Paella de Jose

Paella is something very easy to cook, the only problem is that we need to cut a lot of different ingredients to make it just right, so that when you taste it you don't have big pieces of meet in your mouth. I use is Jasmine rice, it cooks faster and absorbs more the juices. This is best cook with a paella pan (paellera) otherwise a skilled will do.

Anyhow let's start for what we need:
3 cups of rice (anything that you have)
2/1 cups of chicken broth (less sodium) if you don't have it mix water with chicken flavoring season powder, for better use warm is better.
1/2 cup of white wine
3 cups of water
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 small can of olives sliced ripe for garnish
1 can of sliced pimientos
1 small can of sweet peas
1 green pepper
1 red or yellow pepper for garnish
1 small onion diced
2 tomatoes diced
3 teaspoons of rosemary fresh or dry
1/2 cup of Parsley well chopped
Olive oil (by eye ball)
1 lemon
1 spoon of garlic (chopped)
2 spoons of Adobo all purpose seasoning
3 Chorizo Español or Mexican (remove from skin)

2 chicken breasts (cut it into bite sizes)
3 pork loin steaks (cut it into bite sizes)
1/2 a pound of shrimp and/or scallops

Now the fun starts:

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in large skillet, add onions and peppers, saute 5 minutes, stirring continuously.

Add tomatoes, garlic and thyme, saute 5 minutes more or until the liquids evaporate and the sauce looks thick, remove and reserve aside.

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper and add to the pan.

Add 3 tablespoons oil, heat over medium-high heat, add chicken and sausage, cook until lightly browned and set aside, repeat this with the pork as well.





Deglaze the pan with 1 / 2 cup white wine, reserving the liquid aside. Approximately 30 minutes before serving la paella, heat the oven at 400F-204C.

In a paella pan or skillet (about 14inch or 35cm in diameter), mix the deglaze liquid, the rice, saffron and 5 cups of broth, heat over high heat, stirring constantly until it boils, remove the pan from heat, season with salt to taste.

Distribute the chicken, chorizo, shrimp/scallops over the rice.

Bake uncovered in the bottom rack for 20 minutes top with green peas, continue baking 5-10 minutes more, or until the rice absorbs all liquid and it feels soft but still consistent. My personal opinion is not to stir the paella but in 3 times take a wood spatula around the paella pan and push the rice away from the edge to aloud the rice on the edge to cook and absorb the juices. If needed add the remaining broth to soften the rice more without stirring the paella.

Turn off the oven and do not remove the paella from the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover with a cloth, before garnishing with lemon wedges, julienne green peppers and parsley.


A good companion for paella is a great Sangria. (see my sangria recipe next time)

Y a comer...

Pictures by Jeff Borg