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please
can
i have
some
more
paella?
a
paella how-to
by
Yee-Fan Sun |
1
2
continued from page 1
a recipe:
sausage and veggie paella
Here's my basic paella recipe, made with ingredients that I can
generally scrounge from my freezer, fridge and cupboards. Part of the
fun of paella is that you almost never make the same paella twice -- the
"recipe" is infinitely flexible, so feel free to experiment.
Add or substitute spinach, zucchini, or artichoke hearts to the veggie
mix; make a seafood paella by substituting chicken stock with fish
stock, and swapping cooked shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels and/or clams
for the sausage. You can also mix sausage and seafood -- this is the
combination you most often see when you order paella at a restaurant.
serves
4-5
special equipment 12"-13"
paella pan, or similar pan
4 cups chicken stock
½ cup water
generous pinch (less than 1/4 tsp) of saffron
1 onion, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
2 fat cloves garlic, minced
2 small tomatoes, halved, cored and deseeded (or ½ cup crushed tomatoes
or tomato puree)
1 tsp paprika
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
2 cups rice
¼ cup wine
1 can chickpeas, drained
½ cup peas, frozen fine
1/3 lb. asparagus or green beans
1 lb of sausages -- Spanish chorizo if you can find it, otherwise, hot
Italian
1 pimento (roasted red pepper*), cut into strips
* You
can use jarred pimento or make it yourself by slathering a red pepper in
olive oil, tossing it on a baking sheet, and baking for about 25 min at
500F, until the skin is blistered and blackened. Place the pepper in a
container and cover. When it's cool enough to handle, peel off the skin,
core, de-rib and de-seed.
1
Dice the onion and bell pepper; mince the garlic. Halve the tomatoes and
cut out the core; remove seeds. Using a coarse grater, hold the cut side
of the tomato against the holes and grate to get the pulp. Discard the
peel. Break off the bottom woody ends of the asparagus, or if you're
using green beans, snap off the stem ends. Cut into 2-3" sections.
2
Heat up your paella pan and add the sausages. Cook on medium-high until
deep brown on all sides. Remove from heat, and cut on the diagonal into
½" thick slices. If the slices are still raw in the center, return
them to the pan and continue cooking as necessary.
3
While the sausage is cooking, combine the stock and saffron in a small
pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and keep it at a gentle simmer.
Preheat the oven to 400F. Boil another pot of water, then cook the
asparagus or green beans for a few minutes, until just tender. Rinse in
cold water, drain and set aside.
4
If your sausages have released a lot of oil, drain off the excess;
otherwise, leave any sausage bits in the pan (no sense wasting that good
flavor). Add a tablespoon of olive oil to your paella pan and heat on
medium. Add the garlic, onion and red pepper and sauté for about five
minutes, until soft and yummy-smelling. Stir in the tomatoes, chickpeas
and paprika; cook for another minute or so.
5
Add the rice, stirring well to make sure it's well-coated. Add the wine,
salt and pepper; stir and cook for another couple of minutes.
6
Pour in the hot stock, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to keep it
on a low bubble. If you can't fit in all of the stock, add as much as
the pan will accommodate; later, when some of the liquid has been
absorbed, you can add the remainder.
7
Cook until the rice is no longer swimming in stock (about 10 minutes);
stir in the peas. Raise the heat and cook for another five minutes.
Taste for seasonings, and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
8
Arrange the roasted red pepper strips, cooked asparagus or green beans
and sausage on top of the rice, pressing them gently into the mixture
just enough to keep them in place. Transfer the pan to the oven and
cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
9
Remove from heat, and cover the pan loosely with foil. Let it sit for 15
minutes or so, then serve!
o
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