Gail Says... » Chicken Paella http://gailsays.com Craft, cooking, curiosities... and cats Tue, 01 May 2012 10:31:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Chicken Paella http://gailsays.com/2009/04/18/chicken-paella/ http://gailsays.com/2009/04/18/chicken-paella/#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:48:31 +0000 Gail Lipscombe http://gailsays.com/?p=54 Here’s a great recipe that everyone seems to really like — even kids.

I first came across it in Australian Good Taste magazine in 2007 and you can now find it online here. Since first making it, it has become a family favourite. Like a good curry, it also tastes great the next day. I did change the original recipe a little over a couple of makings, and here is my version.

paella

Ingredients (serves 6)

  • 2 tablespoons smoked paprika (you can substitute with sweet paprika if preferred)
  • 2 tablespoons ground turmeric
  • 8 skinless chicken thigh fillets
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 250g chorizo sausages, roughly chopped
  • 1 large brown onion, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed (you can substitute  with garlic powder if you want to avoid garlic breath!)
  • 1 litre prepared chicken stock
  • 2 cups arborio rice
  • 400g can diced tomatoes
  • 3/4 cup frozen peas
  • 3/4 cup corn kernels (optional)

Method

  1. Combine paprika and tumeric in a bowl. Use spice mixture to cover both sides of the chicken, pressing into chicken with your fingers (see tip below).
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a very large, deep heavy-based frying pan on a medium-high heat. Add chorizo, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until chorizo is light golden and onion is transparent. Reserve in a bowl until later.
  3. Add remaining oil to the pan. Cook chicken on both sides until golden. Add 1 cup of stock to the pan. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 8 minutes. Remove the lid. Boil gently, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until almost all liquid has evaporated.
  4. Add 2 cups of remaining stock,  rice, tomatoes to pan. Stir and return to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for around 15 minutes or until almost all liquid is absorbed.
  5. Add peas, corn (if desired), chorizo and onion mixture and remaining stock. Simmer for 5 minutes or until stock is just absorbed.

A couple of hints
* Wear disposable plastic gloves when coating the chicken, otherwise the tumeric will discolour your nails badly.
* Mix the spices and coat the chicken on a sheet of Glad Go-Between — you can then throw it away when that part of the preparation is finished and it will protect your benchtop from staining from the tumeric.
* You may need to add a little extra water at the end if you find the paella a bit dry or the rice is a bit too crunchy for your liking.

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