Second Annual Phoenix Paella – The Paella(s)

Finally the post that has been requested by all of my readers (both of them), the details about the paella. We made three of them. On the one hand we had limitations on the paella size. We had to use all of our paella pans (technically called paellas). Thanks to rules imposed by the City of Minneapolis, we could not use gas burners in the condo (even out in the terrace), so we hooked our large burner to the natural gas take for the large one and cooked the other two on the grill.

The second limitation was dietary. We had some vegetarian/vegan attendees (who cheated miserably once they saw the other paellas ;-), so we ended up making:

• A traditional paella

• A chorizo paella

• A wild mushroom paella

I will provide the recipe for the best of all three, the chorizo one. This recipe was edited from one I got a couple of years ago from Kitchen Window during the Uptown Art Fair.

Chorizo Paella

Serves many, but can easily cut in half or even less to match your paella size. Calculate about ½ of a cup of rice per person (¾ if they are the hungry type). Leftovers reheat beautifully the next day with just a tad of extra virgin olive oil on a regular non-stick pan.

Ingredients:

¼ cup Extra virgin olive oil (from a jar of sundried tomatoes in olive oil)
2 onions, chopped small
10 garlic gloves, minced
4 boneless chicken thighs, cut in bite size (much juicer than chicken breasts)
10oz Spanish chorizo, sliced thin
6 cups bomba rice (easily found at gourmet stores or online at Amazon.com)
2 cans artichoke hearts (extra small), halved
11 cups liquid (use the water from the artichokes and fill up with chicken stock)
2½ tsp paprika (sweet & hot mixed)
2 ½ tsp tumeric
big pinch saffron, crushed
1 tsp fresh oregano
salt
2 cups sun dried tomatoes, julienned
2lb little shrimp, raw and peeled
Sweet peas, thawed (or even better fresh if you can get them)
Crusty bread and halved lemons, to serve

Note on the chorizo and the rice: Don’t mess with these two ingredients. Yes, bomba rice is ridiculously expensive for rice ($4 per pound or more), but paella ingredients are really not that expensive, so go through the trouble and expense to get the right rice. Also, the chorizo is a critical ingredient adding much of the flavor to this dish. Do not use Mexican chorizo. You want the Spanish cured sausage. Palacios works great, whether mild or hot.

Preparation:

Heat oil from the sun dried tomatoes. When hot add onions and cook until they start stir to soften. Add garlic and stir for a minute or two until fragrant. Add chicken and let cook undisturbed until it starts getting a nice color turning once or twice. The chicken does not need to be cooked all the way through at this point. There will be plenty of time for that. Add more olive oil as needed. Just let it get a little of a crust.

Add chorizo and cook for two or three minutes stirring often to release all of its goodness. Add rice, artichokes and sun dried tomatoes and stir to coat with the oil.

After two or here minutes, add the liquid and follow with all the herbs, spices and salt. Give it a couple of light stirs or even gently twist the pan by holding it by the handles to even out the surface. From this point on, refrain from touching the rice any more. No stirring, poking or otherwise messing with it. If you need something to do, go grab a glass of wine.

Keep an eye on the flame to no run out of liquid before the rice is fully cooked. A few minutes before the rice is done add the shrimp to the surface and gently press them into the rice. The time will depend largely on the size of your shrimp. Couple of minutes later, sprinkle the peas over the top. As soon as the shrimps are lightly pink, you are done.

At some point during the last part of cooking you may feel like adding more stock. Don’t. Be patient and listen for the sound of a dry crisp coming from the pan. When you run out of liquid the bottom of the rice will cerate a golden crust, known as socarrat. You may check the bottom of the rice with a spoon. If you feel any resistance at the bottom you are doing good and are probably close to done.

When ready, retire the paella from the flame and cover with a clean rag large enough to cover the entire surface of the pan. This resting period is critical for the rice to finish cooking. Don’t worry it won’t get cold. Give it a good 5 minutes. This may be a good opportunity for another glass of wine.

Serve with the brad and with plenty of lemons to squeeze over the rice. Enjoy!