Wednesday Night Dinners

A couple of months ago, my friend and I were sitting in his kitchen talking about how busy our lives were going to be this year. We made a decision that we would try and catch up at least once a week for dinner. After more discussion we also decided that we would make a rule that each meal we made for this dinner would be something we had never made before. This event quickly grew from the two of us to our whole group of friends. So each week we gather together for dinner at a different person's house and we eat a meal that this person has never made before. 

This week it was my turn to host and I decided to make a dish that took me back to my pilgrimage to Spain in the summer of 2011. So I decided to make Paella and Sangria. I was very nervous about how this was going to turn out, but I was pleasantly surprised! 

The recipe that I created produced about 10-12 servings. I have had several people ask for the recipe so here it is.

Paella:

3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

7 Mild Sausages

1 lb Uncooked Shrimp

2 Red Bell Peppers

2 Green Bell Peppers

1/2 Onion

4 Cups Chicken Stock

Short Grain White Rice (I used Verde Valley, you can find this in the Hispanic Food Section)

Smoked Paprika

Tumeric

Saffron

Garlic

Salt and Pepper

A few hours before I started cooking I chopped up everything I needed. I knew that I was quickly going to be adding items to my pan so I wanted to make sure they were ready to go when I needed them. I chopped up the peppers and onion and tossed them in one bowl,  I cut up the chicken and sausage and put them in one bowl, I covered the bowls and put them in the fridge. The last thing I did for prep was peeled the shells off of the shrimp. 

When it was time to cook I started about 45 minutes before we wanted to eat by tossing some olive oil in my pan and sautéing my veggies. As the onions and peppers were sautéing I started the rice in another pan with two cups of rice and four cups of chicken stock in hopes of relaying some of that flavor into the rice. After the peppers and onions have done their work I tossed in the chicken and sausage to start cooking. At this point in time I added the smoked paprika, saffron, garlic, salt, and pepper. I sprinkled all of these items over the top of the chicken and sausage. I didn't measure any of these items out, but I would suggest using about a teaspoon of each at first and add more later if needed. After the rice finished cooking I added it to my large pan to cook with the meat and soak up some of that flavor (this is why I chose short grain rice, it has the ability to soak up more flavor than long grain rice). Just a few moments before we were ready to eat I tossed in the shrimp in 3/4 of the Paella (some of the people eating didn't like shrimp) and let them cook for about 4-5 minutes (until the shrimp turned pink and had a "C" shape to them). I served the Paella with bread and Sangria. 

Paella is definitely a dish I will create again in the future.  Hope you enjoy!!!

*NOTE Saffron is about $17-$20/ container, if you decide to opt out of saffron you can add more tumeric which will help with that yellow coloring.