I said I'd give my recipe for paella today, but first a little background. I was first introduced to paella by my mother-in-law who was Spanish, her family was f rom Macatera a small village near Salamanca, Spain. She made a very soupy version because that's how my father-in-law liked it.
Then when we started traveling to Spain I became more familiar with the Valenciana version which is drier and I found that I liked it better.
No one is quite sure where the word paella comes from. One theory is that it is derived from the Latin word
patella which means pan and paella is the Valencian word for pan.
Other say it comes form the Arabic word
baqiyah which means leftovers and that paella is a poor man's dish made from leftovers.
It's a bit of a stretch to get from
baqiyah to paella, but it was the Arabs that brought rice to Spain so it's possible.
Typically you'll see several different versions of paella in Spain: Paella Valenciana which is made with rice, chicken, pork and rabbit, no seafood.
Paella Marisco which is made with seafood, prawns, mussels, calamari (squid).
Paella Mixta which is a combination of the first two.
Arroz Negro which is rice cooked with squid ink----this is Mac's favorite version.
I tend to make Paella Mixta and it is usually a leftover version with me throwing in whatever's laying in the refrigerator.
Paella
Chicken Thighs Use as many as you think your family will eat, I flour mine, but you don't need to
I brown them in a large frying pan using a teaspoon of
olive oil with lots of
onion
and
garlic. Cook about 15 minutes adding
nonfat chicken stock as they're
cooking, pour in a bit at a time to keep things simmering, but don't drown things. I
also add a bout a 1/2 cup white wine, this isn't necessary, but I like it.
Rice After about 15 minutes I add the
rice, I put in a bit over 1/2 a cup, but put in enough
to feed your family. Then I add approximately 2 cups of water and the
saffron. I
know saffron is expensive, but it just isn't paella without it. Hard to describe how
much I use, I grab a very generous pinch and smashing it between my fingers I add
it to the rice, if the rice doesn't turn yellow enough I add more. Cover, lower the
heat and cook until the rice is done.
Shrimp When the rice is nearly done add the shrimp, I use canned shrimp, little ones and
they taste delicious, you could use fresh or frozen ones too.
Green Peas After the shrimp I put in the green peas, I put in about a 1/2 cup
You can add more water or chicken stock as needed depending on how soupy you want it to be.
I always let my sit for a while after it's done and let the rice soak up most of the liquid.
About anything can be added to a paella, sometimes I put in Chorizo, Spanish sausage and for Mac, who likes seafood better than me, I'll throw in some fish or scallops.
You could use any part of the chicken, but thighs stay the juiciest.
It is so tasty, we love it. Sorry there's no picture, but we ate it before I thought of taking a picture.
In case you're a Channing Tatum fan I thought I'd let you know that he's filming the sequel to Magic Mike here in Savannah during the month of October. Filming started today and on the news they said they're still looking for extras.
I Skyped with our daughter this morning and opened the presents she'd had sent to me. She got me a Kindle book I'd been wanting A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman
Mac made a perch for the owl that April gave him as a present last year, he was in the garden, but now he has a perch next to the garage.
And not very patiently either. I'm tired of summer, it's boring, I'm so over it. I want autumn leaves that give a Godly crunch (or so McAllister says) when you walk through them. The picture on the left is what I want, the picture on the right is what I get, a swimming pool that's being overrun with wild morning glories. You may think that sounds good, but after 5 months of 85º-95º temperatures and humidity that frequently makes it feel like it's over a 100º I assure you, autumn sounds great and winter sounds even better.
That's how long till Christmas, so I spent part of the morning Christmas shopping. Not in stores, but online where I do most of my shopping. Things that will bring a smile to my family's faces are generally not found in mall stores. So it's a "hunting" I will go. 
I flew through The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowlings) and liked it as much as Cuckoo Calling and maybe more. Looking forward to the next one in the series.
Also read Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside. Helena inherits her Great Aunt's house and fortune, but also finds out that her Aunt had been found innocent of her husband's murder more than 60 years ago. She decides that she can't take the inheritance unless she can find out that the Aunt wasn't just found not guilt, but that she was innocent. Really good book.
Now I'm working my way through: Every Secret Thing by Laura Lippman, 2 eleven year olds go to jail for 7 years for kidnapping and killing a baby. Now they're out of jail and another baby is missing. It's ok, the girls are just a bit too creepy for me. As Kirkus review might say this is a book you should probably borrow, not buy.
And finally The Namesake by Jumpha Lahiri and I like this one very much. His parents moved to America from India so his father can attend grad school. They remain very Indian, in thought and deed, while he and his sister who are born in America become very American, at first, but then they start turning back. I love reading books about the immigrant experience and this one is excellent.
Forty-nine years ago a young boy and a very young girl pledged their vows and their lives to each other. It's gone so quickly, years of moving around while Mac was in the Army, raising our daughter, finally finishing college (all of us), teaching, retiring to Georgia and here we are. I don't feel old enough to have been married that long, it seems, not like yesterday perhaps, but just a couple of years ago. 
