Next Magazine - Paella de Mariscos

Executive chef Alex Garcia’s Latino-American cuisine enlivens the flavor of the Upper West Side with A.G. Kitchen. He was kind enough to share his recipe for a sprawling fish paella that will not only delight your guests, but will also have them diving in for seconds!

Paella de Mariscos

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

Olive oil, for sautéing

Two white onions divided: one diced large, one diced small

Two green peppers, divided: one diced large, one diced small

Two one and a half-pound lobsters, heads removed and reserved, tail sliced into one-inch thick pieces, and claws cracked

Eight ounces large shrimps, peeled and cleaned, shells reserved

One cup canned tomato sauce

Half cup white wine

Two cups clam juice

Two cups water

Two bay leaves

Two cups Arborio rice

Twenty-four little neck clams

Twenty-four mussels

Eight ounces sea scallops, cleaned

One package Latin Spice Co. paella seasoning

Directions:

In a large stockpot, add enough olive oil to thinly coat bottom of pan. Sauté large diced onion and large diced pepper until translucent. Add lobster heads and shrimp shells. Cook until color starts turning red. Add tomato sauce, white wine, and one bay leaf. Add clam juice and water. Cook for at least two hours, then strain. In a medium stockpot, sauté small diced onion, small diced pepper until translucent. Add rice, calms, mussels, second bay leaf, and a pinch of saffron. Add all strained seafood stock and cook until rice is soft, approximately twenty minutes. Add shrimps, scallops, and lobster. Cook approximately eight minutes.

Grilled Calamari Salad Garnish

Ingredients:

4 calamari tubes, cleaned, grilled and sliced in 1/3” rings

½ red onion, julienne

1 plum tomato, cut into petals and julienne

1 T olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

A.G. Kitchen is located at 269 Columbus Ave. Visit AGKitchen.com for more info.


Photo Credit: Gustavo Monroy


First published in part in Next magazine. 

A Tempting Paella

With George's shrieking mother from Seinfeld firmly in mind, I recently attempted Paella a la Marinera, which seemed to me to be the most traditional version of the Spanish fish dish served with rice. There are a thousand different varieties I'm sure. This all started because my dear friend sent me a packet with two grams of Iranian Sargol saffron threads, so what else to do? Make paella and use the largest pan you have to accompany the abundance of fish!

This paella was a good first try. The rice was perfectly cooked and the fish was not overcooked: that is indeed the goal, since both are on such intimate terms with one another.

We used red snapper fish heads and bones for our stock as that was what was available from our fishmonger; here we simmered them down with cubes of court bouillon and vegetable bouillon (or just chopped carrots, onions and celery) in the mix. Add enough water to cover. A few cloves impart a most elusive flavor. Strain it of course when you're through. Regrets to my fine fishy friends gazing heavenward from the pot.

Keep this stock excited for about 45 minutes and once it has cooled, place it in the fridge to reveal a most gelatinous consistency the next morning. Skim the fat before incorporating the stock into your paella.

While steeping the saffron which adds color as well as flavor, we sauteed the monkfish, head-on shrimp and squid in a generous amount of olive oil with sea salt and pepper.

The paprika, onions, diced tomatoes (canned), garlic, chopped peppers (jarred) all went into the pan once the large shrimp and monkfish were removed and set aside (these go back in later). Subsequently, the fervor was further brought to a boil with the fish broth added in.


Trust the rice. Once the grain is ingrained into the paella, don't fret over it, but do check in to see what's cooking. Do enjoy!


Paella a la Marinera
Adapted from Saveur Magazine, No. 128
25 threads saffron, crushed (a heaping 1⁄4 tsp.)
1 lb. boneless monkfish filets, cut into 2" pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 langoustines or extra-large head-on shrimp in the shell
10 oz. cuttlefish or small squid, cleaned and cut into 1" pieces
1 tbsp. smoked paprika
4 medium tomatoes, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, cored and chopped
1 small onion, minced
7 cups fish broth
2 1⁄2 cups short-grain rice,
preferably Valencia or bomba
1⁄2 lb. small clams, cleaned

1. Put saffron and 1⁄4 cup hot water in a small bowl; let sit for 15 minutes. Season monkfish with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 16"–18" paella pan over medium-high heat. Add monkfish and langoustines and cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 minutes; transfer monkfish and langoustines to a plate and set aside. Add cuttlefish, paprika, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, and onions to pan and cook, stirring often, until onions are soft, about 6 minutes. Add reserved saffron mixture and broth, season with salt, and bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Sprinkle in rice, distribute evenly with a spoon, and cook, without stirring, until rice has absorbed most of the liquid, 10–12 minutes. (If your pan is larger than the burner, rotate it every two minutes so different parts are over the heat and the rice cooks evenly.) Reduce heat to low, add reserved fish and langoustines, and nestle in clams hinge side down; cook, without stirring, until clams have opened and rice has absorbed the liquid and is al dente, 5–10 minutes. Remove pan from heat, cover with aluminum foil, and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

SERVES 6 – 8