Proud Italian Cook

Shrimp and Sausage Paella on the Grill

September 10, 2018 by Marie 1 Comment

I’ve made paella many times but honestly I never made grilled paella until recently, and now I don’t think I’ll ever make it any other way. Making paella on the grill gives you a larger cooking surface which gives you more even cooking all around as opposed to using just a burner on the stove.

Having the rice spread out evenly on the wide, shallow paella pan creates the perfect condition for socarrat, which is the crunchy, crust that forms on the bottom, known as the prized part of eating a paella. I once read that socarrat is to a paella what the smoke ring is to a brisket, and by making a grilled paella it’s easy to achieve.

Let me just say I’m no expert on making paella, but I do love making it. The presentation is dramatic and it’s cooked all in one vessel! There are so many versions of paella, seafood, vegetarian, meat, I could go on and on, but for this grilled version I kept it simple by using shrimp with andouille, a spicy smoked sausage.

For paella you have to use a short grain rice, you can find the brand above or a rice called bomba but if not, arborio or carnaroli will do.

Another key ingredient is the spice saffron, a little goes a long way. I found this spice packet from Spain on Amazon which has just the right amount in it along with some other spices to flavor the paella so well.

Making a grilled paella gives you a rich, smoky flavor and it’s fairly easy to do providing you have all your ingredients prepared and ready to go.

I have two paella pans, a 15 inch and a 22 inch depending on what ingredients you decide on and what you’ll be serving with it, you can feed quite a few people, so it’s a great dish for entertaining.

A beautiful grilled paella is a wonderful option for a special occasion or just a casual dinner with friends. It’s still grilling season, so get on out there and make this!

Look at that crusty bottom, the famous socarrat! That’s exactly what you want to see as you’re serving it up.

I hope you enjoy as much as I do!

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Shrimp and Sausage Paella on the Grill

Author: Marie

Ingredients

1 lb. jumbo shrimp, cleaned and deveined and tail on, dried of all moisture and tossed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper
½ lb. smoked andouille sausage or any smoked sausage of your choice, sliced
1½ cups of short grain rice, valencia, bomba, arborio or carnaroli
1 white onion, finely chopped
4 small fresh tomatoes, chopped
5 cloves, garlic chopped
1 Paellero spice packet or a pinch of saffron and a teaspoon of smoked paprika
2 heaping Tablespoons of a roasted red pepper sauce, store bought or made by whizzing roasted red peppers in a food processor
1 quart of chicken broth, warmed up
1 red, yellow and orange pepper sliced thin
1 cup of frozen peas, defrosted
parsley and lemon wedges for garnish
olive oil

Instructions

Heat your grill up, for gas have all burners on and leave on medium high
Put the paella pan on and drizzle the bottom with olive oil.
When pan is hot add the sliced smoked sausage tossing for a couple of minutes.
Add the onions and garlic until you start to smell them.
Add chopped tomatoes, the rice and the spices, tossing and toasting the rice for a few minutes.
Add the roasted red pepper sauce, mixing until incorporated.
Then add in 2 cups of the warm broth making sure the rice is evenly spread across the bottom of the pan, now is the time you do not stir. Just make sure the sausage is evenly distributed as well.
Place the thinly cut peppers all around.
Add 2 more cups of warm broth then distribute the shrimp all around the paella pan.
Toss in the peas and put the lid on the grill down and let it go for a few minutes.
If it's looking dry add 2 more cups of the broth, but no stirring.
You can taste test the edges, because that will be the last to get tender, so you'll know when it's ready when the rice is tender but firm to the bite.
Remove, garnish with lemon wedges and parsley.
Serve it up right in the pan.

1 Comment Filed Under: Party Foods, Rice and Risotto, Seafood Tagged: grilled paella, paella, shrimp and sausage paella

Pork Tenderloin with Figs, Onions and Olives

August 27, 2018 by Marie 10 Comments

Have you ever paired pork tenderloin with figs? If not, you’re in for a real treat. As you know pork goes very well with fruit, think apples and pork, but when paired with sweet and luscious figs the flavor combination is beyond words!

The pork tenderloin gets marinated for a while, then gets roasted with sweet red onions, green and black olives and plumped out poached fresh figs.

For years, five to be exact, we tried growing our own figs, we have the most beautiful, healthy looking fig tree with enormous leaves, but not one fig has ever been produced, we have a dud, and we might just pull it out this year and attempt to buy another variety and start over, but it’s hard when the leaves look this good.

So in the meantime when I see a display of figs like this I jump for joy and grab a couple of boxes.

The figs were unblemished, in premo condition, sweet and ripe, what more could a girl ask for!

These little jewels got placed into a poaching liquid to cook down and concentrate their flavor a bit, and to create the most delicious, syrupy sauce which will act as a beautiful glaze for the pork tenderloin.

What you have here is a sweet and savory combination that balances quite nicely with the briny olives and herbs.

Make this please, it’s pure decadence!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Pork Tenderloin with Figs, Onions and Olives

Make this when fresh figs are nice and ripe for a delicious combination of sweet and savory

Author: Marie

Ingredients

1 pork tenderloin about 1½ lbs. ( silver skin removed)
1 dozen fresh, ripe figs, cut lengthwise
green and black olives some cracked and pitted, a good handful
1 large red onion, quartered leaving the stem and root attached
MARINADE INGREDIENTSFOR PORK
2 tablespoons, fig preserves
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon each of thyme and rosemary leaves
salt and pepper
POACHING LIQUID FOR FIGS
¼ cup of red wine and ½ cup of water or all water if you prefer
¼ cup or so of sweetner, honey, brown sugar or white sugar
¼ cup or so of fig preserves or fig butter

Instructions

First, you want to poach your figs so they can cool down and have the syrup thicken..
In a saucepan, on low heat, add everything in but the figs just until the sugar dissolves, then put your figs in and poach them on low until they absorb the flavors and plump up and you see the juice oozing out, depending on how ripe your figs are you may need to add a little more liquid while it's poaching. When finished let it cool down and thcken up.
Marinate the pork tenderloin by making a paste of the chopped herbs, garlic, mustard, fig preserves, salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
Rub marinate all over the pork tenderloin and let it sit for at least a half hour.
Sear the pork tenderloin on all sides, getting a nice golden brown.
Place the seared tenderloin into a baking dish along with your quartered and fanned out red onion and the olives.
Add the plumped up and thickend figs all around the baking dish and spoon some of the thick syrup on the top and sides of the seared tenderloin, this will act as a glaze.
Roast at 400F for 20 minutes or until internal meat thermometer reaches 145
Let it rest 5 minutes before slicing.
Make sure each serving has a little bit of everything.

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10 Comments Filed Under: Fruit, Meats Tagged: figs, fresh figs, poached figs, pork tenderloin

Summer Stacked Vegetable Caprese

August 17, 2018 by Marie

Healthy summer vegetables roasted then layered and stacked together along with all the makings for a caprese salad, that best describes this Summer Stacked Vegetable Caprese. The flavors of summer all stacked into one lovely bundle.

This can be served as an appetizer, a light lunch or even a side dish, it’s colorful and it tastes amazing, like a caprese on steroids!

I was lucky enough to find these beautiful Aloha peppers when I made my veggie/caprese stacks but you can certainly use a mix of yellow and red bell peppers to get the same color effect.

I roasted all my vegetables but you can certainly grill them as well. I used eggplant that had the skin peeled off in a zebra effect, some left on and some peeled off.

The peppers were cut around 3/4 of an inch thick to keep them sturdy enough to hold the other veggies. You’ll also want to reserve and cook the tops for use in the presentation, slices of zucchini were also roasted.

All vegetables were roasted at 400F. on a baking sheet drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper, cooked until lightly golden until tender but not overcooked.

Slice up some ripe summer tomatoes and have your mozzarella sliced and ready to go.

Fresh basil is a must, along with basil pesto for added yummy flavor.

Then it’s all about the stacking, so find a pretty plate and first add the pepper ring, inside the ring stick a eggplant slice and swipe a little pesto on it.

Next, add your sliced mozzarella with a basil leaf on top.

Top the mozzarella with a ripe tomato slice swiped with pesto and a drizzle of olive oil.

Repeat with another pepper ring and this time add the zucchini and swipe the top with pesto.

Then another mozzarella slice with a fresh basil leaf.

Repeat with another tomato slice swiped with pesto and a drizzle of olive oil.

Place the pepper top that you reserved to cap it off, place a skewer right down the center to keep it nice and secure then add some pesto on the top.