Hola, amigos. I just returned from a fantastic weekend in the lovely, warm-weathered city of Atlanta where I reunited with a couple friends from studying abroad, ate a lot of great food, and discovered that so-so vodka isn’t too bad when it’s grape-flavored. It was overall a wonderful weekend, although I was incredibly disappointed that I didn’t see any of the Real Housewives. We went out at the W, and none of the Real Housewives were there. WTF? Don’t they hang out at fancy hotel bars? I was hoping for an encounter with Kim, and at the very least a chance to be in an Atlanta bar when “Tardy for the Party” started playing. Then I had to pinch myself so I would remember that “Tardy for the Party” isn’t a real song that any respectable establishment would play, and I was over it.
Now on to the food. Every meal we ate while in ATL was great. My friend Sarah and I both got in around the same time Friday afternoon and after we dropped our bags off at our friend Katherine’s we headed to Octane Coffee, recently named in Bon Appetit as one of the ten best boutique coffee shops. Two thumbs up.
Following our caffeine jolt we headed back to Katherine’s to make seafood paella so we could feel like we were back in Toledo. It’s been six years since our semester in Spain, and although I’ve had paella a handful of times since then this was my first time (participating in) making it. I always thought paella was something that took hours and hours to make, probably because so many restaurants warn you of an increased wait time for ordering it, but the recipe in Katherine’s Spanish cookbook made it seem far easier. It makes sense, considering my host mother would make paella every Sunday, if not more often. After a successful first attempt I think all three of us will be making this more often.
Seafood Paella
From Culinaria Spain, with a few adjustments
A couple fillets of any mild, white fish (tilapia, grouper, halibut)
12-15 large, uncooked shrimp
1-2 dozen mussels, scrubbed
2 tomatoes
2 cups long-grain white rice
4 cups seafood stock
1 cup chicken stock
Pinch of saffron
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
While we cooked and sipped champagne we snacked on assorted olives…
…as well as crusty bread and mahon.
Sarah started by dicing the tomatoes into little pieces.
Katherine partially cooked the shrimp in a little oil in a big skillet. When they’re about halfway done you take them out of the skillet and set them aside. They’ll finish cooking later when everything gets thrown together.
We cut a couple tilapia fillets into about 1″ pieces, partially cooked them in the hot skillet, and then set them aside with the shrimp.
Add the rice, tomatoes, garlic and seafood stock to the skillet. In a separate bowl combine the chicken stock with a large pinch of saffron, stir to combine, then add the mixture to the skillet.* Bring the mixture to a boil, and cook for about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat and cook for about 10 more minutes or until the most of the liquid is absorbed.
*We skipped this step thinking it was completely unnecessary and later realized that it’s there to make sure the saffron kind of dissolves into the liquid and spreads its flavor around.
Add the mussels, the shrimp, and the fish and cook for just a couple more minutes. Season with salt. We stuck the skillet under the broiler for a couple minutes at the very end, but it’s probably not entirely necessary. Serve with red wine and crusty bread to sop up any juices. ¡Buen provecho!
The paella on Friday night set the bar pretty high for food for the weekend, but the remainder of our meals did not disappoint.
Katherine, Sarah, and I, along with Katherine’s roommate Shailika, went to Murphy’s for brunch on Saturday where they garnish Bloody Marys with pickled okra. I love the South! The Bloody Mary both revived me and helped wash down my crab cake benedict with jalapeno hollandaise.
Sarah and Shailika.
Me and Katherine.
I didn’t take many more pictures, but I can’t write about my ATL trip without mentioning Saturday night’s dinner at The BookHouse Pub. The four of us started with smoked trout mac & cheese and collard green egg rolls to share, and I had a juicy burger with blue cheese for my meal. As much as I loved the burger, the smoked trout mac & cheese was the most unforgettable part of the meal. Either that or the company.
