Lou and I needed a place to stay our last night on the island and, Linda, my mother-in-law, has a good friend Mabelle who was kind enough to invite us into her home to stay the night. I know you are not supposed to tell a woman's age, but when that woman is 83, looks no older than 60, plays tennis and has more energy all day, than I have first thing in the morning, I say it with astonishment. Mabelle is 83?!? She is also one of Lou's and my favorite people we have ever met. I've never felt so comfortable, so quickly in a stranger's home. Thank you Mabelle. You are one of a kind.
When we arrived at Mabelles, I got a huge surprise. Mabelle is the originator of the paella recipe Linda gave me last year, and she was cooking it for dinner!
It is one thing to get a recipe from someone, but it is another to be able to witness them cooking it. Mabelle not only let me witness, she asked me to help her cook.
Two major things Mabelle does different than I do with the paella...
#1 she cooks amazing, bone in, chicken for the recipe. I use skinless tenders, and I missed her cooking the chicken, total bummer.
#2 She actually uses real saffron and makes the rice from scratch. I use a similar technique to cook the rice, but I go the lazy spice route and buy Goya paella rice with a spice packet.
The verdict? You can't compete with the original recipe. If we had done the Bobby Flay throw down, I don't think I would have stood a chance against Mabelle's paella
It is great when someone trusts you to help them with dinner. Mabelle not only had me help with the paella, she also let me make the salad.
As if Mabelle wouldn't have beat me in a throw down already, she topped off our cooking with Dark and Stormies. A combination of Gosling Ginger Beer and Dark Rum.
Now I just have to figure out how to get invited back!
No comments:
Post a Comment