So Shawn and I have been trying to take one day a week that we spend alone together. Today was that day. We decided to go have a picnic/bbq in Shell Beach and then went for a little stroll down to the beach.
Aww he's soooo cute! I love him!
"Hey Danielle, get a picture of me and my meat with the ocean in the background." - Shawn
Our little stroll down to the water where we found lots of fun little creatures.
We found these little crabs all over the place!! Some creepy and some small and cute!
So pretty when they're open. Shawn loves touching them so they close up.
We had a lot of fun on our little date, but Shawn couldn't wait to get home to start working on our feast. He loves to cook and for the most part I love to eat what he cooks... Haha.. It feels like every time we go to Costco he goes straight to the seafood section and is always begging me to buy the seafood assortment pack. Usually I say no because he never really has a recipe in mind when he goes shopping for food, but this time I suggested that he buy it and make a seafood Paella. He thought that was a great idea and in our cart it went! It is usually a meal made for a large group, but tonight it was a meal made for two with LOTS of leftovers. Shawn gets really frustrated with peoples palettes these days. He feels like all people want to eat are processed chicken nuggets, but won't dare to eat something fresh and healthy for you. I can't wait until we move out into our own place and can invite people over for dinner that will enjoy the foods we like to eat as much as we do. The recipe he based our meal off of is listed below. Of course he made lots of changes. I would have listed them below as he was putting the meal together, but I was extremely tired and had to take a nap as soon as we got home. I didn't go to sleep until almost 2 am and woke up at 7 to register for classes. It's going to be a super busy night at work so I hope I don't get too tired!!! Enjoy!
Paella
INGREDIENTS
- 1pound extra-large shrimp (21/25), peeled and deveined
- 8-9medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs , each thigh trimmed of excess fat and halved crosswise
- 1red bell pepper , seeded and cut pole to pole into 1/2-inch-wide strips
- 8ounces Spanish chorizo , sliced 1/2 inch thick on the bias (see note)
- 1medium onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)
- 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes , drained, minced, and drained again
- 2cups Valencia rice or Arborio
- 3
- 1/3cup dry white wine
- 1/2teaspoon saffron threads , crumbled
- 1bay leaf
- 1dozen mussels , scrubbed and debearded
- 1/2cup frozen green peas , thawed
- 2teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1lemon , cut into wedges, for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
- 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss shrimp, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1 teaspoon garlic in medium bowl; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper; set aside.
- 2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until skin begins to blister and turn spotty black, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer peppers to small plate and set aside.
- 3. Add 1 teaspoon oil to now-empty Dutch oven; heat oil until shimmering but not smoking. Add chicken pieces in single layer; cook, without moving pieces, until browned, about 3 minutes. Turn pieces and brown on second side, about 3 minutes longer; transfer chicken to medium bowl. Reduce heat to medium and add chorizo to pot; cook, stirring frequently, until deeply browned and fat begins to render, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer chorizo to bowl with chicken and set aside.
- 4. Add enough oil to fat in Dutch oven to equal 2 tablespoons; heat over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 3 minutes; stir in remaining garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes; cook until mixture begins to darken and thicken slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in rice and cook until grains are well coated with tomato mixture, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, wine, saffron, bay, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Return chicken and chorizo to pot, increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Cover pot and transfer to oven; cook until rice absorbs almost all liquid, about 15 minutes. Remove pot from oven (close oven door to retain heat). Uncover pot; scatter shrimp over rice, insert mussels hinged side down into rice (so they stand upright), arrange bell pepper strips in pinwheel pattern, and scatter peas over top. Cover and return to oven; cook until shrimp are opaque and mussels have opened, 10 to 12 minutes.
- 5. Optional: If soccarat (see note) is desired, set Dutch oven, uncovered, over medium-high heat about 5 minutes, rotating pot 180 degrees after about 2 minutes for even browning.
- 6. Let paella stand, covered, about 5 minutes. Discard any mussels that have not opened and bay leaf, if it can be easily removed. Sprinkle with parsley and serve, passing lemon wedges separately.
- 7. If You're Using a Paella PanA paella pan makes for an attractive and impressive presentation. Use one that is 14 to 15 inches in diameter. A 14-inch ovensafe skillet will work as well, but do not attempt to use anything smaller because the contents will simply not fit. Follow the recipe for Paella, increasing the chicken broth to 3 1/4 cups and the wine to 1/2 cup. Before placing the pan in the oven, cover it tightly with foil. For soccarat, cook the paella, uncovered, over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees after about 1 1/2 minutes for even browning.
