♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - This week on Milk Street, we travel to Spain to take a whole new look at paella.

No seafood and no saffron.

Originally, paella was made with rabbit and snails near Valencia.

We're going to do it with chicken and beans.

Then we do a very simple recipe for spiced pork tenderloin.

And we finish up with a new take on gazpacho-- very different, it's from Andalusia.

It's called salmorejo, and it's with bread and tomatoes.

It's absolutely divine.

So stay tuned as we take a fresh look at a few Spanish classics.

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- You know, if I say paella, you might think of saffron, of course, seafood, like shrimp.

It's a very different dish, though, when you get inland.

So we went to Valencia, Spain, where the tradition is to make paella with country ingredients, not from the sea.

In fact, rabbit and snails were two of the original ingredients in this recipe.

So we visited a chef, Jorge Pérez, at his restaurant, Nou Racó, and there he made a chicken and two-bean paella for eight.

Three-foot pan, it took an hour-and-a-half.

It was absolutely terrific.

He makes it with two local beans.

One is garrafón and the other is ferradura.

And we decided to take that recipe back here to Milk Street.

So we visited another chef to figure out how to do a home-style version.

His name is José Hernández, and he did this at home, as I said, in a stewpot, and he made a great socarrat, which is that nice, crusty bit at the bottom of the paella pan.

So stay tuned as we travel to Valencia, Spain, to discover a country paella made from the land, and not the sea.

♪ ♪ Well, it's nice to know how to make paella on location, on the coast of Spain... - Hmm, yes.

- With a big pan and a wood fire, but this is a translation recipe.

We have to translate it to home cooking, weeknight cooking, in a skillet, and still get a nice socarrat-- that is that nice, crusty bit at the bottom-- and do it in under an hour.

So with that in mind... - Challenge accepted.

- (laughs): Okay.

- Well, I have to admit, we did meet a chef in Spain who kind of gave us a couple of hints on how to do this at home.

He actually did it in just a simple stewpot.

We're gonna use a non-stick skillet here.

This paella is a Valencian paella, so it actually has a pared-down list of ingredients.

(chuckles): It doesn't look like it's pared down, but it's really just chicken, rice, tomatoes, some spices, and two different types of beans.

So we'll start with the chicken.

I tossed the chicken with some spices, so we have sweet paprika, salt and pepper, and smoked paprika.

Used a lot in Spain-- we don't use it as much here.

It also kind of mimics the flavor of that open flame that you mentioned, so really smoky, has a great aroma and a great flavor.

So I tossed it together, and I put it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

We just want those spices to really flavor the chicken.

So some olive oil in the pan, it's just smoking.

I'm gonna add this chicken into the pan.

(sizzling) And we want this to be an even layer, 'cause we really want to get as much browning on this chicken as we can, both for the chicken and for the rest of the paella, 'cause that's gonna build fond on the pan that we're gonna use as we continue to cook this dish.

Look at that nice browning.

- Nice job, Lynn.

- Thank you.

So I'm gonna flip these over, and these will cook for another two minutes on the other side.

(sizzling) So the chicken has been browned.

I'm actually going to take it off the heat now.

And I want to leave some of that oil.

And so to the pan, I'm gonna add some canned white cannellini beans.

In Spain, they would use a dried white bean called garrafón.

We can't get that bean here.

And we also wanted to make this a little bit quicker.

So we're using a canned bean.

Canned beans have come a long way.

You do want to rinse them and drain them.

Sometimes the liquid that they're packed in has some weird flavors on it.

But the beans themselves are actually really good.

- So you're not afraid at home to use canned beans.

You know, you don't feel like you're cheating?

- No.

- Good.

No, I use them, too.

- Yeah.

I'm gonna transfer them into this bowl with the chicken.

And now we're gonna add some tomatoes.

These are halved grape tomatoes.

A teaspoon of salt.

(pan sizzling) And I'm just gonna cover these and let them cook for about five minutes.

What we're trying to do here is really let those tomatoes release all of their water and then really concentrate the tomato flavor.

So we'll let this cook for about five minutes.

So these tomatoes have gotten really caramelized and cooked down quite a bit.

They've released a lot of the liquid.

So now we're gonna add some tomato paste.

But first, I'm gonna add a little bit more oil.

It's always good to cook tomato paste in oil.

It really concentrates its flavor.

And I think I told you this before, always cook your tomato paste... - I'm sure you told me everything before.

It's just I can't remember, maybe that's why.

- You want to always cook your tomato paste.

- You know, I have found, in Italian and Spanish cooking, they just use copious amounts of oil.

It's also true of Szechuan cooking, too.

They use a lot of oil.

This idea in America of using a tablespoon, it just seems not a great idea, because you get so much more flavor.

- Exactly.

So we've gotten a lot of caramelization on that tomato paste, to give it a lot of flavor.

And we're gonna add a little bit more flavor with some garlic.

And a little bit more of that smoked paprika.

And you really want to sauté the paprika in the oil that's in the pan-- that's gonna bloom that spice and really, really highlight its flavor.

So you can smell that.

That means it's ready to move on.

So we're gonna deglaze the pan with a little bit of dry sherry.

(pan sizzles) Sherry should be purchased in the liquor store.

(chuckling): Don't buy it in the supermarket.

Don't buy cooking sherry.

It's really salty and... horrible.

(laughs) - To be honest.

- It's just horrible.

It doesn't have the great flavor that you want when you're using sherry.

So go to the liquor store and get the good stuff.

So our sherry has reduced.

You can smell it, it smells amazing.

Because I used the good stuff.

Now we're gonna add some... - Hope you know, for Christmas, I'm getting you a big bottle of cooking sherry.

- (laughs) I'm gonna add some chicken broth.

And then we have some more aromatics.

I have some saffron, some bay leaves, and some minced rosemary.

All pretty traditional things you would see in here.

The saffron is kind of...

If you want to use it, you can use it.

If you don't want to use it, you don't have to use it.

- So I thought saffron was a hallmark of this dish.

- It is a hallmark of certain paella, but Valencian paella, it's not.

- In other words, I was wrong.

- (laughs): I was trying to say it nicely.

- You said it very nicely.

- So I'm just gonna bring this to a boil before we add the rest of the ingredients.

So the broth is boiling.

Now I'm gonna add the chicken and those white beans back in.

And then the other bean in here is a green bean.

Um, in Spain, they use something called ferradura.

It's a flat green bean-- we're going to just use a regular, good old green bean.

- No ferradura here.

- No ferradura here, sadly-- they're really delicious.

So last is the rice, this is bomba rice, also called Valencian rice-- it's a short-grain rice.

What's really great about it, especially in paella, is, it really holds its shape.

So when you're trying to get that crunchy bottom, it'll really hold up to that.

- So if I ain't got no bomba, what am I gonna use?

- You can use Italian arborio rice.

You do want to really rinse and drain it well, because we don't want that extra starch on there.

And you also need to reduce the liquid a little bit, by about a half-a-cup.

So we want to make sure that the rice is submerged here, so it will cook evenly.

So I'm just gonna bring this back up to a boil, we'll reduce it down to medium, and let that cook for about 18 minutes.

You want to see some of that liquid really evaporate, and you'll start to see these little craters in the rice.

And I think Chef Hernández said that there'll be steam coming out of there, and he calls them chimneys.

- Okay.

♪ ♪ - So you didn't believe me about the chimneys, did you?

- No.

- So you can see, look, there's little bubbles.

And from the bubbles are... steam rising.

- I hate it when you're right.

- (chuckles) - And it happens so much.

- I love it.

(laughs): I love it when I'm right!

- (laughs): I guess you do.

- So now we need to build that bottom layer of crispy rice.

So what I'm gonna do is turn the heat up to medium-high, and we're gonna do this right on the stove top, and we're gonna turn it around every ten seconds or so just to make sure it's cooking evenly.

And we'll know when it's ready when we start to hear a sizzle.

- Hmm, this is very exciting.

(bubbling) Well, you could hear it bubble, it's bubbling.

- It's bubbling, but... - Not sizzling.

- It's a different sound.

- So it sizzles when the liquid goes away.

- Right, and then it starts... - You get a crackling.

- Right.

(sizzling) So it's like snap, crackle, and pop, and then you know it's done.

So I'm gonna take it off the heat and I'm gonna cover it with a clean kitchen towel.

And put the cover back on.

And we'll let this sit for about ten minutes.

That's going to give a little bit of steam inside the pan.

That's gonna help us release that crunchy layer of rice on the bottom.

- Okay, and make sure your burners aren't on.

- (laughs) - Because... Because that would be bad news.

- Or the fire department will be here.

- Right.

- All right, are you ready for the big reveal?

- I am-- it's the bottom that we need to reveal, not the top - That's, you're right.

You're absolutely right.

The moment of truth.

- Ooh!

- Look at that!

- Wow!

You knew this was gonna happen all along.

You were just playing me.

- I mean, I was hopeful.

We have a little lemon if you'd like a little squeeze of lemon.

- I would.

- I do, too.

- Yeah, but this is a 12-inch non-stick skillet, inside, no wood fire, no big pan.

It's pretty amazing.

- It really is.

You doubted we could do it.

- I did.

- In a non-stick skillet, especially, but look at that.

- I was doubtful.

Mmm.

And it tastes great, too.

- I have to say, I know I said the saffron was optional.

It really adds a lot of flavor here.

- It has texture, it's moist, but it's got the crispy bits, too.

It's not dry throughout.

- No.

- So our own Lynn Clark accepted the challenge of making a Valencia-style paella, chicken and bean paella, at home in a non-stick skillet without an oven or a fire, and it turns out you can get a great bottom crust and get lots of flavor at the same time.

Nice job, Lynn, thank you, thank you.

This is a first, I know you... (laughs) - I don't know what to do.

- I don't know.

- I don't know what to say, I'm speechless.

- Just say, "You're welcome."

- You're welcome.

- (chuckles) ♪ ♪ Today we want to talk about an ingredient.

And then we're gonna make a recipe called seared pork tenderloin with smoked paprika and oregano.

But it's all about the smoked paprika.

So this is pimentón de la Vera.

This comes from Spain, of course, in between Madrid and Portugal, in a valley.

And it's very different than, let's say, Hungarian paprika, that are dried peppers, dried with fans and, and heaters.

This is an area that's actually fairly rainy, so they do this over a wood fire.

They don't do sun-dried.

And they do it for a week to two weeks, so it's a very slow process.

They don't want the heat to get over 120 degrees, because that'll cook the peppers.

So if you smell this, it's very, very, very smoky.

(inhales): It's a totally different product, and it's one of those things that they would use on any dish.

You know, migas, which is the scrambled eggs with the ham, just put it on top of almost anything.

So it's one of those game-changer ingredients that requires very little work, but just adds a ton of flavor.

So we'll start with some olive oil.

We have dried oregano.

We have the pimentón de la Vera, which is the smoked paprika, and a little bit of sugar.

♪ ♪ Now, in lots of cultures-- even here at Milk Street-- a lot of recipes start by toasting spices in oil or dry-toasting them in a skillet.

Smoked paprika, pimentón, has so much flavor and so much smokiness, you don't really do that.

So we'll be brushing this on right at the end of cooking.

We're not going to start by, uh, brushing this on the meat at the beginning.

So this is a pork tenderloin.

We're gonna cut it in half.

And then we're gonna cut it lengthwise, but not all the way through, so we'll open it up like a book.

♪ ♪ We want to pound it.

You can use wax paper, you can use...

I use parchment paper.

Or just a storage bag, plastic bag that's been opened up.

I often use, like, a three-quart or a two-quart saucepan to pound, but you can also use, obviously, a meat pounder.

It's also helpful when you do this to sort of push away from the center.

You don't overwork it and you get a nice, even thickness.

♪ ♪ So put about a tablespoon of grapeseed oil or neutral oil in the pan.

Get that nice and hot.

Just before it smokes, it starts to shimmer.

Then we know the pan's up to temperature.

So just a little bit of salt on each side.

The pan is nice and hot.

(sizzling) (sizzling) Two to three minutes on the first side, flip it, one to two minutes on the second side.

♪ ♪ We're gonna brush each side with a little bit of the sauce.

(chuckling): You can really smell that smoked paprika.

Comes right off the pan.

The four halves, they're cooked and they're on a platter.

We have a little bit of this remaining sauce on top.

And we're just gonna let this sit for five minutes.

♪ ♪ So now it's resting.

We have a little bit of fresh oregano.

I'll take a piece...

So that looks great, uh, it's a nice thin piece of pork tenderloin, not overcooked.

Mm.

You know, it's amazing how just a small amount of smoked paprika just flavors an entire dish-- it's delicious.

So this is a great example of what we love best here at Milk Street.

Take a sort of plain thing like pork tenderloin, it cooks very quickly, but that smoked paprika, which is really the essential ingredient here, just adds so much flavor.

So you transform something common into something extraordinary with just, essentially, one ingredient.

So seared pork tenderloin with smoked paprika and fresh oregano.

It's a great Tuesday night dinner or any night of the week.

♪ ♪ I bet there are a lot of people out there watching the show who think that gazpacho is kind of V8 juice.

- (chuckles) - That's what I think.

I'm not in love with gazpacho, because it's a fair amount of work and they have little bits on top.

And really, you could just popped open a, you know, a jar, a bottle of V8 juice, and been 90% of the way there.

So we went to Seville, where they have something similar but much better, called salmorejo, which is bread and olive oil and tomatoes.

And it makes this great emulsion.

I think it has a ton more flavor, it's easier to make, and it's way better.

So let's put the gazpacho back in the jar and let's make salmorejo, which I think is just a really easy blender soup that's terrific.

- This soup is delicious.

There's some kind of crazy alchemy going on, because you can see, there's just a few ingredients, there's, like, no knife work-- which is the opposite of gazpacho-- and the flavor is really excellent.

But because we have so few ingredients, as you know, Chris, we need to make sure they're in really good shape.

So if it's the summertime and you have a garden with beautiful tomatoes, or a farmers' market, fantastic.

If not, that's fine, but make sure your grocery store tomatoes are looking like this.

Those are cocktail tomatoes, available at the grocery store year-round.

They tend to have really great flavor even in the winter.

- This "on the vine" thing... Is that just pure marketing?

- It's pretty cute.

- That's just-- it's cute, but it doesn't actually say the tomatoes are better.

These are very good tomatoes, though, that is, relatively speaking.

But the "on the vine" thing, eh... - Yeah, you can find poor-quality on-the-vine tomatoes, for sure.

And that's why you want to be looking for those cocktail tomatoes.

- Yeah.

- And so we did take the cores out of these, but otherwise, you can just pop them whole right into the blender.

- So it's not like two pounds of cherry tomatoes cut in half.

- Exactly.

- And you just go, like... - We took all the work out of it.

- Am I gonna live long enough to get through this two pounds?

- Took all the work out of it.

And then bread.

Really important ingredient here.

You want to make sure you take the crusts off, because otherwise, you will taste the bread.

If you just use the center of a country-style loaf, it just adds really great texture, it thickens up the soup.

- So, so this is...

This is fresh bread, this is not stale bread.

- That's a good point, so I think people think a lot about using day-old bread in either a soup or a meatball.

We actually want to use fresh here, or it's gonna be too dry.

Then we have a little red bell pepper, and then sherry vinegar, which is typical of the region and also adds really great acidity and flavor.

And even though those tomatoes are pretty great on their own, a little bit of sugar is kind of a nice insurance policy to add a little bit of sweetness and brighten up those grocery store tomatoes.

- I used to be embarrassed about adding sugar.

Back in the '70s and '80s, like, adding sugar was a no-no.

Like, I add sugar anyway.

- Yeah.

- It just makes it better.

- If you think about it as an ingredient, and you're not, you know, ruining something by adding a ton of sugar, I think it's totally fair game.

A smashed clove of garlic.

And then two teaspoons of salt.

And I'll add a teaspoon of pepper, too.

And as you said, Chris, this is a really smooth soup.

We're gonna get the blender going pretty good here.

(blender whirring) (blender stops) So you can see all of the skin has blended.

There's no big chunks left.

And now we're ready to make that beautiful emulsion.

So we have three-quarters of a cup of olive oil here.

So as you can imagine, you're gonna taste that oil.

So you want to make sure this is fresh and fruity, good olive oil, not something that's been hanging out in your kitchen for a long time, but it's gonna add so much richness.

- Yeah, and that much oil, there's this great emulsion that happens that gives it sort of a silkiness.

It's got a great feel.

(blender starts) ♪ ♪ (blender stops) - Ah, that looks gorgeous.

Looks beautiful, it smells gorgeous.

I'm gonna transfer it to a bowl, season it with salt and pepper, and then we're actually gonna let it chill for two to four hours in the refrigerator, and then we'll come back.

♪ ♪ Okay, Chris so to gild the lily on this already very delicious soup, we are going to crisp up some prosciutto, and that will go right on top.

So I'm just gonna add a little olive oil.

And it only takes, like, two to three minutes for this to crisp up.

- Now, shouldn't we be using Spanish ham here instead of prosciutto?

- That's a really good point, Chris.

- I mean, like, ibérico or something.

- Like, some jamón would be fantastic.

And if you can get it, absolutely.

This is a great alternative.

If you're getting your grocery store tomatoes, you can also find pretty good quality prosciutto at most grocery stores now.

- Everyone in Seville who's watching this is probably throwing something at the screen.

(sizzling) - All right, Chris, so you can see, there are some nice crispy bits on here.

I'm gonna transfer it to the paper towel, and then we'll chop it up even further so we can sprinkle it right on top of the soup.

♪ ♪ Okay, Chris, this has been chilling for a couple of hours, and all the flavors have melded together.

We want to make sure to check for the seasoning again, because your taste buds don't pick up on saltiness as much when your food is really cold.

That is delicious.

But I am gonna add just another pinch of salt.

And maybe a little pepper, too.

- You know, in my household, that would be a quarter of a pinch of salt.

(chuckles): I just want you to know.

- It was almost perfect.

And now we get to garnish with all these beautiful garnishes.

And speaking of salt, the cooked prosciutto adds a bit of saltiness and some really nice crunch.

And then hard-boiled eggs are such a nice touch and kind of make it a meal.

And then some chopped parsley.

And then just a little bit more of that olive oil and vinegar.

- Well, it is pretty.

- Yeah, well, you were very patient while I painted the bowl.

- Oh...

I'm sorry, I'm never having gazpacho again.

I mean, this is so much better.

You know, it has, even with supermarket tomatoes, it has a ton of flavor.

- And it's funny, you wouldn't know that bread is in there, but it really does make it smooth and gives it body.

It's delicious.

- You know, you talked about the olive oil.

There are really two different styles.

We actually get some olive oil from Lebanon here.

It's very fruity, it's yellow, it's not green, and there's no bite at the back of the throat, which I think is really good for this.

You want a really fruity olive oil, you mentioned that before.

So if you're tired of V8 juice in your bowl when you want gazpacho in the summer, try this salmorejo.

It's Andalusian tomato and bread soup.

Olive oil, bread, and tomatoes, takes about five minutes to throw together in a blender, with prosciutto and hard-cooked eggs as a topping.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season of Milk Street at MilkStreetTV.com All episodes and recipes from this season of Milk Street Television are available for free at our website, MilkStreetTV.com.

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♪ ♪ - Ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to be the first to welcome you to Tel Aviv... - Welcome to Oaxaca's airport.

- Welcome to Beirut.

♪ ♪ (man speaking Hebrew) (speaking world language) - Bonjour, je m'appelle Chris.

- We call it supa kanja.

It's the word for gumbo.

♪ ♪ - Christopher, you have to make the authentic, original cotoletta alla Bolognese for me.

♪ ♪ - So this is the Eduardo García blender.

- This is the, no electricity.

♪ ♪ - Next is dessert.

- That is really good.

♪ ♪ - I notice when you cook sometimes, you add a little bit of something, and then you just put the whole bowl in.

- I like to be generous with my food.

Generosity is important in cooking.

- That's true.

♪ ♪ - Can start building bridges, and food is definitely a perfect common ground.

♪ ♪ - This is a generational thing.

It's, it's something that you inherit.

♪ ♪ - Yeah, that was great.

(woman speaking Mandarin) - What was this for... What did she say?

- You get one more chance.

- Salute.

- How is it?

He's speechless.

- I'm speechless.

That's so good.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪