Paella!

I have made paella a few times, but tonight it turned out really really well, so I have decided to commit this version to paper (or virtual paper, or whatever) so I can duplicate it.  And... so can you!  Hurray.

This is the "Paradise of Ham" a ham museum/shop in 

Madrid that I have actually been to.  In fact, I have been to

the "Paradise of Ham III."  Unfortunately, I couldn't 

find my own photo of this place, so I had to use a random 

one from the internets.

This is loosely based on one of the many paellas my host mother in Spain made, though hers, of course, had ham.  Everything in Spain has ham. I have never seen so much ham in my life.  When I asked a professor about it, you know "why all the ham?" She looked at me in puzzlement, and said "Jamon?  Jamon is en LUJO!  Es un Lujo!"  Ham is a luxury. Apparently, for the Spanish, the height of decadence is ham.  They are crazy about the ham.  I had not yet gone mammal-free when I lived in Spain, and thank goodness, or I'd have starved to death.  Anyway, so this is a pretty authentic Spanish paella, except that it lacks ham.  Feel free to add some if you like, or some other pork product, like Chorizo or bacon.  Or you could add more seafood, like mussels, squid or langoustines.  Also feel free to sub in other veggies, like lima beans, peppers, or whatever you have on hand.  Paella is like minestrone, in that it's a great place to stick all your leftovers, and that within limits, you can all kinds of things without messing up its essential Paella-ness.

Paella de Pollo y Camarones 
Nouns:
4 Chicken Thighs, bone in and skin on
1 lb raw shrimp in their shells, 21-25 count
1 small jar diced pimientos
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 large onion, diced
2 cups pearl rice
4 cups chicken stock
pinch saffron threads
1 tsp paprika
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup peas
2 cups fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in 1-inch pieces
olive oil
Lemon Wedges, for garnish

Verbs:
Preheat oven to 350.  In a large saucepan, simmer the broth with the saffron threads and paprika.  Keep it hot, but not boiling.  At the same time, in a large, flat-bottomed pan, preferably a paella pan, fry the chicken thighs in a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat until browned on both sides.  This will spit and spatter like an angry komodo dragon, so it is helpful to have a splatter screen.  If you don't have one, stand back.  When the chicken is browned, arrange the chicken on the outer edges of the pan and add the onions to the middle, stirring once or twice.  Fry the onions for two minutes, then add the tomatoes and pimientos.  Fry for two minutes or so, then add garlic.  Stir once or twice and fry for another few minutes until mixture is starting to caramelize.  Add the rice, stirring to be sure the rice is evenly distributed in the pan and evenly coated with olive oil.  Ladle in the broth mixture until the rice is all submerged.  Boil for several minutes, then reduce heat and add the remaining liquid.  Simmer for five minutes or until enough of the liquid is absorbed so that it is not all sloshy and the rice is more or less level with the top of the liquid.  Arrange the shrimp on top of the rice mixture.  Do not stir!  Spread the beans and peas over the top and cover the whole thing with tinfoil.  Then, pop it in the oven for 15-30 minutes.  It is done when the liquid is all absorbed, the shrimp are tender but not overdone, and the chicken juices run clear.  This is a magical and difficult-to-pinpoint moment, one that I usually miss, such that my rice is still a little hard or my shrimp are leathery and overdone, but if you watch carefully and hit the sweet spot, then the paella is SO SO good.  Serve with lemon wedges and a nice Rioja.

YUM.