Seafood Paella

Paella is the Spanish version of a family style stew. Originally Paella was known to be a peasant dish because it was a collection of inexpensive and readily available ingredients (rabbit for instance) thrown into a pot and served for a large group. But you can pretty much add any ingredient you want. And as you can see in my recipe, I am using a surf and turf combination. But there are a few essential components that any Paella must consist of; one would be saffron, another is rice, and most importantly the pan. Literally Paella translates to frying pan.
3 split chicken breasts
4 cups seafood or chicken stock
2 raw lobster tails, removed from shell*
¼ cup olive oil
1 lb. Chorizo
1 Spanish onion
Pinch of Saffron
Kosher salt
2 tsp. smoked paprika (plus pinch for scallops)
4 garlic cloves diced
2 cups Arborio rice
1/3 cup Pernod or Anise liquor½ cups diced roasted red peppers
1 cup frozen peas
6 fresh scallops
1 lb. pealed and deveined uncooked shrimp
2 sticks butter
Fresh parsley
Fresh lemons

Roast chicken 425°F 20-25 minutes. Let cool, remove bone and skin, cube, set aside. Cook chorizo and remove from pan. Add olive oil to chorizo drippings. Sauté onion until translucent. Add Saffron, paprika, and garlic. Add rice to coat and cook until rice is translucent. Add liquor until absorbed by rice. Stir in peas, red peppers, chorizo, chicken and stock, cover for 30 minutes. Season scallops with paprika and salt. Sear until golden. Remove and set aside. Melt butter in shallow pan and poach shrimp and lobster until shrimp has turned pink. Once rice is cooked through, add cooked scallops, shrimp and lobster. Serve garnished with chopped parsley and lemon wedges. Serves 6.

*I borrowed this method from "The French Laundry Cookbook" if you need more reference: Boil lobster in chicken stock for exactly 1 minute and immediately transfer to ice bath. Reserve stock. Let sit for few minutes then peel away shell, cube, set aside.

© 2008 Amanda Dalmath