The Perfect Recipe for the Holiday Season – PAELLA

The holiday season is a time for get togethers and entertaining. For us, it’s often a challenge about what to bring to a gathering or what to serve at one of our own. We are always looking for something that is unique, tastes great and appeals to most people. This issue, we present a dish that works well for this and also is great to serve at home with the family.
Paella is a dish associated with Spanish cuisine and it traces its roots back hundreds of years. This is a one dish main entree that typically contains rice, vegetables and a mixture of meats. We love the versatility of this dish because it works with just about any protein. Traditionally served around the new year, it is great anytime.
Seafood is commonly used in paella. We recommend using higher quality seafood in this dish. Leading health and nutrition experts recommend only eating wild caught seafood. Farmed seafood is often raised overseas. This raises many concerns including environmental impact and overall quality of the seafood.
Buying fresh seafood also makes a big difference. It is important to note that not all varieties of seafood are available fresh. Some types of seafood are caught far out in the ocean and it is processed and frozen at sea. Some of the best wild caught shrimp come from the Gulf of California and are only available frozen.
This is why it’s important to find a good fishmonger and trust them for good quality seafood. As manager of our Old Town Newhall and Canyon Country farmers markets, we spent months searching Southern California to bring quality seafood to our markets. We are thrilled to have West Coast Seafood bring amazing quality seafood to our markets every week. With over 40 years in the seafood industry, they have access to quality that many others do not.
Paella also traditionally contains meats with sausage being the most common. Our Saturday Old Town Newhall market is proud to host a Southern California ranch that brings pasture raised meats and sausages to our market every week.
Both of our markets have a wide array of farmers and other vendors that can provide the fresh vegetables, herbs and seasonings to make your paella extraordinary. This dish calls for rice and while traditionally bomba rice is used, any short grain rice will work fine.
This easy to make recipe makes a great meal but will also impress anyone you are sharing a table with this holiday season.

Ingredients:

Marinade:
2 T Olive oil
1 T Ground paprika
2 t Dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Paella:
2 Pounds boneless
chicken thighs, diced
1 Pound sausage of choice, diced
2 T Olive oil, divided
5 Cloves minced garlic
1 t Red pepper flakes
2 C Bomba or short-grain
white rice (uncooked)
1 Pinch saffron threads
1 Bay leaf
1 Bunch Italian parsley, chopped
1 Quart chicken stock
2 Lemons, zested
2 T olive oil
1 Yellow onion, diced
1 Red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

Combine olive oil, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper in a gallon ziploc bag. Add chicken and allow to marinade overnight.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet or paella pan over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and stir in rice. Stir constantly until rice is coated with oil, about 3 minutes. Add saffron, bay leaf, parsley, chicken stock, and lemon zest. Stir until combined and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a separate skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper and sausage. Break sausage up with a spatula and cook for 5 minutes. Add shrimp; cook and stir until shrimp are bright pink on the outside and the meat is opaque, about 2 minutes.
Spread rice mixture onto a serving tray. Top with meat and seafood mixture

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