I finally got a date for a Paella and Baked Alaska party for the Santa Cruz kid and his housemates. So Jake and I loaded up all of my ingredients and equipment for another adventure of the traveling paella.
Friday I shopped. Saturday morning I prepped. And yesterday afternoon we headed up to their apartment. Since they are used to scanning QR codes for menus, I didn't design or print anything. I just shared the menu on my blog.
I was thrilled to treat those kids to lots of good food and wine pairings to boot. They were excited to eat real food!
For years, my paella pan languished in the cupboard, collecting dust. Then a friend from Spain gave me a paella lesson. And it's been on our table pretty often after that. I just needed a confidence boost and a nudge. If I might say so myself, I have mastered getting that desired socarrat at the bottom of the rice! Practice indeed makes perfect.
One of the housemates has a seafood allergy, so I made sure to find out what he can and can't eat. Shrimp, octopus, and clams were approved, but I forgot the clams in the fridge. So, this mixta was chicken, chorizo, shrimp, and octopus.
Ingredients
serves 12
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled
1/2 cup ground chorizo
12 Tablespoons olive oil (I used a blend of the Smoked Olive Oil and Vegan Bacon Olive Oil from The Quail & Olive)
1 organic onion, peeled and diced, approximately 1 cup
2 bell peppers (I used a yellow bell pepper and a red bell pepper), approximately 1-1/2 cups
1/2 cup diced celery
2 cups diced tomatoes
1/2 cup diced zucchini
4 cup Spanish paella rice
2 generous pinches saffron
8 cups stock
2 cups white wine
1 cup sliced, cooked octopus
Also needed: paella (pan), foil, lemon wedges and fresh chopped parsley for serving
Procedure
Peel and dice the onions. Deseed and dice the bell pepper. Heat olive oil in the paella pan. Stir in the onions, bell pepper, and celery. Cook the chicken through. Sauté until the onion is softened and translucent. Add in chorizo and tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have lost their shape slightly, approximately 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in the zucchini and add the saffron to the side so it's not where the heat is most concentrated. Tip in the rice.
Nestle the shrimp into the rice. Pour in the stock and the wine. At this point, do not stir. Gently shake the pan to distribute the rice and seafood evenly. But do not stir. Ever. As the Spanish friend who taught me how to make paella: "This is not risotto."
Bring the pan to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Watch the pan and keep turning it so that the rice cooks evenly. As it cooks, the stock will be fully absorbed.
You will see fewer and fewer bubbles popping up through the top. When it is completely dry, it's done. The rice should also be crackling. It reminds me of rice krispies. Snap, crackle, and pop!
When you no longer see any bubbles, remove the pan from the heat. The shrimp should be opaque. Press the octopus slices into the top, then cover the entire pan with foil and let steam for 10 more minutes.
To serve, use a flat spatula to scrape the soccarat from the bottom. Invert the scoop onto the individual plates to show off your soccarat, that delicious, crusty goodness on the bottom of the pan!
Scatter chopped parsley over the top and serve with fresh lemon wedges.
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