PAELLA
Ingredients:
2-1/2 c. rice or 2 packages yellow rice(10 oz ea.)opt: peas, artichokes, pimentos, lemon.
Olive Oil, 1 cup dry white wine, 3 cup chicken broth, 1 qt shrimp/shell broth approx.
1 onion, 1green pepper, 1 lg carrot, 1 rib celery w/leaf, 1 small tomato, all chopped.
bay leaf, pch thyme, 2 pch saffron, flat leaf parsly, minced garlic, 1 star anise
1 lb raw shrimp w/shell, 1 lb sml clams, 1 lb mussels, 1/2 squid, 1 tail lobster, 1 lb firm white fish. 1 lb chicken breast cubed, can be subbed for fish as well as differrent seafood combos. Also chicken qtrs, spanish type sausage, game, etc for regional/seasonal fair. Chicken and sausage should be browned and precooked to almost done.
Shell Broth:
In a pan heat olive oil and add shells from shrimp/shell fish to saute till pink, add garlic and continue saute. Add good splash of wine to deglaze pan and evaporate. Add several cups water to cover and let simmer.( opt.: add onion, carrot, celery to saute priorto shells and use 2 cups water and 2 cups chicken stock ) yld approx 1 qt.
Paella:
In heated shallow pan/paella pan add oil, onion,pepper,carrot,celery and saute till softened. Add garlic and do not let ingds brown. Add tomato and herbs last to cook a little then add rice to cook for several minutes. Add wine and let it almost evaporate. Start adding broth 1 cup at a time while pan simmers and broth is absorbed. Stir rice time to time as broth evaporates. Keep adding broth till rice is 3/4 cooked.
Add a little more broth, then start adding seafood starting w/items that will take longest to cook (clams>mussles>fish>shrimp>etc). As seafood finishes, scatter peas and pimento strips. last minute sprinkle w/chopped parsley and arrange lemon wedges.
Let dish rest a few minutes before diving in.
Opt: Add all seafood and bake dish in pre-heated 350' oven for 8-10 min. until shell open. Add pea, artichoke etc and bake 2 more min.
Bon appetite!
If you don't have saffron, you can go with the yellow rice mix. If you use plain rice and want a deeper yellow to the rice you can use some tumeric so you don't have to use alot more saffron.
I use Chorizo and take it out of the casing to brown it before browning the chicken. The sausage will also add a little color to the dish. Yesterday I found and used a turkey chorizo. Cuts the fat and it wasn't bad tasting.
I used, and the wife deboned, a whole chicken. More economical and making your own stock you can control more of the seasoning and richness of the broth.
Of course you can used store bought and buy boneless chicken to use. Also you can use clam juice instead of the shrimp broth. Preferably get whole shrimp and use some of the heads in the shrimp broth.
This is a basic recipe and the dish varies greatly region to region in Spain, so feel free to add different ingrediants and touches.
I have 2 Paella pans, both the same, cheap!
They are thin gauge and used both to make 2 pans of the stuff for parties. If I start making it regularly again I'll probably invest in a good quality pan.
With the thin pans, I always use the oven method to finish it off. It crusts the rice up a little on top and on the edges. I hear stories of fights over the crusty rice that forms on the bottom of a traditionally cooked Paella; prepared in a cast iron pan over an open fire.
