h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Paella

The nice thing about Paella is that other than the rice and seasonings much of it is a matter of what you can get during your shopping that day. Because of this I’ll only give guidelines rather than amounts. I certainly don’t use measurements. As a general rule, when cooking rice you put enough liquid over the rice to cover, plus about an inch (or to the pulse point on your wrist if you lay your hand on the rice, as shown to me by a friend from Japan). Some of the items might not be readily available unless you have access to a Spanish/Latin grocery store.

When I make Paella, the seafood and such is based on what I can find fresh in the market that day. This was really fun when I made it for friends one night in Diamante, a little seaside village in Italy.

Ingredients:

Rice (I prefer basmati for this)
Garlic
Onion
Olive Oil
Chicken stock
"Sazon Goya" with saffron if you can find it. Otherwise, use the following:
Saffron
Additional garlic
Salt
Additional pepper
Adobo (again, if you can find it)
Fresh Thyme (or dried)
White wine
Chicken, cut up
Chorizo or Andouille sausage (or any spicy sausage in a pinch)
Firm delicately flavored white fish like swordfish, halibut, sea bass, etc.
Squid, cleaned and cut into pieces
Mussels and/or Clams (or whatever)
Medium to Large Shrimp (I’ve used both peeled and cleaned or shell on)
Salt
Pepper
Fresh Parsley
Fresh or frozen green peas (not canned for this)

When I make this it's a two pan meal. You can make it in one pan if you wish, though. To make in one pan, combine the white wine to the chicken stock to cook the rice then add the rest. Just remember to add the seafood just in time for it to be cooked so it doesn't overcook (a maximum of 10 minutes before finishing dish). It tastes far better in two pans though.

In one pan sauté whole garlic in olive oil until golden. If you tilt the pan so the garlic 'deep fries' in one small part it works best. Add chopped onion and sauté til translucent. Then remove both from pan and reserve for later. Brown chicken skin down in the olive oil the garlic and onion was sautéed in. Remove then sauté rice in same pan. When rice bright white and starting to turn golden add chicken stock, seasonings, sausage and replace the chicken pieces, garlic and onion. Cover and simmer.

In second pan, while rice and chicken are cooking, sauté additional garlic in olive oil until golden then mash and add white wine. Steam mussels (or whatever you choose) in seasoned white wine until shells open. Remove, discarding any unopened ones then add shrimp, squid and fish. Sauté until just cooked, or even very slightly under-done then remove from pan. Reduce the liquid in the pan by half, adding some of the same seasonings used for the rice. (If you removed the shells from the shrimp before cooking you can add them to the liquid to flavor it then remove.) When this is done replace all seafood in the liquid and leave covered in pan to keep warm. Slightly underdone seafood will finish with the heat in the pan.

When rice has absorbed all liquid and is tender toss in peas as you fluff the rice to separate it. Sprinkle parsley over seafood and liquid. When serving serve a base of rice with chicken, etc. then ladle on seafood and liquid.

Enjoy!

This is a brilliant posting. Can I take this and make it an entry and then submit it to Peer Review so that it ends up going into the Edited Guide? Whaddyareckon?

Sure.. that would be wonderful! Sorry about the 'no measurements' the only time I measure is when baking since there's a great deal of chemistry involved in that..

You may want to make a note that arborio rice is usually used for paella. The basmasti is a personal preference. If you need clarification of something just let me know.. it's one of my favorites to make..

Excellent! This'll make a great entry in its own right. Now, the measurements - or lack of 'em. We need to provide some in order to give Reserachers a rough idea of how to make your dish (I'll write something about your preference for basmati). Batty, is there any chance that you can provide an approximation of the amounts that you use? They needn't be deadly accurate or anything - just a 'more or less sort' of figure.

Many thanks indeed.

Sam

let me work on it.. I might have to make it and look at the approximate measurements of what I use. I usually cook by sight and taste. Especially useful since everyone knows food tasted directly from the cooking pot has absolutely no calories..

Ha! Brilliant - let me know how you get on. I'd like to cook this myself, as much as anything else.

It's actually pretty easy. It's what I call a 'throw together'. When I made it in Italy I just shopped in the village for seafood (I still don't know what one of the types of shellfish was or what the fish was since I don't speak Italian) and such then made it and some sangria that evening for a party on the patio. The only real measurement needed is liquid to rice, which I measure by sight. The seasoning I do by taste and smell. You can make as much or as little as you want. Just remember to err on the side of economy (except for garlic - no such thing as too much garlic ) on the seasoning as you can always add later.

Okay Sam. Here it is. Sort of. The paella I made last night was similar except it had scallops, shrimp, clams and stone crab claws, and I used a Portuguese sausage that looked good.

Serve it with homemade sangria, made at least a few hours before dinner. If you want a veggie a good salad works.

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Sangria
1 bottle (large) Spanish red wine
1 single-serving size container of fruit juice (your preference, I use mango usually. If the juice isn't sweet enough you can add honey)
a couple shots of good rum (or dry sherry/madeira is good too)
cut up variety of fruit, just make sure one is oranges. (I used 2 oranges, 1 apple and 1 pear for last night)

Throw it all together in a pitcher or punchbowl and let it chill for a few hours.
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Paella

The nice thing about Paella is that other than the rice and seasonings much of it is a matter of what you can get during your shopping that day. Because of this I’ll only give guidelines rather than amounts. I certainly don’t use measurements. As a general rule, when cooking rice you put enough liquid over the rice to cover, plus about an inch (or to the pulse point on your wrist if you lay your hand on the rice, as shown to me by a friend from Japan). Some of the items might not be readily available unless you have access to a Spanish/Latin grocery store.

When I make Paella, the seafood and such is based on what I can find fresh in the market that day. This was really fun when I made it for friends one night in Diamante, a little seaside village in Italy. Scallops make a great substitution for the fish if you can’t find the right fish for your taste. I tried this last night and it was excellent.

Ingredients (all measurements are approximate, I don’t measure when I cook):

2 cups Rice (I prefer basmati for this, though traditional is arborio)
6 cloves Garlic (3 per pan)
1/2 Onion, sliced or chopped
6 tblsp. Olive Oil (3 for each pan)
2 – 2 1/2 cups Chicken stock (or shrimp stock made from boiling the shells if you clean the shrimp)
2 packets "Sazon Goya" with saffron if you can find it (1 per pan). Otherwise, use the following:
(Per packet measurement)
Pinch Saffron
Additional garlic (1-2 cloves)
1/4 tsp Salt
Additional pepper
1/2 tsp Adobo (again, if you can find it)

1 tsp Fresh Thyme (or dried)
1/4 tsp Spanish smoked paprika (if available)
1 cup White wine
1 whole Chicken, cut up (if you use boneless/skinless use thighs rather than breasts)
1 lb Chorizo or Andouille sausage (or any firm spicy sausage in a pinch)
1 lb Firm delicately flavored white fish like swordfish, halibut, sea bass, etc.
1 lb Squid, cleaned and cut into pieces
1 lb Mussels and/or Clams (or whatever)
1 lb Medium to Large Shrimp (I’ve used both peeled and cleaned or shell on)
1 lb crab or lobster. Whole or claws but it’s prettier if it’s still in the shell and the shells are cracked for your guests.
(if you use whole lobster steam it then cut it in half lengthwise)
handful Fresh Parsley
handful Fresh or frozen green peas (not canned for this)

When I make this it's a two pan meal and is actually a ‘Mariscada’. You can make it in one pan if you wish, though. To make in one pan, combine the white wine to the chicken stock to cook the rice then add the rest. Reduce the seasonings to just for one pan. Just remember to add the seafood just in time for it to be cooked so it doesn't overcook (a maximum of 10 minutes before finishing dish for most of the seafood). It tastes far better in two pans though.

In one pan sauté whole garlic (or halved large cloves) in olive oil until golden. If you tilt the pan so the garlic 'deep fries' in one small part it works best. Add chopped onion and sauté until translucent. Then remove both from pan and reserve for later. Brown chicken skin down in the olive oil the garlic and onion was sautéed in. Remove then sauté rice in same pan. When rice bright white and starting to turn golden add chicken seasonings and sauté a bit longer. Then add chicken stock, sausage and replace the chicken pieces. Cover and simmer.

In second pan, while rice and chicken are cooking, sauté garlic in olive oil until golden. Sear fish, squid and shrimp in oil and remove. Add white wine and steam mussels (or whatever you choose) in seasoned white wine until shells open. Remove, discarding any unopened ones and add to other seafood. Add seasonings, replace garlic and onions and reduce the liquid in the pan by half. When this is done replace all seafood in the liquid and leave covered in pan to keep warm. Slightly underdone seafood will finish with the heat in the pan.

When rice has absorbed all liquid and is tender toss in peas as you fluff the rice to separate it. Sprinkle parsley over seafood and liquid. When serving serve a base of rice with chicken, etc. then ladle on seafood and liquid.

Enjoy!!!

This is fabulous! I'll put it into 'entry' format and post it to Peer Review right away.

OK Batty, I've given this a light subbing and you can now find it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/F48874?thread=186126 Well done!:-)

I just saw the entry.. thanks.. it looks fab!!!

Hi there Batty, Folk are starting to talk about your entry over in Peer Review already! When you've got a minute, would you mind going over and fielding any questions/suggestions they may have. I responded to the first one. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/F48874?thread=186126&latest=1 Cheers.:-)

On my way...

Wonderful posting. The perusal itself is mouth-watering !!
But, I think the word is not 'Paella', but 'Pulao', orginating from 'Palaanna' in Samskrit. The word is formed by Pala (Small pieces of meat) + Anna (Rice).