My Paella

blind99

This became one of my favorite cooks last summer.  Figure I'd write down the recipe.  Paella is awesome, but a bit of work. The key is having everything prepped ahead of time, so that once you start cooking you can stay at the grill and keep it all going.

Reading about paella on the egg turned up a lot of stuff about what size pan fits in which egg.  In the end, why bother?  Just cook with the lid open, raised direct.  I use a very fancy setup: three patio paver bricks, with the stock grid on top.  Fill the firebox nearly full with charcoal, close the bottom vent, and get the fire going.  The egg stays open the whole time.

This recipe is for a 15" pan.  Feeds 6 adults.  For my 13" pan, I use 1.5 cups of rice and 4.5 cups of broth.

2 cups of bomba rice
6 cups of reduced sodium chicken broth.
1 lb loose chorizo
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 tomatoes, diced
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
vegetables and proteins: to your liking

Heat a cup of broth and steep a pinch of saffron.  Then add the rest of the broth and keep it warm.



Once the fire is going, set the pan on. 

• brown the chorizo and remove, leaving the oil behind.
• brown any proteins that you like browned, ie skin-on chicken thighs, and remove.  (I leave the seafood uncooked for now.)
• saute the onions, about 5 minutes.  add the garlic, saute another minute or two.  Add the tomato and stir.  let this cook until reduced.
• Add the bomba rice, stir to coat, and cook for a few minutes. 
• Add back as much chorizo as you like
• add the chicken broth and stir
• Add back in big pieces of meat that will take awhile to cook, like the chicken
• Vegetables and small pieces of protein can be added towards the end.  I add shrimp and scallops and vegetables when the liquid is starting to fall below the rice, and I push them in so that liquid comes up the sides of them.

I rotate the pan during the cooking because my egg is a bit un level.





A few thoughts:

• the loose chorizo for me is a must.  Adds a huge amount of flavor.
• I originally sauteed all of the meats/seafood in the beginning, and added the seafood to the paella in the beginning.  But cooking them the entire time the rice cooked turned them into rubber.    So chicken legs/thighs go in early, seafood goes in at the end, as do most vegetables.
• I'm not Spanish.  This probably isn't close to authentic.  I don't grate the tomato and onion for the sofrito, it's just a hassle.  I haven't perfected the soccarat, either.

Cheers!

tenpenny_05

MUH-MUH-MUH-MAI-PAELLA!!

SonVolt

Looks great! One of my favorite things to cook in the summer. One change I made was ditching the official "Paella pan" for a 17" Lodge skillet. Better searing, better "socrat", better everything.  I know the thin sheet steel pan is traditional, but it tends to scorch if you're not careful.  

caliking

Quite stellar - cook, presentation, recipe , and tips. Very very nice. 

bluebird66

That looks super good!

bgebrent

Nice brother.  Great documentation.  No sofrito is heresy of course  . Looks and sounds great. +1 on the chorizo.

lousubcap

Great writeup and insights.  Nailed the cook.  Congrats on the banquet and thanks for taking the time to document the process.

Theophan

Looks fantastic!

I've only had paella once, cooked by a son-in-law, and it was wonderful.  Sure looked like a lotta work, though...  I admire you, and others here who make it.

The_Stache

@blind99 Thanks for sharing!!  Great cook.. Now you've inspired me to go buy a paella pan!!

smbishop

Thank you for sharing a simple no nonsense approach.  Time to pull the pans out of the garage and do it again!

Foghorn

Wow.  Chorizo paella.  Brilliant.  I've never cooked paella before.  Is that a personal modification - or is that just a normal variant of how it is done?

SSQUAL612

Thanks for sharing all the details.   Looks delicious & I’m sure everyone enjoyed. 

blind99

@Foghorn a lot of recipes call for slices of dry cured chorizo. Some use the ground stuff. I find the ground stuff adds lots of flavor. My Grover used to see loose ground chorizo but no more. This time I used Johnsonville and removed it from the casings. I also sampled some of the “tube” chorizo. Not recommended, it burns quickly and is too pasty and mushy. 

Pretty sure they make it from the leftovers on the floor anyhow:




@The_Stache go for it! The pans should run less than $25. I found my larger one at cost plus world market. And check out @sciaggie’s threads on paella, they are masterful.