Paella

PAELLA ESPANOLA!

I just had to wear my Bata that I bought in Gijon so it was truely a Spanish Experience.

Ok so I've wanted to make Paella for a few months now, and have been gathering ingredients, but I just have been so nervous to do it. So I finally did it after researching and comparing some food network recipies. I had Paella a few times on my mission, and remembered how good it was and how Spanish it was! I had mastered the Spanish Tortilla de Patata, why couldn't I make Paella!

Ok so you start out with a Paella pan or very large skillet (preferably something oven safe with a lid.)

You can use whatever meat you want really. Traditionally paella uses a lot of shellfish, and also might use chorizo, chicken, rabbit, etc. whatever you want, throw it in! So I decided to use shrimp and chicken. Traditionally it also uses roasted red jarred peppers, peas, saffron, onion, garlic, bay leaf, rice, lemon, chicken stock or seafood stock, tomato, and olive oil. I used fresh green and red peppers, and chicken stock with all the other stuff.

Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. Hence the reason why I was so nervous to make this dish. I didn't want to mess it up! You can usually find it at most grocerie store, but some stores might not carry it. Shop around and use a coupon if you can to purchase it for the best price. I bought it at Sunflower market for about $7.50 for .01 oz or .3 grams, about 2 pinches or a teaspoon. So yeah.

Ok so here's the ingredients I used:

• 2-3 Tb. Olive oil
• 2-3 Chicken Breasts (boneless skinless cut into chunks) a lot of recipies I noticed used chicken legs and thighs with bones and skin on and cooked it whole.
• 4 Garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, cut in strips
• 1 red pepper, cut in strips (use jarred roasted red peppers if you can)
• 1 tomato peeled, seeded, and chopped (I didn't peel mine)
• 1 pinch of saffron (of the .01 oz I bought, I used half so I could make it again.)
• 1 tsp. Salt
• Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 10 oz or 1 1/2 C. uncooked Valencia or other short grain rice. I used Basmati, but I think it's better to use Arborio.
• 20 oz. or 3 1/2 C. of Chicken stock ( I just disolved a few chicken boullion cubes in water and simmered it till disolved. then in a cup to the side i disolved the saffron threads in about 1 C. of the stock. for a few minutes.)
• 2 C. Shrimp ( I used uncooked med. shrimp unpeeled, but it would be easier to eat if they were pre-peeled.)
• 1 C. green peas
• 1 lemon cut into wedges for garnish. (After rinsing the shrimp I used part of the lemon and just squeezed it over the shrimp to give them a quick marinade before adding them to the paella.)

Preheat your oven to 350 F. So first heat the olive oil in your paella pan on med-hi for a couple minutes then add chicken and saute till golden. Then add onion, garlic, bay leaf, and green pepper. Saute till onions are transparent. Add the 1 C. of chicken stock with saffron dissolved in it (most recipes use white wine to deglaze, but of course i didn't have any so i used an extra cup of stock). Also add tomato, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil for a few minutes. Then add rice, the rest of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add your seafood (clams, mussles, squid, octopus, fish or whatever you want. I only used shrimp), and if your peas are frozen, add them now. Cover the paella and bake in pre-heated oven for 20 min. If you don't have an oven safe pan, you can just finish it off by letting it simmer for 20 min covered on the stove.

And that's it! Just make sure your rice is cooked, and your shrimp are pink (if they were uncooked). And enjoy with a Bara de pan or baguette if you can get one!

I know it sounds complicated, but it's really pretty easy. You can do it! And you house will smell like Spain!