Upsides to the Down Economy/ Smoked Paprika

Smoked Paprika. I have been kind of obsessed with it lately, every since I brought a tin of it home from Barcelona, Spain. I saw Gwyneth Paltrow cooking with it on Ellen and thought "I need to get some of that when I go to Spain this summer." I purchased some medium smoked paprika at the famous La Boqueria market in Barcelona, and haven't looked back. In fact, my family's getting a little sick of hearing about Smoked Paprika. I have sprinkled it on deviled eggs, stirred it into scrambled eggs, made paprika butter to smear on corn on the cob, which I also used to saute chicken livers in and spread on the toast the chicken livers were place atop. Like I said, I've gone a little crazy over this red pixie dust and loved every minute of it.

I found a great website www.avalonwine.com/Smoked-Spanish-Paprika-Recipes.php with Smoked Paprika recipes and so far have tried:

• Smoked Paprika and Red Bell Pepper Soup


• Cold Potato Salad with Bacon and Smoked Paprika


• Spicy Grilled Beef Kabobs


• Grilled Corn with Smoked Paprika Butter


• Paprika Chicken with Blackberry Sauce

I made the Paprika Chicken last Sunday night, with the Blackberry Sauce. It was delicious, but probably wouldn't do the sauce again, since it was kind of a lot of trouble and I wasn't crazy about it. The rub for the chicken, however, was very simple.

1 1/2 Tablespoons Smoked Paprika

2 teaspoons coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

You rub this inside and outside of the chicken, stuff two fresh rosemary springs inside (you could also use basil or parsley), truss the chicken and put in a preheated 350 degree oven for an hour and a half. We had one of those roasters where the little white thing pops out so it was even easier. Doesn't it look delicious?

I served it with wild rice and some corn fritters that were so good I'm just going to have to blog about them at a later date. Smoked paprika is rich and complex with smokey overtones and can be used to develop rich flavors. The wonder of this fine, red spice is it instantly makes your dish taste more complex with very little effort. You can buy it at your local grocery store (McCormick's makes it) or even on Amazon. But, I have to tell you, getting it in Spain is a lot more fun! If you can't make it there, take a trip to Spain in your own kitchen by cooking with some Smoked Paprika!