Paella is a saffron-flavored dish made with varying combinations
of rice, vegetables, meat, chicken and seafood. Spain and the
Catalan languages, paella means frying pan or pot. The
traditional paella pan is flat and of large diameter, it can
also have handles on each side.
In fact, paella is one of the most versatile dishes to make.
Paella also has the advantage of being great to clean out the
fridge and use up leftover meats and vegetables. Any combination
will eventually be great the secret is in the chemistry. Spanish
Paella is a dish that is generally made to feed several people.
Moreover, Spanish Paella is quite flavorful the next day as the
tastes have had time to mix together and become stronger.
Here are three basic steps to follow to make wonderful Spanish
Paellas while leaving you the latitude to be creative and to
make the dish their own by customizing it to their taste.
1. Preparing the rice. Select a type of rice that you are
comfortable using. Feel free to experiment but know that Spanish
Paella contains a lot of ingredients and if you are unhappy with
the end result with a particular type of rice, you might end up
with a lot of waste. Basmati, brown or a mix with wild rice can
add great taste and texture. Follow the instructions on the
package with regards to washing and cooking the rice. Finely
chop some onion, garlic and tomato. Heat a saucepan and add
olive oil once the saucepan is hot (make sure that the oil does
not start smoking. Burnt olive oil is carcinogenic and quite
unhealthy). Once the oil is hot, throw in the uncooked rice.
Frying uncooked rice gives it a nutty taste. Let the rice fry in
the saucepan for a minute or so. Add the chopped onion, garlic
and tomato until they soften, mixing constantly. Spice with
saffron, salt and pepper. Feel free to experiment. Cumin,
Cayenne various fine herbs or even a bit cinnamon or cloves can
easily be added for a flavoring of your own. This mixture should
not be on the stove for more that three to five minutes. At high
heat with constant mixing, none of the ingredients should stick
but they should mix well together and soften. Once all the
ingredients are combined, remove the saucepan from the burner
and mix in some frozen peas. Add enough peas to make a well
balanced mixture.
2. Choosing and making the meat.
In a frying pan at high heat, brown some pieces of chicken.
Upper thighs, drumsticks, breasts...it's all good. Do not cook
the meat completely but brown the outside. Once browned, set the
meat aside. Lamb can also add great flavor to your Spanish
Paella.
3. Combination of it all
Cover the bottom of the Spanish Paella pan with the uncooked
rice mixture. Add the browned chicken pieces on top. Add
uncooked shell fish and small fish filets rolled up and fastened
with a toothpick or string. Use any type of fish but make sure
that its flesh will hold well together. Pour some chicken broth
on top (if the broth is warm the cooking time will reduce). Note
that you can also add wine for more flavor. Cover the Spanish
Paella dish and cook for about 45 minutes at 350 Fahrenheit or
until the rice is fully cooked. At this point you can add raw
shrimp or mussles and cook uncovered for another five minutes.
In short, the secret to preparing the perfect Spanish Paella is
to make it your own!
About the author:
Learn how to make Spanish Tapas and Paellas the easy way by
visiting my website
http://www.spaintapas.com. Each month there
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