My Spanish Paella

Passport & Plate - Spanish Paella

Spain | Saturday, March 7, 2015 | 3 photos

Ingredients
Marinade
-1 tbsp paprika
-1 tbsp oregano
-pinch of salt
-pinch of black pepper
-4 tbsp olive oil
Rice Base
-2 cups washed long-grain rice (3 is serving a large group)
-3 tbsp olive oil
-3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
-1 quart chicken broth
-2 tbsp lemon juice
-1 tbsp red pepper flakes
-1 tbsp parsley
-2 bay leaves
-pinch of saffron
Meat and Vegetable Mixture
-1 lb thawed boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
-1 Spanish onion, chopped into medium pieces
-1lb pork chorizo
-1 red pepper, chopped into medium pieces
-0.5 lb thawed shrimp
-0.5 lb thawed calamari

 

How to prepare this recipe
1. Create the marinade by mixing the olive oil, salt,pepper, paprika, and oregano in a seal-able container. Mix thoroughly.
2. Add the chicken cubes to the marinade mixture, seal the container, and shake vigorously to evenly coat the chicken with marinade. Place container into refrigerator. Do this roughly 15-20 minutes before you start cooking.
3. Set stove top to medium-high heat. In a large, flat pan, add washed rice, minced garlic, and olive oil. Stir and spread rice to ensure that it is evenly coated with oil. This should take 2-3 minutes.
4. After rice is coated, add parsley, red pepper flakes, bay leaves, saffron, lemon juice, and chicken broth. Stir, and allow the mixture to come to a boil, then cover with tight-fitting lid. Turn heat down to medium-low. Allow this to sit for about 15 minutes.
5. While the rice cooks, in another pan on medium heat, add chopped onion, marinated chicken, and 3 tbsp of olive oil. Cook for about 3 minutes.
6. Then, add chorizo and chopped red pepper. Stir to mix ingredients evenly. Cook for another 3 minutes.
7. Finally, add shrimp and calamari. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. Make sure chicken is white on all sides.
8. When rice and meat/vegetables are both done cooking, spread the rice evenly along the base of a casserole dish. Pour meat and vegetables on top, and then mix everything with a spoon. You want an even distribution of all the ingredients. This makes about 8 servings.

 

The story behind this recipe
During the 2013-2014 academic year, I was fortunate enough to study abroad in France, something I had wanted to do since I was a child. This paella reminds me of one of my best memories from that time. I lived in Bordeaux, a medium-size city split in half by the Garonne river. Every Sunday, there would be a huge market set-up alongside the river, with all sorts of vendors peddling their various wares. There was a specific area that I suppose was designated just for foods, and it had an incredibly diverse range of dishes: traditional French quiche, Italian gelato, German bratwurst, and more. The first time I had ever gone to the market, I was actually lost. I had been in the city for about a week, still jet-lagged and completely in the throes of culture shock. In trying to find a certain government office to turn in some documents for my visa, I stumbled across the market, and my curiosity (and hunger) got the better of me. I was so in awe of the number of people and shops. An open-air market in general, let alone one on this scale, was like nothing I had seen growing up in a small college town in the Midwest. Eventually, I made it to a small little stand, where an old Spanish couple were serving different kinds of paella out of several large dishes. I had never even heard of paella, let alone tried it, so I had asked for a small dish to taste it. That first bite, with fresh spices, tangy citrus, and seafood that had been caught that morning, is something I still remember. I had tried asking what the recipe was, and through their broken French and my terrible Spanish, they somehow managed to show me how to make what I've modified into the recipe here. I think they were so taken excited to meet an American, they couldn't help but share this small part of their culture with me. I soon started bringing friends to the market, and it became a favorite weekend activity of ours. Now that I'm back in the States, I use this recipe to give my friends a small taste of Europe.