Chicken Paella

Previous Recipe

Welcome back to the failure of cooking. This is possibly the least successful cook I've done in a while. The result was tasty and edible, but not exactly what the title or images suggested to me. Part of it could have been due to removing one ingredient thanks to being allergic, but not adjusting other things to account for it.

The starting recipe source if from Better Homes and Gardens Recipe Collection cookbook, ISBN 978-192176522-3, published by Pacific Magazines.

Ingredients

^{I just couldn't get all the ingredients into one photo! (Or, I forgot to take the chicken out of the fridge for the photo...}

60 grams Butter
2 tablespoons Oil
1.6 kg Chicken Pieces
1 Red Onion, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 Red Capsicum, chopped into 2 cm pieces
4 large Tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon Paprika
4 cups Chicken Stock
1/4 teaspoon Saffron Threads
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Rice

Method

• Put the Saffron Threads in a small amount (about 1/4 cup) of hot water.
• Melt Butter and Oil together in a large deep pan.

^{I'm sure the chicken is going to love bathing in this!}

• Add Chicken Pieces, in batches if necessary, and brown on all sides.
• Remove Chicken and set aside.

^{Raw chicken goes in, browned chicken comes out (and sits in a second frypan because that's what I had)}

• Add Onion and Capsicum to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally until the Onion is golden. (about 5 minutes)

^{Onion soaked in butter, oil, and chicken fat? with capsicum? Yes please}

• Add the Garlic, Tomatoes, and Paprika, stirring to combine and cook on low heat for 5 minutes.

^{So my '4 tomatoes' were actually about 4 handfuls of homegrown frozen cherry tomatoes that I'd thawed out and halved. What could possibly go wrong with this...}

• Add the Chicken Stock (recipe I was using said 6 cups, not the 4 I state above), Saffron, and Salt to the pan. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.

^{Um, that's looking like a lot of liquid now. This is getting rather full...}

• Let everything simmer for 5 minutes before adding the Chicken back into the pan. Simmer for a further 5 minutes.

^{Wow, that chicken brought the water level right up. But it's still mostly in the pan. This'll be fine...}

• Sprinkle the Rice around the edges of the pan before folding it towards the centre.

^{Wait, I need to fold this rice into the middle from here? Do you see how little space I have for liquid movement?}

• Cover and cook at a simmer for 15 minutes.

^{So, the lid sits a bit inside the pan, and I tried to sit it on the angle to prevent this, and it slid down and splashed. Even put the element out! Move to using the other element and got the lid balanced}

• Stir, add more stock (or water) if needed, before covering again and cooking for another 15 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and leave it to stand, covered, for 10 minutes before serving.

^{Even after an initial 15 minutes. Then another 15 minutes, and another 10, this is still really wet}

^{Despite the look, and the mess along the way, not too bad in the end}

Thoughts

The first thought I had after making and finishing the clean up and eating was that I really should have thought a bit more about the amount of liquid to rice ratio. I've made paella before. I've made lots of other rice dishes before. Why did I just blindly follow the book's 6 cups of stock for 1 cup of rice? That's way too much liquid. This is why my above recipe uses 4 cups, and suggests adding more after 15 mins cooking if you think it needs it.

I also had an afterthought regarding the tomatoes I used. As noted above, they were frozen cherry tomatoes, which would have provided even more liquid content compared to fresh large tomatoes. Oops, this was all on me this one, as the base recipe says firm ripe tomatoes, so suggests low liquid volume to me.

This dish was however, not as bad as I was dreading with the extended cooking time of the rice and chicken, and the sloppiness of how it looked in the pan. Certainly enjoyed eating it more the next day after it had been through the fridge and microwave, and a little of the liquid was left behind in the container.