Paella is a fancy dish and very tasty! Its made with Rice and typically with seafood. I make it with Seafood Chicken and sausage..I use Polish Kielbasa. Good enough and Cheap..Others make it with spicy Cajun Andouille .
You need to go to Wegmans or Whole Foods , some place that you can buy seafood by the pieces unless you want whole bags, or pounds of it.
The Paella Pans are sold at Sur La tab at Tysons II this one is 13 1/2 inches about 30 dollars. You don't need it, Its just for looks and I do finish the dish in the oven to keep it all hot.
6 Small Clams, 6 Mussels, 12-15 pieces of Shrimp, small pieces of cut up Chicken from a single breast or pieces from thighs,legs. Sausage 1/2 pound = 1/2 a Sausage cut into 1/4 inch slices. Beef Polish, Or Andouille. That's the meat.
Prepare the clams and Mussels by inspecting them, do this just before you start cooking leave them alone until your cooking wash them just a lil bit to get sand off, make SURE they are CLOSED. No Gapeing. Them must close tight or they may be dead..Never cook a Dead Shellfish as a Clam or Mussel as a rule.Keep um cold till they go to the pot.
The Veggies: a couple cloves of Garlic minced, a bit of green pepper, some red pepper in strips, some sweet onion. And Sweet Peas Peas..Paella has got to have some Sweet Peas 1 1/4 cup of them.
The Rice Mix. 1 big bag of Mahatma Yellow Rice 10 oz.That takes 3 cups water, its 1 1/2 cups of rice. Add 1 more cup of regular white rice and 2 more cups of water to the rice cooker or pot 5 cups water total 2 1/2 cups of rice. Cooking rice takes 1 part rice 2 parts water.
Start with Preheating the oven to 325 and cooking the rice and putting the cooker on the low keep setting. In a Pot just let it set with the lid on..It takes little time to put the dish together. Start boiling the Peas they take about 5 minutes then strain them , Sauté the veggies in a bit of olive oil till they soften,add the garlic last it takes no time and will brown and become bitter, take um out of the sauté pan add the sausage and sauté at low heat, then after about 2 minutes add the chicken,then 2-3 minutes later the Shrimp in about 3 more minutes they will be pink and bout done,remove the Shrimp, slap in all the veggies, and a minute or two later the sausage and chicken will be done and the veggies heated
When you start the sausage .In a pan with a cover put a 1/2 inch of water or in a steam basket. Turn on the heat and when the pot steams put the Closed Clams and Mussels in the pot or steamer, steam or boil them 5 minutes and they all should be open when that's done. Leave um in the pot with the lid off till you add them to the dish with the Shrimp
Put the warm rice into a big mixing bowl, add the Veggies and Peas, Sausage and Chicken and toss up, pour it into the Paella Pan or your serving dish then slap it into the oven about 5 minutes to get it all warm and with oven mits take it out put the seafoods on top and back in the oven 2 minutes take it out and put it on a safe serving place or pad, cutting bord ..on the table, You don't need to get it all super hot, just to warm the pan a bit , everything else will be nice and hot..and ALWAYS have Warm Heated Dishes to put the Paella in to serve..
A Big Green Salad ..a Piece of Crusty French or Italian or Puerto Rican Bread and Some Bottled Chilled Water with Lime or Lemon, A Glass of Wine or the Best...Hobo Junction Ice Cold Beer in a Heavy Mug..Ya Baby.! It sounds like a lot to do but its a cinch....DAJAX's Way.. You can also do simple Paellas with some shrimp, scallops, or what ever you dream up with..BTW..You put the seafoods on last after they have cooked to warm just a bit, They will overcook in the oven otherwise even in just 5 minutes, the chicken and sausage are nestled in the warm rice..
If you like the Yellow Rice, just get another bag, Its very "Salty" and Much Flavor, that's why I Cut it with the regular rice. I use Long Grain Rice.
Paella For My Pals..DAJAX The Cook
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