Joanne Weir's Plates & Places

I always thought I knew how to make paella, and then I made it with some Spanish friends... over an open fire along the river Oja in Spain.

Now I really know the tricks.

Spoiler -- choosing the right rice, Bomba, is important.

Back here in San Francisco, with my friend Waldemar, we'll make his recipe for seafood paella out on the deck.

I love to travel the globe in search of new food and wine discoveries.

For me, it's about more than returning home with a handful of new recipes.

It's about taking the spirit of Austria... of Italy... of Greece... and of the Danube River...

and injecting some of their magic into our everyday lives.

Food has a unique ability to transport us.

Join me as we discover on our culinary journey together.

"Joanne Weir's Plates & Places" is brought to you by... With AmaWaterways, guests can climb... pedal... and journey beyond the beaten path while cruising on storied rivers across Europe.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

Our winemaking is the result of teamwork and patience.

Working together, we dedicate our best efforts with every vine, grape, and bottle -- Washington Vintners.

Since 1899, my family has shared our passion for everything that goes into our Mutti 100% Italian tomatoes.

Only tomatoes, only Mutti.

Start something delicious.

California Figs from Valley Fig Growers.

I'm very excited about this.

I'm here with Pau.

He's from Valencia.

We're gonna make some paella together, right?

So, should we get started?

Yes.

What do we start with?

I know we have a nice hot pan and a hot fire.

What do we put in the pan first?

First, we put the oil.

Okay.

In this case, it's paprika oil with garlic.

Perfect, yes.

Ooh, it smells so good.

I can smell the garlic.

Ooh, that smells good.

Here we put the chicken.

Okay.

This is a very traditional paella made in Valencia, yes?

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Can you stir-fry?

Yeah.

Oh, I can cook, yes.

And then we add the rabbit.

A little bit of rabbit.

Wow.

Now we add the beans.

Green beans.

Yes, green beans.

Ooh, that sounds good.

Then we add sofrito.

Sofrito?

Yes.

It has red pepper, garlic, and it roast in the oven.

No onions?

No, no onions.

No.

So just peppers and garlic.

And a little olive oil.

So it's the same word -- "salmorreto" and -- Salmorreta.

Mm-hmm.

Salmorreta and sofrito is the same.

Yes.

Okay.

This looks great.

Are you dying to get in there and stir?

[ Chuckles ] Now we put the rice -- all of it.

All.

So, what kind of rice are you using?

This is Bomba.

Bomba rice, yes.

One of the things about making paella is that you want to use Bomba rice, and, yes, you can use Arborio, but I really still think it's Bomba.

I always say what grows together goes together.

Bomba comes from there.

So, we're now adding some fresh artichokes, right... Just fresh?

Mm-hmm.

...that he's just trimmed, and we're going to cook those to make the broth.

The chicken and the rabbit, it has onion... Yes.

...carrots, leeks, and it has a little bit of salmorreta, too.

Okay.

So, now what are you doing?

You have all these -- So these are vine cuttings, yes?

Put in the fire because we need three or four minutes intensity.

Okay, so he wants it nice and hot.

[ Coughs ] It's starting to boil, yes?

Yes.

The saffron.

Okay.

Oh, so just -- Now, a little bit.

A small amount.

Yes.

So, he's probably got about maybe 1/4 teaspoon.

Not many saffron threads.

So, how many minutes do you have it boil like this?

How many minutes?

Three, four minutes.

Yes.

And then six or eight with a low intensity.

Okay.

And, finally, six more to repose.

And you stir it a little bit while you're making it?

It's okay to stir?

Yes, in the first minutes.

But when it has more broth, it's not... It's okay.

It's okay.

Wow, what do you have here?

This is our typical white beans that is in the region of Valencia.

It's called garrofn.

Okay.

And they're already cooked?

Yes.

Wow, they're beautiful, big, white beans, but I'm sure you can use any kind of bean?

Could you use Alubia?

Yes, Alubia is -- Yes.

And rosemary.

Yes.

What do you call it in Spanish?

Romero.

Oh, romero.

It smell very good in the fire.

And is that traditional in Valencia?

Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Okay, salt.

You didn't add any salt.

No, because the broth, it has the... You put salt in it.

Yes, mm-hmm.

So, when you're thinking about rice, how much rice and then how much broth?

In this paella?

Yes.

360 grams of rice, the broth -- 1 1/2 liter.

Four times the amount of liquid to rice.

That's really important, especially for Bomba rice, because it really does absorb a lot of moisture.

Do you stir it anymore?

No.

Okay.

It's perfect.

And about how much time now?

10 minutes.

10 minutes.

Yes.

It's a very fast dish to make, yeah.

Standing around the fire, and the smoke was all going in my face, but you know what?

It didn't matter.

It was such an extraordinary day, and the paella was phenomenal.

It was so, so, so good, but it did take me a few weeks to get the smoky smell out of my jacket.

[ Chuckles ] Cheers, everybody!

Cheers!

Whoo-hoo!

I'm so excited because I'm here with my friend Waldemar, and he's kind of an expert at making paella, right?

Yes.

He makes it for all of his friends.

You've always told me about your paella, and I was like, "Please come make paella with me.

I'm so excited."

It's a pleasure for me, and thank you for having me here.

Ready to cook, have some wine, and enjoy everything.

Oh, good, good, good.

I like it.

Yeah, I make paella a lot.

I love to entertain, and I'm always making different recipes of paella.

I always feel that paella is not only what the recipe tells you but whatever you have in the fridge, so it gives you kind of a blank palette to create however much you want.

What we're doing is we're making a sofrito.

So that's kind of the start of a good paella, right?

Yeah, I think all paella starts with the good sofrito, good ingredients, a lot of love, and, you know... Yeah, that's great.

Flavors.

Exactly.

I'm gonna add a little bit of oil to this pan, and then we can put these tomatoes just cut-side down?

Yes, correct.

Here.

I'll help you here.

We'll set them up over here.

This is what I love about Spanish food.

It's fresh ingredients, olive oil, and so healthy.

And delicious.

Yeah.

Okay, I'm gonna pop this in the oven, so it'll be 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

These are just onions that have been chopped, and I wait till this ripples, right?

That's correct.

Alright, so, now it's rippling.

Yes.

So we'll add the onions to the pan.

And we're gonna saut these till they're really soft, right?

Yeah, we want it kind of translucent.

Right.

I like to add a little bit of salt because it draws out the moisture, and they cook a little faster.

I am a big believer of using salt.

I never understand people that don't use salt.

I know, I know.

You don't get any flavors.

I know.

Salt brings out the flavor.

Yep.

Yes.

Now, should we slice these?

Yeah.

The piquillo peppers are these type of peppers that grow in a region near La Rioja, called Navarra.

Yes.

Technically, they are one of the Basque provinces, but do not tell a Navarran that they're Basque... Right.

...or you'll suffer.

[ Chuckles ] Piquillo peppers are -- They're delicious.

They're so sweet and wonderful.

So, you basically want to julienne them.

Okay.

And you use these as... I use them as garnish.

Once I finish the paella, it pops the color.

I mean, one of the things of paella, since we're using saffron and paprika, it'll get beautiful coloring.

Yes.

We're gonna cook these for about 20 minutes, until they're really soft and they start to take on some color.

The tomatoes have cooled.

You can see they're really nice and soft, right?

Beautiful.

Okay.

Looks perfect.

So... Let's go ahead and take the s-- remove the skins.

They should be -- Peel them off, basically.

Exactly.

And then we're gonna cut them up.

Yes, you may.

I'm gonna put that right there so you can put them on there.

And then I will add the garlic to the onions.

I like to add it after the onions have cooked because then it's got that nice -- it's fresher, right?

Yeah.

But garlic is necessary.

Yeah.

Exactly.

When did you make your first paella?

Oh, that's such a good question.

I know I made it years ago.

And where did you learn to make paella?

Well, my grandmother was an amazing cook.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

My mother's mom was of Spanish descent, and she was a great cook, and she taught me how to eat and... How to eat?

Yeah, 'cause I was very finicky.

So you learned from your grandmother.

Yeah.

She made good paella?

She made amazing paella.

What did she put into it?

She loved to put seafood -- camarones or langostinos, and then she would also do chicken and...

I mean, she would use anything.

Right, whatever she had in her refrigerator.

She was a gourmand, if you will.

Oh, really?

So, now we're ready for this, and we can add them.

We'll add some tomatoes.

And then we'll cook these for about five minutes, and that's it.

Yeah.

And then you have your sofrito.

Yes.

Now, what I've also made for us is some fish stock, and I just used white fish.

Oh, it smells so good.

We want those tomatoes to fall apart, right?

Yeah, you want it to be sort of incorporated and cooked down so you get all the flavors.

Right.

Okay, what do you think?

That looks great.

Okay.

I just always want to perfect my skills, you know?

And paella is one of those that, if you learn a few of the tricks, it's really such a great dish.

It's such a good party dish.

Alright.

So we're ready.

We should grab those, right?

Grab this.

Should we bring a little more salt?

Of course.

Let's bring it.

Why not?

Let's do it.

Come on outside with us.

Waldemar, I am really excited about this.

This is from Spain, and I love using this.

It's got this -- Look, you've got two rings, so if you're doing a smaller one, you can do it, you know, smaller one in the center, but I like to make a big pan.

It's great for company.

That's what you want.

That's great.

If you don't have the paella rig that I was using outside -- and I know.

I mean, I've had one for a long time, but I really love using it, and it's fun, and it's fun for entertaining.

People kind of get a kick out of it, but, really, you can still make paella.

Just make it on the top of the stove.

It's absolutely fine.

Saut your sofrito.

You can just do the entire thing.

Sometimes I'll finish it in the oven.

The other little trick?

I'll do it on the outdoor grill, because you've got a big surface, right?

So do it on the outdoor grill, too, and that will work.

Yes.

It's going.

Yes.

So, we have all of our ingredients here.

We're gonna make a seafood paella.

Yeah, I'm so excited.

I love it.

So we've got mussels, clams, and beautiful head-on shrimp.

That's great.

Most important thing is to get your mise en place, right?

You want to have everything ready, all your ingredients, and once you start cooking, you have to stay there, right?

Like, you can have drinks, you can drink wine, but you have to stay there.

Once you start the process, adding everything on time and making sure that the paella's looking good, it's paramount.

Because if you leave and go and talk to your friends and then come back, that's when bad stuff happens so...

So, I like to take white wine to dilute it a little bit in the saffron.

And do you use any white wine or... No, I only use wine that I would drink.

Okay, yeah, me too.

Because why else would you even do it?

Yeah.

This is great.

That's really cool.

You can see that, how it really turns that beautiful color, right?

That's great.

And all the flavors of saffron will infuse that liquid that we'll add on later.

Yes, okay.

So, we'll take some olive oil, and we'll put it in the pan -- enough to cover it.

I mean, don't be shy.

Right.

The Spanish love their olive oil.

And it's good for you.

Yeah.

And we're gonna go ahead and add the rice.

Do you know how much I love paella?

It's one of the best things ever.

And this is the time when you want to actually stir the paella.

Okay, right.

One of the most important things about paella is, once you add your ingredients, you want to let it do its thing.

You're not making risotto, which is delicious, but we're making paella.

So, you want to coat all the grains?

All the grains.

Right.

And I like to add my chorizo at this time.

Okay.

If you were gonna use chicken or other type of protein, this is the time to add it, also, so you get the flavors of the chicken, et cetera, and you cook it, as well, because it takes a little longer.

So, we have chorizo Riojano, which is a style of Spanish chorizo -- smoky, with a little bit of milk, and lots of flavor.

It's a sweeter chorizo.

Okay.

And I like to add it... So, this is from Spain, right?

From Rioja.

Yeah, from Rioja.

Still Riojano, but you can also use Bilbao, or you can use -- I mean, any good chorizo you want.

Yes.

So, those are chorizo.

That's from the Northern part of Spain.

Now we're getting traction.

This is great.

In the meantime, while this is going, we have our sofrito that we made.

Yes.

I'm gonna add in some smoky paprika.

Wow, you add a lot, huh?

Well, why not?

We're gonna have fun here.

So, don't they there's this whole thing about -- in Valencia, that paella has to be made a certain way, right?

Is that right?

Yeah, they do, but, you know, we are reminiscing about Spain in general, so we're gonna have -- And we're in California, right?

I know.

Come on.

Can we still call it paella?

Yeah, of course.

Why not?

And then we are going to add a special ingredient -- pimiento Espelette... Oh, I love Espelettes.

...from the Basque country.

Espelette's delicious.

It's a pepper that comes from the Basque country in Northern Spain.

Actually, it's right next to Rioja.

Rioja.

That is true.

It is a little bit spicy, and you know that Spanish people are afraid of heat, but we like heat.

We like a little heat.

It'll be fun.

I wanted -- This is kind of a little twist on what we made in Spain.

You saw what we did in Spain.

This is our California version.

Let's call it "innovation meets tradition."

Okay.

Did you hear that?

Innovation meets tradition.

I like that.

Okay, so, while this is going now -- Do you want me to stir?

Sure.

We are going to combine this into the sofrito.

So that was your saffron.

The saffron.

Beautiful, beautiful color.

Generally speaking, I mean, most recipes say your -- anywhere from four to seven different threads per person.

Right.

Interesting.

I love saffron, so I don't mind putting enough of it.

Oh, here.

Want me to get that?

Yeah.

Ooh, that sofrito is going to be so good.

That smells so good.

Ahh!

And we've gone probably around three to five minutes.

Then we can start adding in our stock.

You can really smell that wonderful pimenton, that smoky pimenton.

We're gonna add some of the fish stock now.

Okay, when you're thinking about stock, what do you think about in terms of quantity?

I think that's the most important thing in paella that you have to measure.

You don't want to have too little liquid or too much rice.

Right.

What are you looking for now, though?

How would someone know like... Well, this is boiling and looking nice.

The rice is cooking.

This is what we want, that bubbling, right?

Now we're getting that bubbling going on.

One of the things I also know that's really important is, right, keeping the pan really level, right?

It has to be level.

And if you happen -- If you don't see it level, try to move it around so everything cooks evenly.

We are still a little stirring, and what we're looking for now is to drain a little bit -- the liquid to cook down, and then we'll start adding our seafood.

So you're reducing the liquid a little bit.

We're reducing the liquid.

Okay.

This is almost ready, so we can start putting our seafood in.

Alright.

So, we have a mixture of mussels and clam.

I like to nestle them -- kind of, like, rest them in there.

Want to bring that bowl and I will... So help me out.

Alright.

You just put them in?

Yeah.

They're gonna give us a lot of flavor, too, even though we already have an incredible amount of flavor.

We have beautiful clams and mussels, really super fresh, which is what you want.

And now I'm gonna tell you a little secret I do when I do this.

I will wait until they open... Yes.

...and then we're going to lower the temperature and add our beautiful head-on shrimp.

Right, because the shrimp, they don't take very long to cook.

And you don't want it overcooked because that would -- 'Cause then they're dry.

Wow, look at this.

They're opening up quickly.

We're ready to do this.

They're super fresh, really, really fresh.

Lookit.

They're already opening.

Yes!

Wow.

That's beautiful.

At this point, we're not going to stir anymore.

Hands off.

Both: Hands off.

And I would...

I knew what you meant so...

Here we go.

Wow, these are opening so quickly.

Those are beautiful.

Sometimes the clams will take a few minutes longer, like two minutes longer because the shells are so thick, but [Scoffs] already opening.

Some people also add fish to their paella, but we're gonna keep it with... I really like this.

I like clams, mussels.

I think this is nice.

And look at this.

I know.

Aren't those beautiful?

Check these out.

We have some head-on shrimp.

They're beautiful.

And we're gonna tuck them into the rice, right?

Oh, yeah.

And they don't take long.

You don't want to overcook them.

Two or three minutes.

And I love them with the head and the eyes and everything.

It really makes you feel like you're... In Spain.

Yeah, by the water, enjoying a great time.

I think the thing about, for me, paella, it's really festive.

It's a really great party food.

I love it.

It invites entertaining and bringing people together, family, friends under one roof with one dish.

And it's so colorful and tasty.

And you just share it.

[ Gasps ] That looks amazing now.

Look at how beautiful that is.

The last thing that I like to add, it's a little bit of piquillo peppers, those Navarran peppers.

They are delicious.

They're so sweet.

We're gonna do a little bit of garnishing, and I'll place them around the paella randomly, but you can weave them if you wanted to, if you have the time.

Lemon wedges -- maybe we'll do that later.

Okay, I like that.

Right before we serve?

Yes.

I know some people like to have lemon on their paella.

I love lemon.

It really lifts the flavors of anything that you put it in, right?

Yes.

You know what else, is sometimes I'll put peas.

Will you ever do that?

Sure, why not?

I like peas, too.

You add them right at the end, like sweet peas.

They're really wonderful.

Look how beautiful.

This looks seriously like flamenco dancing.

It's got this lively, beautiful look to it.

That I can't do.

I don't know how to do flamenco dance.

I can dance other dances, but not that.

Flamenco's so beautiful.

It's beautiful and from the heart, right?

It is.

Okay, that's it.

We're ready to taste.

Let's do it.

You're the best.

It was really fun to cook with Waldemar.

He's so spirited and kind.

I mean, seriously!

For me, he's got that same spirit of my friends in Spain, so I love that.

But it was fun because he wanted to make his version.

And, yes, it's different when you put the seafood in.

That's the one we all know in America, and that's fine, and I think one of the things he said that really struck me was, "Yes, we're in America, and you can use whatever's in your refrigerator."

So if you've got green beans, go ahead and use them, but if you've also got some seafood, use that.

If you've got some chicken, add that.

And that's what I like.

Oh, wow.

Wow.

That's so beautiful.

And, you know, it didn't take that long.

It got a little crustier on the bottom, too.

I really like that.

That's what we want.

Is that good?

Oh, that's beautiful.

Mmm!

Oh, I'm going for the crust.

Go for it.

Go for the gusto.

Wow, I can see the crust right there.

That's what you look for.

Perfection.

You got a really good crust.

It was perfection.

That is something that you really try to do.

Let's see.

I've got to have a clam.

Yes.

See that beautiful crust?

Wait.

I've got to give you a little.

Oh, why not?

Right here.

I think I've got some right there.

Yes!

Both: Wow.

That's a really good one, right?

Yeah.

I've been just dying to have this.

It looks beautiful -- the crust, the ingredients, the fun we had making this.

Oh.

You know what?

That clam was so delicious.

Mmm!

What do you think?

Wow.

That's very good.

So much flavor.

I can tell by your smile you are so happy.

It's so great.

Mmm!

That's delicious.

Wait a minute.

Wine.

Mm.

Tell me, this is from... Peneds.

Okay.

North of Barcelona, right?

Yes, inland.

Single-vineyard Xarel-lo.

Wow.

Enric Soler is the winemaker.

Fantastic wine.

Wow.

And it's perfect with this.

Delicious.

There's nothing quite like the memories of being with my friends in Spain, cooking paella outdoors, and then taking those techniques that I learned there and re-creating this dish at home with Waldemar.

It's the next best thing to being there.

Cheers.

You can visit my website to find and print selected recipes, get information about each episode, learn more about the show, see behind-the-scenes photos, provide e-mail feedback, and more.

It's all at joanneweir.com/plates-places.

"Joanne Weir's Plates & Places" is brought to you by... With AmaWaterways, guests can climb... pedal... and journey beyond the beaten path while cruising on storied rivers across Europe.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

Our winemaking is the result of teamwork and patience.

Working together, we dedicate our best efforts with every vine, grape, and bottle -- Washington Vintners.

Since 1899, my family has shared our passion for everything that goes into our Mutti 100% Italian tomatoes.

Only tomatoes, only Mutti.

Start something delicious.

California Figs from Valley Fig Growers.