Paul's [recipe] Corner

From Ep 4 Food Trail Tasmania

Olive oil
Garlic finely chopped
Red Capsicum finely sliced
Paprika powder
Red chili finely sliced – as much or as little as you want
1 100mg jar of Tas Saf saffron – filled up with water the night before
2 cups short grain Rice – I use Arborio or buy Spanish rice - Arroz Calasparra
10 cups of chicken stock
1 can of chopped tomatoes
4 Rennoch Quails – boned and cut in quarters
2 chorizo sausages sliced 5 ml thick on the diagonal
8 – 10 Chipolata sausages
250 g of scallops
10 mussels in the shell
Peas
Green Beans

Heat olive oil in paella pan, sprinkle in some Paprika and garlic then add the quail and sausages. Coat well with oil and paprika frying until just cooked and coloured. Add the chorizo 5 minutes after the quail and cook also. Remove all meat from the pan and keep warm. Add a little more oil to the pan if needed and then add some garlic, chilli and the capsicum – cook till softened. Add in the canned tomatoes bring to boil and then add the rice. Coat rice well allowing it to absorb any moisture from the tomatoes before adding the Saffron and some chicken stock. Traditionally you are not supposed to stir a Paella just adding in all the stock and letting it cook but I tend to do mine a little more like a risotto – add some stock give it a stir and let the rice absorb the stock then add another ladle give it a stir….etc just like cooking any rice dish you don’t want it to cook too fast or too slow so keep an eye on it.

When you have used about ¾ of your stock you should then put in your seafood, peas and beans more stock give it a stir and let the rice absorb the liquid. Finally check for seasoning and then arrange the warm quail and sausages in the rice, add the rest of the stock cover and cook – no more stirring – until the rice is to the texture and consistency you like ie not too dry not to moist. At this stage a golden caramelised crust – called a Socarrat will form on the bottom of the pan -in Spain this is considered the best part.

If you are cooking in a Paella pan on a Webber or BBQ then you can add soaked wood chips to the coals and cover the Webber (or put the BBQ lid down) so as to encourage the smoke to be absorbed by the rice adding another layer to the Paella. In fact the Paella pan was designed to encourage the smoke to come up the sides of the pan and into the dish itself!

Traditionally you should eat directly out of the pan with friends gathered around. Paella goes great with Sangria, Pinot Noir or Pinot Gris or a cracking good Pils.