Frying pan paella

As I sat in front of my computer in the office yesterday afternoon a sudden rice craving set in. I haven't been eating as much rice as I used to. Potatoes, bread and pasta have become staple carbs. Then on the tube home I had an epiphany - Paella. The last paella I made was on the 30th of April 2006. Yes, I remember the date - because it was my birthday and I had some friend's over for dinner. But that paella was a half day affair. I had gone to town with the ingredients. Squid, king prawns, green-lipped mussels, octopus, the works. All cooked in a paella pan carried to the UK all the way from Spain. It was quite the event. I wasn't about to put in all that effort at 7 pm, after a long day's work, so a frying pan version had to be thought up. One that could be put together from stuff I could buy on the way home.

I used:

• 300 grams long-grain rice, about one mug full
• One finely sliced onion
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• about 100 grams of chorizo
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• paprika to taste
• 300 grams of chicken breast. Since everyone seems to be making austerity cuts I decided to make a non-seafood version.
• 1 litre of chicken stock. I used 2 jellied Knorr stock pots. Let's just say that mine was a pretty boldly seasoned. 1.5 stock pots would have been just fine.
• half a cup of peas and some flat leaf parsley I had lying in the fridge to garnish.

1. in some olive oil fry the onions without browning, after about 3-4 minutes, add the chorizo. Once the chorizo starts releasing juices add in the chicken
2. as the chicken seals, add the garlic and turmeric followed by the washed rice.
3. stir the rice to coat it in all the juices and then add hot chicken stock
4. bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes, stirring regularly
5. add the peas right in the end and give it one last stir. Bob's your uncle.

I recommend that you let the paella stand for a bit to allow the last bit of water to get soaked up in the rice. Watching the paella cook is like watching something come to life. As the rice starts to emerge from the stock and all those flavours get really concentrated it starts looking a lot more appetising. I have to make a proper one, will masses of seafood, soon.

  

The star of this one was the chorizo. The chorizo is a giving sausage. I have been using it quite often lately. It makes a great addition in any tomato based pasta sauce. The fat and spices it releases gives a real boost of flavour. I used some to make the base for meat balls last month and the sausage did extremely well. Not to mention, that it is so easily consumed sitting in the sun with some cheese, rocket and bread. Next year eh?