My day of dilemmas (and paella)

“May have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”

Would you serve your kids something that came with that warning?

I faced that dilemma yesterday. (Actually, it was a day filled with dilemmas … should I throw away my toothbrush after catching the dog running around with it, bone-style; was I too old to apply for a certain job I saw advertised on SEEK; were bling sneakers and cargo pants appropriate attire for a meeting with a lawyer… ?)

I’d bought an imported Spanish paella spice mix to make a feast for Husband and the kids when they arrived home from netball practice. But the wind went out of my sails when I read the packaging.

My offspring aren’t prone to losing it after glugging red cordial and the like, but still, I just couldn’t do it.

I rallied and decided to go it alone – I mean, how hard could it be? The fancy-looking spice mix only contained garlic, salt, paprika, cornflour, pepper, clove, saffron and the scary “E-102” ingredient that could create adversity for my kids.

Here’s what I came up with instead …

Recipe: Prawn, chorizo & chicken paella

500g chicken wings, cut into drumsticks and wings

400g green prawns, shelled

1 squid tube, cut into small rectangles and slashed on diagonals

1.25l chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon saffron threads

200g of crushed tomatoes

3 garlic cloves

1 large spanish onion

1/2 large capsicum, roughly chopped

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 cups paella rice

100g chorizo, sliced

METHOD: Heat a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook chorizo until golden brown. Remove. Add oil if the chorizo hasn’t created enough. Saute the chicken pieces in the same pan until golden. Remove. Sauté the prawns and squid until just cooked through. Remove.

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock and saffron to the boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer.

Place the tomatoes, onion, capsicum and garlic in a food processor and puree. Add a generous slug of olive oil to the pan, once hot add the tomato mixture. Stir until most of the moisture has evaporated. Add the paprika and rice, stir, then add about a third of the chicken stock and stir again to combine. Add the chicken and chorizo and distribute evenly in the pan. Pour in the rest of the stock and simmer over a very low heat.

Cook for around 40 minutes until rice is tender. Don’t stir, but move the pan around on the element to ensure even heat distribution.

Arrange the prawns around the pan and cover with foil. Remove from the heat and rest for a few minutes, covered.

Serve with lemon wedges and chilli aioli.