Do you know any simple recipes that use saffron?

The simplest thing to do with saffron is just to crumble some in the water you boil rice in and make saffron rice.

http://allrecipes.com/recipes/herbs-and-spices/spices/more-spices/saffron/Top.aspx

http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blspice11.htm

Look halfway down the page to Newest Saffron Recipes:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Herbs-and-Spices/Spices/More-Spices/Saffron/main.aspx

Great! (yum!) I´ll make some rice! Now I just need to look for some saffron chicken recipes….

Marinade for chicken/meat:

Lemon juice
minced parsley
paprika
black pepper
Minced/pressed fresh garlic clove
dash of powdered clove
olive oil
saffron you’ve soaked in some water

From there you can stir fry the meat, grill it or bake it and sever over rice, chunks of squash, salad greens, in a pita, etc.

Pasta con Pollo in Zafferano

1 pound pasta—short rigatoni or pennete (see note)
2 legs and 2 thighs of chicken
1 (28-ounce) can Italian tomatoes
1 onion
2 pinches saffron
12 basil leaves
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Rinse the chicken under cold running water, pat dry, and then remove the fat and any excess skin. Dice the onion and tear the basil leaves. Pass the tomatoes through a food mill to strain them and remove the seeds.
2. Place the olive oil and chicken pieces in a large pan over low-moderate heat and fry them until thoroughly cooked. Remove the chicken from the pan, set aside and allow to cool.
3. In the same pan, add the diced onions and simmer until they become translucent, then pour in the strained tomatoes. Bone and shred the chicken pieces then add the meat to the tomato sauce. Add the saffron, basil, salt and pepper to taste, stir, cover and simmer.
4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil, add the pasta and cook al dente. Drain the pasta, then add it to the sauce and stir until well incorporated.
5. Transfer the pasta to individual bowls and serve with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Note: This recipe calls for a short rigatoni or pennete, but adapts well with egg fettuccine or tagliatelli.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Ken Calascione.

I make my paella with sausage, chicken legs, and frozen shrimp. You can throw anything into saffron rice and it is a paella. I also add roasted red peppers and peas.

The best rice to use for a Paella type rice is uncle bens in my opinion. The real deal that you have to cook for 20 minutes. I make chicken broth by boiling the chicken legs a cube of Knorr boullion and a carrot, celery, and onion for flavor.

- I cut up sausage and fry in a uncovered, sautee pan. .
– Remove sausage.
– Utilizing some of the fats still in the pan I add the chicken broth and begin to prepare the rice. (2 cups broth to 1 cup of rice to ¼ teaspoon saffron (adjust to how much rice you want to make)
– The last five minutes I add the frozen shrimp.
– at the end I add peas, roasted peppers, sausage, and chicken legs.

You can short cut by using pre-made chicken broth.
Also you can just make the rice with peas and peppers, or whatever veggies you want and serve it beside your favorite meat dish.

Hint: if the chicken broth is salted to your taste, the rice will be perfectly salted without any additional salt.

You want a recipe for chicken that uses saffron so here’s a 500 year-old one from England: for Roast Cockatrice (mythical creature that was half cock and half pig):

Take a Capoun, & skald 
hym, & draw hem clene, & smyte hem a-to in þe waste ouerþwart; take a Pigge, & skald hym, & draw hym in þe same maner, & smyte hem also in þe waste; take a nedyl & a þrede, & sewe þe fore partye of the Capoun to þe After parti of þe Pygge; & þe fore partye of þe Pigge, to þe hynder partye of þe Capoun, & þan stuffe hem as þou stuffyst a Pigge; putte hem on a spete, & Roste hym; & whan he is y-now, dore hem with olkys of Eyroun, & pouder Gyngere & Safroun, þenne wyth þe Ius of Percely with-owte; & þan serue it forth for a ryal mete.

Btw, Capoun is Middle English for rooster. And if you’re interested I have a 2,000 year-old Roman recipe for Boiled Flamingo that’ll knock your socks off!

Haha, I like languages, but except for reading Beowulf (assigned reading for a class) I´ve never dedicated myself to learning Old English… I do understand parts of the recipe though.. I take a piggie and roast him on the spit? and add ginger and saffron? I´ve never had rooster before either.

I would like to see the recipe for boiled flamingo! I suppose it´s written in latin? (!) Where DID they get their flamingos from I wonder…

@food- Here’s the modern English version:

Take a capon (rooster), & scald 
it, & clean out the guts, & cut 
it in two in the waist crosswise; 
take a piglet, & scald it, & clean 
it in the same manner, & cut 
it also in two in the waist; take a  
needle & thread, & sew the front 
part of the capon to the rear part of the 
pig, & the front part of the pig 
to the hind part of the capon, 
& then stuff it as you stuff a 
pig; put it on a spit, & 
roast it, and when it is roasted 
enough, glaze it with yolks of eggs, 
powdered ginger & saffron, then with 
the juice of parsley on the outside,  
& then serve it forth for a royal food.
 
Bon Appetit.

@food- Your wish is my command. (And they would probably have gotten their flamingos from Africa)

Boiled Flamingo

1. Scald the flamingo with the feathers still on.
2. Wash it and remove the feathers and other parts not meant for eating.
3. Stuff it with greens, celery leaves, etc., and tie it to keep its shape. Coat it in lard.
4. Boil the bird in a pot of water with salt, dill, and a little vinegar.
5. Put the half-cooked bird in a sauce pan and brown in oil. Add a bunch of leeks and coriander. Add a little broth. Cover and continue cooking.
6. To add color, pour in some grape juice thickened by heating.
7. Crush some spices—pepper, cumin, coriander, laser root, mint, and rue. Moisten them with vinegar.
8. Add dates and some of the juice from the sauce pan. Stir this back into the sauce and simmer.
9. Add flour and cook till thickened. Strain and pour the sauce over the bird.

This recipe works just as well for parrot. And yes, this is an authentic recipe from ancient Rome.
Sorry. No saffron in this one.

The yellow would clash with the pink. :-)

My mom makes a super-easy tortellini in saffron sauce, and it’s absolutely heavenly.

Just sprinkle a few saffron threads into some heavy cream in a shallow saucepan or frying pan, and cook it over low heat until the cream reduces a bit and gets even thicker. Toss it with the cooked tortellini, and sprinkle with parmesan. That’s it!

Well I made paella I from Allrecipes and it smells good…. my saffron is bright red-orange… I can´t really tell what the saffron itself tastes like though… I also made the plain rice so far. The tortellini in cream sure sounds delicious though…

Actually, I made the paella but I didn´t put sausage or mussels in it (I kind of prefer it without it) so it´s not really authentic.

Scallops in saffron cream sauce

The sauce is good on asparagus as well

1½ pounds Sea scallops, rinsed and drained
½ pound mushroom, cleaned and sliced
½ each onion, chopped
1 pint heavy cream
¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
1 pinch saffron, heavy
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ cup white wine, chardonnay
salt and pepper, to taste
5 tablespoons butter

Melt 3 Tablespoons of butter in saute pan or skillet. Add onion and cook until soft add mushrooms. Cook until lightly browned….add wine. Cook until reduced by half or better (not to a glaze, but thick). Add ⅓ of dill, ½ of saffron, mix well and hold until blended. Add cream, rest of dill and saffron. mix well and continuously stir over low heat until conisistency of heavy gravy. Put in gravy bowl and serve with scallops.

Put scallops on skewers and sprinkle with paprika and cayenne, place on grill at 300 degrees. Cook for ~ 4 minutes per side until opaque, brushing with 2 Tablespoons of butter. Remove skewers from rack and place on grill top to add grill marks and dry slightly. Serve on platter.

Yum, scallops! They´re good with or without saffron….