Paella

         Today I decided to make paella. Last August my family took a trip to Barcelona and one evening we walked into this hole in the wall restaurant with the best little Spanish Grandma, as we named her. She made AMAZING paella and ever since then I have been craving her paella so today I took on the challenge. I made a chicken chorizo paella but of course it just wasn't the same. Without a paella pan, yes they do exist, I wasn't able to cook the rice very evenly leaving some bits tasting wonderful and flavorful and others tasting the same but a bit crunchy. Overall this attempt was decent but definitely not my favorite recipe or does it even compare to Spanish Grandma's. This is our Spanish Grandma after our long paella dinner and her's and my conversation  in Spanish about Obama, she loved telling me what she knew of the United States and the government. 

 

Here's the paella recipe my aunt sent me to satisfy my craving. 

Susan’s Chicken Paella

Ingredients

  Spice Mix for chicken:

  1 tablespoon sweet paprika

  1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

  Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 (3-pound) frying chicken, cut into 10 pieces

 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

2 Spanish chorizo sausages, thickly sliced

1 onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 small can of green chili

Bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped, reserve some for garnish

1 (15-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed

4 cups rice (short grain, or whatever you have on hand)

2 cups chicken stock or broth

4 cups of water

Generous pinch saffron threads or poor man’s saffron bojol.

1 1/2 cup sweet peas (I usually use frozen)

Carrots thinly cut on the diagonal for garnish.

Directions

1. Rub the spice mix all over the chicken and set in the refrigerator for 1 hour.  OR 15 – 20 minutes at room temperature.
2. In a large Dutch Oven or a Paella pan sauté the chorizo until browned, remove from the pan and set it aside.  
3. Use the same pan add oil if necessary cook the chicken skin-side down, until brown on all sides. (3- 4 minutes on each side).  Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside.
4. In the same pan, sauté the onions, garlic, green chili and parsley. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes on a medium heat. Then, add tomatoes and cook until the mixture browns nicely.
5. Add the rice and stir o coat the grains. Pour in water and broth then simmer for 10 minutes (simmer a little longer if necessary depending on what kind of rice you used), gently moving the pan around so the rice cooks evenly and absorbs the liquid.
6. Now add chicken, and chorizo back into the pan along with the saffron or Bojol
7. Give the mixture a good stir and shake then let it simmer, without stirring, until the rice is cooked for about 15 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking add the frozen peas to the pan and stir.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. At the very end add the thinly sliced carrots and put the lid back on to lightly steam and brighten the carrots color.  Serve and Enjoy.

Picasso and Clint Eastwood

Today I finalized my senior paper topic. I've decided to write about the mythological story of the Rape of the Sabine Women exploring different depictions from the Renaissance to Present day. Here's my favorite depiction thus far: 

It's by Pablo Picasso who I am so interested in. This one is definately going in my paper. So other than deciding what I wanted to write about I also had the greatest pleasure of visiting the grocery store today, which I love love love! On tonight's menu is; BBQ sandwiches and salad, Yum Yum (Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino).Speaking of Gran Torino I just to say that it made me sob like a baby because of its amazingness, it's a definite must see!

Enjoy that.

Katelyn out.

First Post!

Alright so here it goes! I decided to start a blog because I'm currently very bored and why shouldn't I blog?
So periodically I will post about different things, things I'm doing with my life, art that I come across in my studies and new delicious recipes I discover. Today I'll start with a recipe. This past Sunday I was dying for something chocolately and if it had peanut butter that was a plus only problem is that I am broke so I had to find a recipe that I could use to make something chocolately and peanut butter filled to satisfy this ridiculous craving without going to the store; I found these amazing cookies. They are super tedious but they were so worth it! I actually got the recipe from another blog (desertculinary.blogspot.com) but here it is:

                                      Peanut Butter filled chocolate cookies(Adapted from BHG)

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup dutch cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Peanut Butter Filling
3/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl beat together butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar and 1/4 cup peanut butter until well combined. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat well. Gently mix in the flour mixture about 1/3 at a time until incorporated. Form the chocolate dough into 32 balls.

For the filling

Combine confectioners' sugar and 1/2 cup peanut butter in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Form into 32 balls.

Working on a silpat or parchment, gently flatten each chocolate ball. Top with peanut butter ball. Carefully fold chocolate dough over the peanut butter ball and seal the edges. Roll dough into a ball.

Place balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Lightly flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.

Bake cookies for about 8 minutes,until the surface begins to slightly crack. Let cool for 1 minute on the sheet. Transfer to wire racks and cool completely.





They are super delicious and would be super fun to make with kids. I did have to add a little more peanut butter for the filling though so keep that in mind, it's  crumbly good recipe.