Landlocked Paella

Short and sweet – here is another winner from Curtis Stone. Honestly, I don’t think I have had this much good fortune with winning recipes from any other Guest Chef on I ♥ Cooking Club. With one exception, every single recipe from Stone’s cookbooks or website has been fantastic.

This week I am participating with quite a few events and this Chicken and Sausage Paella fits the theme for I ♥ Cooking Club and Cook the Books. I do try and keep my book reviews and posts separate on my book blog so – let’s just talk recipes and food now.



Curtis has two different Paella recipes in two different cookbooks. When I think of paella my thoughts turn naturally to seafood. In his book What’s For Dinner there is a meaty version using chicken and sausage. If we hadn’t had fish so much these past two weeks, I would have made the seafood version. Didn’t think we could tire of fish. Ok, it was all salmon, not a mixture of seafoods but still…….needed a break and went with the landlocked version of paella.

It was wonderful. Not difficult to prepare and it was on the table fairly quickly. I put it in the oven then we drove Aja to the park while it cooked. Nothing like coming home and being met with aromas of dinner simmering. The only change I would make to this one is to add more tomatoes next time.

We served this with Maduras and it was a great marriage of flavors. A+ again to you, Curtis!




The featured book at Cook the Books is Scarlett Feather by Maeve Binchy. My link for that club feature may be found at Novel Meals.


Linking up to I ♥ Cooking Club

Recipe below.........




Chicken and Chorizo Paella
What's For Dinner cookbook

Ingredients

4 cups water (I used 3 3/4 cups chicken broth)
1 small pinch saffron threads
4 chicken drumsticks (I used legs and thighs)
4 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 Spanish chorizo sausage, cut into julienne strips
1/2 medium red bell pepper, cut into julienne strips
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 cups medium-grain white rice
1 vine-ripened tomato, seeded, cut into small dice
1 scallion, thinly sliced

Heat the oven to 375°F.

In a large saucepan, bring the water to simmer over high heat. Remove from the heat and add the saffron. Cover and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the oil to the pan, then add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes, or until brown on all sides. Transfer the chicken to a plate and reduce the heat to medium-high.

Add the chorizo to the pan and cook for 2 minutes or until browned. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and paprika and cook for 3 minutes, or until the vegetables soften. Stir in the rice and cook for 2 minutes, or until the pan is dry and the rice is coated with oil. Stir in the warm saffron water. (I used 3 and 3/4 cups chicken broth)

Transfer the rice mixture to a paella pan. Nestle the chicken into the rice mixture, spacing evenly, and pour any accumulated chicken juices over. Sprinkle with the tomato and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the paella to the oven and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until the rice is tender and crisp around the sides of the pan and the chicken is cooked through.

Remove the paella from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Garnish with the scallion and serve.