Vegetarian Paella with Cool, Refreshing Wines

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Cèpage et Cuisine, Mary’s and Brian’s wine and food blog.  Long hours at work and business travel have kept us from blogging for a few weeks, but we’re back with lots of interesting food ideas and delicious wines.

Today we’re describing vegetarian paella, our latest meatless meal.  We love authentic Spanish-style paella with chicken, shellfish, or pork, but I recently had a vegetarian version at Las Ramblas, a Spanish restaurant inside the Hotel Contessa on the Riverwalk in San Antonio.  It was delicious and interesting, so we decided to give it a try here at home, inspired by a recipe from Martha Rose Shulman’s book on Mediterranean cuisine.  Martha Rose is a regular contributor to the food section of the New York Times.  We enjoy her columns and recipes.  The vegetarian paella turned out great, nicely seasoned but not hot and spicy.

The first time I made paella, the traditional kind with chicken, shrimp, and pork, I used a large frying pan, which worked fine.  Since then, we bought a couple of Spanish paella pans at Sur La Table (13.5 inches, $19.95, http://www.surlatable.com).  As you can see in the photo, it is a wide, shallow pan with a dimpled bottom for more uniform heating.  This size is plenty for our needs, even for a couple of guests, but we have seen paella being prepared in enormous pans.  When traveling in Provence a year ago, we saw paella cooking at an outdoor farmers market.  Brian says the pan was larger than a bicycle wheel, a little smaller in width than a child’s inflatable wading pool, tended by a gregarious man wielding a large wood paddle for stirring.  Huge!  I really like the authentic paella pan. Everything fits so well.  The shallow depth makes it easy to handle and no steaming occurs due to the higher sides of a frying pan.  If you don’t have a paella pan, don’t let that keep you from trying anyway.

The ingredients for this dish are eggplant, vegetable broth (which I bought in a carton), olive oil, onion, artichoke hearts, cannellini beans, red bell pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus, garlic, chopped tomatoes, paprika, rice, and saffron. 

I cubed the eggplant and put it into a colander with salt to get rid of some of the moisture so it cooks up nicely. I did this first and let it sit while I chopped the other vegetables and got organized.

I sautéed the onion in olive oil in the paella pan, then added the artichoke hearts, red pepper, zucchini, mushroom, asparagus, and eggplant.  This cooked together for about 20 minutes.

Then, I stirred in the garlic, salt and pepper, and cooked for only about a minute.  The tomatoes and paprika went in, and cooked 10 minutes more.

Saffron is a topic of debate.  Some Spaniards insist that paella must include saffron, which gives a distinctive yellow color to the dish.  Others says it is not essential.  It is the world’s most expensive spice by weight and comes from the saffron crocus flower of Southwest Asia. I left it out of the paella I made in the past, but included it in this recipe.  The photo below is a picture of saffron I bought for this dish.  It came in a 0.06 oz jar, wrapped in paper, and cost about $18 at my local grocery store (Kroger).

At this point I added the rice, beans, and saffron.  After that all cooked for a few minutes, I poured in the vegetable broth. The whole mixture simmered (stirring once), then I reduced the heat to low.  It cooked for 20 more minutes without stirring.  I turned off the heat and covered it tightly with foil and let it stand for 10 minutes.

Ready to serve! We decided that next time it could stand a little more broth (and then cook a little longer) as the rice was a bit al dente.

The vegetarian paella turned out great!  It was delicious and satisfying.  We really didn’t miss the chicken or shellfish, although it is certainly delicious in the more traditional style, as well. This is not a hard dish to prepare. Chopping the veggies is the most time-consuming part. Total cooking time is less than an hour and a half. Now to Brian and the wine.

We enjoyed the paella over two nights, so I will describe two wines.  I must say, however, that the paella was better the first night.  The rice became sticky and starchy by the second day, but it was still good for an easy dinner of leftovers.  The first wine was a rosé by La Vieille Ferme.  This wine from Ventoux in the Southern Rhone Valley of France could also be considered a Provence rosé.  It is perfect for summertime quaffing on its own and with hearty fare like the paella.  It is light, brisk, refreshing, not complicated or ponderous, just easy to enjoy.  It is an excellent value and widely available.  We like to keep a few rosés on hand and this is one of our favorites.  Here are my notes on the wine.

La Vieille Ferme Cotes du Ventoux Rosé 2010.  This is a nice, refreshing rosé, great during summertime and pairs nicely with a vegetarian paella dish.  It had nice aromas of berries and flowers, good acidity and light body on the palate with berry, cherry, melon, and spice notes.  Nicely balanced, not too complex, easy to drink.  Blend of Grenache and Cinsault, 13.5% alcohol. $11 at Colony Wine Market in Madison.

The second wine was a crisp, refreshing Grüner Veltliner from Domäne Wachau in the Wachau region of Austria.  It is a lovely dry white wine, which we enjoy year round with a variety of dishes, but like the La Vieille Ferme, it is ideal for summer enjoyment.  It has the citrus and floral notes of many similar whites, but a signature white pepper element on the finish that makes it distinctive.  It is a bit more expensive at about $17, but still a good value and widely available.  Here are my notes on the Grüner.

Domäne Wachau Grüner Veltliner Wachau Federspiel 2010.  Always delightful with aromas of grapefruit and flowers.  The palate shows crisp acidity, spiciness, and citrus and mineral notes.  “Federspiel” refers to an intermediate level of ripeness at harvest in Austria.  Beautifully balanced, modest complexity, medium length, very solid everyday wine.  12.0% alcohol.  We paid $17 at Colony Wine Market in Madison.

That’s our post for today.  We hope you enjoyed it.  Here’s a final look at a delicious, healthy dinner of vegetarian paella and refreshing wine at our house here in Raymond.  Keep checking back for more articles about food and wine at Cèpage et Cuisine.  In the meantime,

Cheers!

Mary♥Brian

Cowboy Chicken with a Dry Creek Valley Syrah Blend

Hello, everybody, and happy July 4, 2011.  Welcome back to Cèpage et Cuisine, Mary’s and Brian’s wine and food blog.  We’ve been in the mood for something casual, not too complicated, a real crowd pleaser, a very American dish around the celebration of Independence Day.  Plus, Mary and I are about to travel to San Antonio for a week, so what could be more perfect than Cowboy Chicken?

This is a recipe we found at Emeril Lagasse’s website, so we’re giving credit where credit is due.  Like many recipes we try, Mary adjusts ingredients and technique a little to take advantage of what’s readily available and to put her spin on things.  It brings a big, savory, slightly spicy casserole out of the oven that everybody can enjoy.  A hearty wine from Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County is the perfect pairing.  Here’s Mary to describe the preparation.

This is a fun and easy dinner to make, not exactly a 30 minute meal, but it doesn’t take too long.  The ingredients are boneless chicken breasts, three cups of homemade chicken stock, white wine, lime juice, garlic, pepper & salt, oregano, bay leaves, butter, flour, tortilla chips, onions, bell peppers, pepper jack cheese, cheddar cheese, Cajun seasoning, chili powder, cumin, chopped tomatoes, and diced green chilies.  A quick word about the stock -- I’ve learned that homemade stock makes a big difference in the quality of a dish, especially compared to canned broth.  I know I’ve said that before, but it’s worth repeating occasionally.  I make the stock from the carcass when we roast a chicken and just freeze it in individual portions for using later in recipes like this.  It’s great for gravies, soups, and casseroles.

Here are all my veggies, chopped and ready to go. 

The chips are crushed and layered in the bottom of a large casserole dish.

Some of the stock is poured over the chips and the chicken layered on the chips in small pieces.

Then come the onions, green pepper, pepper jack (I just used slices), grated cheddar, and a generous sprinkling of Cajun seasoning.

I made a gravy with some of the stock, butter, and flour and poured that over the casserole.  Then I added layers of chopped tomatoes, green chilies, and more pepper jack and cheddar cheese.

The whole thing goes into the oven for 45 minutes.  That’s it!  It’s kind of a Cajun-Tex-Mex party!  While it’s baking, here’s Brian to talk about the wine.

I’m a big believer in drinking the wine you like to drink with the food you like to eat.  With a few noteworthy exceptions, there aren’t all that many combinations that just don’t work at all.  With this dish, I thought a fruity American wine would do just the trick.  I didn’t want one that is over the top on ripeness and alcohol, but I wanted something that would stand up to the vivid flavors and textures of Mary’s Cowboy Chicken with all the cheese and peppers and spices and gravy.

I chose a blend of Syrah and Petite Sirah from Preston Vineyards in Dry Creek Valley.  Looking back at an earlier blog post, we used the same wine with our grilled pizza.  Once again, it performed just fine.  Lou Preston is a big believer in sustainable farming and growing balanced grapes in a balanced environment.  The wine is definitely New World in style, but as Allen Meadows has said about certain New World wines, it has a generosity without descending into vulgarity.  I could not say it any better.  Lou’s wines are full and fruit forward, but they have structure and balance, don’t feel hot on the palate from too much alcohol, stand up to hearty food without overwhelming it, and don’t leave us fatigued and lethargic after sharing a bottle of it.  Here are my notes on the wine.

Preston Vineyards Syrah-Sirah Dry Creek Valley 2004.  This wine hit the spot for a dinner of Cowboy Chicken.  With the cheese, the chicken, and the tortilla chips, the rich fruitiness of the wine was the perfect pairing.  It was dense in color with aromas of dark berries and plums.  The palate showed a rich, full body with a velvety texture.  The tannins were not fully resolved, but the texture was not rough or astringent.  The acidity was low to medium, just adequate for balance.  Flavors of blackberries, blueberries, plums, and a prominent peppery-spicy characteristic were noted.  I would describe the wine as definitely New World in style, rich and powerful, but it did have adequate balance, moderate complexity, and a nice finish.  It would be pleasurable on its own and paired well with this type of food.  It would also be great with burgers or barbecue, perfect for summer grilling on the deck or patio.  65% Syrah, 35% Petite Sirah, 13.9% alcohol.  We paid $25 for this wine when we visited Preston Vineyards a few years ago.

Ok, Brian, enough about the wine.  The casserole is ready and it is beautiful!  I suggest letting it rest for about 10 minutes after coming out of the oven so it will set up and be easier to slice into portions, sort of like lasagna.

Put some greens alongside and a dollop of sour cream if you like and you’ve got a fun dinner for the family.

Brian here again.  Folks, thems is good eats.  That’s our post for today.  We hope you enjoyed it.  Keep checking back here at Cépage et Cuisine for more wine and food adventures.  In the meantime,

Cheers,

Mary♥Brian