Mystery dinner on the BGE

[SmokeJumper]

My first time doing this dish over fire. Any guesses?

 

[bbqbull]

Looks like your off to a great start.
Can't wait to see the finished products.

 

[SmokeJumper]

The Pan

 

[Ron_L]

Paella?

 

[landarc]

Paella is also my guess.

 

[SmokeJumper]

Righty-O, Paella! Surprising the wife with one of her favorite dishes tonight. I never get as much of the crunchy rice (a.k.a. soccarat) as I want on the stovetop/oven so this is going to be a great experiment. Now if I just knew when my wife was going to be home...

 

[Alan in Ga]

My wife has been chomping at the bit to try to make it. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Derek]

could it be MOINK BALLS?

 

[1_T_Scot]

Looks like a good start. How did it turn out?

 

[SmokeJumper]

First Paella on the BGE complete

The paella turned out very tasty tonight. I cooked it Andalusian Style - one unique element to this style is a mashed base of toasted almonds, garlic, parsley, and saffron. I used a half firebox of Lazzari mesquite lump and threw in a chipmunk sized piece of hickory after adding the rice.

I had to play around with the distance to the fire to get the soccarat (crispy rice) just right and now I know what to expect for a home run next time. A raised grid can be used for all the sauté steps and then the lower "stock" egg grid height can be used to bring it all together and crisp the rice. I sautéd with a dome temp around 400F and then cooked the rice and meat together to completion at 350F. Last and most important, in the final 2-3 minutes I slapped the dampers wide open, got that musical snapping and sizzling rice sound, and it resulted in the crispy pan rice that makes it all worth it. The wife was very happy with it - I always know because she packs the leftovers for lunch the next day if she approves.:becky:

Browning the Chicken and Linguica on raised grid

Making the Sofrito (vegetable base) on the raised grid

Making the Andalusian style paste of toasted almonds, garlic, parsley, and saffron.

Added the almond paste, Bomba Spanish rice, and homemade chicken stock.

After 15 minutes with the lid closed the Bomba rice plumped up and and I added grilled asparagus and roasted Spanish piquillo peppers.

The final 2-3 minutes wide open made for a perfectly uniform crispy soccarat that I haven't seen off of a stovetop preparation

Thanks for checking out my first Paella on the egg.

 

[landarc]

Oh man, that is an excellent paella. looks to me like you nailed the soccarat.

 

[BobBrisket]

OMG!!!! That's a fine looking meal. I like the story and the pron progression. I'm dying over here!! Fantastic.
I'd so hit that.
Bob

 

[Phubar]

That's certiPhied Pron right there!

 

[SmokeJumper]

could it be MOINK BALLS?

Hilarious! That would be one crazy MOINKBALL!

 

[milehigh]

Perfection in a pan!! Great tutorial. Thanks for sharing

Paul

 

[Jorge]

Thank you! I've been looking for a good paella to try on the egg!

 

[bassace]

Man that looks good. :clap2: I've always wanted to make paella. After seeing this I think I am going to have to try it.

 

[jeffjenkins1]

That rocks! I'm coming to San Francisco next week, save me a bowl!

Jeff

 

[cowgirl]

Mmmm... Looks very tasty SmokeJumper! :thumb:

 

[Ron_L]

I used a half firebox of Lazzari mesquite lump and threw in a chipmunk sized piece of hickory after adding the rice.

Chipmunk sized? I've never heard wood chunks described by animal sizes :-D

Great job on the Paella! That looks fantastic!