Seafood paella, Spain
Paella is a typical Spanish dish traditionally cooked in a "paellera," a round flat pan with two handles, from which it can be served at the table.
Paella is considered to be the national Spanish dish, but Spaniards think of it as a purely Valencian dish since it originated there.
Paella is a rice-based dish which can be served with different kinds of meat, including chicken, duck or rabbit. However, the version with the most variety and best mixture of flavours is the seafood paella. The seafood is cooked with rice and usually includes mussels, shrimp, lobster and cuttlefish, though you can add whatever you wish. Vegetables are normally omitted from a seafood paella but you can choose a mixed paella, which uses a combination of green beans, seafood and other vegetables.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3070/2673954338_1ccaf183ec.jpg?v=0This recipe serves at least 10 people.
PAELLA RECIPE1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
2 large tomatoes or pint of plum tomatoes, diced
1/2 lb calamari (squid) cleaned and sliced into rings
3 cups medium or short grain rice
6-8 cups homemade seafood broth
1 large pinch saffron
1 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1 1/2 lbs raw mussels in shell (frozen or fresh) (pre-steam)
1 lb small clams (frozen or fresh) (pre-sautéed)
1 lb. chopped in medium-sized cubes fresh firm mild white fish like halibut (pre-sautéed)
1 1/2 lbs raw shrimp, medium or large (pre-sautéed with shell on)
1 red and 1 green pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 cup Olive Oil, sea salt to taste.
* The exact quantity of rice will depend on the size of the pan, so have at least 2 lb of rice on hand.
Method: Prepare all seafood in advance by steam and sauté methods. It takes roughly a pound of each to fill a large paella pan. Make a seafood broth from shrimp heads, onions, garlic and bay leaves; cover with water and boil for at least thirty minutes; remove debris. Steam mussels in white wine and lemon juice. Cook until they open and then remove. Sauté clams, prawns, and whole, deep-water shrimp in shells in olive oil until cooked. Allow to drain and cool on paper towels on a platter. Then sauté the chopped cuttlefish, calamari, baby calamari, and fresh fish or other choices in rotating batches; drain broth and use to deglaze pan. Allow fish to cool in a bowl until ready to fold into the paella.
Cooking the Paella: Heat oil in a paella pan
Add whole yellow onion and sauté.
Add garlic to onion and sauté.
Add 1 whole green and 1 whole red pepper, chopped, and sauté
Add 1 lb. chopped fresh tomatoes and parsley and sauté.
In a separate pan, sauté 2-3 cups uncooked rice in 1/4 olive oil until almost toasted (white, opaque)
Add rice to the sofrito of sautéed vegetables in the paella pan and then add at least 2 cups of broth
Continue stirring and adding broth until rice is cooked, slightly al dente
Add saffron
Add cooked white fish, clams, cuttlefish (if used) and calamari to cooked rice.
Add more broth, cook for few minutes until all is heated well. Get ready to serve.
Serving: Place the cooked shrimp, mussels, lobster or any shellfish used in concentric patterns atop the paella before taking to the table.
http://www.goodnewsgirlz.com/story/seafood-paella-cooking-class-spain