tom norrington-davies' chicken, broad bean and chorizo rice

Now today we do have details, well the calendar is marginally filled in anyway, which allows some scope for jogging my memory.

The easy bit is 'Giraffe Class Cake Sale': It was hot, but there was a quick shower. Ana made Bill Granger's jam buttons, and I loitered around behind the table whilst the mum's did a brisk business in angel cakes, biscuits and chocolate lollipops.

'Quiz Night in St Albans' has more painful memories if you're a McPartlin and want to maintain your reputation for organisational abilities, rather than forgetting and going out on a netball night instead. No names mentioned naturally.

The upshot is we have to raid the freezer to concoct something at short notice. Luckily we're never short of chorizo, and our current predilection with Jill Dupliex's broad bean crostini means we're similarly never knowingly out of frozen beans. Nestled happily next to them is half a packet of chicken thighs. A swift browse through the books and we're in business thanks to the sadly under-represented Tom Norrington-Davies and his not-paella-but-clearly-is-paella:

One of the many joys of paella is the lengthy amount time it takes to make it: There are no shortcuts to sofrito, but this does rather limit it to a weekend affair. This version takes about an hour, which just about makes a more-than acceptable school night version, although what you sacrifice are the depths of flavour that only come through satisfying slow-cooking. You also get a lot more tutting as people hang around waiting for their dinner. Still, it's a moreish-if-longer-than-anticipated dinner and I'm pretty pleased to rediscover it.

Wine Time
Let's call it paella shall we? A classic choice would be a super-chilled rosé or a fruity, young Spanish red, but the sheer variety of textures and flavours mean paella can stand-up to a variety of wine choices. The key is to keep it light and fruity if you try a red, think Pinot Noir or tempranillo, or ripe and fruity if go down the white route, like an unoaked Chardonnay, or even a Viognier. Plenty to be getting on with there I think.

sources
chicken, broad bean and chorizo rice - Tom Norrington-Davies, Delicious circa 2005, now the Owl Book