Mock Paella

Most of us have had the feeling when days are just zipping by us.  Well this week was such.  I don’t know where the days had gone…I guess I was busy getting creative….hahaha.  In my previous post I mentioned that I had a small DIY (Do It Yourself) project in the house.  Well, I got inspired and moved on to the other area of the house.  The area where I am sitting right now typing this blog.  The area I call the office.

Needless to say, I have been buying food over the weekend during my DIY.  So, this dish was from about a week ago, just before I started with my projects.  I call it mock paella because it’s not the true and classic paella.  This is a quick one made of whatever I can find in my freezer that day.  Also, true paella uses saffron, but since I did not have that, I used safflower instead.  I also used Japanese style rice or Cal-Rose instead of Arborio rice.  I have yet to make true paella, but this is delicious just the same. -GG-

Ingredients:

Serves 4

3 cups white rice

½ lb. mussels or clams

½ lb. shrimps or prawns (peeled)

1 lb. squid

¼ cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic (chopped)

¼ cup chopped onions

¼  of red bell pepper

1 tsp. dried safflower

1 Spanish chorizo sliced in round disks

A handful of green peas

Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1.  Wash mussels, shrimps and squid thoroughly. Drain.

2.  Remove the spine from each squid.  You can feel the “spine” on the body of the squid.  It is located just behind the eyes on the body of the squid.  You will see that it is a little bit point-y to a tip.  Pull the skin back a little bit and gently slide the “spine” out.  The spine looks like a clear plastic film.  Cut the squid in rounds.

3.  If you are using three cups of water for three cups of rice, place that water in a separate pot.  Add the squid and mussels or clams into the water.  Heat it up until cooked.  Do not overcook or the meat will be tough and chewy.  Cook it until just the water boils. Remove the shellfish and squid from the water.  Let the water cool.  Use this broth to cook the rice.

4. Heat up olive oil in a big pan or wok.  Saute garlic and onions.  Cook until fragrant.  Add the chorizo until the oil comes out of it.  Add the shrimps until cooked. Add red bell peppers and safflower. Cook for about half a minute.

5.  Add cooked rice, mussels, and squid.  Stir it all up until well blended.  Add a little bit of olive oil if it’s too dry.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  I like it to have a kick to it so I use a lot of pepper.  Garnish with green peas.