Spain, El Primer Viaje: Paella

Manana.

They say it a lot in Spain. Tomorrow. That's when I'll get to it.

It flies in the face of everything we value in this country. Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. The early bird catches the worm.

That's not how the Spaniards see it.

No, they'll sit for hours lingering over a good glass of wine or a cup of fine coffee. You could sit at a restaurant all night waiting for your bill if you do not ask for it. They don't want to rush you.

I happened to be in Madrid when the first Starbucks opened in continental Europe. People were outraged. They just couldn't understand why anyone would put their coffee in a paper cup and run, not sit there and enjoy it.

This whole laid back attitude drove me nuts at first, a highly driven, motivated and anxious college student. If the group leaders said be on the bus at 9, I was there early, only to sit sometimes for an hour and a half waiting for the trip to start. Usually, we were waiting for someone to finish their morning coffee.

So it seems appropriate that my friends and I have been saying we need to have a party ever since I got my paella pan. That was over a year ago at Christmas.

We kept putting it off. There was always manana. Finally, this weekend we did it. We hauled all of our meats and seafood and spices down to the beach, lit a grill, sipped some vino and had our own little paella party.

We used a recipe from a local woman who owns this business Tapas and Fun. She will come to your house and cook traditional Spanish foods. Since she hands out the recipes at her events, I figure it's OK to post it.

It came out all right. Some of us thought it was slightly light on flavor (but we're a group that likes spicy and bold in the spirit of Bobby Flay and Emeril). So next time we'll probably make our own go at it - more onion, more garlic, chicken stock, maybe some chorizo. As far as Spanish paella goes, it was very traditional.

And there will be a next time, now that we've mastered using the grill at the beach. Besides, there are so many things to say about Spain. Such an awesome cuisine. So many personal stories.

I'll get to them all at some point, but for now I'm still recovering from the beach blast. I guess they'll just have to wait until manana : )

Paella Mixta: Seafood and Meat Paella

(We doubled the recipe)

What you need:

1 small tomato, chopped

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 lb. boneless pork loin, cubed

1 lb. chicken breast, cubed

20 medium sized shrimp

15 clams

15 mussels

2 cups clam stock

1 tsp. paprika

pinch saffron

salt

14 oz. rice (boma is the traditional kind ... arborio is an easier to find variety that works well)

lemon wedges

olive oil

What to do:

Heat about 3 tbsps. of olive oil in your pan. We used the grill, but you can also successfully do the paella on the stovetop. When the oil has heated, add chicken and pork and cook until meat is done.

Add the onions and garlic and cook until golden. Stir in the tomato and let cook for 15 minutes over low heat.

Add the paprika, saffron, rice, salt, clam stock and two cups of water and bring to a boil. Add the mussels and clams so that they open.

At this point, you want to keep cooking the dish until the rice is done. Cover with aluminum foil to lock in moisture and check periodically. Add more water as needed. The shrimp can go in when the dish is a few minutes from done.

Serve with lemon wedges that guests can squeeze over the dish.