Paella

There is, of course no definitive recipe for a Paella. Across the whole of Spain, from the valleys of the Basque Provincias to the Andalucian coast, every person you speak to will argue over the "correct" recipe for this dish. As long as you have Calaspara rice, saffron, peppers, onion, garlic and a decent stock, the rest doesn't matter. I prefer the Valencian approach but you should you find your own recipe, if only so you can join in those arguments next time you go to Spain.

Ingredients
•4 chicken thighs, deboned
•2 tbsp olive oil
•1 shallot, chopped
•1 garlic clove, chopped
•½ tsp smoked paprika
•½ red pepper, chopped
•250g Calaspara rice
•A pinch of saffron strands
•500ml hot chicken stock
•150g green beans
•Pinch Chopped Rosemary
•A squeeze of tomato paste
•Salt and pepper

Preparation method

1.Heat the oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the chicken thighs until browned. Add the shallot, garlic, paprika and red pepper until softened.

2.Add the rice and stir until coated in oil. Add the tomato paste.

3.Add the saffron, green beans and stock (enough to cover the rice). Season generously and simmer for 10 minutes, add the butter beans, then simmer until most of the stock has been absorbed.

Red Red Wine

Must think up more eye catching titles for posts even especially when it's the lazy option of a restaurant review. This is a poor starter for 10, but I couldn't help it - UB40 are playing nearby on their 30th Anniversary signing off tour and I've just bagged tickets. There you go, all in one I've given away my age and my musical taste. This post marks a change. I have finally signed up to study the Wine Spirit and Education Trust Diploma, an 18 month immersion in the world of wine at a professional level. "What will it qualify in?" was my mothers concern. "Er... drinking" I replied unhelpfully.

I have been blagging it for many years on the wine front and took matters in hand last year completing the certificate and advanced certificate qualifications. This of course was dangerous. Before, I thought there was a lot I knew about wine. Now I know what a vast amount there is too learn.

In truth, I was a little worried when the textbooks arrived. Five leaf bound A4 books, one per unit looked achievable but then I spied the Oxford Guide to Wine. Surely the 840 page tome was for reference? No - its part of the curriculum. Still, if you want to acquire an encyclopedic knowledge of wine guess what they are going to send you?

I must remember this is for pleasure, not work, so cheers!

And how was the weather?

So in the height of summer we took ourselves to A Grelha for the second time. Since we went last July this may be the start of a tradition. We booked the table and kept a close eye on the weather forecast since this is one of London's few open air restaurants which runs each summer on the patio of The Gun Pub in the Docklands.

The idea of recreating the experience of a beach side Portuguese restaurant is a great one and on our first visit we enjoyed a wonderful long evening filled with fish dishes and light Portuguese wines. What was the magic ingredient we wonder. The Fresh fish bought from Billingsgate each morning? The huge charcoal grill? No, I can confirm it was the weather. This time the sun scurried behind a cloud, the temperature plummeted and all the little niggles took over. The waiter was vague on the menu, didn't know if fish could be filleted, offered to put up an umbrella and disappeared for half an hour whilst more than one of our starters was lost in action and never made it to the table. You could argue that all of these failings are authentically Mediterranean and with perfect weather and a long wine list in front of you wouldn't care.

The wine list however is genuinely Portuguese so we tucked in as the the days of flavourless Vinho Verde are long gone and the countries wines are beginning to show some real character.

Fontanario de Pegões White, Palmela DOC



Made from 100% Fernao Pires grapes which are the most planted in Portugal, this is a clean simple citrusy, slightly spicy and peachy aromatic fresh white ideal for hot days. Good with food or as an aperitif, it is a great example of what a modern refurbished cooperative and an experienced winemaker, in this case Jaime Quendera, can produce. One of the new wave of straightforward but well made Portugese whites. At around £7.50 a bottle retail, it's an interesting summer alternative.



Reguengos de Melgaco Alvarinho Vinho Verde 2009



A fresh, aromatic peachy wine with some real compelexity and minerality, this was commended by Decanter for the 2007 vintage and shows some serious depth. Vinho Verde made from Alvarinho grapes have always had an excellent reputation within Portugal but the rise of the Rias Baixas region in North Western Spain has won this grape many friends in the UK.

In retrospect then, given that the food is all cooked on a barbecue and is served simply with boiled potatoes and salad, I think this restaurant makes me want to ban the burgers put in an order at the local fishmongers, get in a case of Portuguese coolers and invite everyone over to my mine. A Grehla a casa next year perhaps?

Square Squared

Back to the Square on the the glorious 13th to mark the start of the game season. It has been nine months since the last visit and whilst of course nothing has changed other than the menu, I find it's often enjoyable to reflect on how your feelings on a restaurant change between visits. After a recent visit to the high temple that is Ducasse, what I noticed above all was how relaxed the service was in comparison. Ths staff were, of course formal but friendly and charming with it.

Their wine is also relatively good value. 400% markup by the glass is not uncommon at this level but I had a glass of their 2004 Réserve de Léoville Barton at a markup of around 100%. Measures were also a reasonable 175ml, avoiding the other high end markup trick of serving a smaller 125ml measure at a price you might expect for the larger one. With so many fantastic restaurants to eat at and a limited budget its rare that I return to a high end venue (Texture and the Waterside Inn being the other candidates).

The food was excellent as ever, my dining companion swooning over his grouse on the a la carte, whilst I tucked into an excellent set lunch. I hope to return sooner.

Maze Grill

This was far from my first visit to Maze grill, indeed this has turned into my favourite set lunch reccomendation for anyone in Mayfair on a weekday. Stray onto the a la carte and the prices leap upwards but for £21 you can enjoy 3 excellent courses in a well drilled Ramsey restaurant. The dining room enjoys views over Grosvenor Square and though the decor is a little bland, the staff are well drilled and the only inconvenience is the extended trek to the toilets it shares with a Marriot hotel.

A well cooked chicken chausseur married well with a bottle of Château Bauduc as endrosed by Ramsey, Stein and Oz and May (TV wine royalty by today's standards I suppose!). The wine is a straightfoward but well made and rapidly improving Bordeaux AC from Gavin Quinney who has made the dream of every wine fan a reality by buying and improving a chateau in the Bordeaux Appelation, cut out the middleman by offering direct sales to the UK and even finds time to write an informative blog.

No doubt the better value offerings will eventually fade away as the economy improves so for now, take advantage of one of the few upsides of the failing economic environment and pay a visit.

Marques de Riscal

Marques de Riscal is Riojan Royalty. One of the first great houses founded in 1858, it is a major brand, runs an award winning hotel at it's winery in Elciego and is unique in the area for having the right to grow Cabernet Sauvignon (a grape that is not permitted under Rioja regulations) since the planting pre dates the DO rules.

It's range encompasses the full spectrum from everyday to premium so we took the opportunity to visit for a tour and tasting whilst on holiday nearby. Their grapes for their white wine are grown in Rueda, the balance in Rioja Alavesa. Maturation of their Rioja DO is in American oak, traditional for the area and a tour encompasses all of their onsite wineries, though one is not allowed into the hotel. One of the most interesting points of the visit was a walk through their oldest cellar in which they keep a full catalogue of every single vintage for the last 150 years. Jancis Robinson attended a tasting there a couple of years ago and tasted vintages back to 1900 which were apparently still going strong.



The reserva was a classic Rioja, red fruits, sweet oak and a decent amount of tannin with good balance. Their Rueda 2009 is unoaked, aromatic and herbaceous. Both are excellent and due to the size of the winery the range often feature in the major wine chains and supermarkets in special offers.

Bodegas Baigorri

Our annual Spanish trip allowed us the chance to visit a newcomer to the world of Rioja. The bodega, constructed in 2002, is an exercise in clean functional design using gravity fed systems for fruit handling. French oak is used throughout along with quality hallmarks of green harvesting and careful selection at the sorting table to produce US friendly fruit forward wines with a hint of Cali Cabernet about them.



The winery is built underground, the top floor, a striking vacant glass cube just outside the traditional Riojan town of Elciego. As with many bodegas, they buy in the majority of their grapes and select from Rioja Alavesa and Alta.

They also serve a fine lunch if requested. We enjoyed Pate, a Tuna Salad, Chorizo and bean stew, Shin of Beef and an Ice Cream Cake. Happily we had the opportunity to taste the full range of wines with the lunch.

They produce a barrel fermented white, Rose and Crianza but the stars of the show were their 2005 Reserva and 2006 El Garaje.

The former benefits from an excellent vintage, offers leather and cigar box oak on the nose with a whack of deep cherry whilst the palate follows through with good structure and balance that makes it a modern but excellent match to the traditional hearty Riojan cuisine.

The latter is a premium cuvee which does not fall into the Crianza/Reserva/Gran Reserva classification. It offers smoky, overripe sweet cherry fruit, soft tannins and plenty of complexity and length. Both are well made excellent wines though my personal taste is for the reserva over the top wine in which I find the fruit a little confected. Whilst it is not sweet, perhaps this is why they recommend it as both a savoury and dessert wine.