Friday, May 21, 2010

Seafood & Asparagus Paella


I've been meaning to try out a recipe out of the Paella recipe book my dear friend Tanja got for us. I finally got around to it today. With plenty of tasty sounding recipes to choose from, I had my work cut out. I realized I didn't have the right rice, saffron or the paella pan. But not having the right ingredients hasn't stopped me before.
I went with a basic paella recipe: onions, garlic, rice, seafood and cooking liquids. Since I had some chicken bones in the freezer, the liquid was a homemade chicken stock. The rice was Indian Basmati and seafood was a mix of shrimp, mussels, calamari, scallops and tilapia.

Stock

Chicken bones
Water
Salt
Peppercorns
Bay leaves

Boil. Strain. Keep ready for the rice.

Paella

Sauté finely chopped onions, garlic in olive oil.
Add a can of chopped tomatoes and a heaping spoonful for tomato paste. Saute.
Add paprika, 2 packets of Goya sazon, chili powder and salt.
Add rice, and saute till browned.
Turn heat to a medium and ladle in a cup of stock in the rice mix. Allow it to be absorbed before adding another cup of stock.
Meanwhile add any vegetables if you please. I added peas. (And asparagus, but that comes later)
Once the rice is al dente, add the shrimp, fish, calamari, scallops and nuzzle in the mussels. Top off with asparagus and cover.


Keep covered for about 10 mins. Or till the mussels open.
Stir in chopped tomato and cilantro.
All done. Get a plate and dig in!

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