Paella

Saffron rice
Meat
1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes (halves)
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup green & red bell peppers
salt & pepper
dash of cumin
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp paprika (for paella w/out chorizo)
1/4 cup mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped onions

Meat: There are many, many different combinations of meat that you can go with here. I like the seafood paella. That's what I ate today. It had pieces of pork tenderloin, clams, and shrimp. Sometimes I do chorizo & pork. I'm sure you could do some variation of paella with chicken. I cut pork tenderloin into cubes and I take chorizo links and cut them into 1/2" pieces.

Rice: I buy the cheap saffron rice at the grocery store. They also sell paella mixes and kits, etc. in the ethnic foods section. Saffron is very, very expensive, so I just buy the saffron rice mix for 89 cents. I am eventually going to try this dish with brown rice. I'll let you know how it goes.

Brown the chorizo & pork over medium heat in olive oil for 2-3 minutes. (If you're using seafood, then cook it before hand and set aside. Add to the dish during the last 2-3 minutes of cooking.) Then turn to high and add onions, peppers, mushrooms, garlic, and more olive oil. Cook 2-3 additional minutes, then add the tomatoes and rice.

Stir everything to coat the rice and to mix it up well. Pour in a cup of chicken broth and stir one last time. Then DO NOT STIR FOR THE REMAINDER OF COOKING. Cover the pan. Reduce heat to a simmer, then cook for about 20 minutes until the rice is done. I always have to add an additional can of chicken broth while the rice is cooking...and sometimes some extra water. Shake the pan once or twice while the rice is cooking to keep it from sticking to the bottom. That's an approximate 20 minutes btw...uncooked rice sucks, so make sure it's done.

Paella is the national dish of Spain. Every region has its own variation. I love the stuff. Paella is supposed to be cooking in a paella pan, but I don't know anyone that has one. So I use the biggest frying pan that I have (it's big). I just lay aluminum foil over the top to act as a lid. This is definitely a dish that you can be creative with. My buddy who is a gourmet chef ate with me today and he added lots of other stuff to it that I didn't mention. He added lemon juice, lemon zest, bay seasoning for the shrimp, and he most likely tossed in a few other things behind my back.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.