Seafood Paella

by Chef Olivier Quinn

There is nothing better than enjoying delicious food and wine with great friends.  My wife and I are very fortunate to have a group of really good friends that we consider our extended family. 
One of the things that we always enjoy, and we try to do as often as possible, is to entertain our friends in our home. I like to prepare “family style” dishes, big plates of food that can be placed on the table and everyone can share, and traditional Spanish cuisine is perfect for such occasions.
Prepare an assortment of Spanish tapas, make a few pitchers of Sangria, put on a Gypsy Kings cd and enjoy.
 

 Traditionally, paella is cooked over a wood fire.  The gradual lowering of the heat as the wood burns out is the key to the “socarrat,” the caramelized layer of rice at the bottom of the pan.  I cook the Paella over my outdoor gas fire-pit.  If you do not have a fire pit you can purchase a Paella burner online or you can use a 23-inch Weber kettle grill.  You can cook it over 4 burners on your stove, but it can be difficult to regulate the heat with this method.  The pan will not fit in your oven, unless you are lucky enough to own a large commercial pizza oven.
Keep your chicken stock warm over low heat. Add the saffron to the stock and allow to steep.
Heat your pan over medium heat until it just begins to smoke.  Add a little olive oil to the pan and sear the Cornish game hens.  Remove the hen pieces from the pan and reserve once browned well.
Add the chorizo to the pan and cook for 30 seconds.  Add the onions and garlic and brown slightly.
Add the tomatoes and cook until it begins to caramelize and thicken, this is your sofrito.
When the sofrito is ready, add the rice to the pan. Sauté until the rice loses its opaqueness, about 1 minute.
Increase the heat to medium-high. Pour in the saffron infused stock and stir or shake the pan to evenly distribute the rice in the pan. At this point you want to season generously with salt and pepper.  
As the liquid comes to a boil, arrange the hen pieces and seafood in the pan, submerging them as much as possible below the level of the liquid. From this point on, do not stir the rice.
Cook the paella on medium heat, occasionally rotating to distribute the heat evenly.
When the rice begins to appear above the liquid, after 8 to 10 minutes, reduce the heat to medium low.
Continue to simmer, rotating the pan as necessary, until the liquid has been absorbed, about 10 minutes more. You will begin to notice that the stock and its bubbles become almost syrupy.
Taste a grain of rice just below the top layer; it should be al dente. (If the rice is not done but all the liquid has been absorbed, add more stock to the pan and cook a few minutes more.) But if you have been cooking with the right amount of heat thus far, this will not be necessary.
Add the pimiento and peas and season the seafood with salt and pepper.
Increase the heat to medium-high and, rotating the pan, cook for about 2 minutes, until the bottom layer of rice starts to caramelize, creating the socarrat. The rice may crackle somewhat, but if it starts burning, remove the pan from the heat immediately.
Let the paella rest off the heat, covered loosely with foil, for 5 minutes.
Place the paella on the table, remove the foil and invite people to eat directly from the pan, starting at the perimeter, working toward the center, and squeezing lemon over their section, if they want.
Paella is good when served with lemon wedges, but it’s even better when spread with a bit of alioli, a garlic mayonnaise that is the Spanish version of the French aioli.
To make alioli, add a few cloves of chopped garlic and a large pinch of salt to a mini-food processor (or a mortar), process (or pound with a pestle) into a paste, and then slowly drizzle in olive oil to make a thick, mayonnaise-like consistency. Add lemon juice to taste, and process again.  This can be done in advance.

1 lb jumbo shrimp
1 lb sea scallops
1 lb mussels (rinsed well and de-bearded)
1 lb clams (rinsed well)
1 lb squid (tubes and tentacles) tubes cut
into rings
2 Cornish game hens, cut into pieces and seasoned well with salt and pepper
8oz Spanish Chorizo, sliced thinly
1large Spanish onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
24 oz crushed tomatoes
large pinch of saffron threads, crushed
2 1/2 quarts of rich homemade
chicken stock
24 oz Spanish short grain rice such as Bomba or Italian Arborio rice
2 canned red pimiento (piquillo pepper) drained and julienned
1 1/2 cups frozen green peas
lemon wedges for garnish
salt and black pepper
Spanish extra-virgin olive oil