Paella Valeciana from The Rice Book by Sri Owen

In July 1991 I had lunch at El Delfin, a restaurant facing the sea at Malva Rosa, just outside Valencia. You eat in a large, white room, with black furniture and a stone floor, a bar at the end near the kitchen door, a breeze just lifting the corners of the white tablecloths; when a particularly fine dish comes to table, other patrons are likely to walk across and comment on it appreciatively, praising the cook, Señora Cesar. It is, of course, a family business. I was allowed into the kitchen to watch the Senora prepare this dish in the traditional way, in a shallow iron pan - a paella - over a wood fire. The fire heats the bottom of the pan evenly, so that the bottom layer of rice is nice and crunchy but not actually burnt.
I give here the original ingredients that I saw Señora Cesar use, and I have also suggested some alternatives which I have tested and which produce practically the same result, though the people of Valencia, who are rightly proud of their cuisine, might not like you to call it a Paella Valenciana.
The Valencia way to eat this dish, among family or friends, is just to put the paella in the middle of the table and let each person eat their way from the edge into the centre. I'm told that 10 or 12 people, or more, can eat this way at a big round table, and after seeing some of the old paella that are still in use, I can well believe it.
The best rice to use is of course the short grain rice that has been grown around Valencia and Murcia since the time of the Moors, who built the irrigation canals that are still the basis of rice farming in the region today. In Calasparra, in the hills above Murcia, they grown rice which is stamped Denominación de Origen as if it were a fine wine, and a few farmers still grow a low-yield traditional variety called Bomba.
If you're not able to get Spanish rice, use the best short grain you can find: Japanese or Korean, or Italian Arborio. If you use dried butter beans, soak the overnight first.
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking: 40 minutes
Serves 4-6

3 tbsp olive oil
2 chicken breast portions and 2 chicken thighs, cut into small chunks with the bones and skin
225 - 340g rabbit meat, cut into small chunks
1 small onion, finely sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 large tomatoes, skinned and chopped, or 2 tbsp tomato purée
112g fresh butter beans, or reconstituted dried butter beans, or fresh broad beans
170-225g flat green beans or runner beans, but into 5cm pieces
2 pinches saffron strands, crushed in a mortar, or ½ tsp turmeric
16-20 snails, cleaned (optional)
1.1 litres hot chicken stock or hot water
Salt and pepper to taste
450g short grain rice
Heat the oil in the pan, and when it is hot add the chicken and rabbit pieces and fry them, turning often, for 3 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, cayenne pepper and tomatoes or tomato puree. Stir all together for 1 minute. Add the beans and saffron, and stir again. Cover the pan for 2 minutes. Uncover, and add the snails (if used), and stir; then put in the hot chicken stock, water, salt and pepper. Cover the pan and let this simmer for 18-19 minutes. Up to this point, the dish can be prepared several hours in advance.
By now the liquid should be just enough to cook the rice. If you are doubtful about this, transfer the solids to another container; then measure the liquid - it should be just about 850ml. If necessary, add some more hot water. Bring the liquid back to the boil and put in all the solids and rice. Stir the whole thing well, adjust the seasoning and cover the pan. Lower the heat and leave it all to cook undisturbed for 15 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let the pan rest for 5 minutes. Serve hot from the pan, or transfer to a warm serving dish. Scape the thin crust from the bottom of the pan and scatter it over the top so that everyone gets a fair share.
• This extract is taken from The Rice Book by Sri Owen (Frances Lincoln, £9.99)

Provençal beef stew (daube Provençale from The Complete Robuchon Joël Robuchon

Serves 6
Preparation: 30 minutes (marinade) plus 30 minutes
Cooking: 4 hours
The marinade should be prepared at least 4 hours in advance, the day before if possible.
At one time, this traditional beef stew would have simmered for hours in the corner of a Provençal hearth or stove. This version uses cubed beef for braising; the cheek is the best part for this purpose.
In Provence they also make a daube from the Camargue bull, using the same proportions, and from lamb shoulder or neck chopped into 50g morsels. The recipe is very much the same, but with lamb one uses dry white wine instead of red, and lemon zest instead of orange, does not lard the meat, and does not use the pork rind or dried orange zest. Lamb daube spends less time in the oven: 3 hours should be enough.
Like most stews, this daube improves with time and is better reheated or even cold. If you plan to serve it cold, you might add a chopped up veal foot to the pan when you add the stew meat, which will encourage a jelly-like consistency.
20 stems flat leaf parsley, leaves only, finely chopped
7 cloves garlic, one peeled and degermed and finely chopped, the other 6 peeled
100g lardons
1.5kg beef stew meat (cheeks if possible, or shoulder or chuck), cut into 5 cm cubes
1 bottle robust red wine (cotes du rhone or syrah)
50ml cognac
3 whole cloves
9 tablespoons olive oil
1 bouquet garni (5 stems parsley, 2 sprigs fresh thyme, 1 bay leaf, 2 small celery branches, 2 pieces dried orange rind, and 1 sprig fresh sage, wrapped and tied in a green leek leaf)
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
250g fresh pork rind
800g new carrots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds (less than 0.5 cm thick)
1 heart of celery, washed and sliced into thin rounds (less than 0.5 cm) thick)
Grated nutmeg
500g small tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced (p.91)
200g small new onions, peeled
Zest of 1 organic orange, free of bitter white pith, chopped into 2 cm x 1 cm slivers
100g black olives, niçoise if possible
200ml beef broth, home made or from a bouillon cube
500g flour
Salt and pepper
The night before, mix the finely chopped parsley and finely chopped garlic. Roll the lardons in this mixture. Use the tip of a knife to make an incision in each cube of stew meat and slip lardons into these little pockets. Put the stuffed cubes into a terrine or large bowl with the wine, cognac, cloves, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the bouquet garni, peppercorns, and the rest of the garlic. Mix, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight, stirring 2 or 3 times.
The next day, put the pork rind in a saucepan with 1 litre of water. Bring to a boil and let the water bubble for 2 minutes. Use a skimmer or slotted spoon to remove the pork to a colander and rinse it under cold water. Let it drain in the colander, then line the bottom of your stew pot with the blanched pork rind. (The pot should be large enough to hold all the rest of the ingredients, too; a daubière or clay casserole would be ideal, but lacking those you could use a cast-iron casserole or other heavy pan).
Drain the beef cubes in a colander set over a bowl; do not discard the marinade. Carefully pat the cubes dry with paper towels. Heat the remaining tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over a high heat. When the oil is hot, add the stew meat and brown all over, about 5 minutes. Remove the meat to a dish with the skimmer.
In the same pan, sauté the carrots and celery over a medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper and stir in 2 pinches of grated nutmeg.
Preheat the oven to 250F/120C/gas 1/2. Build the daube layer by layer in the pan lined with pork rind. First put down a layer of meat, then tomato, then carrots, celery, baby onions, orange zest, and olives. Pour the reserved marinade and beef broth over the whole thing; if the vegetables are not completely covered, top off with water. Taste the liquid and season if necessary, but be careful: the dish will cook for 4 hours, the salt will concentrate, and you will not be able to add water while the pan is sealed.
Prepare the sealing pastry (pâte à luter): combine the flour with 200 ml of water in a small bowl, mixing until it forms a dough. Roll it out with your hands into a long 'snake' of dough. Put the cover on the pan of daube and seal the lid to the pan by pressing the dough all around their seam and joining it at the ends.
Bake for 4 hours. Remove the pan from the oven, remove the sealing pastry in front of your guests, and then take the pan back to the kitchen to degrease the surface of the broth. Remove the bouquet garni and, if you can find them, the whole cloves. Serve very hot.
• These recipes are taken from The Complete Robuchon (Grub Street, £25)

Ragù (Bolognese sauce) From Marcella Hazan's The Classic Italian Cookbook

A properly made ragu clinging to the folds of home-made noodles is one of the most satisfying experiences accessible to the sense of taste. It is no doubt one of the great attractions of the enchanting city of Bologna, and the Bolognese claim one cannot make a true ragù anywhere else. This may be so, but with a little care we can come very close to it. There are three essential points you must remember in order to make a successful ragù. 1)The meat must be sautéed just barely long enough to lose its raw colour. It must not be brown or it will lose delicacy.
2) It must be cooked in milk before the tomatoes are added. This keeps the meat creamier and sweeter tasting.
3) It must cook at the merest simmer for a long, long time. The minimum is 3½ hours; 5 is better.
Serves 6
chopped onion 2 tbsp
olive oil 3 tbsp
butter 40g
chopped celery 2 tbsp
chopped carrot 2 tbsp
minced lean beef, preferably chuck or the meat from the neck 350g
salt
dry white wine 250ml
milk 8 tbsp
nutmeg ⅛ tsp
tinned Italian tomatoes 400g, roughly chopped, with their juice
An earthenware pot should be your first choice for making ragù. If you do not have one available, use a heavy, enamelled, cast-iron casserole, the deepest one you have (to keep the ragù from reducing too quickly). Put in the chopped onion, with all the oil and butter, and sauté briefly over a medium heat until just translucent. Add the celery and carrot and cook gently for 2 minutes.
Add the minced beef, crumbling it in the pot with a fork. Add salt to taste, stir, and cook only until the meat has lost its raw, red colour. Add the wine, turn the heat up to medium high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the wine has evaporated.
Turn the heat down to medium, add the milk and the nutmeg, and cook until the milk has evaporated. Stir frequently.
When the milk has evaporated, add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly. When the tomatoes have started to bubble, turn the heat down until the sauce cooks at the gentlest simmer, just an occasional bubble.
Cook, uncovered, for 3½ to 5 hours, stirring occasionally. Taste and check salt. (If you cannot keep an eye on the sauce for such a long stretch, you can turn off the heat and resume cooking it later on. But do finish cooking it in one day.)
Ragù can be kept in the refrigerator for up to five days, or frozen. Reheat and simmer for about 15 minutes before using.
If you are using fresh tomatoes, peel and deseed them and cook in a little water for 10 to 15 minutes. Then pass through the finest blade of a mouli-légumes, or a sieve, and proceed with the recipe.