Paella Portuguese Style Food

PAELLA

Steps:

• Make the sofrito: In a heavy 12-inch skillet heat 3 tablespoons olive oil until hot, add the onions, and pepper strips and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, and thyme and cook, stirring for 5 minutes more, until most of the liquid in the pan evaporates and the mixture is thick.
• Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In the skillet heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over moderately high heat until hot. Add the chicken and cook it, turning. Add sausages and cook until lightly browned. Transfer to a plate and deglaze pan with 1/2 cup dry white wine.
• About a 30 minutes before you plan to serve the paella, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a 14-inch paella pan or shallow casserole at least 14-inches in diameter, combine the sofrito, rice, and the saffron. Pour in 5 cups simmering stock and, stirring constantly, bring to a boil over high heat. Remove the pan from the heat immediately and season with salt. Arrange the chicken, sausage, shrimp, clams, and mussels on top of the rice. Set the pan on the floor of the oven or the lowest shelf and bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Scatter the peas at random over the whole and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more or until all the liquid has been absorbed by the rice and the grains are tender but not too soft. If necessary, add the remaining cup stock, if the rice needs to be more soft. Do not stir the paella once it goes in oven.
• Let paella stand at room temperature covered with a cloth for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with the lemons and parsley.

THE ULTIMATE PAELLA

Steps:

• Combine the paprika and oregano in a small bowl. Rub the spice mix all over the chicken and marinate chicken for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
• Heat oil in a paella pan over medium-high heat. Saute the chorizo until browned, remove and reserve. Add chicken skin-side down and brown on all sides, turning with tongs. Add salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from pan and reserve.
• In the same pan, make a sofrito by sauteing the onions, garlic, and parsley. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes on a medium heat. Then, add tomatoes and cook until the mixture caramelizes a bit and the flavors meld. Fold in the rice and stir-fry to coat the grains. Pour in water and simmer for 10 minutes, gently moving the pan around so the rice cooks evenly and absorbs the liquid. Add chicken, chorizo, and saffron. Add the clams and shrimp, tucking them into the rice. The shrimp will take about 8 minutes to cook. Give the paella a good shake and let it simmer, without stirring, until the rice is al dente, for about 15 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, when the rice is filling the pan, add the lobster tails. When the paella is cooked and the rice looks fluffy and moist, turn the heat up for 40 seconds until you can smell the rice toast at the bottom, then it's perfect.
• Remove from heat and rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with peas, parsley and lemon wedges.

SEAFOOD PAELLA

Steps:

• Fry the onion in the oil in a 16-inch paella pan until soft, stirring often. Stir in the garlic, and before it begins to color, add the tomatoes. Add the sugar, salt to taste, pimentón (or paprika), and saffron, stir well, and cook until the tomatoes are reduced to a jammy sauce and the oil is sizzling. Add the squid and cook, stirring, for a minute or so. Add the rice and stir well until all the grains are coated. (You can prepare the dish to this point up to an hour in advance.)
• Bring the stock and wine to a boil in a saucepan. Pour over the rice, bring to a boil, and add salt to taste (even if the broth tastes a bit salty, it will not be salty when it is absorbed by the rice). Stir well and spread the rice out evenly in the pan (do not stir again). Cook the rice over low heat for 18 to 20 minutes, moving the pan around and rotating it so that the rice cooks evenly. Lay the shrimp on top after 10 minutes and turn them when they have become pink on the first side. Add a little more hot stock toward the end if the rice seems too dry and you hear crackly frying noises before it is done. When the rice is done, turn off the heat and cover the pan with a large piece of foil.
• Steam the mussels with a finger of water in a pan with a tight-fitting lid. As soon as they open, they are cooked. Throw away any that have not opened.
• Arrange the mussels on top of the paella.

SAFFRON PORTUGUESE PAELLA

Steps:

• Rinse chicken pieces and pat dry with paper towel.
• Season with salt and pepper. Saute chicken and ham hocks in 1/4 cup of olive oil until golden.
• Remove chicken, leaving ham hocks in pot, and saute garlic, onion and rice for a few minutes.
• Add chicken back to skillet on top of rice. Tuck in seafood and sausage.
• Add chicken stock or broth, wine, saffron and bell pepper. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.
• Sprinkle peas on top, and cover again and continue to cook an additional 10 minutes and serve.

PORTUGUESE PAELLA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Sprinkle chicken with rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper.
• Heat oil in a large oven proof nonstick skillet or paella pan over medium-high heat.
• Add chicken; cook for 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.
• Remove chicken from pan; cover and keep warm.
• Add chourice and cook until lightly browned;.
• Add onion and bell pepper; cook for 7 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Add rice, tomato, paprika, saffron and garlic; cook for 1 minute stirring constantly.
• Return chicken to pan.
• Add broth and 1/4 teaspoon of salt; bring to boil.
• Wrap handle of pan with foil, cover pan;.
• Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes.
• Stir in shrimp, asparagus, and peas.
• Cover and bake an additional 5 minutes or until shrimp are no longer translucent.

PAELLA, PORTUGUESE STYLE

Steps:

• Wipe chicken with damp paper towels.
• In hot oil in large skillet (10 inch), brown chicken, about 5 pieces at a time, until golden brown all over. Remove chicken as it browns.
• Add pork cubes to skillet and brown well on all sides. Remove.
• To drippings in skillet, add onion, garlic, pepper and oregano; saute, stirring, until onion is golden, about 5 minutes.
• Add salt, rice and saffron; cook, stirring, until rice is lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in another skillet, brown sausage well, turning on all sides, about 10 minutes. Cut in half crosswise. Drain and discard grease.
• Place chicken, sausage and pork in large roasting pan, about 17" x 11".
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Add tomatoes, bay leaf and chicken broth to rice mixture; bring to boil. Add shrimp; spoon mixture evenly over chicken and sausage in pan.
• Bake, covered with foil (tuck foil tightly around), 1 hour.
• If mixture seems dry, add 1/2 cup water. Sprinkle peas over top without stirring. Bake, covered, 20 minutes longer, or until chicken and pork are tender and peas are cooked.
• To serve, turn paella into heated round serving platter or paella pan. Garnish with pimiento slices and lemon wedges.

FIRE PIT PAELLA WITH PORTUGUESE SAUSAGE, CRAB AND ESCARGOT

Steps:

• Heat a gas or charcoal grill to high.
• Put a 17-inch paella pan on the grill. Add the olive oil and when the oil is smoking, add the onions and saute until the onions are translucent about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and linguica breaking it down into small pieces. Deglaze the pan with white wine. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and the seasoning blend and saute until the rice is coated, about 2 minutes.
• Once the rice is completely coated add the chicken stock. When the liquid starts to boil reduce heat to a simmer. If using a charcoal grill this should happen naturally as you progress, if not adjust the height by moving your pan away from the heat. When the liquid is at a simmer start adding the seafood; escargot, chicken, and all the shellfish, halibut and crab, spreading them throughout the pan. You are not going to be moving the ingredients in the pan so make sure they are evenly distributed.
• Spread the red pepper strips, frozen peas, and hard-boiled quail eggs throughout the surface of the paella. Add the piri piri sauce into the paella if you like an extra kick.
• When all the ingredients are in the pan the cook time should be 20 minutes. You will know when the liquid is fully absorbed, clams and mussel shells are open, and the rice is just past al dente.
• Remove the pan from the heat. Put lemon quarters into the pan, cover with a couple of dish towels and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
• Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Amounts can be adjusted to your liking.
• Put the chicken in a large stock pot and cover with the water. Bring the water to boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to a rolling simmer. Cook the chicken until completely tender, about 45 minutes.
• Remove chicken from the pot to a bowl or platter and let cool. Continue simmering the water in pot. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it off the bone and set aside. Reserve some of the chicken bones. The chicken will be used in the paella at a later time.
• In a large stock pot over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, rosemary, and thyme. Once the oil is fragrant add the onions and chicken bones and saute for 5 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, garlic, salt, peppercorns and saffron. Add the simmering water that was used to cook the chicken. Simmer the stock for at least 2 hours, skimming the fat from the surface. Strain the stock and keep warm until ready to use.

PORTUGUESE PAELLA

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• 2. Sprinkle chicken with rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper.
• 3. Heat oil in a large oven proof nonstick skillet or paella pan over medium-high heat.
• 4. Add chicken; cook for 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.
• 5. Remove chicken from pan; cover and keep warm.
• 6. Add chourice and cook until lightly browned;.
• 7. Add onion and bell pepper; cook for 7 minutes, stirring constantly.
• 8. Add rice, tomato, paprika, saffron and garlic; cook for 1 minute stirring constantly.
• 9. Return chicken to pan.
• 10. Add broth and 1/4 teaspoon of salt; bring to boil.
• 11. Wrap handle of pan with foil, cover pan;.
• 12. Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes.
• 13. Stir in shrimp, asparagus, and peas.
• 14. Cover and bake an additional 5 minutes or until shrimp are no longer translucent.