Seafood paella. Home, sweet home...except the jet-lag

Happy New Year! One of my resolutions for 2014 is to cook more often the same dishes instead of looking for new ones constantly. Only when I have mastered simple meals, I will be more adventurous with techniques. 

Anyway, I always feel a bit down when I have to pack up the beautiful Christmas decorations. "Bye bye, see you next year...." I say to myself. I become a five year old child while I am wrapping the delicate silver crystal balls and place them gently in to the box. This box will be opened again, this December of 2014 in a different country from the Philippines. I feel little butterflies of excitement thinking about the idea of moving again in June.

I haven't written for 3 weeks and I have missed it, specially the quiet time of being alone in front of my blog. How hard could it be? Well, if you have had a week of Christmas celebrations from the beginning of December, your parents in-law visiting, a trip to Spain from the 27th of December until the 9th of January, with a  full time schedule of family reunions plus the celebration of los Reyes Magos (or the Three Kings), yes, it has been almost impossible. SILENCE is a word much needed for me after Christmas, like a detox program people do at the beginning of the year. 

Besides, I am a bit grumpy because I am struggling with the jet lag after coming back from Spain. No, not mine, it is Juanan's!  For the last 3 days, Juanan has decided to play with his feet, to make very loud noises that some would call "baby talk" and to have a good time until 3 or 4 in the morning. I have tried to stuff the dummy with sticky tape in his sweet little mouth but somehow he spit it out. Nope, it hasn't worked to make him sleep at a reasonable hour and he is wide awake. I am starting to become unreasonable myself during the day due to these late nights.

How am I coping with the jet lag? In the last few mornings I wake up at 10am and have such a strong cup of coffee that it could wake up a dead body and in the evenings, while I am so frustrated and about to cry because it is 1 or 2am and Juanan doesn't want to sleep, I read The Tabla Esmeralda book that I downloaded in my new sony reader that the Reyes Magos, on behalf of Nick ( without his knowledge!) bought for me. I am a total convert. I can say bye to the heavy Spanish books I used to bye and bring  in my suitcase. This small useful gadget has changed my life.

I have so much to tell and share that I need a few posts to go through. But for now, you are going to  have to forgive me, I blame this dammed jet lag that stops me for going back to my normal daily routine. Temporarily, of course. 

I cooked a seafood paella for Nick's parents on Christmas Eve. To be honest, paella depends on many factors: the fish or chicken you use, the stock you make (do not use cubes for this dish...), the fat round rice ( Calasparra is the best but Arborio will do the trick), the size of the paella dish and above all, the cook. 

I know the last factor sounds obvious, but it wasn't for me for many years. I can give you the recipe, like my dad gave it to me, but your paella won't be the same as mine (maybe it will be even better!). I don't know how many paellas I have cooked in my life, trying to repeat each step or tip my father taught me. I even place a page of the newspaper on top of  paella when the socarrada (or the burnt bottom part of the paella ) is done to finish cooking the rice that is on top. Like my dad used to do.

My paellas are never the same: some are good, some are tasteless. And they don't have that distinct flavour that made my father's paella so famous. His paella was particular, special. Nick says it was unique because my dad smoked while he was making it and perhaps part of the ashes dropped in to the rice!. Probably, lo que no mata engorda.

However, there is a common element in all of the paellas I have made in the past, I feel my dad's presence ( even the smoke of the cigarette! ) although he passed away a few years ago. That's probably why I find cooking so fascinating because you can actually recreate memories of people, places, moments. Only then, eating and sharing food makes sense to me.

This paella was one of the good ones, by the way. Thanks dad.

Serves 10 people

• 2 brown onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 big red capsicum, chopped
• 1 cup homemade tomato sauce or 1 can of diced tomato
• 12 tiger prawns, some peeled and deveined and some whole unpeeled for the top of the paella
• 3white fish fillets
• 200 g mussels, cleaned and beard removed
• 1/2 cup green peas (frozen are fine)
• 3 cups arborio rice
• 7 cups of fish stock
• Azafran or yellow colorante (or a bit of turmeric )
• Sea salt
• A can of roasted red capsicum, cut it in stripes

1. Heat the paella dish to medium high heat and add a lug of olive oil. Fry the capsicum until brown and soft (2 minutes) stirring all the time. Set it aside.
2. Add a bit of oil again, and add the onion and garlic, fry until soft. Be careful the garlic doesn't get burnt. Set aside.
3. If you are using homemade tomato sauce, add it to the pan and give it a stir. If you use the can, fry some chopped garlic and  then add the diced tomato and cooked it for 5 minutes (season it if necessary ).
4. In a separate heavy pan, cook the peeled prawns ( heat the pan, add a lug of olive oil and fry the prawns until it changes the colour ). Tthey will finish the cooking process in the paella with the stock. Add some sea salt and  set aside. Repeat the process with the whole unpeeled prawns. 
5. Season and fry the fish fillets in hot oil; cut them in big chunks and set aside.
1. My dad used to make it this way to give the paella a smoky flavour achieved by using a cast-iron heavy pan. If you don't want to do it, just fry the prawns and the fish in the paella dish and set aside.
6. With the paella in medium high heat, add the capsicum, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, prawns and fish. Add also the mussels, the green peas and the rice. Stir and season with generous  sea salt. Place some of the unpeeled prawns on top. Pour the stock, the colorante ( or a teaspoon of turmeric or azafran ) and add more salt.
7. Cook it for 25 minutes or until there are little holes and the rice starts to burn a bit on the bottom part of the paella. 
8. Turn it off and place a tea towel ( or a left-wing newspaper like my dad did...) to catch the steam and cook the top. After 10 minutes, remove the tea towel and decorate the paella with the slices of roasted red capsicum and a lemon chopped in half in the middle
9. Serve with a simple green salad...and some bowls of warm water and lemon for the messy hands!

Buen provecho!

In Nochebuena, we left a nice glass of Champagne and two cookies for Santa to keep him going for the rest of the night.