GOLDEN SAFFRON, THE NOVEMBER SPICE

La Mancha where saffron is grown.

In La Mancha, the upland plateau region of central Spain, early November is the season for harvesting saffron flowers. Saffron, the spice, consists of the dried stigmas of a small, mauve-colored, autumn-blooming crocus. The plant originated in the Middle East and was introduced into Spain by the Moors in the ninth century. Saffron became the flavor of status in medieval cuisine. It has been grown in Spain’s La Mancha region ever since.

Autumn-blooming saffron crocuses.

The three orange-gold stigmas of each flower are extracted by hand.

Saffron, of course, is essential to real paella. It also goes into other rice dishes and some stews such as gallina en pepitoria, chicken braised in almond-saffron sauce. I’m making a Manchegan rice dish that combines the two—stewed chicken and rice. This is caldoso or "soupy" rice, not dry like paella.

Golden rice with chicken stewed in almond sauce.

This is a real farmhouse dish, where a free-range barnyard fowl might be used. Use a smaller “fryer” (3 ½ pounds) instead. It cooks in water or stock until completely tender before the rice is added.

Vegetables can be included—green beans or artichokes being the most common. I’ve added sliced butternut squash.

To extract all the flavor and color from saffron, first crush the wispy threads in a mortar. Place the saffron in a cup and pour over hot liquid. Let the saffron infuse at least 5 minutes and up to 30 minutes.

Use Spanish “round,” medium-grain, paella rice for this dish, preferably the variety called Bomba. Bomba rice is preferred for caldoso dishes as it doesn’t “flower” when cooked with lots of liquid.

I started with a whole chicken, cut into joints. With the breast cut into four, this made eight serving pieces. I separated out the bony back, neck and wings and used them to make a light stock. You can use store-bought stock or just plain water. If using water, be sure to add plenty of salt to taste.

The chicken liver gets fried and mashed up with almonds and garlic to thicken the cooking liquid slightly. If you don’t have a liver (or prefer to put it on toast and eat it straight up), fry a slice of bread to mash.

How soupy is soupy rice? You’ll need at least four times the volume of liquid to rice, i.e., 2 cups rice and 8 cups water or stock. You will be surprised how much liquid the rice absorbs in the five minutes settling period after you remove it from the heat. So a total of 9 or 10 cups liquid is better if you’re aiming for “soupy.”

Vegetables can be included--here, butternut squash and green beans.

(Free-Range) Chicken with Soupy Rice
Pollo de Corral con Arroz Caldoso

Serves 6

Bomba variety is best for caldoso rice.

2- 2 ½ pounds chicken pieces
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Thyme
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 chicken liver, cut in 3 or 4 pieces, or 1 slice bread, crusts removed
¼ cup blanched and skinned almonds
6 cloves garlic
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup grated tomato pulp
½ teaspoon saffron threads
1 clove
¼ cup hot water
1 tablespoon chopped parsley plus additional for garnish
¼ cup white wine
2 bay leaves
9-10 cups water or chicken stock (or a combination)
2 cups medium-grain rice, preferably Bomba variety
Sliced butternut squash (optional)
Cut-up green beans (optional)

Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper and thyme and allow it to come to room temperature.

Heat the oil in a large pan or cazuela. Fry the chicken liver (or bread), almonds and 2 whole cloves of the garlic until they are lightly browned. Remove and reserve. Set a few toasted almonds aside to garnish the finished dish.

Add the chicken pieces to the pan and brown them on medium-high heat, 10-12 minutes. Remove.

Chop 2 cloves of the remaining garlic and add to the pan with the chopped onion. Sauté several minutes, then add the tomato pulp. Continue frying until tomato cooks up somewhat.

Meanwhile, crush the saffron and clove in a mortar. Place the spices in a small bowl and add the ¼ cup hot water. Allow the saffron to infuse 5 minutes.

Place the chicken liver, almonds, fried garlic and 2 cloves of raw garlic  in a blender with the wine. Blend to make a smooth paste.

Stir the paste into the pan. Add the saffron-clove mixture and bay leaves. Add 4 cups of the water or chicken stock. If using water, add 1 teaspoon of salt. Chicken stock may not need additional salt.

Return the chicken pieces to the pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer the chicken, uncovered, turning it once or twice, until tender, about 40 minutes if you started with a 3-pound “fryer,” longer for a larger, free-range chicken.

Add about 5 cups additional water or stock to the pan. Add more salt to taste. Bring to a boil and stir in the rice. Add the pieces of squash and beans, if using. Cook, uncovered, on high for 5 minutes. Reduce heat so liquid bubbles gently. Cook 10 minutes longer and remove the pan from the heat. Allow the chicken and rice to set for 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and the reserved toasted almonds.

Caldoso rice is "spoon food." Chicken should be falling-off-the-bones tender.

La Mancha, processing saffron by hand.

More recipes with saffron:

Saffron Ice Cream.

Fish in Saffron Sauce.

Clams with Butter Beans and Saffron.

Paella with Chicken and Seafood.

And, another recipe for Chicken with Rice: https://mykitcheninspain.blogspot.com.es/2013/09/beyond-paella.html

CLAY POT—THE ORIGINAL SLOW COOKER

My olive picking is finished for this season. I was outside picking a few hours every day that it didn’t rain. My son, Ben, cut down branches that I couldn’t reach.  We took 150 kilos of olives to the mill and came home with 14 liters of new oil.

On picking days, I didn’t have much time to think about cooking. So I turned to some traditional dishes from rural Spain, such as this slow-cooked beef stew from the province of Ciudad Real, in the southern part of Castilla-La Mancha. 

Beef and vegetable stew is slow-cooked in a clay pot.

All the ingredients are put to cook together—thus the name, tojunto, a contraction of “todo junto”, meaning “all together”. Supposedly this allowed the women of Almagro to get on with their lace-making (they make very pretty bobbin lace); the shepherd to keep the cheese-making going (Manchego cheese comes from here), workers in vineyards (Valdepeñas and La Mancha wines) and olive groves to keep working right up until dinner and the hunter in the fields to have a meal ready when he returned to camp.

In rural Spain, a sturdy dish such as this stew is served for the main meal of the day, around 2 pm.

Everything goes into the stew pot—preferably a clay pot, or olla de barro—at the same time and cooks a fuego lento—on a slow fire, without stirring, until the meat is tender. Clay-pot cooking is a lot like today’s slow cookers that keep a low and steady heat. A clay pot also keeps the food warm for an extended time, meaning a meal that can wait.

This stew is not thickened. Put the potatoes in whole, so they don’t break up with long cooking. Vegetables such as fresh green beans get very-well cooked. But, that’s sort of comforting.

Flank steak or chuck, cut into cubes, is a good cut for this slow-cooked stew. (Tojunto is also made with lamb, pork, chicken or rabbit.) Saffron is grown in this region of La Mancha. It adds subtle flavor and color to the stew. You can use regular sweet pimentón (paprika) or smoked pimentón.

I served the stew with pickled red onions and my home-cured olives.

Meat, potatoes and vegetables cook together.

“Altogether” Beef Stew

Tojunto

Serves 4 to 6.

1 onion, quartered and sliced

1 green bell pepper, cut in 1-inch pieces

1 large tomato (or 3 plum tomatoes), peeled and cut in eighths

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 large carrot, peeled and quartered

4 medium potatoes, peeled

1 ½ pounds beef, cut in 1 ½-inch pieces

Pinch of ground cloves

Freshly ground black pepper

2 bay leaves

Sprig of thyme

¼ teaspoon saffron threads, crushed

1 teaspoon sweet pimento (paprika)

¼ cup hot water

4 ounces green beans, cut in 1-inch lengths (1 cup)

2 teaspoons salt

¼ cup olive oil

½ cup white wine

1 cup water

Chopped parsley to serve

Place the onion, pepper, tomato, and garlic in a cazuela or stew pot. Add the carrot, potatoes and veal or beef. Sprinkle the meat with cloves and pepper. Tuck the bay leaves and thyme around the meat. 

Add ingredients all together.

Combine the crushed saffron and pimentón in a small bowl. Add ¼ cup hot water and stir to dissolve. Pour the liquid over the meat. Place the green beans on top. Sprinkle with salt. Pour over the oil and wine plus 1 cup of water.

Cover the cazuela or pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, without stirring, until meat is very tender, about 2 hours. Allow to stand 15 minutes before serving with chopped parsley.

 

I hand-pick olives.

 

SEPTEMBER IS VENDIMIA SEASON

A few years ago, while gathering recipes for a cookbook, I spent the month of September traveling around La Mancha (central Spain). September is the month of the vendimia, the picking of wine grapes. Driving on secondary roads, everywhere in La Mancha we passed tractors towing wagons heaped with grapes, heading for the many bodegas, wineries, of the region.

Picking grapes in La Mancha

Marqués de Griñon

I picked grapes in the organic vineyards of Bodegas Dionisos  in Valdepeñas (Ciudad Real) and watched the first pressing. In Malpica de Tajo (Toledo) I walked through the vineyards on the first day of the vendimia with Carlos Falcó, the Marqués of Griñón, who makes the extraordinary wines of  Dominio de Valdepusa/, which have Vino de Pago denomination. At Los Hinojos (Cuenca), where the modernistic Finca Antigua bodega is located, I watched huge mechanical harvesters make their way through vineyards.

La Mancha is big wine country. In fact, it is the biggest area of vineyards on earth—about eight percent of all lands worldwide planted in vines and almost half of all the vineyards in Spain are within La Mancha. Miles and miles of vineyards keep the landscape verdant through hot and arid summers.

To celebrate vendimia month, of course I’m drinking wine. And I’ve also pulled a couple recipes from COOKING FROM THE HEART OF SPAIN—FOOD OF LA MANCHA (WilliamMorrow, 2006) that seem appropriate for the season.

Green Bean Salad with Grapes and Anise
Ensalada de Judías Verdes con Uvas

Green beans, grapes and anise--a grape-harvest salad.

Wine is fermented grape juice. If the grape juice (or wine) is distilled, it turns into aguardiente, a clear, strong alcoholic beverage that is usually flavored with aniseed. In La Mancha it is customary to preserve fruits such as grapes and cherries in aguardiente, which becomes subtly infused with the fruit. In bars and restaurants you will see beautiful decanters and flasks of the liqueur with fruit. It is served into tiny glasses as a digestive. The fruit can be drained and served separately.

This salad, incorporating grapes macerated briefly in aguardiente, was inspired by a recipe in a little book, La Cocina Tradicional en la Provincia de Toledo, prepared by a chef at the national parador of Oropesa (Toledo). Paradors are a national network of hotels, often situated in monumental castles, monasteries, and ancestral palaces. In the original recipe, the salad is served alongside sautéed scallops of venison. It’s equally good with chicken breast (see following recipe) or lamb.

Use wine grapes, if available. Otherwise, use red grapes. Add the dressing to the beans immediately before serving, so the vinegar doesn’t leach the bright green from the beans.

Where I live, wild fennel is flowering now. So I decided to finish the salad with a sprinkling of fennel pollen to complement the anise flavor. (More about fennel pollen here.)

½ cup seedless red grapes, halved
2 tablespoons aguardiente de anise or anisette
1 pound green beans, preferably flat romano beans
½ cup thinly sliced celery or fennel
¼ cup thinly sliced scallions
1 hard-cooked egg
1 clove crushed garlic
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
Red lettuce to serve
Fennel pollen (optional)

Place the halved grapes in a small bowl and add the aguardiente or anisette. Allow to macerate for 2 hours. Drain the grapes and discard (or drink) the aguardiente.

Slice off edges of beans.

Cut off tops and tails of beans and either sliver them lengthwise or cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces. Cook the beans in boiling, salted water until crisp-tender (3 minutes from the time the water returns to a boil). Drain and refresh in cold water. Drain.

Place the beans in a bowl and add the celery or fennel, scallions, and grapes.

Cut the egg in half. Remove yolk to a small bowl. Dice the white into the bowl with the beans.

Mash the yolk with the garlic, mustard, vinegar, oil, and salt. Stir the dressing well. Immediately before serving, toss the dressing with the beans. Garnish serving bowl with red lettuce or, alternatively, divide salad between 4 individual serving dishes, garnishing each with a few lettuce leaves. If desired, sprinkle the salad with fennel pollen.

Serve bean and grape salad as a side with chicken breasts.

Manchego Chicken Breast with Anisette
Pechuga de Pollo Manchego con Aguardiente

Chicken breast simmers with wine, spices and anise brandy.

Aguardiente de anís is a clear, anise-flavored grape brandy, sweet or dry, much appreciated throughout Spain. It makes a pleasant digestive after a meal, served neat in a snifter or over ice. Hardy peasants might sip it for breakfast, when it’s said to matar el gusanillo, kill the little “worm” of hunger. For this recipe use dry aguardiente.

I liked the subtle flavor aguardiente gives to this sauce so much, that I’ve since experimented with it in other recipes. It’s really good added to mussels marinera, with tomato, garlic and white wine.

Serves 4.

2 pounds boneless, skin-on chicken breasts
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Pinch of dried thyme
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
Grating of nutmeg
½ teaspoon whole coriander seeds
2 tablespoons dry aguardiente (anisette)
½ cup white wine
¼ cup water

Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and set aside 15 minutes. Heat the oil in a large skillet or sauté pan. Add the chicken breasts and brown them on medium heat, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken and add the garlic. Sauté until chicken is lightly browned.

Sprinkle the thyme, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and coriander over the chicken. Add the anisette, wine, and water. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces. Cook until chicken is tender, 10 to 15 minutes longer, depending on thickness of pieces.

Slice the chicken breasts.

Remove the chicken breasts to a cutting board and allow to rest 5 minutes. Slice the chicken. Discard the whole spices and serve the sauce remaining in the pan with the sliced chicken.

Bean and grape salad complements the anise-flavored chicken breast.

Tempranillo grapes.