Party Paella

Nothing sings summer like a leisurely outdoor feast with friends. We tapped Heather Hollern of Quince Flowers & Events to dream up a chic, Northwest spin on a spicy Spanish paella feast—trading matador clichés for moody hues, log vases of spiky sedums, and tall carafes of sangria. Crown Paella catering pros Scott and Emily Ketterman re-created the iconic Valencian rice dish with a paprika-stained jumble of chicken, chorizo, and shellfish over a charcoal grill, endowing it with deep, savory flavors and a crunchy, caramelized bottom, and Ataula’s Angel Teta supplied a trio of crowd-pleasing sangrias.

2 CUPS MEDIUM-DICED GREEN BELL PEPPER, 2 CUPS MEDIUM-DICED ONION, and 2 CLOVES garlic, SLIVERED, until translucent. Add 2 CUPS TOMATO PURéE and gently simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has been cooked off, at least 30 minutes. (Sofrito can be made up to five days ahead.) 

1. Heat a paella pan (18 inches or wider) over a very hot charcoal grill. Add olive oil, add chicken and season with a pinch of salt, brown on both sides, and push to the edges of the pan. Add prawns, season with more salt, and cook until lightly colored. Add chorizo, sofrito, smoked paprika, and saffron, and stir everything together. 

Party Paella Recipe

2. Add chicken broth and the tablespoon of salt, and bring to a simmer. Sprinkle rice evenly over the top of the paella, making sure it is completely covered by broth, and cook for five minutes. Arrange piquillo peppers, mussels, and clams over the top of the paella. 

3. Continue to cook paella until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid and smells slightly toasted, about 30 minutes. Remove pan from the grill, cover it with aluminum foil, and allow it to rest for five minutes. Serve straight from the pan with lemon wedges and a drizzle of olive oil.

Too busy too cook? The Crown Paella crew will whip up a giant paella for your outdoor bash, wedding, or any other special event, on one of the high-output propane burners they import directly from Spain. crownpaella.com

Spanish Paella Party

Behind the bar at soulful Spanish tapas house Ataula, Angel Teta mixes up an eye-opening sangria: sous-vide brandy infused with cinnamon, vanilla bean, apples, pears, orange and lemon peels, pimenton, salt, and rose hips, mixed with red wine and fresh citrus. Don’t try it at home. Instead, whip up one of her three simple-yet-refined alternatives, tailored to impress your friends at a summery soirée. Heck, make all three! 

Combine first four ingredients, top with the Cava, and use the juiced lemon peels atop the pitcher for a lovely touch of aromatics.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.

Local Caterers Create A Tasty Niche With Paella Parties

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

Paella Party Company Picnic Themes

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:

Mobile Paella Chef Marbella

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 have a home with a pool we find that we are enjoying our pool deck all the the time. Thanks to World Market we’ve been able to update parts of our pool deck and make our existing patio table and chairs look new again with an oilcloth tablecloth, umbrella, and dishware. We also strung 3 strands of outdoor string lights to give our pool deck a nice glow at night! We most recently had my husband’s family over and hosted a seafood paella party! We had so much fun, enjoyed delicious appetizers (also known as tapas), lots of yummy sangria, and plates and plates full of seafood paella!

The one thing that I always try to do when entertaining is pick a theme. I always start with the food. Duh! For this get-together I choose paella! How fun is it to make a big vat of seafood paella to share with your family!?

Christmas Spanish Style

Since I knew that paella requires a lot of love and attention I opted to grab a bunch of crackers, spreads, and cheese from World Market. Plus I grabbed the rice, saffron, olive oil, chorizo, and cured ham for the Paella (and of course the Paella pan too). And don’t forget all the delicious sangria. Lots of items from today’s Paella party all from World Market.

Before my guest arrived, I arranged my tapas platters, and as soon as they arrived I put them out for them to enjoy. I like a mix of cheese, tapenades, crackers, and nuts.

I also chopped fresh fruit like Opal apples, strawberries, limes, lemons, and oranges and put out a few bottles of Castañeda Sangria. My guest could customize their sangria by squeezing in fresh juice and adding the apples and strawberries for crunch and flavor.

Paella Cooked On Site, Paella Catering, Paella Caterer

Can I just tell you how delicious this pre-mixed sangria is? It has a refreshing blend of red wine and citrus fruit flavors. Just add fresh fruit and ice and your all set to go for your Paella party!

So while, the guys enjoyed the company of each other (and watching the kiddos) my mother in-law and I tended to the paella.

We each took turns prepping various items, she did the chopping of the veggies, garlic, and herbs. I cooked the meat, made the broth, and chopped the chorizo and pork. We each took turns stirring. When making paella it’s best to keep the heat on medium-low to prevent burning. You also want to make sure your chicken thighs are cooked almost thoroughly before you add it back to the paella or else it will take much longer to cook. We found that by tenting the paella with tin foil it helped the rice and ingredients cook longer. You’ll also want to wait until the end to add the seafood.

Dinner Party Inspiration :: Seafood Paella — The Entertaining House

We nestled the clams into the rice when we added them to the pan. This helped them cook quicker. My seafood market did not have mussels when I went so we opted for clams. Any seafood works! Once you take your paella off the stove top carefully walk it to the table (make sure you have lots of hot pads underneath). I topped our paella with freshly chopped parsley and freshly squeezed lemon, table side.

I also placed some cut lemons on the table for my guest to use once they scooped the