First of all, those of you who haven't checked out
Bakespace, get on over and check it out! Over the last couple of weeks a group of us have been giving Paella our own personal touch.
My version is loosely based on this
Epicurious recipe. I say loosely because I just kept throwing in things that I found in my fridge and freezer.
One thing I couldn't find was decent squid, clams, or mussels. The squid I found in town was packaged in a box with nothing to keep people out. You could literally flip the top of the box open and touch the squid. EWWWW!! I couldn't help but wonder how many people had poked at it before it reached me.
I did find a bag of "seafood mix". It had little bits of squid, clams, octopus, you name it. It being only a few bucks a bag had me worried. To try to remedy any terrible fishy taste I rinsed the mix well and let it soak in milk and cayenne for a few hours.
See? Soaking the mix.
Next, I made a fresh herb paste out of thyme, oregano, cilantro, cayenne, coriander, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Most was rubbed on the chicken thighs. A small portion was reserved for the onions. I grilled the thighs and set them aside.
Up next were the veggies. Onions, squash, red, green, and yellow bell peppers were grilled.
In a cast iron skillet I tossed in rough cut chunks of onion, thick cut bacon, salt pork, and the remaining herb paste. After the bacon was cooked but still soft I removed it from the pan to set with the chicken thighs.
Only Mexican chorizo existed in the local stores so I used andouille instead. This was sauteed with crumbled Italian pork sausage until both were well browned.
The sausage was added to the container with the chicken, bacon, and onions and left to rest.
Next in the skillet was the arborio rice. I didn't drain the grease and toasted it until golden and speckled.
In a large stock pot I poured in clam juice, chicken stock, a pinch of saffron, the rice and set to boil.
While the rice was boiling I deglazed the cast iron skillet with a splash of Guinness.
To the boiling rice and broth I added halibut cheeks, snapper from a fisherman friend, and shrimp. The seafood mixture was drained, rinsed, and added at this time as well. I forgot to take pictures of the fish but trust me, the cheeks were lovely!
After the rice had softened the resting meats and veggies were added. So was the contents of the deglazed pan and the rest of the Guinness. I threw in a few diced tomatoes and a can of Italian diced tomatoes for good measure.
I set this all to simmer for about 20 minutes.
Now that all said, I would LOVE to have a Paella pan as I think it would keep the quantity from growing on me. It was delicious but I ended up with a huge stock pot of paella. Thank goodness for a foodsaver!!
BTW, the leftovers are delicious rolled up in a tortilla with a little cheese and fresh tomatoes :)
Click the links below to check out the rest of the beeps:
http://peacefulcooking.blogspot.com/2009/08/paella-coast-to-coast-and-guest.html
And her guest blogger!
http://sprytesplace.blogspot.com/2009/08/paella.html
http://myitaliangrandmother.blogspot.com/2009/08/paella-for-sea-fearing-coast-to-coast.html
This cake was a fun one! Well they all are fun but this one let out the little kid in me. It is a chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream and fondant decorations. Oh and of course candy jewels and coins.
The party was complete with a sword fight between Captain Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones.
