Recently, my good friend Dr. Anne Staples (http://www.hsinternational.org) and I invited a few close friends to celebrate the fruits of "our labor;" a Spanish themed dinner. As both of us have traveled extensively, we enjoy moving out of the Southern box and exploring foods from other cultures...At first we were a bit ambitious and were going to consider smoking a goat. Then Anne, decided that maybe she did not
want to dig up her beautiful backyard...and I had difficulty finding someone who raised goats for meat. Finally found a farm 60 miles away. The goat owner said she just had little ones at this time, not quite ready for.... Imagining a baby goat on the spit brought us to our senses. So Paella it was with lots of shell fish and yes, chicken and smoked sausage from a hog. We started with some Spanish Tapas of Artichoke/Wheatberry/goat cheese, then little shrimp cakes in chick pea flour. Sangria and other light white wines sequenced thirst as we waited for Anne's Paella. This takes about an hour to cook once you have all the ingredients assembled which she had prepped earlier. Each component is sauteed or grilled separately. The result was just delicious. I made a mixed green salad with avocados, hearts of palm, oranges, rosemary croutons tossed with a citrus dressing. A almond/mint flan completed our feast and labor of love and hospitality!
