OT: food question

Paella? A traditional Spanish rice dish usually with seafood.

Lizzy

And it's delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've got a great, EASY (I've always been told that making a GREAT paella is HARD and very, very time-consuming) recipe for it, if you're interested! We do it every two weeks or so (the ingredients can be a bit on the expensive side - jumbo shrimp, blue mussels, etc - not to mention saffron which is about $14 a spice bottle) and when our friends hear that I'm making it, well, we get plenty of "drop-in" guests for dinner!!

Just let me know ... my recipe is REALLY easy!! And yummy!! :)

-- Connie :)

You might as well post the recipe--- every body is going to want it. Me, too! ;-)

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

Paella. Chicken, chorizo, shrimp and rice. Spanish dish. Here is a recipe:

Happy cooking!

Lenore

This isn't MY recipe per se, it's adapted from a Rachel Ray recipe - hers is MUCH spicier and IMHO, you taste the spicy stuff more than the good stuff! I've made this at least twice a month for the past 4 years - and each time, I swear, it tastes better and better!!

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan 3 cloves garlic, minced (I use that commerically pre-minced stuff) 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 2 cups enriched white rice 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads 1 bay leaf 1 quart chicken broth or stock 4 sprigs fresh thyme Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped 1 medium onion, chopped 1/2 pound chorizo, casing removed and sliced on an angle (VERY spicy Portuguese sausage) 1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp, 24 shrimp 2-3 pounds Blue-lip Mussels, cleaned (depends on how much you like mussels - we love'em so we use a LOT!!) 1 cup frozen peas 1 cup frozen carrots 2 lemons zested Garnish (Optional): 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley 4 scallions, chopped Lemon wedges Crusty, bread for passing

In a very wide pan or paella pan, preheated over medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, crushed garlic, red pepper flakes, add rice and saute 2 or 3 minutes. Add saffron threads, bay leaf, broth, and thyme and bring liquids to a boil over high heat. Cover the pan with lid or foil and reduce heat to simmer.

(I have a pan specifically for paella and it's still usually not big enough ... if that's the case with you - since not everyone wants to have a HUGE pan taking up space in their cupboards - use a LARGE Dutch Oven) In a separate nonstick skillet, over medium high heat, add peppers and onions to the pan and cook 3 minutes. Add chorizo to the pan and cook 2 minutes more. Remove pan from heat.

(You can also cook the chorizo, still in the casings, in a 375 oven ... just put the sausage on a baking sheet covered with foil or parchment paper, drizzle olive oil over top and pop in the oven for about 20 minutes or so ... it's healthier that way since it's not sitting in it's own fat. I usually do it that way and serve the chorizo on the side - my kids HATE chorizo (since it's REALLY spicy) and that way, those that don't want it, don't have to pick it off their plate)

After about 13 minutes, add shellfish to the rice pan, nesting them in cooking rice. Pour in peas, scatter lemon zest over the rice and seafood, then cover the pan again. After 5 minutes, remove cover or foil from the paella and discard any unopened mussel shells. Stir rice and seafood mixture and lift out bay and thyme stems, now bare of their leaves. Arrange cooked peppers, onions and chorizo around the pan.

Optional: Top with parsley and scallions and serve with wedges of lemon and warm bread.

OR ... crusty bread with scallion and garlic butter - YUM!! Just add the scallions and garlic powder to taste (or you could quickly saute some minced garlic - that's even better, but more work, obviously) to butter (the spreadable kind is the easiest) and mix!!

BTW, this makes A LOT ... be prepared to get at least 2 lunch-size meals out of it - that is, if all your neighbors don't smell it cooking and invite themselves to dinner!!! Happens to us ALL the time!! :)

-- Connie :)

Forgot to mention ... unlike most paella recipes, this takes about 30 minutes from prep to table!!

-- Connie :)

Or my home-made Sangria! ;)

Now THAT'LL get you snookered!! :)

-- Connie :)

Okay then ... one glass of our sangria and you'll wake up three days later two countries over wearing nothing but a poncho and a smile! ;)

-- Connie :)

I didn't tell you the BEST part - since it's Sangria, it's got LOTS of healthy fruit! Peaches, oranges, limes, lemons ... it's a varitable fruit harvest! :)

So when you DO wake up three days later, you're healthier for it! :)

We're doing it the week after next ... so you've got two weeks to pack and get your patootie over here!! :)

-- Connie :)

Howdy!

R/Sandy

Pardon my ignorance -- but what is chorizo?

Its a Spanish sausage

Quite spicy, (good for a cold day!) a fairly thin sausage and here it tends to be in the deli dept. not the fresh food cabinet and has quite a reasonable shelf life.

The picture on the site is pretty accurate.

Sally at the Seaside ~~~~~~~~~~ (uk)

Kate G. wrote:

Chorizo is a VERY spicy Spanish sausage (I think I mistakenly said it was Portuguese in my recipe). Sometimes, you'll also see it spelled "Chorico" which isn't the same thing - that's Portuguese - and it's sweeter than Chorizo.

It's traditionally made from pork and is VERY, VERY spicy (a little goes a LONG way). Nowadays, you don't have to hit your local Latin Market - our local Publix and Wal*Mart both carry it in spades - right next to andouille sausage (which is, I believe, Cajun).

Yum, yum!!

-- Connie :)