I made a reasonable facsimile of Paella. Not really a planned thing, more of a what’s in the fridge, freezer & cupboard that needs cooking & what dish will they go well together in. How about trying your first Paella? Okay. I loosely followed the directions on the bag, but didn’t have artichokes, piquillo peppers or their jarred tomato sofrito, which looked like thick tomato sauce in the photos, so I used a 1/2 jar of sundried tomato bruschetta & this homemade roasted tomato purée.
It was easier than I thought but clearly I need more practice. Maybe not clearly, but trust me. I don’t have a paella pan, but did manage to get a little socarrat on the bottom. The problem was too much liquid - in order to absorb it everything overcooked. Hubs had 2 helpings and thought it was great, lol. But I could use a good recipe. Paging @Barca.
Maybe Arnett Farms? I’ve bought some ugly delicious oranges from them. I don’t make it to the big markets a lot, like Santa Monica, but they have a stand at Culver City FM.
It’s been 15 years. I don’t recall. They sold several varieties of citrus, prepackaged in mesh bags, they all had a little square of paper in the bag with the farm contact info. The oranges themselves often had little brown squiggles on the rind, like wormies trying to get in but failing. But they were the best tasting oranges I’ve ever had. When our eldest was small, our routine was to go to the Sunday Venice FM for produce and lemon crepes. The good old days!
I wasn’t happy with it. The package said use a jar of their sofrito, 4 cups rice, 8 cups liquid. I substituted my own sauce mix for their sofrito sauce but am not sure how many ounces their’s is, plus I used less rice and thought I reduced liquid accordingly, but I’m not great at calculating measurements, reducing & doubling - one reason I could never be a good baker.
4 cups of rice . Wowza. I’m starting with 1 cup . If you don’t succeed try and try again . I have been binging you tube videos of cooking the Paella of Valencia. No fish or shellfish. I am expecting error. Starting with the chicken and vegetables.
As much as I’m a fan of all thing allium, I have to draw the line at those things – too fakey for me. However, a product briefly appeared some years ago that was just stellar. Alexia (now making ordinary frozen onion rings and the like) sold a snack-aisle product that was actually real onion rings, and they were just great! (Yes, I know the French’s/Durkee/nee O&C canned Thanksgiving ones are technically real too, but they lose much in the processing.) Whatever Alexia was doing, they were really doing right, because what they had were very flavorful, big, crunchy, intact onion rings, in a resealable bag right in the snack aisle.
I can understand why they failed though. Apparently it was an expensive process, and you ended up with a small (and half-empty) $3 or $4 bag of onion rings that could be eaten in one sitting. Too pricey for most people, I suspect. I would’ve gladly continued to pay the premium for this wonderful product, as there’s nothing else like it available. Sadly it disappeared all too fast.
Homemade onion rings are one of those highly rewarding dishes that is a PIA, but ohhhh soooo good!
I use the frenchies for certain things but mostly for an edible garnish. Great for topping off an onion soup, topping for scalloped potatoes or even on top of a mac n cheese. They also have thin sliced and fried jalapeños which are quite yummy!
I don’t make it to the big markets a lot, like Santa Monica, but they have a stand at Culver City FM.
