PAELLA NOCHE ESPAñOLA
(adapted by Don Gregorio from Penelope Casas: The Food and Wine of Spain).
Serves 8-9
Ingredients (in order used)
6 cups highly flavored/seasoned broth. we reduce 8 cups of chicken broth, seasoned with what we like (see “Notes” item 1 below). Make the broth at least one day before you are cooking paella so ingredients can fully meld. You can adjust seaoning when you reheat.
1 ½ lbs raw shrimp (25 - 30 count) deveined and peeled.
Enough sweet Thai chili sauce to cover shrimp in plastic bag. (We use Mae Ploy, available in most supermarkets)
8 oz Spanish (not Mexican) chorizo (or Linguisa if Spanish chorizo not available). Take casing off and cut in ¼ inch thick slices
1 large onion diced.
1 ½ heaping tbsp. of minced garlic
2 ½ lbs of a combination of chicken thigh and breast meat boneless and skinless cut in 1-2” pieces
smoked Spanish paprika to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups marinated artichoke hearts cut in large bite sized pieces. (tough outer leaves removed).
5 tbsp. chopped parsley, (one to sprinkle on Paella when done)
2 2/3 cups Bomba rice, or Arborio rice if Bomba not available. (General rule: 1/3 cup Bomba per person; ½ cup of other short grained rices. The brand of Bomba rice we is “Cebolla.”) do not use long grain rice.
Olive oil as needed.
2 cups of frozen baby peas
1 red pepper cut in ¼ inch strips (or equivalent marinated peppers, such as Piquillos, sliced in strips)
Some lemon slices to place on Paella when done.
Preparation before cooking Paella: (can be done a several hours before cooking the Paella)
1. Make highly seasoned broth, as noted above, at least one day before cooking paella
2. Put peeled and deveined shrimp in a plastic bag and lightly coat them in sweet Thai chili sauce. Marinate them for about two hours. Then remove them and put in frying pan, medium high heat for ½ minute or less on each side. Cook just enough to make them pink. Don’t overcook since they will cook in paella.
3. Brown chorizo, onion and garlic in olive oil. Remove and put on plate.
4. Brown chicken in olive oil in hot pan, sprinkling liberally with Spanish smoked paprika. Just brown chicken. Do not cook chicken fully since it will cook more in the Paella. Remove and put on plate.
5. in pan or skillet,
Cooking Paella on the grill (previous steps can be done up to half a day before cooking the Paella):
6. About 45 minutes before you want to serve, heat broth boiling. While doing so, put 15-17 inch Paella pan with olive oil on grill with medium high heat. Heat olive oil and thoroughly coat rice in oil then mix in caramelized onion and the garlic and chorizo and four tbsp. of chopped parsley. Stir constantly for a couple of minutes. Then pour in the broth.
7. Cook uncovered over medium high heat , stirring occasionally for some 7-9 minutes or until the mixture is no longer soupy, but some liquid remains.
8. Stir in the frozen peas. Then bury the shrimp, marinated artichoke hearts and chicken in the rice mixture. Lay red pepper strips in a pattern on top. Press lemon pieces into paella, evenly around paella pan.
9. Turn down the heat and simmer uncovered but with grill lid down for 15minutes or so, depending on heat put out by grill. Do not stir. Test for doneness of rice occasionally during process. When al dente, take off grill, cover lightly with foil and let sit for 8-10 minutes.
10. Sprinkle parsley on top and serve in center of table.
Notes:
1. We season our broth with 2 cubes of Knorr’s onion seasoning, 1 tsp. of concentrated chicken bouillon, ½ tsp Spanish saffron , 2 packets of Goya coriander and annatto seasoning (or similar, available at Nielsens supermarkets), 1tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp. minced garlic, 3oz. clam juice, pepper and salt to taste. You can use other seasonings as desired. Just taste and make sure it is quite well seasoned and to your liking. We combine ½ cup white wine and 1 tbsp. of lemon juice and stir the mixture into the broth as it is reheating just before cooking paella.
2. While the recipe looks a bit complicated, it actually is quite simple; and much of the work can be done as much as a day ahead of time.
3. If you want to make this in the oven, go through step 6 above and then put in preheated 325 degree oven instead of on the grill. Rest of steps are the same.
4. Paella is like a pizza in Italy: it is made with a wide variety of ingredients. Thus, to the basic recipe above, you can add wildlife (traditional paella has hare in it) to fish to chicken, sausage, and other meats. You can add lobster, mussels, clams, scallops, green beans, etc., etc.
5. While everything included adds to the blend of flavors, three items stand out in this version: highly seasoned broth, the sweet Thai chili sauce in which the shrimp are marinated, and the liberal amounts of smoked Spanish paprika used in browning the chicken.
6. In terms of getting a firm, non-mushy texture, it probably is the use of Bomba rice that makes the greatest difference. Bomba rice absorbes a third more liquid than other short grain rices. If you don’t want to spend the extra money getting Bomba rice, at least make sure that you use short grained rice, such as Arborio or Valencia rice. Bomba rice is available from a number of on-line sources, such as Spanishtable.com or from Amazon.com. It might also be available in local gourmet food stores. It’s a wonderful rice for other dishes if you like firm rather than mushy rice.
7. If you don’t have a paella pan, you can use a 15-17” skillet with at least two inch high sides. (Paella pans are widely available in cookware stores).
