20110226 Chicken and Chorizo Paella

(SOURCE: Koken en Genieten magazine - Paella met kip en chorizo)

Paella is a saffron-flavored Spanish dish. The original Valencian Paella is a mixture of rice with meat, snails, eels, vegetables, beans, and seasoning. Well, I am not that much of an adventurous eater so I skipped the eels and snails. This dish was really easy to prepare, and the oven did most of the work anyways. Next time I may use a little more saffron to give the dish an even more vibrant color.

INGREDIENTS
500g bell peppers (green, red, yellow), chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
250g chorizo, sliced
1 tsp dried rosemary
1kg chicken drumsticks, dabbed dry
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp vegetable oil
400g risotto
200g frozen peas
2 chicken stock cubes
2 pinches of saffron
3 bay leaves

METHOD
1. Heat the oven to 175 degree C. In a Dutch oven, brown the drumsticks for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
2. Add the onion, garlic, and chorizo into the pan. Then add the bell peppers, peas, and rice, and fry for about 3 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the stock cubes, saffron, and 1L of boiling water together. Pour the bouillon over the rice. Add the chicken, bay leaves, and dried rosemary.
4. Cook the dish in the oven for 45 to 60 minutes (DO NOT stir!) or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Remove the bay leaves, and serve.