Paella Party

One of my favorite childhood memories is a summer I spent on the coast of Spain. When we arrived to the small port town, we met up with my dad’s first cousin (and her family) who…

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One of my favorite childhood memories is a summer I spent on the coast of Spain. When we arrived to the small port town, we met up with my dad’s first cousin (and her family) who had recently moved there. It was 10pm, way past all of the kids’ bedtimes, BUT IT WAS TIME FOR DINNER.

Meant To Be Shared, Paella Is A Colorful Party In A Pan

The restaurant was in a quinta, unsuspecting and hidden from the street; when we entered, it was a full-blown party. Twinkling lights were hung above families and friends around large tables, talking, telling stories, laughing. In the center of each table were huge paella pans filled with perfectly cooked Valencia rice, a medley of freshly caught seafood. And sangria, lots and lots of sangria. Even as a teenager, I knew at the time, as we were eating and laughing, that it was an experience that I would one day be nostalgic about.

For this post, I teamed up with one of my favorite stores of all time, Anthropologie. It’s no secret that the majority of things I buy for this here blog are from Anthro, so I was SO excited to be able to do this with them.

A few weeks before the shoot, I tested the paella and it totally took me back to childhood because this was the dish my parents always made on Sundays, when special people were coming over.

Paella Party Menu Plan

1. The type of rice is mucho importante. I like using Valencia rice (you can find it online or at Whole Foods); if you can’t find it, then Arborio (risotto rice) is the next best thing.

2. Caramelizing the sofrito. The depth of flavor lives in the sofrito. Some recipes will tell you to cook it for like 10 minutes. That’s fine but I think it should go way longer. Some people actually cook it the day before for a few hours and then use it the day of to save some time. I like a happy medium, so I cook mine until it’s super soft and caramelized, about 35 minutes total.

3. The broth that you cook the rice in needs to be flavored. Whether this is fish stock, chicken stock, or as I did,  mussel broth. Ideally it’s not just water. That leads to a super bland paella. I actually stirred the saffron into the mussel broth, along with some garlic cloves to make it super flavorful.

Jeff Cohn Cellars

4. Fill it with all the delicious things. I went the pretty simple and cost-effective way: just shrimp and mussels. But you could add everything from chorizo to rabbit to lamb to chicken to even more seafood.

It was on the warmer side, seeing as it’s summer and all so everyone was really excited about this Pet-Nat Rosé Sangria filled with peaches and strawberries and limes.

The base was a really nice rosé and Grand Marnier and then we added a liberal splash of pet-nat—it was SO delicious.

Black Friday Paella Catering Wedding Deal

My current obsession is the color combination of dark green and blush pink. I’m going through a redesign of this lil’ site and I have my eyes on that combo. It’s so pretty and elegant.

The napkins are these beautiful dark green linen set and I love it paired with splashes of blush pink (from the glasses and pitcher) and the neutral grey platter that the leeks are on.

I used that same color palette in the flowers, too, which I put together the day of. I love the pomegranates on their vine. It’s like a little foreshawdowing of fall, which I obviously can’t wait to arrive BECAUSE BREEZES AND SCARVES.

Paella Party Stock Photos, High Res Pictures, And Images

For a paella party, I figured we’d need more stuff than just carbs so I went for braised leeks topped with romesco. I could put this sauce on EVERYTHING. It’s so flavorful and nutty and smoke-y. It also takes like 5 minutes; you just throw everything in a blender or food processor, blitz and go.

I also went and gathered all these delicious things for a Spanish cheese plate. To build it, there were a few Spanish cheeses, marcona almonds, anchovies in a spicy oil (SO GOOD!), castelvetrano olives, peppadew peppers and bread sticks wrapped in meat!

I firmly believe that if you’re going to spend a good amount of time on the main dish then the rest of the things you serve need to be really easy.

Ideas For Catering Your Special Occasion ⋆ Paella Del Mar

The other thing I made was an Heirloom Pan con Tomate (I’ll be sharing the recipe next week!) but it’s SO simple and so good. Just some grated tomatoes that are seasoned and piled on good bread with olive oil and anchovies or sardines (very optional).

And DESSERT! Crema de Catalan, which they actually serve all over South America, too. I served ‘em in cute Anthro latte cups. The difference between crema de catalan and crème brulee is there’s no baking them in a water bath (hooray!). And it’s more like a pudding than a crème brulee, which is more like a stiff custard.

The crispy sugared top is so good with the silky smooth chilled pudding. I made this the day before, too because the day of I wanted to be able to hang out with my friends and take photos on my phone (obviously).

Paella Party To Celebrate 10 Years

Hope you loved the paella party! Below you can find links to all the products, including the dress, and a few recipes. ALSO, if you see above we used (inexpensive) camping gear to make the paella pan outside. I’ve included some tips and links below on what you’ll need.

You won't use the whole batch on the leeks so be sure to save the rest in an air-tight container. Keeps well in the fridge for up to two weeks.Make an authentic Valencian paella on the grill or a quick version on the stove. Take your pick for a lively midsummer meal.

Paella has transcended Spanish borders and earned international fame primarily as an extravagant, saffron-scented rice and seafood dish cooked in a wide, flat pan. But in its native home of Valencia, paella comes in many forms, from rustic versions based on products from the land to showy variations using the bounty of the sea.

Paella Party!・slough Food・edison, Wa

David Llodrá grew up eating paella in Alboraya, a small town north of Valencia in a rice-growing region near Albufera Lake. His grandmother made a traditional country-style version, with chicken, rabbit, and beans, over a fire fueled with wood from orange trees. One day, however, having broken her arm, she was unable to cook. Llodrá’s craving prompted initiative: “Just tell me what to do, and I’ll make it, ” he pleaded. And a new paella master was born.

Llodrá himself has emigrated from Spain and now lives in Sonoma, California, with his wife, Katherine, and daughter Eden. Here, he has adapted his authentic paella to American ingredients and equipment―charcoal briquets instead of felled and split orange trees, for instance. The natural cycle of a charcoal fire in a kettle barbecue matches the stages of cooking paella: browning the chicken, simmering the broth, and cooking the rice. The even heat also produces a delicious brown crust on the bottom, called

A highly prized delicacy in a well-made paella. The pans themselves are now easy to find here. California medium-grain rice works just as well as more expensive imported Spanish rice. And, in what also seems like a departure but really isn’t, Llodrá rarely uses expensive saffron. Most Spaniards, he says, actually use a product called

Top 10 Best Paella Party In Miami, Fl

Paella cooked as Llodrá does it, on the grill, makes for a leisurely outdoor party. Prepare all the ingredients beforehand, then cook the paella while guests nibble on tapas and watch the proceedings. If you are uncomfortable with an audience in the yard, however, or want a lighter, contemporary seafood paella, choose our simplified stovetop version. Either dish makes a great party centerpiece.

The grilled paella and the seafood version feed five or six people as a main course. If you have a few more guests, offer more substantial tapas (appetizers) and smaller paella servings.

As a build-up to the main course, you’re going to need plenty of Spanish-style snacks, many of which require no recipe at all: olives; roasted, salted almonds; Spanish cheeses such as Cabrales, Manchego, Mahon, and Iberico; thinly sliced serrano ham (or prosciutto); a green salad with onions, tomatoes, and a vinaigrette. Other tapas may require some preparation:

Rally Your Friends: Throw An Outdoor Paella Party This Summer!

Paella pans―wide, shallow, two-handled affairs―are becoming more widely available in the United States. Use them as you would a large, wide frying pan. Prices start at about $25 for a 15-inch pan and $30 for a 17-inch pan, but they vary widely. Check specialty cookware or import stores or these sources. (Thank you World Market for supporting my love for food and cooking and sponsoring today’s post. As always, all opinions are my own.

Summer is near, and that means lots of outdoor entertaining! Now that we