Recipe #217: Paella

I want to go to Spain, eat their food and drink their wine.  That won't happen any time in the very near future, so I just cooked their food and found a bottle of their wine in the grocery store instead.  Where there's a will, there's a way.  PAELLA!  This turned out great although I wish I had cooked the mussels just a little bit longer.  It made a TON and there's a lot of leftovers.  Allrecipes.com provided yet another recipe- my comments/changes are in red.

INGREDIENTS:

4 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 red bell pepper, chopped 4 ounces chorize sausage, cut into pieces (I used 8oz) 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes 1 (12 ounce) package uncooked Arborio rice (I used 8oz package of saffron yellow rice, then arborio) 5 cups chicken broth (I only needed the 3.5 cups) 1/2 cup white wine 1 sprig fresh thyme

1 pinch saffron salt to taste ground black pepper to taste 2 squid, cleaned and cut into 1 inch pieces 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped 1/2 cup frozen green peas 12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined (or, you know, 15...) 1 pound mussels, cleaned and debearded (dont forget the shaving cream and razors) 1/4 cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley 8 slices lemon, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Heat olive oil in paella pan over medium heat. Add in onion, garlic and pepper; cook and stir for a few minutes. Add chorizo sausage, diced chicken, and rice; cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in 3 1/2 cups stock, wine, thyme leaves, and saffron. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, and simmer for 15 minutes; stir occasionally.
2.	Taste the rice, and check to see if it is cooked. If the rice is uncooked, stir in 1/2 cup more stock. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally. Stir in additional stock if necessary, up to 2 cups additional stock, 5 cups total. Cook until rice is done.
3.	Stir in squid, tomatoes, and peas. Cook for 2 minutes. Arrange prawns and mussels on top. Cover with foil, and leave for 3 to 5 minutes.  (BE SURE to leave the heat on.  Mussels are done when they open.  Poke to test their "squishiness" for desired doneness)
4.	Remove the foil, and scatter parsley over the food. Serve in paella pan, garnished with lemon wedges.

The wine I chose to go with dinner.... and lots of leftovers!