A Little Taste of Spain

I've been wanting to make Paella since we got back from Spain, so almost a year! There are some specialty ingredients that I haven't been able to find, so I used that as an excuse for quite a while. I finally decided to just order them online, starting with a legit Paella pan. This was the hardest item to decide on. I'll include links of what I bought below - 

Paella pan - There were cheaper options available, but my number one requirement was that it had to be made in Spain. I didn't want any Chinese crap. I also wanted it to be big, so I can make enough for a lot of people or to freeze some leftovers.

Spanish Chorizo - I'm sure there's somewhere I can find this. There has to be a specialty store that has it. This time, Amazon saved me, but I'll keep looking. This isn't anything like Mexican Chorizo, so definitely don't try to go that route. This was really good, and I was pleased with it, but it wasn't hot, even for a whimp like me.

Bomba Rice - I've read that you can substitute arborio rice. I may try that once I run out of this, just to see, but this rice turned out perfect. 

Spanish Paprika - This time, I used the smoked paprika. Next time, I may try a different one, or maybe I'll blend the smoked and hot.

* I already had Saffron that we brought back from Spain - though it will only make it through another 2 recipes before I'll have to get more *

I realize that some of these ingredients are crazy expensive. I wanted to make the paella as authentic as possible at least the first time around, to make sure I had found the right recipe. I have definitely found the right recipe, so now I'll start to look for cheaper options locally. 

Now, for the recipe...

I looked at tons of recipes online before I decided to give this one a shot. Some had random ingredients that I never saw in any paella in Spain (and we ate a LOT of paella), some had too many canned items, etc. This one just looked the best, so I decided to go for it! The only thing I changed was the chicken. I didn't add any, because I didn't have any thighs and I didn't want to put breasts in it. It would have added more meat, which would have made it more filling, I suppose. It was very delicious without the chicken and I don't feel like any flavor was lacking. I may add chicken next time. I left out the lemon because I didn't have any and it was't worth going to the grocery store. I left off the Parsley because I didn't want to taste Parsley. I used a frozen seafood mix that had shrimp, squid, clams and mussles. It worked great.

Recipe and instructions below, but the original page has lots of other useful information.

Ingredients

• 2 medium, ripe tomatoes (about 12 ounces)
• 16 large shrimp (about 12 ounces), peeled and deveined
• 1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika(pimentón dulce)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 8 ounces Spanish chorizo, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
• 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil, as needed
• 1 medium yellow onion, small dice
• 2 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 large pinch saffron threads
• 2 cups paella rice (about 1 pound), sometimes labeled bomba or Valencia
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning the shrimp and chicken
• 4 cups (1 quart) low-sodium chicken broth
• 16 mussels, manila clams, or a combination, scrubbed
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 2 medium lemons, cut into 8 wedges each, for serving

Instructions

1. 1
   Core and halve the tomatoes. Grate the flesh side of each half on the large holes of a box grater set over a medium bowl, stopping when you get to the skin. Discard the skins. You should have about 3/4 cup of tomato pulp and juice; set aside.
2. 2
   Place the shrimp in a medium bowl, add 1/4 teaspoon of the paprika, and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and refrigerate.
3. 3
   Place the chicken in a medium bowl and season generously with salt and pepper; set aside.
4. 4
   Heat an outdoor grill to high (about 450°F to 550°F). Place a 15-inch paella pan on the grill, cover, and heat until hot, about 2 minutes. Add the chorizo to the pan, close the grill, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is starting to brown and the fat is rendered, about 2 to 3 minutes. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the chorizo to a large bowl; set aside.
5. 5
   There should be a thin layer of rendered fat in the pan. If there’s not enough, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the seasoned chicken to the pan in a single layer, close the grill, and sear, stirring occasionally, until both sides of the chicken pieces are golden brown, about 6 minutes total. (You will need to rotate the pan occasionally on the grill to evenly distribute the heat.) Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to the bowl with the chorizo; set aside.
6. 6
   Add the onion to the pan, season with salt and pepper, close the grill, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed on a gas grill or moving the paella pan to a cooler part of a charcoal grill so that the onions don’t burn. Add the garlic, remaining 3/4 teaspoon paprika, and saffron, stir to combine, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
7. 7
   Add the reserved tomato pulp and juice and cook until the mixture has slightly darkened in color, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and measured salt and stir to coat in the tomato mixture.
8. 8
   Add the broth and stir to combine. Arrange the rice mixture in an even layer. Distribute the reserved chorizo and chicken over the rice, adding any accumulated juices from the bowl. (Do not stir the rice from this point on.)
9. 9
   Close the grill and bring the mixture to a lively simmer. Continue to simmer, checking occasionally, until the rice grains have swelled, most of the liquid has been absorbed, and the rice begins to make a crackling sound, about 12 minutes. (Make sure to rotate the pan occasionally to evenly distribute the heat, and adjust the heat as needed to maintain a lively simmer.)
10. 10
    Arrange the reserved shrimp and the shellfish (hinge-side down) in the rice, nestling them slightly. Close the grill and cook until the shellfish have opened, the shrimp are just cooked through, and the rice is tender but still al dente, about 10 to 12 minutes.
11. 11
    Remove the pan from the grill, cover with foil, and let stand for 5 minutes. Before serving the paella, discard any unopened shellfish and sprinkle the dish with the parsley. Serve with the lemon wedges.

Off to Williamsburg to Celebrate 5 Years!!!

Josh and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on June 5th. How has it already been over 5 years?!? (And how has it taken over a month for me to post this?!?)

We've done a lot in 5 short years for sure! One of our favorite things to do together has been traveling. We decided to stick with that trend for our anniversary and head up to Williamsburg. We had both been to Williamsburg a few times, but just for Busch Gardens. Neither of us had seen any of the historic things. We left mid-day on Friday to drive up. 

Once we arrived and checked into our hotel, we decided to go to Alewerks. We had missed the tour, but we mostly wanted to sample the beers anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. We sat for a while and just talked and sampled. There were a couple I was quite excited to try. One of them, the double IPA was amazing. It was my favorite by far. The other, a Belgian Tripel - was a disappointment. Overall, their beers were pretty good and we really enjoyed ourselves there. Once we finished, it was getting close to dinner time. We decided on Second Street and it sure did not disappoint! We were not terribly hungry and we didn't want to have any leftovers, so we decided to share a meal. That was a good decision. We had plenty of food, especially since our meal came with plenty of rolls. There were lots of tasty sounding things on the menu, but we chose the bison meatloaf. Oh. My. Goodness...it was SO good! It didn't have a traditional ketchup or gravy based sauce on it, it had a REALLY tasty smoky type of sauce drizzled on it. I wish I knew how to make that sauce, it would be so good on so many things!!! We got the wine our waiter recommended and it was also delicious! Their dessert menu sounded amazing (says the girl with the massive sweet tooth), but we passed since we had an anniversary cake waiting for us in our room. Now that we're back in NC, it was easy to stop by and pick up a cake from Cinda, our awesome wedding baker! We were only able to get a cake twice while we were in MD, but I definitely look forward to getting one every year now!

After dinner, we went back to the hotel room to watch our wedding video (our tradition), have some champagne (this year we got the same kind Josh bought when he proposed) and eat some cake. It's my favorite cake ever...cinnamon swirl with white chocolate filling. 

This was the first year we watched our wedding video after someone who attended our wedding had passed away. Of course, you know this is going to happen at some point - it's part of life. That doesn't make it any easier to watch though. Naturally, you assume it will be an older guest, but it wasn't in our case. It was my cousin who was like a big sister to me when I was growing up. Your wedding day really does fly by - and every year when we watch our video, we notice something we didn't notice before. This year, I focused on her. I noticed where she sat during the ceremony, who she sat beside, what she did to help out on our special day. I remember telling her to make sure we finish the bottle of champagne, because it was the first bottle of real champagne that we had ever bought. So, of course, I see her bringing us glasses of champagne throughout the reception. It made me laugh and it made me cry. Of course, I was a little sad, but I was also thankful. I was thankful that she was able to be there on that day and that we haven't lost more guests. I was even more thankful to have had one more amazing year of marriage with the love of my life. It reminded me that life really is precious. Sometimes, it's easy to forget that on a daily basis and lately, I had, so it was a much needed reminder.

The next morning, we got up and had breakfast at the hotel, then we went to downtown Williamsburg for some coffee and to walk around a little. We went back and forth on what to do next. Historic Williamsburg, Jamestown or Yorktown. We talked to a nice couple at the coffee shop and decided on Jamestown. It was a great choice! We got there and there was a short video to watch about the Jamestown colony. There's a big museum that you can walk through that covers each group involved before the settlement, during and some time after. It's massive. We spent a couple hours inside and still didn't see it all. We were starting to get hungry and we hadn't even been outside yet, so we decided to move on.

 One of the first things that was pointed out to us by an employee was this bald eagle nest and two babies! You can see one in the middle of the picture, the other is just above it, but he's a little more camouflaged by the leaves. They never did turn around so we could see the front of them, but this was REALLY cool. I love animals and I've never seen a bald eagle in the wild, so I was pretty excited. The nest is a little camouflaged by the leaves as well, but it's the massive structure n the upper right part of the picture. So cool! 

This is the eagle nest from a different angle. It's huge!

 You know, just making a canoe out of a tree with a seashell.

The mock settlement area was very interactive. This was a game they had set up. You take a dried out corn cob that has a feather stuck into it (something like a dart) and you try to throw it through the hanging hoops. It was kind of fun.

He did a good job of making it look like I made it, didn't he? ;-)

 This is a boat you could go on. It was pretty neat because you could touch anything on the boat. You could even crawl in the bunks if you wanted to (but we opted out of that little adventure). 

The staff on the boat was really good. They talked about who would have been on that type of  boat, how long their journey would have taken, etc.

 This cute little birdy just sat there modeling for us for a bit. As soon as we walked off, it left. Clearly, I'm easily amused and if I find a wild animal...or any animal really...anywhere, it's probably going to steal my attention.

Back to history...

Next we visited the colonist area. There were lots of cool things in this area to, but by this time, we were getting really hungry, so we didn't get many pictures. 

After we left Jamestown, we headed back to Williamsburg. We went to Dog Street Pub for lunch. It gets great reviews, but neither of us were thrilled with our lunch and we agreed that we wouldn't go back or recommend it. No biggie though. We left with full bellies still. 

After lunch, we decided to see some of historic Williamsburg. We opted to only see what we could see for free, because at this point, it was already 3:30 and most things would be closing soon anyway. We would love to see more of Historic Williamsburg in the future, but we're glad we didn't try to squeeze it in this trip.

There were several REALLY old trees that looked similar to this. I love them!

We were walking around in a garden and this happened in like 1 minute. Seriously. It was just a little cloudy a minute before this.

We started making our way back to the car once we saw that a storm was definitely coming. This guy rushed off with his horse. 

We didn't quite make it back to our car, so we huddled under a porch with a bunch of other people to wait for the rain to at least slow down. It was pouring! We finally made it back to our car. We decided to go shower before dinner because we had been sweating and we got rained on, so we felt pretty gross. Once we showered, neither of us felt like getting ready for dinner, so Josh ran out and picked up Chick-fil-A for dinner. We try not to eat at chains when we're traveling since there are so many local options, but sometimes it happens. We were lazy and just ate dinner in bed while we watched a movie. Hey, sometimes, that's what you need!

We got up early, packed, got ready and went to brunch. We both got a meal that had a crab cake come with it. We weren't in MD and it wasn't quite on par with a G&M crab cake, but it sure did hit the spot! 

We decided to get on the road so we could get home at a decent time. We took the scenic route home and it was a really pretty drive! It was a short trip, but we accomplished what we wanted...relax a little and get away from the craziness of life for a little bit. :-) We loved Williamsburg and we definitely want to go back someday!