Recipe Pork and Chicken Paella

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I did a lot of research before making this. Some of it was in Madrid earlier this month, in many restaurants. Not all of them were great, but all of them were good. The rest of it was spent wading through a wide range of paella recipes, trying to figure out what I liked about the ones I liked best.

Paella is a lot about technique, almost as much as it is about the ingredients themselves. The thing I found he hardest to do was to NOT stir it. I made sure to hide my spoons so I wouldn't be tempted. One of the goals here is to create a socarrat, the brown, crusty layer that forms at the bottom of the pan. The real trick, though, is creating the socarrat without burning the rice. The amount of time it took for the rice to cook was about the right amount of time in my case.

Paella also should be hearty, enough to enjoy as a meal by itself. This is no mere side dish.


Ingredients

6 dried dried peppers (ancho and guajillo peppers)
1 pound chicken breast
1 pound pork
15 ounces canned diced tomatoes
1 red onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, diced
1 small yellow bell pepper, diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 cups white rice
1/2 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined
4 cups chicken stock
pinch of saffron
salt to taste

Directions

1. Immerse peppers in water with a weight to make sure they are fully submerged. Allow to soak for an hour, until the peppers are softened. Remove the peppers from the water, retaining the water. Chop peppers roughly and place in food processor with some of the reserved water. Process into a paste, adding reserved water as needed.

2. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a pan with onions, bell peppers, garlic, and chili paste from the last step. Season lightly with salt, and cook on medium-high, stirring, until vegetables have released their liquid, about 10 minutes. Lower heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring and scraping frequently, until soffrito is sweet to the taste, about 30 minutes longer.

3. Add remaining oil to a large, wide pan. Season the chickens and the pork. Cook the chicken until browned on both sides, then remove from pan. Cook the pork until browed on both sides.

4. Raise heat to medium-high. Add remaining ingredients - except for rice, stock, and shrimp - to the pan, including the chicken. Stir thoroughly and allow to cook until browned somewhat, about 2 minutes.

5. Add stock, stirring thoroughly. Sprinkle rice over the top. Raise heat until liquid starts to boil. Lower to medium heat. DO NOT STIR!

6. When the liquid is boiled off enough that the rice starts to emerge, insert shrimp beneath the surface of the liquid, evenly distributed throughout. DO NOT STIR IT IN.

7. Check the rice periodically until it's cooked to your liking. Serve by scooping out a portion down to the bottom of the pan. Serve with a lemon wedge if desired.