The Las Vegas Review-Journal and La Bonita Supermarkets teamed up to bring you a virtual food & cocktail cooking series. The first episode took place on March 18, 2021, where Chef La Che cooked a delicious paella dish, paired nicely with a refreshing mojito, and ended with a light dessert of strawberries and cream. Learn more or register for future episodes.
Paella is a Spanish rice dish from Valencia, Spain, and is one of Spain’s best-known recipes. Two types of meat are usually in the traditional dish and the original paella recipe called for chicken and rabbit. Seafood is often a main ingredient, including shrimp, mussels, or the local catch of the day. Paella is traditionally cooked in a large round pan and shared among family and friends. Another important tip when making paella is not constantly stirring while cooking after the rice is incorporated, so that the socarrat begins to form. Most people consider socarrat the paella’s best part, which is where the flavors concentrate. Socarrat is the crusty, crispy rice on the bottom of the pan that becomes caramelized while it is cooking.
Why did Chef La Che choose to cook paella? Paella typically brings friends and family together and because of the variety of meats that you can use. La Bonita Supermarkets is mainly a meat shop, so they wanted to feature many of the products they carry in their stores.
Mojitos were first made in Havana, Cuba, and are traditionally a summertime drink but have grown in popularity over the years. La Bonita Supermarkets picked mojitos to pair with paella because it pairs nicely with the paella, and they have all the ingredients from the muddler to the ice to make this fun drink.
The strawberries and cream dessert is a secret recipe that Chef La Che wanted to share with everyone as it is an easy and delicious dessert to make. So, what is the secret ingredient? Rum is the secret ingredient. The cream is infused with rum adding to the strawberries.
Enjoy the video and share your paella dishes on social media and be sure to tag your photo with the hashtag #rjcooking.
For more information or to register for future episodes, click here.
Members of the editorial and news staff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal were not involved in the creation of this content.