School me on paella

Everything you ever wanted to know about paella:

Paella Primer

Found a good accompanying article: LINK

Seems Valencians are like Louisianans with their gumbo

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The 10 Golden Rules of Authentic Valencian Paella

1. Don't mix seafood and meat. And only use seafood if by the sea.

2. True Valencian paella is made with rabbit, chicken and green beans in the summer, duck and artichoke in the winter.

3. No garlic. No peas. No potatoes. No stock. NO CHORIZO.

4. Only use Spanish rice, preferably Valencian bomba or senia.

5. Cook over wood, for that authentic smoky flavour.

6. On no accounts, stir. The rice should stick to the pan.

7. Oh, and that pan should be an authentic paella. Not a frying pan. And definitely not a wok.

8. Eat it straight from the pan, preferably using a wooden spoon. At lunchtime only.

9. If it's served in a portion for one, it isn't the real thing, it's been frozen and reheated. Or it's from Vesta.

10. For ultra-authenticity, it should only be cooked by a man. A Spanish man. In Valencia.

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Good thing no one's attempting to make "authentic" paella.

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School me on paella

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The two lls are pronounced as a y

I like to make paella on the grill. I started by using the NakedWhiz's website and adjusted to my tastes.

I don't like chorizo so I use andouille instead. I figure that's just cajun-ing it up a bit. First I grill some boneless chicken thighs and/or legs and/or drummettes for a couple of minutes just to brown. Then I heat up the paella pan and brown the sliced andouille. Now remove.

Next I toast the saffron inside on the stove, then dump in a half cup of simmering chicken stock for a couple minutes. Then I transfer that into another pot with about 3 cups of warm chicken stock.

First thing I cook in the paella pan after the sausage is red pepper strips. Remove those when done. Add some oil and saute a diced onion and some garlic.

Then I add the tomatoes. Ahead of time you should take two decent sized tomatoes and grate them into a pulp. Don't use the skin. Cook this tomato/onion/garlic mixture until it's a paste and all or most of the liquid is gone.

Now add your rice. Use aborrio if you don't have the "official" paella rice. I've also used short grain white rice in a pinch. Toast the rice for about 2 minutes while stirring it some.

Now add the hot liquid to the pan and distribute everything. Next comes the art of the presentation and it's entirely personal.

I usually add the sausage in and stir it in. Another good addition is a can of peas. Doesn't do much for flavor, but the color is a nice addition and makes it look more appetizing

Then I take the chicken thighs and layer them around the pan. Fan them out from the center of the pan to the edges of the pan like the petals on a daisy flower. Then place the red pepper strips between the chicken.

Or just take all the meats and throw them in. It all tastes the same!

Now cook it for about 30 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. At the end, I crank the heat from the 400 degree range to the 500-600 range for a couple of minutes. This takes practice but it forms the soccarat. That's the charred, sticky goodness on the bottom of the dish. It tastes great without the soccarat, but next level tastes come from this.

I love cooking this outside on the grill. I generally do all of my prep ahead of time and lay it all out. Then I sit outside at the grill and drink whatever it is I'm drinking that night. My wife is the runner and goes back and forth grabbing the prepped ingredients. Then there's a good 30 minutes to kick back together and enjoy the night.