Shellfiesh Paella

Want to try the BEST food in the world? Make some shellfish paella. I tried (and failed miserably) once but maybe you can do better than me.

A couple things:

You need a paella pan (or so it seems).

Target.com has one for $18.99.




You will also need saffron. Saffron is pretty expensive. A pound of dry saffron (0.45 kg) requires 50,000–75,000 flowers, the equivalent of a football field's area of cultivation. In Western countries, the average retail price is $1,000 per pound.

The #1 saffron in Spain 4 years running is La Rosera Saffron. You can buy some (0.5 grams) for $8.50.



If you prefer, you can go to Gevalia (who makes excellent coffee by the way) and buy a Paella starter kit for $69.95 which includes a recipe book, paella pan, La Rosera saffron, Sotaroni extra virgin olive oil, and some paella rice.

When making paella you need oil, DO NOT use anything other than olive oil (which happens to be the most expensive type of oil).

Ingredients

Herb Blend:
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced

Paella:
1 cup water
1 teaspoon saffron threads
3 (16-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
8 unpeeled jumbo shrimp (about 1/2 pound)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 skinned, boned chicken thighs, cut in half
2 links Spanish chorizo sausage (about 6 1/2 ounces) or turkey kielbasa, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 (4-ounce) slice prosciutto or 33%-less-sodium ham, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 cup canned diced tomatoes, undrained
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
3 large garlic cloves, minced
3 cups uncooked Arborio rice or other short-grain rice
1 cup frozen green peas
8 mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Lemon wedges (optional)


Preparation
To prepare the herb blend, combine the first 4 ingredients, and set aside.

To prepare paella, combine water, saffron, and broth in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat. Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails intact; set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large paella pan or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; saute 2 minutes on each side. Remove from pan. Add sausage and prosciutto; saute 2 minutes. Remove from pan. Add shrimp, and saute 2 minutes. Remove from pan. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add onion and bell pepper; saute 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes, paprika, and 3 garlic cloves; cook 5 minutes. Add rice; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in herb blend, broth mixture, chicken, sausage mixture, and peas. Bring to a low boil; cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add mussels to pan, nestling them into rice mixture. Cook 5 minutes or until shells open; discard any unopened shells. Arrange shrimp, heads down, in rice mixture, and cook 5 minutes or until shrimp are done. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup lemon juice. Remove from heat; cover with a towel, and let stand 10 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.

This sounds good! I like seafood. Maybe after I rob that bank, I might have enough money to try and make it!

oooooooo that looks good! Quick, someone make me some

That does sound good, but the picture is not so appetizing!

bobrob2004 wrote:

This sounds good! I like seafood. Maybe after I rob that bank, I might have enough money to try and make it!

It isn't that expensive to make

Casey21 wrote:

That does sound good, but the picture is not so appetizing!

Those things (crawdads or whatever they're called) aren't normally on top of everything. Ignore them and that's what it looks like (shells of the clams/mussels/whatever they're called aren't removed - DO NOT eat the shells!)

How much does it cost to make? Does sound good, though!

gs78 wrote:

How much does it cost to make? Does sound good, though!

Well, you need a paella pan. Those are around $20 (of course once you have one it's good for life).

You need some saffron which is the most expensive spice in the world. Luckily you barely need any - maybe $1 worth. You need parsley (can't cost too much, can it?), 1/4 lemon juice. I'd get $1 worth of lemons to be on the safe side. 1 Tbsp of olive oil. A big thing of extra virgin olive oil is $10 but 1 tbsp is like $0.10 worth. 2 cloves of garlic can't be too much $$.

Water is free. Chicken broth = ???. Half a pound of shrimp is what, $5 or so? More olive oil, maybe $0.25 worth. Chicken, not sure what that costs....etc.

Can't be more than $25 or so and that's more than 1 serving (assuming you can't eat half a pound of shrimp, 4 chicken thighs, 3 cups of rice, and a whole bunch of vegetables at once.

Oh yeah, it is good!

Out of all the food I've ever eaten in my life, paella is #1 and it's not all that close.

Thanks Catbox