chicken & chorizo paella

i attempt to plan out my meals for the week.  it takes the guess out of what's for dinner tonight and i don't have to make trips to the store every day.  except i still do, and everyone at the store knows me...  the boyf was too lazy couldn't think of anything he wanted to make, which means i got to decide.  i tried to make this dish last week but the boyf said something along the lines of it being "chick food".  don't ever tell your girlfriend that, because she'll commit it to memory and force you to eat it at a later date.  i of course told him this after we sat down for dinner.  he liked it.


i was trying out my new slicing technique i learned in my cooking class last week and managed to take a slice out of my finger.  could've been worse.


chicken & chorizo paella
adapted from milk & mode/martha stewart living


ingredients:

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (roughly 3.5 pounds) *i happened to have boneless/skinless 

12 oz dried chorizo, sliced 1/8 inch chunks *i used regular chorizo
4 cups chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon ground saffron *can be left out
1 teaspoon pimenton (smoked Spanish paprika)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 white onion, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 medium vine-ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2.5 cups arborio  (short grain) rice
1 cup fresh shelled english pea
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste


directions:
heat oven to 400 degrees.  on medium heat, heat oil in an oven safe pan (or a paella pan if you have one).  coat chicken with salt, pepper and pimenton.  brown chicken, roughly 2 minutes per side, and set aside.  while you're browning the chicken, heat stock and saffron.


add chorizo and cook until lightly brown, about 2 minutes.  add onions and garlic, cook until soft, about 3~4 minutes.  now add tomatoes and occasionally stir until everything becomes thick, 5 minutes.  stir in rice then add broth.  at this point, if you're like me, you'll say oh shit its not going to fit.  don't worry, it will.  bring to a boil and cook for 2 more minutes.


toss in the chicken and bake for roughly 20 minutes, until the majority of the liquid has reduced.  let stand covered for 5~10 minutes.


serves 6~8


the paella was definitely a success.  this seamed like one of the more simpler paella recipes so next time i want to test out this version.