Spanish Paella
You might be surprised to hear that a spanish paella recipe isn't fixed in stone; there are many regional and cultural variations with the addition of sea food, meat or poultry, but fundamentally they are all based on using a hard white rice.
The beauty about a basic Paella dish is the that you can pretty much add anything you want, if you are a seafood lover you can add prawns, muscles even squid and octopus! The seafood variety, of course, is synonymous with tourist view of spanish food and that's not a far off assessment. A Paella looks complicated but it is surprisingly easy and quick to make.
The basic recipe with chicken:
In one large pan (does not have to be shallow) gently heat a good splash of Olive oil and add a clove of crushed and chopped garlic. Gently fry the garlic and remove. Do not let the garlic burn. Add small chunks of chicken breast and fry until cooked, adding a few splashes of white wine to add flavour.
Once cooked, pile a couple of handfuls of hard rice per person in the middle of the pan and add a teaspoon of Turmeric to the top and pour in the same quantity of water as the rice (1 cup of rice to 1 cup of water) and add a splash of wine. Mix well.
After about 5/10 mins of cooking start adding peas, pimentos, prawns etc, then add a couple of bay leaves, pepper and herbs (oregano and basil). Keep an eye on the amount of liquid in the pan and add little bits at a time if needed. Keep turning the rice over to ensure even cooking, and keep tasting the rice. Hard rice typically takes 20 mins to cook.
Once cooked, switch off the heat, cover the pan and let it stand for 5 mins to absorb the remaining liquid back into the rice. The final dish should be fairly dry with no liquid leakage.
Seafood Variation:
1 large Spanish onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Good pinch of saffron strands
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp smoked paprika
300g paella rice
100ml dry white wine
850ml hot chicken stock
300g mussels, cleaned
10 raw tiger prawns, with shells
2 medium squid, cleaned and cut into rings
2 roasted red peppers, cut into strips
200g mixture of peas and broad beans
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large orange, cut into wedges
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Heat the oil in a large, deep ovenproof sauté pan with a tightly fitting lid or in a paella pan. Sweat the onion and garlic over a medium heat for 5-6 minutes until soft, without colouring.
Stir in the saffron, fennel seeds, paprika and rice and fry for 1 minute, mixing well to coat the rice in the spices and oils. Pour in the wine and bring to the boil. Cook until the wine has reduced by half, then add enough stock to cover the rice. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring continuously.
Stir the seafood, peppers, peas and broad beans into the rice and add some seasoning. Balance the orange wedges on top, then pour in the remaining stock. Cover with a lid or tightly with foil. Cook over a low heat for ten minutes until the rice is tender, the mussel shells have opened, the prawn shells have turned orange and the squid flesh is cooked through but still soft.
Remove the lid or foil from the pan and check for seasoning. Discard any mussel shells that have not opened. Stir in half of the parsley, then divide between warmed plates. Sprinkle over the remaining parsley to serve.
