Hola amigos!

I’ve been in a Spanish frame of mind over the past couple of days. As to why, I’ll text it, “IDK". I do know one thing, the dishes, mostly Castilian, were inspired by my browsing La Tienda for a paella pan. I became really interested in so many other things out there. I definitely had to make paella. My curiosity was piqued when I realized what made this dish up; seafood, chicken, pork fat! It’s like jambalaya on roids!

I surfed the interweb for what seemed like days in search of a paella recipe. I think I studied enough variations of this dish to actually earn culinary continuing education credits. There are a gazillion paella variations. So, I ended up experimenting, as I usually end up doing. The result was nothing short of an excruciatingly delicious pan of what Becky calls “nummy nummies".

I ordered the rice and chorizo from La Tienda to try to be as authentic as possible. I got chorizo from Whole Foods once before and I found it to be a bit “ho hum". But the products from La Tienda were on the up-and-up.

...

My list of ingredients consists mostly of a little of this and I little of that:
4 chicken thighs
2 chorizo sausages sliced 1/2 inch thickness
2 lobster tails (my pan wasn’t bid enough to fit them)
10 littleneck clams
10 fresh water mussels
4 colossal shrimp - or use as many shrimp as you like
2 roased piquillo peppers diced - you can use regular roasted red peppers
2 cups Bomba rice - you can use a short grain rice
1 14 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes - use regular diced canned tomatoes if you cannot find the fire roasted.
1 generous pinch saffron
2 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup white wine
4 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp butter
Sofrito: 3 minced cloves garlic, 1/2 medium onion diced, 1/4 cup chopped parsley

Shame about those tails. They’ll find a way into my belly real soon though.

Steep the saffron in either wine or warm water.

Wash and pat dry the chicken. In a bowl, pour in the paprika, a generous pinch of salt, and pepper.
Coat the chicken thighs and set aside.

I don’t have an authentic paella pan, but I do have a multitasking everyday pan that worked out fine. Any large skillet should do.

Heat the pan over medium high heat. Add 1/2 of the olive oil and when hot, add the chorizo.

When the chorizo is browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes, remove from pan and reserve.

Add the chicken thighs to the pan skin side down. Add the rest of the olive oil if needed.

Cook the chicken for about 8 to 12 minutes turning once. Be sure that the juices run clear. Remove and set aside.

De-glaze the pan with the wine scraping the bits from the bottom of the pan. Then whisk in the butter.

Add the sofrito and the peppers and cook for 4 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Add the tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat.

Add rice and stir to coat well. Allow to cook for about 4 minutes.

Return chicken and sausage to pan. Nestle the chicken in the rice. Add the saffron.

Pour in enough stock to cover. Add shrimp, clams, and mussels. Be sure to nestle the the fish into the rice. Turn heat to medium-high, cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes or so, or until rice is tender. Mine took about 25 minutes. Add more stock if needed. Do not stir. When the rice is tender you want to turn the heat to high, just for a few minutes so that the rice gets a little crisp on the bottom. This is called socarrat.

Serve hot!

Garnish with lemon if you like. I was going to add some peas, but I forgot about them.

I had been dying to try this white from Rioja and it went perfectly with the dish.