Food

Arroz con zumo de naranja

Paella is the term that many of us use for any Spanish rice dish cooked in a paella pan.  But the Spanish can be picky on how they use it, some don’t care but others maintain that only the rice dish from Valencia can use the name Paella.  This dish is a bit left of centre, so I’ve gone with arroz con zumo de naranja for this one.

I picked up the recipe in Seville. Apparently its something people cook at home for lunch, rather than something you would see in a restaurant.  There is no seafood in this dish, but of course can add some on top if you want.  The city is famous for bitter or tart oranges and this is one way to use them up, the other is marmalade.  Traditionally, they use rabbit instead of chicken and add snails towards the end of the cooking.  The end result is a very savoury  dish.  Don’t over do the meat etc, they are a highlight, not the main dish.  The quantities used here are for a four person paella pan, add or subtract to get the right amount for your pan.

You will need:

• 1 Chorizo (chopped in to slices)
• 250g Pork belly (chopped into smallish bits)
• 4 Chicken wings
• 1 Green capsicum
• 1 white onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1.5 cups of chicken stock
• 1.5 cups of tart orange juice (no added sugar with pulp or from Seville oranges)
• 1 cup Calasparra rice
• 1 tin of piquillo pimentos
• 1 Paella pan

Seasoning:

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon rosemary
• 5 Black pepper corns
• a touch of salt
• 4 strands of saffron
• 1.5 teaspoons smoke paprika

What to do:

Get prepared and set up the flavour base:

1. cut up the meat into small pieces, mince the onion and cut up the capsicum in small squares.
2. put the orange juice and stock in a saucepan and bring to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer until needed.
3. add some oil and fry the garlic on low heat in the pan and remove.  Dry off in paper towel.  Put in mortar with the seasoning and grind up.
4. fry the onion and capsicum lightly and remove from the pan
5. quickly seal the meat in the pan and remove.

Start the real cooking:

1. add the stock/juice mixture to the pan and get it boiling.
2. add the rice, meat, veg and seasoning/garlic mix to the pan. And stir around to mix everything up.
3. Do not do anything but watch the liquid level and test the softness of the rice until the rice is soft.  You might need to add some extra liquid, but make sure you add it hot.
4. when the rice is about 75% cooked (still a little crunchy) remove from the heat and cover with a tea towel for 10 minutes.
5. White you are waiting, slice the pimento into long strips.  Once the 10 minutes are up, get artistic and arrange the strips on top of the paella.  You can also use orange slices if you want.