Seafood Paella---first attempt

TTUEgghead

I cooked paella for the first time last night, and on the whole I was very pleased with the result.  I wanted to share my recipe here.  I read through a variety of methods for cooking this dish and it was a little overwhelming in all honesty because there was so much variability from one recipe to the next.  So I created my own which was essentially a hybrid of a few recipes I found.  

Ingredients:  

2 cups Arborio rice
Saffron
freshly ground pepper
salt
frozen peas (1 cup)
garlic 
olive oil (3 tablespoons)
shrimp (12 large pre cooked and deveined, without the shell but with the tail)
clams (12)
yellow onion
smoked Spanish paprika (2 tablespoons)
red bell pepper (1)
chicken stock (3.5 cups)
white wine (1 cup)
clam stock (1 cup)
tomato puree (1/2 cup)

I used the paella pan made by BGE for an XL egg.  

Directions:  

1). Combine olive oil and 4 cloves crushed garlic in a small bowl.  Chop onion and red bed pepper, place in a separate bowl along with frozen peas.  Place shrimp and clams in an additional bowl.  In a separate bowl combine 1/2 cup tomato purée, 1 cup clam stock, 1 cup white wine, and 3.5 cups chicken stock.

2). One last bowl to combine the rice, a pinch of Saffron, 2 tablespoons smoked Spanish paprika, and salt and pepper (1-2 teaspoons of each, or to taste)

3). Heat grill to 425-450.  I set up for a direct cook, not sure it matters much for this recipe if you go direct or indirect.

4). Place garlic and olive oil into paella pan on grill for 30 seconds.

5). Add vegetables.  Cook for 2 minutes

6). Add shrimp and clams.  Cook for 2 minutes.  

7). Add rice along with spices, and pour on the clam stock, chicken stock, white wine, and tomato purée.  Cook 20-30 minutes, until there is no remaining liquid.

The prep was a bit labor intensive.  Lots of combining ingredients in bowls:). But once I started the cook it was rather easy.  Add one thing after another for the allotted time, and then wait a bit for it to cook.  And the end result was fantastic.  I wish I had more pics but I only took one.  

BTW this was enough to pretty much fill the XL paella pan to the very top, although once the liquids cooked off it wasn't nearly as full...

theyolksonyou

That looks fantastic. 

lousubcap

Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  Great cook right there. And thanks for the extensive write-up.

pescadorzih

Looks great. I haven't done paella yet, hopefully soon.

NPHuskerFL

Welcome aboard. Fantastic cook and great dialog. Thanks for sharing this. Enjoy. 

pgprescott

Grand Slam! I'm down for this cook. Excellent work!

CincyTiki

Nice!

Botch

That looks delicious!
Because I live alone, a paella is not a practical dish for me (I've had them TDY and love them!).  How did the "crunchy rice" on the bottom come out? (can't remember the term, sofrito, sasparilla, succotash, soprasetta, something like that).  Mom used to make "spanish pork chops" that had a crunchy, tomato-soaked rice that crunched up against the pan, I LOVED that stuff!  

Lmidkiff

Looks amazing. Welcome!

TTUEgghead

Botch said:

That looks delicious!
Because I live alone, a paella is not a practical dish for me (I've had them TDY and love them!).  How did the "crunchy rice" on the bottom come out? (can't remember the term, sofrito, sasparilla, succotash, soprasetta, something like that).  Mom used to make "spanish pork chops" that had a crunchy, tomato-soaked rice that crunched up against the pan, I LOVED that stuff!  

It wasn't particularly crunchy, as much as I would have liked.  First time doing this cook I was a bit concerned about overlooking it.  I think just a couple of minutes more would have gotten it there.  Still was really good.

Mattman3969

That is a very strong looking Paella   Congrats on a successful cook