Paella is a fantastic dish that can be combined in so many different ways. There is a book from Phaidon filled with only Paella recipes. I prefer a seafood paella but I have noticed that not everybody like seafood. So here is my 3C Paella with chicken, chanterelles and chorizo. Chorizo can toughen up and become chewy when used in Paella but I really like the flavor so I throw it in there anyways. Just remove the casing and get a good Spanish brand and you should be okay. Start with the Sofrito. Cut the tomatoes in half. Scoop out the seeds. Finely chop the onions. If you can find Spanish onions that would be your best choice. If you cant, shallots is a good substitute. Place a grater over a large mixing bowl. Rub the open face of the tomatoes over the grater until the flesh is grated. Discard the skin. Watch your fingers and knuckles when you do this. Heat the oil in a saucepan on low-medium temperature. Add the onions, sugar and salt. Cook, stirring frequently until the onions become soft and tender. The key to a good Sofrito lies in a good caramelization of the onions. Keep cooking until the onions turn brown, about 35-40 minutes. Add the sweet Spanish paprika (Pimenton), and stir. When thoroughly mixed , add the tomato puree. Cook for another 20 minutes. The Sofrito is ready when the tomato has turned deep-red and the oil is separated from the tomato-onion mix. Now, prepare all the ingredients for the Paella. Chop the Jamon, slice the Chorizo, trim and cube the chicken, clean and half the chanterelles, trim and slice the asparagus, chop the garlic. You can do this on a stove top, but I prefer to do it on the grill. I have a large Paella pan and it heats more even on the grill than when spanning several heating areas on the stove. Make sure that you have all the ingredients ready before you start the paella - there are several steps and timing is important. You don't want to overcook the ingredients. Heat the olive oil over high heat - this could take a while if you use the grill. Be patient and test with dripping some drops of water into the pan. When it sizzle, it is hot enough. Add the chicken and saute until it is brown on all sides. When they have a nice color - remove and set aside. Add the chanterelles to the pan and saute until they are golden. This will take about 3 minutes. .Add the ham, the asparagus, the garlic, and the chorizo to the pan. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken back to the pan. Deglaze the pan by adding the wine and stir. Reduce until half of the wine has evaporated. Add the Sofrito and cook for another 3 minutes. Make sure that you stir constantly. Add the peas. Pour in the chicken stock. Add the saffron thread. They are best if you toast them in some aluminum foil first and then crush them. This will release even more flavors. Add the rice - make sure that you distribute it evenly in the pan. Cook for another five minutes - stirring every 30 seconds or so. You will see the rice floating to the surface when it starts absorbing the chicken stock. Reduce the heat to low and cook at a slow boil until all the liquid is absorbed. This normally takes 10-15 minutes. This is important: DO NOT put your finger or spoon into the paella during this part. If you do, the rice will cook unevenly. It is really hard to resist but if you want a great paella - don't!! On the two pictures above you can see the rice absorbing the liquid slowly. Remove from grill and let the paella sit for 3-4 minutes There should be a nice shine to the paella and all the liquid should be absorbed. The rice in the bottom should be crisp and crunchy and the rice on the top should be creamy and smooth. The great thing about paella is that if done correct - you will have rice with different textures that add a nice touch to the dish. Serve immediately!! Another great thing about paellas is that it is easy to switch out ingredients and you will get a different kind of paella. Instead of chicken stock - use fishstock and instead of chicken and chorizo, use shrimp and mussels and you have a great seafood paella. Experiment and enjoy - this is a great base recipe.
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Carne Asada is one of my favorite things to eat - and the key to a great Carne Asada is the marinade. You can by a good marinade at any decent supermarket or Mexican store today - but it is more fun to make it yourself. And you can adjust the seasoning so that you will get it exactly the way you want it. So let us start with my recipe for the Carne Asada marinade. Wash the cilantro and remove the stems. Mix everything into a mixer, and puree on high. You want the marinade to be liquid without any chunks. On its most basic level, Carne Asada is a marinated and grilled steak that is served sliced thin. You want a flavorful cut that doesn't need to be tender so if you can't get Flank Steak go with a Skirt steak or even brisket. My preference however, is the Flank. Trim some of the fat and then vacuum seal with the marinade. Make sure that the whole steak is covered in marinade. This recipe will easily marinade up to 6 lbs of meat. I like my Carne Asada with a lot of flavor so I let it sit in the marinade in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. .The next step is to prepare the chimichurri sauce - and that is super-easy. Just throw all the ingredients into the mixer and mix on high. Some people prefer their chimichurri sauce with some texture, which is probably more authentic. I prefer mine smooth and silky so I just mix on high for a couple of minutes in the Vitamix or blender. Keep in refrigerator until ready to serve. To make the Mexican rice, start with chopping garlic and onions. Saute the rice together with the garlic and onions for a couple of minutes. Make sure that you don't burn or brown the rice. Cover rice with water and tomato puree and cook until ready. At the same time you are making the rice, lightly saute some onions in some oil. Don't brown it too much - just give it a slightly yellow color and soften up the onion slices. Place the steak on a hot grill - you can baste it if you want to with some of the left over marinade. Grill until you reached your desired level of doneness. I prefer mine medium, medium-rare. Remove the steak and slice long strips from the outer edges of the steak. Make sure that you cut against the grain. Make a bed of the Mexican rice, place the sliced Carne Asade on top and then top with some sautéed onions. Place a dollop of Chimichurri sauce on the side and serve while hot. You will love this recipe, especially when you pair it with a good Mexican beer. Buen provecho!!!
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Cooking at home
In this section you will find recipes and food experiments that I have tried at home. Some successfully. Archives
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