Grill top paella


I had a dinner party a few weeks ago. I really had no idea what to make, and for a few days I just dwelled on that notion. I knew one thing: I wanted most of the cooking to be done outside on my grill so that my house wouldn't get hot before guests arrived. Then someone said make tapas. Sounded like a good idea. My idea of tapas also always includes paella. Without going into my whole menu that night, I'm going to focus on this paella I made. It really was very good, and I was quite surprised that given it was my first ever making paella it was not a total disaster. I credit that to the hours I spent pouring over paella recipes comparing notes until I came up with my very own. I hope you like.

I read all sorts of opinions online about types of pans, mixing seafood and chicken, veggies and meat don't go in the same paella. So about that, I don't know. This may not be a traditional Valencian Paella, but it will impress people. My husband thought it was too much work. The very simple trick to that is prep. Cut all the stuff up the night before. I think I had him fooled.

Ingredients

Serves 10
  • 8 bone-in, skin-on pieces of chicken (I used drumsticks, but next time I'm using thighs and wings)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoons paprika + 3.5 t divided.
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 2 bell peppers, any color, cut into quarters, stemmed, seeded, and ribs removed
  • 2 t saffron
  • 6 c homemade or store-bought chicken stock
  • 1 bay-leaf
  • 1/2 pounds haricots verts, frozen
  • 1 onions, chopped
  • 8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 pounds calamari, cleaned and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch rings
  • 16 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 8 mussels, scrubbed
  • 3 c medium grain white rice (the shorter the grain the better)
  • 1 c frozen peas
  • 4 lemons, zested and quartered

Directions

Prep, maybe the night before if you are highly organized. I like to marinate the chicken the night before and make the broth. FULL DISCLOSURE: I used both frozen shrimp and mussels. I defrosted the shrimp in the fridge the night before. The mussels I got actually came in a garlic and tomato sauce. They have microwave instructions on them, so I kept them frozen until I started the chicken. Then I popped them in the microwave for all but the last two minutes of cooking. This way I could discard the ones that didn't open and only added the lovely one to the paella.

  1. Place chicken in a large bowl and add 4 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle chicken with 1 T of paprika and 1 teaspoon salt; turn chicken to coat. Cover chicken and let marinate, refrigerated, at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
  2. Bring 6 cups of chicken stock to a boil on the stove top. If you are using bullion you can boil the water and add it in once it boils. Mix it well. Place saffron threads (about 10) in a small aluminum foil pouch on the lid of this pan to warm them for 15 minutes.
  3. Remove the saffron to a medium bowl and place a bay leaf and lemon zest in the boiling broth. Grind together saffron and 1 tablespoon salt. Add 1 cup of chicken stock. Whisk until well combined; seep for 15 minutes while the other broth simmers.
  4. Prep your veggies. Cut peppers crosswise into 1/4-inch strips; set aside.Peel an finely chop 8 cloves of garlic.
  5. Store ingredients until cook time.
Ready for action . . .
  1. Get all set by setting out all the goodies. The marinated chicken, shrimp, mussels, chorizo, peppers, onions, garlic, lemon wedges, broth, etc.
  2. If using a charcoal grill, make a fire in your grill. When the charcoals are completely covered in gray ash, hold your hand about 5 inches above the grill grid; count how many seconds you can comfortably leave it there. When you can hold it there for 1 to 2 seconds, you have high heat and are ready to cook. Alternatively, you can cook the paella on a stove over high heat.
  3. Place a 20-inch paella pan with 3-inch sides over desired heat source. Coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil and heat, until pan is very hot, about 5 minutes. Add chicken thighs and cook, turning, until golden brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Add shrimp and calamari. Cook, turning, until browned, about 2 minutes more.Remove all the meat to a bowl.
  4. Add the chorizo the pan and brown for 3 min.
  5. Stir in the garlic and onions. Cook 3 more mins.
  6. Add rice and stir to coat in pan for 3 mins.
  7. Add in can of diced tomatoes and; 3.5 t paprika and stir it up for 1 minute.
  8. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Let cook, covered with the lid of the grill or aluminum foil, until rice is tender, about 15 minutes, adding more stock as necessary (you may not need to use all the stock).
  9. If using the microwave mussels, start them now.
  10. Stir in peppers and haricots verts. Cook about 5 minutes.
  11. Add calamari and shrimp. Give them a bit of a stir but try not to disturb the rice at the bottom of the pan if you want that prized rice crust. Cook for 5 minutes. Then add back in the chicken to the top for another 5 minutes.
  12. Remove from the grill. Sprinkle with parsely, lemon juice, and dress with lemon wedges. Serve!

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