Summer's Last Hurrah

I was a little skeptical that Mark Bittman's tomato paella recipe would be as astounding as it turned out to be, but after later reading Luisa's post about her success making the dish, I was sold (reading The Wednesday Chef is like having a test kitchen for recipes from the New York Times and Los Angeles Times).

I made the paella on Halloween using the very last heirloom tomato of the season from the last day of our farmer's market (which, unfortunately, won't reopen until next spring). The recipe was extremely easy to make: quickly cook minced onions and garlic in olive oil and add smoked paprika and saffron, toasting the spices gently. In goes some tomato paste, rice, water or stock (I used stock), and the sliced tomatoes, and after 15 minutes in the oven, the paella is done. I hate to get all food writerly here, but the tomatoes were downright voluptuous, their thin skins stretching over flesh literally bursting with juice and flavor.

Anya -- who you can usually count on to eat rice with abandon -- wouldn't deign to have a bite. She may have been distracted by all the trick-or-treaters who kept interrupting dinner (next time, I'll deceptively deliciously puree the paella into a brownie . . . I kid, I kid). And, speaking of those trick-or-treaters, I couldn't believe that several exclaimed "it smells good in here" as we opened our doors to drop candy into their bags. Who could ask for better praise of my simple paella on an evening when these kids were jonesing for chocolate?

» A Grand Paella Gives Way to a Simple One