Island Paradise Paella

By Ana Alvez
@justknotcookies

To express oneself is to create, explore and experience. Food is an expression of the person who we are through the experience we explore as a child through growing up.

I thank my grandparents on both sides from Puerto Rico for giving me the chance while younger and then while older to experience the wonderful flavors that your hands would create.

I thank my parents for letting me explore outside of my heritage to create an abundance of flavor through trial and era.

Rating:

★★★★★ 1 vote

Comments:

1 Comment

Serves:

4 to 8

Prep:

1 Hr

Cook:

1 Hr

Ingredients

1/2 pt: goya or any good olive oil
12: mussels
12: clams
2: diced up pork chops
2: cloves of garlic minced
3: small onions chopped up
1: medium tomato, skin off, seeded and chopped
1: green pepper seeded and cut into slices
1: yellow pepper seeded and cut into slices
1: red or orange pepper seeded and cut into slices
1: whole chicken cut into parts
: a pinch of salt & pepper for taste
1 tsp: paprika
1/2 tsp: dried oregano, and dried thyme
6: lobster claws
24 oz: white rice
3 c: chicken brooth
1/4 tsp: saffron
4: charizos chopped up into little pieces (i like goya)
12: uncooked shrimps, peeled and veined
1: small cans of beans or 6 oz of fresh beans
4 tsp: capers
2: lemon cut into wedges

How to Make Island Paradise Paella

Step-by-Step

1Scrub and debeard the mussels and clams, discarding any that don't close when tapped sharply. Set aside.
2Heat 1/4 cup (2fl. oz) of the olive oil in a skillet. Add the pork, and brown all sides. Make sure that the juices from the pork chops are clear.
3Mix in the garlic, onions, tomato, and the bell peppers, Stir constantly until cooked.

Then set aside.
4In another skillet, heat a further 1/4 cup (2 fl. oz) olive oil and cook the chicken until browned on all sides.

Season with salt, pepper, paprika, rosemary, thyme, and cumin. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
5In the same skillet, cook the lobster claws overt high heat for several minutes until its shell turns pink. Set the skillet aside.
6Preheat the oven to 200 ºF. Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet, and sauté the rice until it's translucent. Pour in the chicken broth, and combine well. Add the pork mixture, stirring constantly. Sprinkle in the saffron and continue to stir until well mixed.
7Transfer the rice into a paella pan. Mix in the lobster claws, chicken, chorizo sausages, mussels, clams, shrimp, peas, and capers, combining well. Bake the paella, uncovered, and on the lowest oven shelf, for around 25 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed.
8Discard any mussels and clams that have failed to open.

Serve the paella straight from the pan, garnished with lemon wedges