Patti's Paella
By: Anonymous
Published: Sunday, December 6, 2009 - 2:54am

Ingredients




1 tablespoon olive oil
14 ounces chorizo
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon paprika or pimenton
2 cups short or medium grain rice
1 pinch saffron threads
1 bay leaf
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine
1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts cut into chunks or whole chic
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tomato, chopped
coarse salt and pepper
1 pound shrimp with tails on
10 mussels (optional)
10 clams (optional)
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon cumin
lemon wedges

Preparation

1 Mix together paprika, cumin, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper and sprinkle on the chicken chunks.  Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. 2 Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or deep pot on a medium high heat.  Add chorizo,chicken and the remaining spice mixture and cook until browned.  Drain excess oil. 3 Add onion, red and green pepper, garlic.  Cook on medium heat, stirring until softened. 4 Add rice, saffron, tomato, and bay leaf.  Stir to combine and coat the rice. 5 Add chicken stock and white wine, and bring to a boil. Stir to blend flavors. Cover.  Cook on low for approximately 20 minutes. 6 In the remaining 10 minutes, add the peas, shrimp and all other seafood.  Bury the seafood deep into the rice and stir.  Cover. 7 When the rice is tender, let the dish sit for a minute in the pot before serving. Garnish on a platter with lemon wedges.

About



Photo courtesy of:  susan259.livejournal.com
 
Friends were coming for supper last night and my oven shorted out, so I had to get creative. I had to find a dish that could be cooked in a limited number of pots, wouldn't be labor intensive, and was nearly fool-proof. Besides, I was staying at a friend's house and didn't have my cookbooks, so I did a quick web search and turned up a winner.  Paella is one of those versatile dishes native to Spain with dozens of permutations.  After looking at several recipes, I came up with my own version, a little of this and that.  The dish was fragrant and savory.  The rice was moist, the chicken was tender, and each bite was infused with wonderful flavor. One of its virtues is its versatility.  Seafood can be added or deleted.  Vegetarians can eliminate the meat and add more vegetables.  Chorizo can be replaced with hot or sweet Italian sausage or even kielbasa.  The next time around, I'm going to add more spice, but my recommendation is to taste it before serving and adjust accordingly.  We ended up adding some hot sauce, which was just the extra amount of heat we wanted. Regardless, the flavor is excellent.

Comments:
Joyce Lee

Tried this recipe out last night and it ROCKS! Chorizo added a good spice to the paella and marinating the chicken ahead was a very good idea. 
I prefer using chicken pieces on the bone, especially tougher cuts like thighs, as you're going to be cooking them for a long time and delicate cuts tend to dry up too much for my liking.
My partner was a bit dissapointed as I didn't add scallops and clams, only prawns - so if you're making this recipe for impact, PLEASE do add all the seafood :)
(for the record, the supermarket was so busy I just wanted to get in and out as quick as poss!)