Paella
Ingredients
- Things you should always have: onions, garlic, olive oil, butter, S&P, chicken stock
- 1/2-1 white onion, >=3 cloves garlic, 1.5 cups chicken stock
- Aromatics: paprika, saffron, bay leaves
- 1.7 cups rice
- 1 regular can of pureed tomatoes
- 1 big chorizo (maybe a lb?)
- 1-2 boneless chicken thighs (maybe half lb?)
- Lemon slices (optional)
Instructions
- Dice onions. Sweat onions on medium high with oil, maybe 5-10 mins.
- While sweating, chop your garlic. Add garlic. Sweat some more, maybe 1-2 mins.
- Add can of tomatoes to pot and add uno bay leaf and some paprika. Add salt/pepper here (use your best judgement) but be conservative.
- Let it simmer for a bit. Start chopping up your chorizo and chicken. Push tomato/onion/mixture to the side.
- Throw your chorizo in first to render the oil. After 2-3 mins throw in the chicken.
- Bring chicken stock to boil on the side for more effecient cooking times.
- Render and saute for about 5 mins.
- Scoop meats to the side as well. Your pot should be 1/3 tomato stew, 1/3 protein, and 1/3 empty.
- Add oil to the empty section. Toast a pinch of saffron and a lot of paprika.
- After toasting for 2 mins, mix everything together, including rice. 3-n big scoops of chicken stock, or enough to cover.
- Bring to boil, put on a lid, and simmer on low for ~40 mins. Check half way thru if you want.
- Scoop onto plates and garnish with sliced lemon. Serve with sangria.
Pictures
Figure 1: Mise en place
Figure 2: 1-pot separation. Balance in all things.
Figure 3: I was hungry so didn’t really plate.
Attempts
9/13/2020
- Used seafood stock (boiled shrimp heads) instead of chicken stock, and it was a lot closer to the paella in Barcelona.
- Used a can of diced blackened tomatoes. Would recommend tomato puree/san marzano tomatoes, the taste was a bit off here and the tomatoes were too…solid?
- 2 cups of rice (was a bit much) and twice as much stock.
- Cooked for additional 10 mins? Didn’t get the crust because may have added too much stock.
