Honey’s Paella

Easter Paella

Back in 1991 we met a lady from Spain and she cooked Paella for us at Easter. A tradition was borned and we have cooked Paella every Easter since then. It has become our way of welcoming Spring to the cold Swedish countryside. We try to cook this outside but this year there was too much snow so we cooked it inside. Taste great both ways.

Note: You can use boneless chicken breast or a whole chicken cut into pieces or chicken wings works just as well. I personally prefer a whole chicken cut into peices with the skin still on it or chicken wings because I think the meat comes out more tender and juicy.

INGREDIENTS
2 Lbs. (1 kg) chicken
1 Lbs. (½ kg) tiger shrimp (jumbo shrimp)
2 Lbs (1 kg) Crawdads (also known as crawfish or crayfish)
1 cup (250 ml) virgin olive oil (add more if needed)
4 bellpeppers (different colors-red, orange, yellow, green)
1 large white onion
1 large red onion
½ Lbs.(250 grams) sweet peas
1 can (400 grams) babycorn
15 grams Rosemary
6 garlic cloves (crushed)
3 cups (750 ml) rice
6 cups (1.5 liters) water
1 vegtable boullion square
1 gram saffron
3 lemons sliced

DIRECTIONS
Take about 2/3 cup (150 ml) virgin olive oil and heat to meduim heat in a large frying pan or Paella pan if you have it.

Add 3 crushed garlic cloves into the olive oil and use about 10 grams of Rosemary to season the chicken with and fry it until done. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add all the veggies (except the sweetpeas) and the 3 remaining crushed garlic cloves and 100 ml virgin olive oil into the pan and cook for about 3-5 minutes. You want the veggies to remain crisp. Remove from pan and set aside.

Now add the rice and stir fry for about 3-5 minuter or until some of the rice turns real white. Then take 1 liter boiling water and add the vegtable boullion square. Add this into the pan of stir fried rice. Next add the saffron and mix well.

Now add the chicken and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ½ liter of water, as needed, as the rice cooks.

After the rice has cooked for 5 minutes add the babycorn. Then add the veggies that you cooked earlier. Now add the shrimp and then the sweetpeas. Next add the crawdads and cook until the rice is tender and ready to eat about 15-20 minutes.

Serve warm with fresh squeezed lemon juice over the paella. Goes great with rosé wine or cold beer.

Serves 6