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For approximately 70 people: the rice and chicken stock alone will occupy 4.5 gallons
and, in this instance, we are using an 8+ gallon pan (paellera) and estimating 1 cup of cooked rice per person (1/3 cup arborio rice plus 2/3 cup chicken stock per person) or a little more stock if using Bomba rice. Paella pans are broad and shallow as you don’t want the rice more than 2-3” deep for proper cooking. Note this recipe looks ridiculously daunting, so let me say the heart and soul of paella is saffron-infused short grain rice, in a chicken, seafood or vegetable stock combined with the sofrito. Everything else, the meats, seafood and garnish vegetables are to your own taste, pleasure and, indeed, budget. A very basic but delicious paella could be assembled by just adding shrimp, chicken and peas… or you can go crazy as I’ve done here because I’ve enjoyed the process and, most importantly, the people who join in. Here’s to them!
…Note to my friends at Mr. Lake’s forum: Copcop and I reminisced about Espana over a year ago on this forum which is where my love for Paella, and Espana’s arroz con calamares en su tinta, began over 35 years ago and from my early trials evolved into this. Trust me that you can downsize this recipe to a cast iron skillet, just measure the volume to 2” depth, stick to the rice/stock ratios, downsize the sofrito per your skillet volume, then add the ‘extras’ you like, and cook the final marriage, the paella, in thirty minutes on a gas stovetop for 4-6 people.
Ingredients
24 (1.5gallons) cups Spanish short-medium grain Bomba (or Arborio/risotto) rice…do not wash.
48 cups (3 gallons +/- depending on the rice) homemade chicken stock, no added salt, plus spices* I use chicken feet, so try an Asian grocery to make a gelatin-rich stock.
3-5 whole live lobsters, optional, & I save the heads arranged upright in center of paella
10 lbs fresh white gulf shrimp, 25-30 count. I prefer these over tiger prawns.
6 lbs lean Spanish chorizo (not mexicano!) or good quality portuguese linguica (my preference)
5-6 lbs whole small fresh squid, cleaned & cut into ringlets including the tentacles
2 lb, or more, large fresh sea scallops (you may want to halve the scallops to “share the wealth”)
70 chicken thighs, or rabbit, boned, skinned (or not) and halved; seasoned with salt, pepper & paprika
70-100 fresh clams, purged
70-100 fresh mussels, purged and then debearded (or frozen green lip NZ mussels if you must)
70-100 live crayfish to be placed around the edge of the pan (Masterbaitors in Isleton, CA)
*saffron threads or ground saffron added to chicken stock. Make a saffron tea from the threads: boiling water & steep 20” before adding to the chicken stock or directly to the rice/stock mix. Chef Julian Serrano uses 1 tbsp of saffron threads per 2 cups of raw rice which equals 12 tablespoons for ~70 people. 1 tsp of saffron threads ~equals 1/8 tsp saffron powder. Penelope Casas uses ½ tsp saffron powder per 3 cups of raw rice which closely approximates Serrano and equates to 4 tsp of saffron powder for ~70 people. Importantly, Saffron threads are less likely to be adulterated than powder.
*2 tsp ground coriander seed, optional, added to chicken stock
2 lb. lean boneless pork cut into ¼” cubes
7 cups finely chopped onions
20 plump garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 red, green or yellow bell peppers peeled, seeded, deribbed, & cut into strips ¼” wide
25 roma tomatoes peeled, seeded, chopped
6 cups fresh or frozen large peas
3 cups artichoke hearts fresh or in water, vinegar or oil: drained; vinegar seems to be the Spanish choice
3-4 cups whole pimentos cut into long strips about 1/3”-1/2” wide to garnish at end
70 lemon wedges, cut lengthwise, as garnish
olive oil for cooking, so I use good quality but not virgin olive oil
salt to taste & remember the seafood will add salt; adjust salt when you bring the rice to a boil
pepper to taste, adjust also when you bring the rice to a boil
Although not included above, Spanish cooks often add lima beans and string beans to paella.
Advance preparation
A day ahead, make the chicken stock.
Several hours ahead, prep the pork & all the vegetables for the sofrito. Clean the shrimp. Also, scrub the mussels and clams and serially purge in cold salted water (1 part salt to 50 parts water = ocean) for 1-2 hours. (Mussels recently available at Costco are already purged, debearded and batch dated as fresh!) Clean and cut squid into ½” ringlets and definitely save the tentacles. Halve chicken thighs and season with fresh salt and pepper. Cut the chorizo or linguica into ½” rounds. Halve scallops if you prefer.
An hour ahead, pith the live lobsters, parboil for 2-3 minutes and remove claws, tails, head and reserve all. Parboil crayfish for 2-3 minutes and reserve. Rewarm the chicken stock and add the saffron tea, coriander and paprika.
Now to Begin
We can all do this on a stovetop but I routinely cook paella outdoors with the pan on a traditional Spanish steel “tripodo”. Make sure the paella pan is absolutely level on the cooking surface…so before starting the fire, first fill it with water and check. Now ignite the mesquite or hardwood (or orange wood twigs as they do in Valencia). As the mesquite heats up, be ready for rapid sautéing and put the paella pan on the grill with a thin layer of olive oil and before it is too hot quickly brown the chicken thighs to crisp the skin and chorizo slices on both sides and set aside. Then quickly sear the lobster tails and claws and set aside. Alternatively, this sautéing can be done stovetop ahead rather than hectically in the paellera over mesquite. Now, on to the core steps, preparing the sofrito & adding the rice…
Sofrito
For the sofrito, you may need to add more olive oil to the pan. Add the pork, then gradually add in succession: the chopped onion, then the bell pepper, then the garlic, then the tomato… now you are making the sofrito, the sauce, and when the vegetables are blended and sweated down, you can then add the rice. Now sauté the rice, stirring it until it is hot and begins to turn from a translucent to a milky color. Now on to the marriage… the
Paella
The coals are glowing orange with rapid flickers of blue. Distribute the rice and sofrito evenly across the pan and now slowly add the stock making sure the rice stays evenly spread across the entire paellera. Do not stir the rice again. Bring to a boil and taste, carefully adding salt and pepper just as needed. Now pull in your compadres to help add everything to the dish…
Arrange any lobster heads pointing up in the center of the pan, insert the chicken, squid, sausage, scallops, lobster pieces into or on the cooking rice. ~5 minutes later add the shrimp and insert the clams and mussels, hinge down, into the top of the rice and place the crayfish all around the edge and finally toss the artichokes and the peas all over the top. Let the rice cook until the stock has been absorbed, the rice should be moist but not wet and only then take the paella off the fire.
The bottom rice layer will be burned, called the socorat, this crispy layer is considered the tastiest part by many traditionalists… but not all. Now, garnish the paella with lemon wedges at the edge and pimento strips in a maypole, cover with a cloth, I use coffee bean gunny sacks, and let the paella ‘rest’ for 5-10 minutes as the rice finishes cooking. Now sound the trumpets, lift the cape and celebrate!
Donde esta mi sangria?
Carlos aka United119
Irish Channel, New Orleans & Suisun Valley, California
I hope this article from today's LA Times with
step-by-step pictured instructions encourages everyone to enjoy a Paella at home with friends and family. The recipes are sized for a nice party of 6 people.
There are two paella recipes in the article and I hope you try the seafood version, no surprise there! Also, don't hesitate to use a large 11-13" cast iron pan instead of a paellera for your first paella attempts... it will work great, just don't let the rice/sofrito mixture get above 2" depth or so and all will turn out perfecto!
And to make it bayou-happy, maybe toss in a few crawfish tails.
Freixenet, Pacifico, Sangria or Abita, whatever your pleasure... it's time to fire up the grill!
