help.

A couple thoughts and tips. First, I planned on using chorizo to get some spice. However, I could only find andouille sausage today. I think chorizo would work nicely too. Red peppers flakes can add spice notes if you don’t use chorizo or if you want more spice. I can’t handle really spicy dishes, but I think a little spice (at the minimum) is a necessary flavor component. Second, heating the broth and slowly adding and STIRRING are important to develop a nice, somewhat creamy sauce. It also prevents the rice from burning. If you have to step away from the pot, reduce the heat first and turn it back up when you return. When you have used about 1 ½ cups of the broth, start tasting the rice. I used about 2 cups of the broth, but know from making risotto in the past that it is hard to plan exactly how much to use. I always heat at least a cup more than I think I will use.



Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into pieces
1 tsp dried rosemary, divided
1 ½ tsp salt, divided
½ tsp pepper
2 tsp olive oil, divided
2 links andouille sausage or chorizo, crumbled or sliced
½ pound shrimp
1 small onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (if using a spicy chorizo add as desired)
1 cup Arborio rice
1 tomato, diced
1 tsp paprika
A pinch of saffron thread, chopped finely
1 cup white wine
3 cups chicken broth (you may only use 2, but heat three just in case)
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
OPTIONAL: ½ cup peas. I don’t like peas that much (except snow peas) so I left out even though they are in most paella recipes I read before concocting this one).

1. Chop all veggies and heat chicken broth on medium high in a small pot.
2. Chop chicken and sausage and clean shrimp.
3. Heat 1 tsp. oil in a large pot. Medium heat.
4. Add onions and red pepper to pot. Cook until tender. Then start cooking chicken.
5. Heat 1 tsp oil in skillet. Medium heat.
6. Season chicken with ½ tsp salt, pepper and ½ tsp of rosemary. Add to skillet. Add sausage too. Cook until both are done. Remove from pan and keep warm when done.
7. When onions and red pepper are tender, add garlic and red pepper flakes to pot, cook for one minute.
8. Add Arborio rice, tomato, paprika, ½ tsp rosemary, 1 tsp salt, and saffron to pot. Stir for 1-2 minutes so rice can begin to release starch.
9. Add one cup of white wine. Turn heat up to medium-high. Stir rice as often as possible.
10. When almost all the wine has been absorbed. Add a ladle of hot chicken broth. Stir as continually as possible. When almost absorbed, add another.
11. Repeat until rice is al dente. By stirring, this will create a nice sauce. This should take about 20 minutes. You also probably won’t use all the broth. That is OK.
12. When chicken and sausage is out of pan, cook shrimp and asparagus in skillet for 4-5 minutes until shrimp is pink. Remove from heat and keep warm. Hopefully rice will just be finishing when you get to this stage.
13. When rice is finished, stir in cooked chicken, sausage, shrimp and asparagus. Stir for a minute or two if the chicken etc, needs reheating. Serve and enjoy.

I just realized I should have taken a picture. This came out really pretty too.