A Taste of Spain

Guys! I went to Spain and all I did was eat. It was amazing. The food was incredible: churros con chocolate, croquetas, jamon serrano, seafood paella and the freshest bread I've ever tasted - and that's saying something because I frequently devour San Francisco sourdough. After eating my way through Southern Spain and Madrid, I returned home with a mission - keep the amazing food coming!

My fellow Girls Team member was on board and we decided to make paella, a popular Spanish rice dish. We followed this recipe from AllRecipes.com, which included chicken, chorizo and shrimp. Although we didn't have a paella pan, we used a large skillet that worked just fine.

Our recipe for paella basically consisted of two parts: the rice and the meat. I started by making the rice portion. I added olive oil, red pepper flakes and garlic to the skillet as it was heating up. Then I added 2 cups of white rice, parsley, lemon zest, a bay leaf and saffron threads (which neither Girls Team member had even heard of until this recipe).

Next, I added 1 quart of chicken stock. I tested my patience as I waited for the ingredients to boil, and then I covered the skillet and let it simmer for 20 minutes to thicken.

As I was working on the rice, my mom was prepping the meat portion of our dish. Earlier in the day, she marinated the chicken according to the recipe, now she began to grill the chicken with the Spanish onion.  

We purchased pre-cooked shrimp, so we deviated from the recipe just a bit. My mom cooked the chorizo, chicken, Spanish onion and bell peppers together. When that was just about ready, she added the pre-cooked shrimp so they wouldn't get overcooked, but would still get some flavor.

We timed our cooking perfectly and the rice and meat portions were ready at the exact same time :) I added the rice to a large serving dish, and my mom topped with the meat and mixed it together.

After adding some freshly baked European bread from the grocery store, we were ready to eat!

Our homemade paella far exceeded my expectations. I was a little nervous that it wouldn't be as good as what I had eaten in Spain. Fortunately I was wrong! This dish was delicious. The chorizo definitely gave it an extra kick, and the rice was cooked to perfection. It was also fun to make something unlike anything we regularly make at home. Paella will definitely become a regular go-to dish in my kitchen, especially on cooler winter nights. My mom, dad and boyfriend all enjoyed it too, which made me really happy. By making this easy paella with my mom, I was able to share a little taste of my trip with the people I wished could have experienced Spain with me :)