Ingredients: |
Ingredients: ¼ c. olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, whole or halved
½ medium onion, chopped
1-1¼ c. rice (serves 4) long-cooking short round grain (Valencia, Japanese also good) these usually require twice the water to cook and cook in about 35-40 min
½ tsp. saffron
½ tsp. paprika
1 bay leaf
1 jar red pimentos, cut in small pieces
½ c. small peas
1 bottle clam juice
Options: Chicken only: 2 lbs. chicken pieces (breast, legs, wings)
Seafood only: 1 lb. fresh shrimp, shell-on, ½ lb. scallops and 1 lb. clams or mussels. Or combination thereof.
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Directions: |
Directions:In pot, heat olive oil and sauté garlic and onions. Add chicken, salt, bay leaf, paprika and water or chicken broth for added flavor, cover. Boil until chicken is tender. Set aside. In "paella pan" put in rice; sprinkle with a tbsp. of olive oil, saffron, and pimento pieces including some of their oil. Mix. Scoop chicken from pot. Add broth straining it through a sieve. Mash onion and garlic thoroughly, over the rice and chicken. The rice should be covered with liquid. Add peas. Cook over stove for about 10 minutes, then put in preheated 375ºF oven for 30 minutes or until rice is tender. While over stove, it should cook evenly so match burner as close as possible to the pan size. Check while in oven, shake pan carefully to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom; move the rice with a spoon especially around the edges to make sure it cooks evenly. You may need to add some water, if so, add slowly mainly around the edges, sort of sprinkling it. Once cooked, turn oven off and let it rest about 5 minutes before serving. When using seafood, peel shrimp and boil shells for about 5 minutes. Discard shells, drain broth and reserve. Rinse clams and mussels thoroughly. Cook and serve with shells on for a fancy presentation. Or, you can cook clams and mussels ahead in a small amount of water with lemon and when opened, discard shells and set meat aside. Sauté onion and garlic in small frying pan and cook adding some water until soft. Strain over rice as indicated previously. Add broth from shrimp and clams/mussels. If additional liquid is necessary add clam juice. Cook rice over stove for about 10 minutes, then add shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels and peas and proceed to cook in the oven as explained above. When ready to serve, in both cases, bring to table, lemon wedges to sprinkle over the rice. |
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