Paella is powerful dish. The kind of dish who’s deep flavors and traditions have the ability to transport you to another world or time. Each bite connects you with the long history of humanity, like the smoky voice of passionate flamenco singer. It can seduce you into a wild love affair with its exotic spices and complexities. Ok, enough with the dramatic hyperbole. It’s yummy and deeply satisfying.
Chicken Paella
7 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp slivered blanched almonds
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp minced parsley
¼ teaspoon crumbled thread saffron
¼ cup dry sherry or white wine
1 chicken, cut into pieces
5 cups chicken broth
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 bay leaf
¼ lb smoked sausage, sliced into coins
28 oz can whole stewed tomatoes
1 ½ Cup sliced mushrooms
2 ½ cup Arborio rice
Serves 6-8
In a small skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and sauté the almonds and garlic until golden. Transfer to a food processor, add the parsley and saffron, and process to a paste. Stir in the sherry.
Cut the chicken into 2 inch pieces. Season with salt and pepper
Pour the broth into a sauce pan to keep warm over the lowest heat.
Preheat the oven to 400°
Heat the remaining 6 tablespoons oil in a paella pan measuring 18 inches wide. Sauté the chicken over high heat for 5 minutes browning the chicken. Remove to a platter. Reduce the heat and add the onion, green pepper, bay leaf and sausage, and sauté until the onion and pepper are slightly softened. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, and sauté 5 minutes more
Stir in the rice, coating well with the man mixture. Pour in the hot broth and bring to a boil. Add the almond mixture, taste for salt and continue to boil, stirring and rotating the pan occasionally. Add the chicken pieces and any juices from the platter.
Cook uncovered, until the rice is almost al dente, then place in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes until the rice is cooked to taste. If you like peas in your paella add them when the paella comes out of the oven. They will come to heat and maintain their bright green color.
This recipe comes from the classic cookbook: Paella! By Penelope Casas. I recommend this book to any cooks library.
3 comments:
Keith,
I'm so excited to see you are food blogging again. I truly have missed your receipes! This looks amazing, wish I was there to share it with you.
Love Em
Recipe sounds great, but when I started to cook I realized there are some gaps in the instructions.
1) Instructions mention adding green beans, but green beans aren't in the list of ingredients.
2) Instructions say to preheat oven, but never tell us when the dish is supposed to go in the oven.
Might want to give it another edit...
So sorry for mistakes. PLEASE take my recipes as just a framework. Green beans were meant to originally be in this recipe, but I didn't have them on hand so thy didn't make it on to my list of ingredients.
after you add the stock to the rice I like to let it cook for a few minutes on the stove before I put it in the oven. I take it out when it looks right, but that’s hard to communicate. I think it should back for about 10-15 minutes, but you don’t want the chicken to overcook.
Thanks for letting me know. I hope my sloppy recipes inspire cooks to become daring and resourceful. best kind of cook.
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