Surprise! It’s me!!! Miss me? Because I’ve missed you dearly. It’s been too long since I’ve been here and I am appalled at how delinquent I’ve been, and surprised at how much I have really missed the blogosphere.
I think I rather like surprises. It’s the element of the unexpected; the feeling of wonder and astonishment. It represents endless possibilties for you to chance upon, but truly embracing it requires lots of bravery and a sense of adventure. We are all familiar with the pleasant surprises in everyday life – a surprise party, unexpected flowers from a significant other, or a welcome phone call from a long-lost friend. But what about the surprises that aren’t so agreeable? The ones that throw your plans off course and make you spin around at a loss?
I woke up Friday morning to such a surprise – a shroud of furious white storm spinning outside my window, threatening my flight to Vegas for the weekend. Still in bed, I checked my iPhone dejectedly as flight after flight showed cancelled statuses. As I got ready for work, Surprise! A text from my coworker: “Office closed for the day due to storm. Yay!” With work out of the way, I decided to head straight to Newark Airport to ensure my spot on a non-cancelled flight. On the NJ Transit Train, I optimistically looked out the window as the snow started to lighten up into gentle wispy flakes. Then Surprise! A text from Brian: “Honey, check your flight status. I think your flight has been cancelled.” WHAT?! But what was a girl to do? I continued on my way and hoped to sweet talk my way into another flight.
Newark Airport was mayhem that day. Lines long enough to compete with the queues of Disneyworld, and irate airline workers and customers cursing one another out in voices loud enough to compete with the noise volume of a trading floor. But at the Continental counter, another Surprise! The gracious rep took a look at Brian’s Platinum Elite status on my boarding pass, typed in a bunch of keys, produced another boarding pass and said “I went out on a limb and put you on the ONLY Newark-Vegas flight that is flying out today. It’s boarding now but you can still make it if you run. Now RUUUN!” I passed the security checkpoint in a daze, picked up my snowboots and ran in my socks to the boarding gate and into the airplane just as they closed the cabin doors behind me. Then it was my turn to text Brian: “Surprise! I got on a flight and I’m landing even earlier than I’m supposed to!”
So you see, I do like surprises. They keep you on your toes, sprinkle some adventure into the everyday mundane, and in the end, things usually turn out all right.
Take these Paella Cakes for example. This recipe started out as Risotto Balls, but as I started cooking the arborio rice, my mind drifted back to thoughts of Spain and the unforgettable stations of paella cooked in the largest pans I’d ever seen, and all of a sudden, I found myself chopping up veggies, adding in tomato paste and red wine, and finally saffron water (a bit out of usual order). But I had already made the “surprise” filling that was meant to go into the milder flavored risotto balls – a tangy, creamy mango-cream cheese stuffing that I wasn’t so sure would go well with the bold flavors of the paella. So I made some with and some without. At the end of the day, it was clear that the ones with the surprise filling were the winners. Although at that point, it was impossible to tell which one was avec or sans, so we had no option but to pick them at random, and Be Surprised!
Surprise! Paella Cakes
You will need:
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 1.5 c. veggie stock
- 1 leek, finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
- 1 medium zucchini, sliced into coins
- 1 large tomato, chopped
- 4-6 oz bella mushrooms, sliced
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/4 c. of red wine
- 1 tsp saffron threads
- paprika
- red pepper flakes
- salt & pepper
- 1/4 c. cream cheese
- 1 mango, diced
- lime zest
- lime juice
- cayenne pepper
- lots of bread crumbs (regular or panko – I tried both)
Surprise Yourself:
- Dry fry saffron threads over low heat, crumble into small bowl of water (about 3 tsp of hot water) and infuse
- Pour in some olive oil. Cook leeks over medium heat until soft and aromatic. Add all the veggies (bell peppers, zucchini, mushroom) and cook for another few minutes
- Add rice and cook until coated with veggies and glossy. Add stock, tomato paste, tomatoes, saffron water, paprika, cayenne, red pepper flakes, and bring to a boil
- Simmer for 15-20 min until rice is completely cooked. Let cool
- Meanwhile, make the surprise filling by mixing in cream cheese, mango, lime zest and lime juice
- Spread a bed of bread crumbs over working surface. Divide the rice mixture into walnut sized portions and form into cakes. With your thumb, make a ditch into the center of the rice and spoon in a little of the filling and seal the cake
- Roll cake around in bread crumbs until covered and place on oiled baking dish
- Bake at 400 for around 20 min until golden brown
If you want to shake things up, make some with and some without filling and decide for yourself which is tastier! Now pour a glass of Rioja and enjoy!
And if you have any leftover paella (like I did) you just pour more Rioja and enjoy the Paella in its purest delightful form!
Wow. They are really a nice surprise with lots of flavor inside. I’m looking forward to my surprises in life. Hey, I haven’t visited you in a while. Yes, i know. 🙂
HI Shelly, where have you been? Ya, miss you girl! Hey happy belated ‘gong xi fa chai’! Btw, I love surprises too but only the GOOD one, of coz! haha…. And your Paella Cake surprisingly look awesome. You be a good girl, sweetie!
Yes of course I missed you! I was read to call the National Guard. These look awesome – you are back blogging and you’ve clearly hit the ground running!
your pics are looking better and better!
So glad to see you back online! The paella cakes are so special with the yummy flavorful surprise filling inside!
Woohooo!!! You are back! Great recipe and pictures. The paella surprise sounds delightful!
I love the surprise with the mango and cream cheese! Yum! Welcome back 🙂
Shelly so glad to see you’re back! And with some mega goodies! How yummy do these look? I love the combo of mango and cream cheese… how innovative! Can’t wait to see what you have in store for me. I mean us. Hehe welcome back!
I kept checking to see if you were back, with no luck. Last night you gave me a surprise when you stopped by and visited my blog.
Glad to have you back in the blogoshere! We’ve missed you.
Thanks for sharing a delicious surprise with us on your return post!
Very unique and flavorful cake, I am sure it tasted awesome!
Thanks Usha! They were bursting with refreshing flavor.