First, the tricks...
The Pan
The trickiest thing, I find, about paella is the pan. I've gone through several paella pans, all cheaply made. Finally, I bought a 17" cast iron; business time. Socarrat—the final step of when you toast the bottom layer of rice—is now much easier. However, there are drawbacks. Cast iron is great at radiating heat, that makes it exceptional for searing meat; and if you are good to it, it will last forever. But with every benefit there is a drawback, which in our case is conductivity. Cooper is famous in the kitchen because it's an excellent conductor, meaning the metal can be heated in one area and carry that energy effectively throughout the entire vessel, evenly heating its contents. Cast iron is really bad at that. Hot spots occur, and if your pan is too enormous for coverage over a single burner, like mine, the issues multiply. Ideally, I'd use a pan this big over a fire. Since that option is unavailable, I had to become a savvy user and learn to mitigate the pan's deficiencies. The areas were I have to be mindful—cooking the meat, properly cooking the rice, and generally stirring to avoid uneven cooking—are explained below.
Fresh Chorizo
Totally worth it, but not easy to find. What you will find is precooked chorizo, which won't allow for the same flavor extraction. If you do get precooked, just brown it. Try you're best, for that fresh . . .
Rabbit:
I don't know how accessible this item is to everyone out there. Rabbit is a white meat, and it stands up well to cooking. Chicken can be easily overcooked, I've found, especially in these conglomerate dishes. And it tastes great, and has a flavor I really enjoy! I get a whole one and have the butcher cut it into quarters, but if you can get just the hind legs, do so; that's where most of the meat is.
Meat v Seafood:
Customize as you please; that is the essence of paella. Generally speaking, I don't love the idea of reheating fish the next day, shellfish especially, so I usually use meat. I also prefer the flavor of a meat paella. That said, if you do want to add shellfish, do so halfway through cooking the rice. In the recipe, I mention alternative ingreadents from time to time, that way, if you want to switch it up, you know what to do!
What you need:
- Fresh Chorizo, 1.5 lbs
- Chicken w/ skin, 1.5 lbs
- Rabbit, quartered
- Paprika (sweet, not smokey), 1 tbsp
- Oregano, 1 tbsp
- Saffron, a pinch
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Onions, 2 large, diced
- Garlic, 5 cloves, minced
- Frozen peas, 1 cup, thawed
- 1 28-oz can of whole peeled tomatoes, liquid drained, and crushed by hand
- Medium grain white rice, 3 cups, rinsed
- Chicken stock, 6 cups
- White wine, 2 cups
VALE, LET'S COOK!
1) Mix paprika, oregano, and 1 tsp of salt to taste. Rub the chicken and rabbit—leave on the counter for 30 minutes. You want the meat to sit in the rub and get to room temperature to ensure even cooking.
I have chicken legs. Use whatever cut you want but make sure it comes with skin; that's where a lot of flavor comes from. There's a big difference without it. Thighs are a popular choice in many paella recipes.
2) Put olive oil in the pan on place on medium heat. Let your pan get hot before adding the meat, also try to avoid getting the oil to smoke; it will leave a bitter taste and release free radicals into your food. That's gross! Due to pan space and hot spots, I have to cook in batches, and depending on how much protein you're using, you have to might as well.
The chicken and rabbit will take longer to cook. 160° for chicken thighs and rabbit; 170° for chicken breasts (if using). Chorizo needs less time; if using precooked, it just needs a good browning. Do you have digital meat thermometer? If not, get one! It's how you cook meat, in particular chicken, just right. No amount of grilling machismo will help you here. Meat dries out because it gets to hot and has nothing to do with how it's prepared. Braising, grilling, baking, it's all the same. If the internal temperature is too hot, dry; too cold, food poisoning. Get a meat thermometer!
When done, let each piece rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
I center the meat over the hot spot directly over the burner to ensure everything cooks evenly.
This looks like one of those feasts in Game of Thrones.
4) Pre-heat the chicken stock. Here's another little trick; heat the stock before you add it to the rice. Put the stock, wine, saffron and tsp of salt into a sauce pot—bring to a boil, then keep it on a simmer. This step is important for a few reasons—burn off the alcohol, let the saffron bloom, and to heat stock so the rice cooks properly. That last one is really important and it's especially true when using a lot of liquid. Trying to heat the stock in the pan is a miserable experience, cast iron especially, and it will lengthen your cooking time by a laughable amount; and your guests will hate you. And if that wasn't enough, you'll never cook your rice properly. Heat that stock!
5) Add the onions to the pan and sauté. I like to spend about 15 minutes browning them. The oil in the pan should now be dripping in flavor from the meat. Add a pinch of salt. Stir them up every five minutes.
6) Cut up your meat once it's been sitting for 10 mins. After the onions, things move fast. Your heated stock will speed up the cooking of the rice, so if you wait until after you add it to the pan, you could turn around and the rice will be done. That's leaves no time to add in the meat during the cooking process. Keep this in mind. When the stock goes in, your rice could be done in 20 minutes. Ideally, you want to add the protein back in when the rice is visible in the stock—around 10 minutes in.
Chicken and chorizo.
7) Add the garlic to the pan. Mix it up, and cook for 2 mins or so.
8) When you smell the garlic, add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt. There should be some liquid that results from the crushing, that's fine, but the liquid they came sitting in should be drained. We want some juice, just not enough to make tomato sauce. Adjust the heat a little lower and cook for 5 mins. The goal is to caramelize and blend flavors, not turbo cook the tomatoes; they are more delicate than onions and thus, need less heat.
7) Fold in the rice. Stir it all around and coat it with the beautiful concoction you've made. This is where all the flavor is. Let everyone mingle and get to know each other for a few minutes!
8) Add chicken stock/wine/ saffron. You can use water here, but, it is frowned upon. You are what you eat; if you give rice water, what do you think it will taste like? Nothing. I use homemade chicken stock. The minimum amount of stirring here, we're not making risotto. I stir twice, when things are first combined, then, once again 5 minutes later.
9) Toss in the peas and cut-up meat. Do this when you start to see rice rising from the liquid—10 mins after adding the stock. If you are using shellfish (I'm not), now's the time to add. Mix it all in, and let the cooking continue.
10) Socarrat. This the most sacred step of the process, and also the most tricky—toasting the rice. To some degree, this might have already happened. It's more art than science. I know my pan; I know that by the end the rice over the burner is well cooked, but the outside edges are in need. I therefore rotate the pan on the burner avoiding the middle so not to char the grains; we want toast, not burn. It's a delicate task, but if done right, it's the bees knees!
10) Let it cool, and pour yourself a drink. I like making "tinto" by mixing lemon soda and red wine. Lemon soda is impossible to find in the US, luckily, I can get it in at Greek grocery store near my apartment. If you can find it, it's the perfect paella companion!
Salud!
