Paella for The Princess Spy

 The Princess Spy, by Larry Loftis, is an excellent biography, which reads like a fiction thriller, full of famous people, adventure and romance. The true story of World War II spy, Aline Griffith, a young American girl, a fashion model, who became a spy and then the Countess of Romanones.  I found the book by happy accident, while looking for another title, which I've now forgotten.  Biography is not my usual reading, so I was very enjoyably surprised by the book, and will be checking out his previous titles.

From The Publisher's Weekly:

"Historian Loftis (Code Name: Lise) delivers an entertaining biography of American fashion model--turned--spy Aline Griffith (1923--2017). Born in the small town of Pearl River, N.Y., Griffith moved to Manhattan after graduating from a Catholic women's college and found work as a model for fashion designer Hattie Carnegie. Griffith's life took a turn after a chance meeting with an Office of Strategic Services operative at a dinner party in 1943. Griffith joined the OSS and, following her training, was sent to Spain in 1944 to search for Nazi supporters among the region's social elites. Amid her information-gathering activities, she met and married a Spanish nobleman and became a countess. She quit spying in 1947 to focus on raising a family, but resumed clandestine activities for the CIA in 1956, though those missions remain classified. Loftis's fast-moving narrative includes plenty of colorful details about Griffith's social life, including lavish cocktail parties and her friendship with bullfighter Juanito Belmonte , and he sketches the battles between German, American, and British spies for influence over the Spanish government with precision. Espionage buffs will be enthralled."

Panellets de Pinyons for Dia de los Muertos

For this month's round of our Eat the World Recipe Challenge we are visiting Spain.  At least I am.  Actually, the theme is meant to be Halloween in a country of our choice.  And I picked Spain, partly due to a nephew recently moved there and another, his brother, visiting at the moment.  Instead of the American traditional  Halloween, Spain celebrates with a three day holiday honoring deceased relatives.  It is a time when family members come home to pay their respects to the dead, decorate tombstones with flowers, prepare meals together and attend church.  The festivities kick off on October 31st with Dia de las Brujas (Day of the Witches), continues with Dia de Todas los Santos (All Saints Day) on November 1st, and finishes off with Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on Nov. 2nd.  To discover what all is happening for the holiday in Spain, go to Halloween in Spain for a ton of celebrations and attractions.

Spanish Paella with the Daring Cooks

Do you know, Paella is one of those dishes that has been on my cooking "bucket list" for a long time.  And, I finally got the kick in the pants that was needed to go ahead with the program..

Our Daring Cooks’ September 2012 hostess was Inma of la Galletika. Inma brought us a taste of Spain and challenged us to make our very own delicious Paella!

Being as Bob does not care for shellfish, a typical Paella was not on the menu, neither was I into doing a strictly vegetarian version. So I went out into the wilds of the interweb and did a bit of Spanish Paella researching.  It seems the original Valencian recipes didn't have fish, but did include rabbit, snails and beans. Ooookay, snails are plentiful here but again, Bob won't touch them, and doesn't much like rabbit either.  Beans are good, and some folks say rabbit tastes like chicken, so we are submitting a version of our own.  Based on what is available that Bob will eat.  Don't worry folks, I eat out often enough to get in my quota of all that other good stuff.

Paella is a bit like Risotto, except that the liquid is added all at once.  The rice is, ideally Calasparra or Bomba, similar to Arborio.  You want a nice starchy variety and Arborio, which I used, works fine.  Also it is briefly sauteed in olive oil first, as you would for a risotto.  I caramelized some onion, added lots of garlic, the diced chicken and ham, then the rice, before adding tomatoes, veggies and finally stock and herbs.  That, in brief, is the procedure.