Paella on The Big Green Egg

Last night I made paella on the Big Green Egg. It turned out amazing. It's not as hard as you might think. I think the key is prep, organization and a helper. Prep everything ahead of time. Put everything in small containers a place the container on a big tray In order of how they will be used. Start with oil, chicken, chorizo, onions, paprika, garlic, rice, stock, veggies then the seafood. There may be some exceptions to this order but it's a pretty good guide. Arborio rice worked well. Fresh seafood is obviously preferred but the bags of frozen mixed seafood at Trader Joes are hard to beat. The key to a good traditional paella is natural wood charcoal for a little smokiness. Also very important is you must stop stiring once everything is well blended to form that good crust on the bottom that makes it amazing. Don't stir in the fish and seafood, just place them by hand and press them into the paella. This is one of my favorite things to make and great for entertaining just be organized and prepped before your guests arrive. 

Thanks,

Shannon 

Chorizo Stuffed Pork Loin

This is a concept that came about while I was thinking of ideas for an upcoming grilling competition. Pretty simple as far as the prep goes. Stick a knife through the middle of a pork loin and make slit big enough to stuff for two chorizo sausages. Obviously this will not work with the soft Mexican chorizo. remove the skin from the sausages if possible or at least puncture the sides. Rub the whole thing with a good Spanish type rub (fennel. smoked paprika, salt, pepper, coriander and ground mustard seed). Then vacuum pack the whole thing and refrigerate over night or at least 3 hours. We found that this is best cooked over indirect heat and wrapped in foil. It's ok to finish on hot grill just to put grill marks on it and a little char flavor. I think this would be great with a sauce of some kind. Maybe a herby chimichuri or something like that. - Shannon

Easter dinner

My wife and I hosted Easter for her side of the family this year and everything turned out great!

Spanish deviled eggs: Roasted red pepper, cilantro, dijon, topped with Chirozo

Becky's roasted turkey

Ciabatta rolls from Trader Joe's for the pannini's

Cheddar and ham pannini with Ty's insane potatoes

Turkey, fontina, salami pannini

Oh yeah, I think there were some veggies there. I wouldn't know. 

-- Drew

Baked Spinach Gnocchi

A very quick dish I made for Tanette last night. Easy and delicious. You could definitely substitute Gorgonzola for the goat cheese. -- Drew

The recipe is from Giada...

Ingredients:

2-17 oz vacuum packed potato gnocchi (don't get the hard ones)
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 C flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
12 oz fresh baby spinach
3 oz goat cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

(***Note...I cut the recipe in half for two people and baked it in an 8x8 glass dish. Perfect amount for two.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place gnocchi in a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish.
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cream, chicken broth and flour over medium heat.
Continue whisking until simmering and thickened, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add spinach and toss to coat.
Pour mixture over the gnocchi and spread the spinach to cover.
Crumble the goat cheese over the top and sprinkle with Parmesan.
Bake until golden, about 30 minutes.