Different Strokes | Paella ala Benedict

If you hear my brother-in-law, Benedict, and I "arguing" in the kitchen, you may think we are often at each other's throat.  But the truth is we're not.  We enjoy each other's company, we grew up in the same hometown and our parents have been close friends for decades.  Our "arguments" stem from our different styles of cooking.  He's more of a traditionalist while I have a more modern approach.  He sticks to the cookbook while I love to create my own.  He is so organized, cleans as he goes... while - uhmmm - let's just say I clean after - way after, hehe.

But I gotta give it to him, because every time I'm in Orlando and I invade his kitchen, he lets me cook my recipes.  But we've also learned our lesson:  we should not cook at the same time, and much more, the same dish.  With that in mind, our latest collaboration last holiday season ran smoothly and the spread was fantaboulous!

I am proud to share what we served  for the holidays (remember we can't be in the same kitchen so we can't be in the same post either--- hehe, so I'll share my porchetta recipe in a future post).

This is Benedict in his sanctuary--the kitchen. He stamped his kitchen with his name on it, well literally and figuratively.  I mean, each shelf is organized and labeled.  His pantry is in a FIFO (first in, first out) arrangement.  And his MacGyver-usque gadgets come in handy when you need them.

So today it's my pleasure to share with you Benedict's Paella.  Again, we differ in our style of cooking this dish, but his recipe turned out perfectly.

Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1 lb clams
1 lb mussels
3 pcs chorizos (sliced)
1/2 lb pork (sliced)
2 chicken breast (sliced)
2 bell pepper (sliced)
1 pack green beans
2 cans tomato sauce
1 tsp saffron
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 medium onion (chopped)
2 tbsp oil
3 cups rice (washed and soaked)
6 cups broth
4 boiled eggs

Procedure:
Boil shrimp, mussels and clams.  Drain and set aside.  (He said, you could use the seafood stock but he says you might find it so strong, so he suggests using chicken broth instead)
Heat olive oil on a large skillet or paella pan.  Add chicken and pork.  Brown both sides.  Add chorizos and let it sweat.  Pour tomato sauce.  Add rice and give it a quick stir.  Add chicken stock (around 4-5 cups) and sprinkle safron. Cook for 20 minutes or until rice is cooked.  Add the seafood, bell pepper and green beans.  Cover for a few minutes and you're ready to serve an EPIC rice dish!  Enjoy!

And oh I'll see you at Dierbergs this week for the Thai Cravings series.  And for more rice recipes, join me at WholeFoods at Town and Country on Feb 20 for SurpRice Party cooking class. See you #STL!