Paella Party

Last night, we had a paella party, and it was wonderful.

Assembling the ingredients took some time, and even required a trip to Trader Joe's, who carries saffron. (Shout-out to my mother-in-law for the TJ's gift card! Today's blog post is for you!)

For those who don't know, saffron is a very interesting member of the spice cabinet family. It's actually the stamen of the crocus flower, which measures a 6 on the awesome factor scale. When it comes into contact with liquid, it'll release a beautiful yellowish tint to food, which is definitely what we want when it comes to paella. Just trust me on this.

If you're digging the saffron love, click here to learn more about it.

I don't have a paella pan, so I just used the biggest pan/skillet I had. Trust me, you're going to need the biggest one you can find. I tried to sell Matt on the merits of buying a paella pan, but I don't think he's sold on the idea...yet. I'll keep working on that.

I got this super easy paella recipe from AllRecipes.com.


Easy Paella

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Makes 6-8 servings, depending on how hungry we are!

Ingredients:

Makes servings US Metric Adjust Recipe (Help)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces
    
   
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I'd say throw in a little more if you're a spicy fan)
• 2 cups uncooked short-grain white rice
• 1 pinch saffron threads   
  1 bay leaf
• 1/2 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 2 lemons, zested
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Spanish onion, chopped (I used 1/2 of a white onion)
• 1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 pound chorizo sausage, casings removed and crumbled
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined  (I couldn't convince Matt to let me throw in shrimp, so we skipped this ingredient. Traditional paella recipes will have mussels or some other sort of shellfish, so go for that if you're a seafood person.)
• I threw in about 1/2 bag of frozen peas, both because I think I remembered the paella I had in Barcelona to have had peas, and also because any chance I have to get Matt to eat more veggies, I'll take it! 

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons olive oil, paprika, oregano, and salt and pepper. Stir in chicken pieces to coat. Cover, and refrigerate.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet or paella pan over medium heat. Stir in garlic, red pepper flakes, and rice. Cook, stirring, to coat rice with oil, about 3 minutes. Stir in saffron threads, bay leaf, parsley, chicken stock, and lemon zest. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a separate skillet over medium heat. Stir in marinated chicken and onion; cook 5 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and sausage; cook 5 minutes. Stir in shrimp (if used); cook, turning the shrimp, until both sides are pink.
4. Spread rice mixture onto a serving tray. Top with meat and seafood mixture.

I wish computers had smell-o-vision, because you would not believe the wonderful smell this dish makes. Just ask Mojo, who spent the entire time this recipe was cooking at my feet, waiting desperately for me to spill or drop something from the pan.

The chorizo is really the kicker; if you remember my love affair with chorizo from the post about chorizo con huevos, you'll know how awesome chorizo tastes. What I learned from trying this recipe is that chorizo plays well with others; it didn't overpower any of the flavors (especially the great marinade that went on the chicken), and brought its delicious spicy zest to the party. Chorizo is any ingredient's best wingman; bring him to the party and you're bound to hit it off well.

I knew as soon as I took a bite that we had a winner (And yes! Matt was going to eat peas!). This paella recipe delivered on the hearty, subtly spicy dish I remember from traveling in Spain. I love it when that happens! Of course, my paella will never, ever be as good as the traditional Spanish paella, but if I can get that close, I'm happy.

Matt's stunned silence.

Matt seemed pretty happy, too. When he likes what you've made, he won't say anything for a long time, and instead just sit there, placing forkfuls of it in his mouth, and stare at you like you're God or something. Then, after a few minutes of this silent bliss, he's say, "Thank you."

When that happens, it's best if you go ahead and put the recipe in your "keep" pile.

Contrary to what the picture to your right shows, we did have a Spanish red wine to go along with our dinner. I considered picking up or making some sangria, but decided at the last minute to go with a garnacha/syrah. I don't usually go for reds because I think they taste like smelly gym socks, but I went for it. Unfortunately, this red didn't change my opinion, so we corked it and will probably try to pawn it off on my parents, who are wonderfully classy wine fans. If enjoying wine is genetic, maybe I should just try to acquire a taste for smelly gym socks.

Tonight, we'll drop our dogs, Mojo and Chloe, off with my parents, who will be looking after "the kids" until Tuesday. Matt and I are headed for Springfield, Illinois, where he'll be studying for his master's degree in political science beginning this August. We'll keep you updated, and I'll be posting pictures of the trip, the town, and of course the food! Also, since St. Patty's Day is Sunday, I'll probably take a culinary detour and see if I can't rustle up some semi-authentic Irish grub in Springfield.

Cheers!