Dutch Oven Paella - My way

[Rouge]

This is an altered recipe (the original being Ina Garten's Easy Lobster Paella)...

500gms Mixed Seafood (PLEASE do not use frozen marinara mix, get some fresh from a good fish monger or deli if you know its good, we have awesome fresh marinara from our safeway and its full of mussels, calamari, salmon, king prawns etc)
3 Chorizo sausages sliced (not too thin)
250gms boneless thigh pieces (cut into large bite size pieces)
2 brown onions diced
2 red capsicum seeded and sliced about 1 cm thick
2 tablespoons of crushed garlic
1/2 tsp safron threads crushed (I used a small mortar and pestle but you can crush between two spoons)
1 tsp maldon salt
1 tsp freshly ground peppers
5 cups of chicken stock
285 grams frozen peas
Chilli flakes/Cayenne to taste
1/3 cup Absinthe
Chopped Continental Parsley
Lemon Wedges

Preheat the oven to 220C (check your dutch oven to see its max cooking temp as mine is 220C due to the knob, I know creuset is about 180 max unless you replace with stainless knobs). Cook your chorizo in the bottom of a dutch oven (like chasseur/creuset/staub) once chorizo browned add your chicken and brown lightly. Remove from pan but leave the residual chorizo oil. Add a good splosh (coat the bottom of the dish) of olive oil, add the onion and cook on a medium low heat for 5 minutes. Meanwhile in a stock pot bring the stock to a simmer and add the crushed saffron to the stock. Add the capsicum to the onion and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the rice and coat with the oil, add the salt & pepper, chilli flakes/cayenne, and stock. Bring to boil then pop into the preheated oven and cook covered for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes add chorizo, chicken, seafood and peas. Bake for another 15 minutes uncovered. Stir through absinthe and cover for another 10 minutes and leave off heat. (Now we cooked it for another 10 minutes in the oven before the last 10 minutes to absorb due to the fact I like a well browned paella.) Sprinkle with Parsley and serve with Lemon wedges.

[Phteven]

Do you think i could substitute sujuk for the chorizo?

[Rouge]

Absolutely Just don't cut it too thinly!

ETA: The original recipe called for kielbasa and TBH I think sujuk is more like chorizo than kielbasa.

[kirsty_lee]

ahhh seriously Cai, I am going to steal you away one day, and all of us bb girls will do up a roster on who will get to have you at their house to cook for them you rock and I am soooo going to do that

ps. The immature child in me laughed at Dutch Oven

[Rouge]

Oh and bron, any aniseed flavoured liquid could be substituted for the absinthe.

LOL Kirsty I laugh at dutch oven too

[Oorki Galoorki]

just popping in to say

hehehehe
dutch oven!
hehehehe

[mrsmac]

ahhh seriously Cai, I am going to steal you away one day, and all of us bb girls will do up a roster on who will get to have you at their house to cook for them you rock and I am soooo going to do that

ps. The immature child in me laughed at Dutch Oven

I agree, please come and cook for me for a week!! I am in awe of your cooking talents.

[Rouge]

No talent just good food porn books and idols with great recipes

[kirsty_lee]

You really should do something with it Cai. Everytime I read another one of your posts it actually makes me feel like getting up and being creative in the kitchen. I do love to cook it's just when you run out of ideas and go errrrgh wtf to cook tonight?