Paella

The name comes from the broad, shallow pan used to cook this dish -- paella or paellera. It originated from the Valencia region of Spain. Cooked outdoors, true Paella is not made with seafood but with chicken, rabbit, several kinds of beans and sometimes even snails. Overtime, fancier versions were born: fish, shellfish, vegetables, pork or chorizo sausages.

I came across a cloth bag of "Arroz Calasparra" at one of my favourite eateries. 1 kilo of "The Best Rice for Paella" says the label. I just had to get it!

When a bunch of us decided to get together over the winter months for culinary potluck adventures with a theme, I pulled out my bag of arroz and declared that mine would be Spain! I would do the main. And it would be Paella. Soooooo, I researched a bit. Forums. Dos and don'ts. Paella pan. Versions. And of course it would have to be cooked in the fireplace over a bed of coals.  I line up my ingredients: saffron, beautiful smoked Spanish paprika to name a few. Paella is not fancy. It's comfort food and a one pot dish. The recipe even says to "evenly distribute the ingredients, gently pat down the top, cook uncovered and without stirring... A dark crust on the bottom of the pan is considered desirable." How easy is that!

I will try this again with a few modifications.

Pattes de cochon

Pattes de cochon : A ham hock or hough is the joint between the tibia/fibula and the metatarsals of the foot, where the foot was attached to the hog's leg. It is the portion of the leg - also known as pork knuckle - that is neither part of the ham proper nor the foot or ankle, but rather the extreme shank end of the leg bone and the associated skin, fat, tendons, and muscle.

Pattes de cochon are up there with tourtière when it comes to French Canadian cooking. Although not very esthetically pleasing (one of those things you like to walk on by at the meat counter), ham hocks make a yummy winter meal.

The meatier the hocks, the better! These are absolutely perfect.

 

 

They are then placed in the dutch oven and boiled on the stove top for app. 45 minutes.

The skin is removed.

Carrots, cabbage, potatoes and turnip are sliced and diced.

Get those coals nice and hot!

And simmer for oh... five hours! Hearth cooking is after all slō cookin'!

Et voilà! A perfect "stick to those ribs" winter meal!

Beginnings

Winter weekends are the best! Sleep in. Coffee in the sun room watching the birds feed, reading, scrabbling online with Cathy and thinking about Sunday dinner. 
A few years ago I was introduced to hearth cooking by Paula Deen (http://www.foodnetwork.com/paula-deen/bio/index.html). With her "hey y'all" and cast iron pots, I was hooked. Not to mention that the cooking took place in the hearth. Say no more! The wheels were in motion. I removed the ugly fireplace screen and doors to open up our own hearth. 
Jim and I drove up to our neighbourhood fireplace store and purchased a fireplace crane swivel arm, rushed home and installed it! 
Then began the quest for a good camp dutch oven. Where else to look but to Lodge Cast Iron in Tennessee y'all! "The Lodge portable "camp stove" is the pot that does it all. The flanged lid holds hot coals and inverts for use as a griddle. The integral legs allow the oven to sit perfectly over hot coals." Craziness is ordering 13 kl of cast iron online. For a surprisingly measly amount, Lodge ship to your door. Well worth every penny. 
The day I discovered that I could use coals in the fireplace was a "why didn't I think of this before" day. Royal Oak is the coal of choice. It's all natural wood with no filler. 
Other musts: an inexpensive charcoal chimney starter, a lid lifter and lid stand and a good pair of oven mitts. The sky is the limit when it comes to hearth cooking. It doesn't have to be fancy shmancy at all. In our hearth, leftover paving bricks from are back patio are often used to prop up cast iron cookware such as a griddles or frying pans. The coals can be set in the middle of the triangle of bricks and the cookware is set on top.
I've always had a penchant for "Little House on the Prairie" : )