Paella Day
4/18/10: Spanish Chicken and Chorizo Paella with Whole Grain Rye Bread
Meal details: For the main course I made a huge pan of paella (a Spanish rice dish) that had chicken drumsticks, crushed tomatoes, peas, and chorizo. And I served a whole grain rye bread along side it.
Defining moments: First time for me to taste or make paella and also first time baking rye bread.
Recipe sources: The paella recipe is from Paula Deen and I specifically chose it because I am part of the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Thank My Mother blog. The rye bread recipe came from my Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook. See my review of this book here.
What I learned: I learned that it takes exactly 20 chicken drumsticks (of medium size) to fill our large stainless steel skillet. No more, no less. :D That little tidbit is always nice to have on hand! I also finally realized how helpful my HBI5 (Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day) cookbook is when it comes to preparing a meal in advance. Because of the high moisture in each recipe, you are able to store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. I took advantage of this and prepared my dough Friday evening and baked it on Sunday. Makes bread baking really fast and usually "bread" and "fast" don't fit in the same sentence!
There is a funny story behind the flour shopping that was done for my rye bread. Annemarie went to Plumb's (a small grocery store nearby) and couldn't find rye flour ANYWHERE. But she came home with Bob's Red Mill Whole Ground Flaxseed. FLAXSEED? My gosh, I thought I would never see it, being kind of a specialty item! Oh boy, I'm really eying that flaxseed recipe in the book now. And by the way, we found rye flour at Bill's Shop and Save so I didn't go without my rye flour this week--obviously!
I wanted to write down here exactly what I do to bake this bread. Unlike the recommendations in the book, I do not use a pizza stone (aka baker's stone) or any special equipment. I simply use a 12 x 15 cookie sheet and a deep roasting pan. I line the cookie sheet (or sheets, when I am doing more than two loaves), with non-stick aluminum foil and form my loaves right on the sheet. I cover them loosely with plastic wrap and let them rise for the suggested time. I place the roasting pan on the lowest rack in the oven and preheat the oven for 30 minutes.
Once the oven has come up to temperature, I remove the plastic wrap and brush the risen loaves with water and make four, 1/4" slits on the top of each. With one cup of water on hand, I place the loaves in the oven, pour the water into the roasting pan, and quickly shut the oven door. The hot roasting pan will create steam and give the loaves more time for some major "oven spring." My oven does not close perfectly and some of the steam is lost but I have not found it to cause any baking problems.
So that's what I do for baking HBI5 bread.
Any modifications? For the paella recipe, I used all drumsticks instead of chicken thighs and drumsticks, I used Mexican chorizo instead of Spanish (the Mexican variety is fresh while the Spanish is dried), I omitted saffron, and I used long-grain rice instead of the Arborio.
I followed the rye bread recipe exactly.
How it tasted? Both the paella and the bread were fantastic. The chicken was nice and tender and the rice was spicy (because of the chorizo) and had perfect texture. The rye bread had a chewy crust and a tender crumb--just the way I like it. The rye bread, however, didn't have a real rye flavor, I mostly tasted the whole wheat that was included. Maybe I'll try it without the wheat next time.
How about a 2nd time? You bet!
Doesn't our large skillet look just like a traditional paella pan? Never noticed it before!
Meal details: For the main course I made a huge pan of paella (a Spanish rice dish) that had chicken drumsticks, crushed tomatoes, peas, and chorizo. And I served a whole grain rye bread along side it.
Defining moments: First time for me to taste or make paella and also first time baking rye bread.
Recipe sources: The paella recipe is from Paula Deen and I specifically chose it because I am part of the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Thank My Mother blog. The rye bread recipe came from my Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook. See my review of this book here.
What I learned: I learned that it takes exactly 20 chicken drumsticks (of medium size) to fill our large stainless steel skillet. No more, no less. :D That little tidbit is always nice to have on hand! I also finally realized how helpful my HBI5 (Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day) cookbook is when it comes to preparing a meal in advance. Because of the high moisture in each recipe, you are able to store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. I took advantage of this and prepared my dough Friday evening and baked it on Sunday. Makes bread baking really fast and usually "bread" and "fast" don't fit in the same sentence!
There is a funny story behind the flour shopping that was done for my rye bread. Annemarie went to Plumb's (a small grocery store nearby) and couldn't find rye flour ANYWHERE. But she came home with Bob's Red Mill Whole Ground Flaxseed. FLAXSEED? My gosh, I thought I would never see it, being kind of a specialty item! Oh boy, I'm really eying that flaxseed recipe in the book now. And by the way, we found rye flour at Bill's Shop and Save so I didn't go without my rye flour this week--obviously!
I wanted to write down here exactly what I do to bake this bread. Unlike the recommendations in the book, I do not use a pizza stone (aka baker's stone) or any special equipment. I simply use a 12 x 15 cookie sheet and a deep roasting pan. I line the cookie sheet (or sheets, when I am doing more than two loaves), with non-stick aluminum foil and form my loaves right on the sheet. I cover them loosely with plastic wrap and let them rise for the suggested time. I place the roasting pan on the lowest rack in the oven and preheat the oven for 30 minutes.
Once the oven has come up to temperature, I remove the plastic wrap and brush the risen loaves with water and make four, 1/4" slits on the top of each. With one cup of water on hand, I place the loaves in the oven, pour the water into the roasting pan, and quickly shut the oven door. The hot roasting pan will create steam and give the loaves more time for some major "oven spring." My oven does not close perfectly and some of the steam is lost but I have not found it to cause any baking problems.
So that's what I do for baking HBI5 bread.
Any modifications? For the paella recipe, I used all drumsticks instead of chicken thighs and drumsticks, I used Mexican chorizo instead of Spanish (the Mexican variety is fresh while the Spanish is dried), I omitted saffron, and I used long-grain rice instead of the Arborio.
I followed the rye bread recipe exactly.
How it tasted? Both the paella and the bread were fantastic. The chicken was nice and tender and the rice was spicy (because of the chorizo) and had perfect texture. The rye bread had a chewy crust and a tender crumb--just the way I like it. The rye bread, however, didn't have a real rye flavor, I mostly tasted the whole wheat that was included. Maybe I'll try it without the wheat next time.
How about a 2nd time? You bet!
Doesn't our large skillet look just like a traditional paella pan? Never noticed it before!
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This looks good! I'm impressed with your bread baking. I love warm bread and don't make it often enough.
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