NEW POST: Chronicles of Montrose go La La Bomba!!

March 1, 2012

We were invited (all that food photography is starting to pay off!) to a paella class hosted by Chef Jose Arato at Pimenton. It was a great little escape to Spain (we just wish it came with the sun).

See Full Blog http://www.chroniclesofmontrose.com/post/18364716510/la-la-bomba#notes

We arrived to a spread of appetizers, met our fellow paella comrades, and got to work. On the menu: Escalivada (Catalan eggplant & pepper salad), Paella a la valenciana (chicken & seafood paella) and Ice Cream Turron (homemade vanilla ice cream).

Our mission: prep, tweet , enjoy!

Some handy tips we learned, should you choose to make your own Paella:

Use bomba rice only. Chef Arato told us Bomba gets fat, not long like other types of rice (we hope it didn’t have the same effect on our hips)
Use a flat, heavy based pan – apparently you can get them in ChinaTown for cheapy cheapy
The secret is in the stock: use a combo of mussel, clam, and chicken stocks, plus saffron-infused broth. If this sounds too fancy-pants… just use whatever broth you can get your hands on, and go liberal on the salt
Its tradition to cook the paella until it burns at the bottom (making it pretty damn foolproof!)

The amazing dinner was capped off with homemade vanilla bean ice cream, topped with… wait for it… olive oil + sea salt. Neither words nor pictures can describe how out of this world the flavor combo was (slash we may have been too entranced by the dessert to snap pics/take notes.. woops). We’re not sure if the effect is the same with a tub o’ Breyer’s, but you must, must try this one at home!

Pimento is your place for all things Spanish (it’s the only spot in the city you can get the famed Bomba). Plus, Chef Arato holds Spanish cooking lessons – super fun idea for your next dinner party. He takes care of the groceries, the measurements, and the clean-up… you just prep, eat, and down sangria. Not too shabby.