Chicken Paella

It's been ages since my last chicken paella, can't even remember when it was, but I know I've been craving for some rice for some time, so I thought why not make some paella.

Paella (/paɪˈɛlə/, /pɑːˈeɪjə/, py-EL-ə, pah-AY-yə, Valencian: [paˈeʎa], Spanish: [paˈeʝa]) is a rice dish originally from Valencia. While it is commonly viewed by non-Spaniards as Spain's national dish, Spaniards almost unanimously consider it to be a dish from the Valencian region. Valencians, in turn, regard paella as one of their identifying symbols. It is one of the best-known dishes in Spanish cuisine.

The dish takes its name from the wide, shallow traditional pan used to cook the dish on an open fire, paella being the word for a frying pan in Valencia's regional language. As a dish, it may have ancient roots, but in its modern form it is traced back to the mid-19th century, in the rural area around the Albufera lagoon adjacent to the city of Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. source

I wanted to give you a short description and history of the dish, for those who have never heard of it. Yet, reading it made me realize I have broken the very basic rule of making paella.

"shallow traditional pan used to cook the dish on an open fire" 😳 I'm not Spanish and I don't have such a pan, so I hope I can have forgiveness for breaking the rule 😏 Next thing on my shopping list is a paella pan.

So I kind of new the recipe, but still wanted to check one to be sure and found this YouTube video that offers a convenient recipe. At first I decided to go entirely with the recipe, but in the process I realized it would change a few steps as those go against my cooking rules, plus I didn't have tomatoes and home and forgot the beans :)

Ingredients:

2 chicken legs,
1 tbsp red paprika,
1/2 tsp black pepper,
1/4 tsp salt,
1 clove garlic, minced,
1/4 cup oil,
1 medium size red pepper, diced,
1 large onion, diced,
1 large sausage,
3 cloves garlic, minced,
2 cup chicken stock,
2 cup rice source

Method

Before I start telling you about the next step, I'd like warn you about the red paprika powder. Make sure you buy quality and not some red brick powder imported from China. If you don't have a trusted brand, you can make your own paprika powder by drying paprika and grinding it.

The recipe says season the chicken with the mix you see on the photo above, which is paprika, salt, pepper and add minced garlic. I did that, but the next step was to cook the chicken in hot oil, which would be fine but not with the paprika already on it. There's a high chance to burn the paprika as it burns easily, then the food gets a bitter taste, which I don't want.

So I added oil to a pan, heated and then added minced paprika and onion.

After that I added the chicken, sliced sausage and minced garlic.

Next I added the chicken stock, covered the pan with a lid and cooked for 10 minutes.

The recipe says add rice as well and then cook for 30 minutes, but I wanted to slightly cook the meet first, then add rice.

After 30 minutes on a medium heat, the chicken paella was ready to be served.

Using almost the same amount of spice as in the recipe was a gamble, but don't mind actually, as the seasoning turned out ok. The
only thing I did differently is to use less paprika, as 2 tbsp seemed a lot and I still say I should have used a bit less.

Soooo, who wants some paella?

If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides: