Paella

Introduction:

Paella is one of the most famous Spanish dishes. If you ever find yourself in a Spanish restaurant that serves paella give it a try. You'll love it. The pictures above show the Paella in its cooking dish, then served in a plate ready to eat.

In researching paella recipes I found that there was no one-way of making paella. Every chef has his own way of making it and the list of ingredients is different as well. The recipe here is inspired by the others I read and customized for simplicity. Feel free to experiment with the ingredients by adding your own favorites.

Paella is cooked in a wide and short pan where the sides go up 4 to 5 inches, the more surface the better. Many of the toppings are added as a last step at the top of the paella.

This recipe serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Dry white wine
• 1 ts saffron (azafrán)
• Olive oil or Pam
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup long grain rice or yellow rice with zaffron (Mahatma is one brand)
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 orange bell pepper
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 6 oz breast of chicken, skinless
• 1/2 lb fresh shrimp
• 1 lb mussels
• 2 lb clams
• 2, 3 oz lobster tails
• 1/2 cup artichoke hearts
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup chopped tomato

Pre-cooking:

• Preheat oven at 350*
• Let peas defrost
• Chop the onion, tomato and bell peppers
• Peel the shrimp (this is a science of which we can talk some other time)
• Cut the chicken in small cubes
• Scrub the clams and mussels, discarding any that are open (dead)

Cooking:

• Spray the frying pan with PAM or olive oil
• Preheat the frying pan for one minute at med-high heat
• Sauté the onion 2-3 mins until limp and brown
• Add the rice, sauté until golden stirring so it won't burn
• Add the wine and saffron (if not already in the rice) and stir until all the wine is absorbed
• Stir in the peppers
• Add 2 cups of chicken stock, 1/4 cup at a time stirring until the rice absorbs the stock (this is going to take a while)
• Add the last cup of chicken stock
• Add the cubed chicken
• Add the shrimp, clams, lobster and mussels, tucking them in the rice
• Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until mussels open
• Add the peas, tomato and artichokes and bake for 2 more minutes

Tips:

Saffron (azafrán) is really hard to find, and expensive, but is worth getting if you plan to make this dish since it gives the rice a yellow coloring and adds the essence of the paella flavor. Sometimes you can find rice with the saffron already in it, which is much cheaper than buying the saffron by itself.

The smaller the clams are, the better, since they cook faster and are easier to eat.

To peal shrimp easily:

• Hold the shrimp so that you can grab it from the back and peel off the legs of the shrimp
• Peel off a piece of the shell around the head area
• Hold on to the head area of the shrimp and pull the tail, when done correctly the whole shell while come out.

You can order Saffron, and paella cooking dishes from:

Tienda.com
4514 John Tyler Highway
Williamsburgh, VA 23188
Phone: (757) 220-1143
Fax (757) 564-0779

buyspain.com
3130 Plaza Street
Las Vegas, NV 89121
Phone: (702) 737 3925
Fax (702) 732 1033

La Española Meats, Inc.
25020 Doble Ave.
Harbor City, CA 90710
Phone: (310) 539-5989
Fax (310) 539-0455

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