Seafood Paella - Romance on a Plate

As most of you know, I love to watch Top Chef but for the last 2 weeks I was in Canada where they lag several weeks behind in airing new episodes so I only just watched the latest installment this morning, thanks to the miracle of DVR. Imagine my surprise to find that Ron had been sent home for his misinterpretation of a deconstructed paella when I had just made my first paella over the weekend. Not that I was surprised to see him go home, the poor guy didn’t have the chops for the show in cooking finesse or in TV personality. However, I think deconstructing paella should be a crime punishable by being banished from the fish market for at least 2 weeks…OK. One then. The whole point of a good paella is the building of flavors – oh and it’s about saffron too.

I was at the fish market (Pacific Fresh Fish in Regina) and spied some fresh PEI mussels, which my fiancé absolutely adores. I bought a lot and the first night made a spicy Thai green curry dish with the mussels but saved about a dozen for what was really kicking around in the back of my head – paella! This was my first attempt at making the dish though I have consumed countless versions – good and bad – at restaurants. I went on line and read tons of recipes, tossed them aside and dived in to make my own version.

My version includes:

1 boneless chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
1 link Spanish chorizo sliced
5 thin slices pancetta, chopped
3 clove garlic, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
2 bell peppers roasted, peeled and chopped (I used red and orange peppers)
¼ cup chopped black calamata olives
1 dozen mussels, scrubbed & debearded
2 alaskan king crab claws
1 lobster tail, split down the middle (leave shell on)
8 raw shrimp, deveined
1 ½ cups shortgrain rice (I used Arborio)
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup dry white wine
2 TBS drained capers
½ tsp saffron threads
½ tsp dried oregano



Preparation:

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Saute pancetta, garlic and chicken pieces until chicken colors. Remove chicken and reserve. Add chorizo and onion and sauté until onion is translucent. Meanwhile, heat stock in a saucepan with saffron and oregano. Add rice to sauté pan and stir to coat with oil. Add the wine and reduce heat to low, stirring to allow rice to absorb liquid. Add the stock all at once, stirring while it I added. Mix in peppers, olives and tomatoes and cover. Let simmer over low heat for 20 minutes or until rice is nearly tender.



Place chicken, crab, shrimp, lobster and mussels atop rice and cover until mussels open and chicken and seafood are cooked through. Sprinkle capers over the top. Remove cover and increase heat to medium-high. Cook over medium-high heat until rice gets a crunchy crust on the bottom (about 1 minute). Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve directly from the hot pan.

This dish is very yummy, the crust (called socratto) is my favorite part. Don’t use long grain rice if at all possible but if you must, then substantially reduce the cooking time for the rice. The chorizo is also important in that it adds the spicy, smoky paprika taste. If you can’t find chorizo then use a pork sausage and add smoked paprika, being careful not to overpower the saffron.



Make this dish for a romantic meal for two, though there will be leftovers! It seems impossible to make a small amount of paella but that won’t be a problem, trust me. Serve it with a crisp white wine and enjoy!