Paella - Make it as You Want It

Saffron I bought in Spain

I love Paella. If anyone does not know what Paella (pronounced pah-A-ya) is, I will explain as best I can. The simplest answer: Paella is a rice dish from Spain.  The rice is usually flavored with paprika and/or smoked paprika and saffron. It is often made over an open fire. This rice dish usually includes some vegetables; onion and garlic always, and then it gets tricky, depending on whose recipe you see. The dish also includes some kind of meat; most often it will contain seafood and/or fish, but it can include chicken, ham, rabbit, pork, chorizo. 

I learned to make paella from two best friends from Guatemala, who have relatives living in Spain. When they made it at my house one time, I copied down all they did and had made the recipe that way ever since. It made enough to feed an army, and it contained every kind of meat or seafood they could find: chicken, pork, ham, chorizo, clams, mussels, octopus, fish. (Beef is the ONE meat that is never in any paella I have heard of). It had onion, garlic, green beans, peas, carrot, olives and capers. It was absolutely wonderfully flavored, and I have loved it, always.

That said, when once I was in Barcelona, I asked a taxi driver to take us to a restaurant that did not cater to a tourist crowd, but instead a place he or his family would go for a good meal. They had paella on the menu, so I ordered it. While I expected something different from the "paella" I knew, this one was relatively tasteless. The sole "meat" included in the dish was gigantic rings of squid. The rice had no particular color and no particular flavor. Obviously it was lacking anything like saffron or paprika. It was an entire disappointment, to my mentality at the time. I have not traveled anywhere else in Spain, and that was the one day I was there, so I cannot remotely judge all of Spain by that one dish. I am absolutely certain there are marvelous paella dishes to be had. And as it happens, paella was originally made by shepherds out in fields, and used whatever meat or other thing might be available at the time, therefore rabbit paella was common, and in other areas of Spain, paella is made with whatever is common in the area, thus Squid Paella is normal in Barcelona, a coastal city.

My new "Paellera"

Recently I acquired a real paella pan. Oh yes, there is a specific type of pan used to create this dish, called a "paellera" (pah-ay-YAIR-ah). A paella pan is very shallow. If you get a larger pan, the width grows, but the depth stays the same. This is to ensure that the rice gets cooked through properly. I can attest that it is far more difficult to cook all the rice through if it is made in a deep pot. It can take a couple of hours or more to cook through in a deep pot. I have done it. I had never heard of a paella pan when my friends made it at my house so long ago. So after all these years I have a paella pan. It is a 15-inch pan and will accommodate enough paella to feed 6 - 8 people. I just had to make paella.

Most paella that we know here will include some kind of shellfish, at least what we know here in the US. Most often seen in photos (as seen right) are the shining black mussels and/or clams standing up prettily from the rice. I love seafood, but unfortunately I developed an allergy, so I do not eat it anymore; I could, but why go through that hassle? My husband, on the other hand, WILL NOT eat seafood. He "hates

A Typical Paella, courtesy of Spain-Recipes.com

paella" because it contains seafood. Paella does not absolutely have to have seafood, so I decided to baptize my brand new paella pan with an all-meat paella.

I used a whole chicken and the addition of a small amount of ham, pork and chorizo. Other than this change, the only other thing I did differently from my friends' version was leaving out the carrots. In general, I pared down that humongous recipe to one more manageably sized, while keeping all the ingredients I loved. I could not find chorizo sausages in the grocery here, so I got a tube of chorizo meat; thus there are no pretty round slices in my dish. Here is my recipe, using my 15-inch paella pan:

Mixed Meat Paella

Serves 6 to 8

Mixed Meat Paella

olive oil, as needed
1 whole chicken
salt for sprinkling chicken and pork
½ pound pork loin, cut in small chunks
1 cup cubed ham
4 - 6 ounces chorizo, sliced
4 cloves garlic
3 teaspoons Kosher salt (slightly less if regular table salt)
1 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (pimenton de la Vera), or use all Spanish Paprika
½ teaspoon saffron threads
1 onion, chopped
½ green pepper, cubed
1 can (14.5 ounce) diced tomatoes
1½ cups medium grain rice
1 small jar (4 ounces) diced pimiento
2 teaspoons nonpareil capers
12 green olives
¾ cup frozen green peas, thawed
¾ cup green beans, cut in 2-inch lengths
3 cups water or stock

Have handy a paella pan or a very large, shallow pan. It can be a shallow roaster or large, oven-safe skillet.

First cut the chicken. Cut thighs into 2 pieces each, drumsticks can stay whole, breasts should be cut into 3 - 4 pieces each. Remove wingtips. Freeze the wingtips and the back for making stock at some future date. Heat a large skillet and add some olive oil. Sprinkle salt over the chicken pieces and also the pork. Over medium to medium-high heat, brown the chicken pieces a few at a time without over crowding the pan. Make sure they are nicely golden brown, 10 minutes or so per batch. As they are browned, remove them to a plate. Once the chicken is browned, add in the pork and toss quickly to sear; remove to the plate. Set the skillet elsewhere to cool while continuing with the recipe.

In a mortar with pestle, smash the garlic with the salt and once soft and semi-liquefied, add the paprika and/or smoked paprika and the saffron threads. Continue to work these ingredients until well combined and homogeneous, adding a little olive oil if needed to make a paste.

Set the the paella pan (or other) onto the heat and add more olive oil. Add in the onion and green pepper and saute until just soft, about 5 minutes. Add in the can of tomatoes, juice and all and allow to cook down slightly. Add in the garlic mixture and stir well to incorporate. Add the rice and water or stock and stir. Add the peas and green beans, capers and olives and the jar of pimientos, with the liquid. Stir just to distribute the ingredients. Add the ham, chorizo and browned pork, distributing them evenly over the rice mixture. Set the pieces of browned chicken decoratively onto the rice. 

Mixed Meat Paella Served

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Let the paella come to a boil and reduce heat so that a low but visible boil takes place for about 15 minutes. Cover the pan with foil and set in the oven for 15 minutes. Turn oven off and allow the paella to set in the hot oven for another 15 minutes, to allow the rice to completely absorb the liquids. Enjoy!

From cutting the chicken to out of the oven I made this Paella in 1½ hours, total. If your grocery has already cut up whole chicken, all you have to do is make a few pieces smaller. Much prep work can be accomplished while other things are cooking. While chicken is browning you can make the garlic/paprika/saffron mixture and set aside. Slice the green beans and thaw the peas. The whole trick is being organized. Have everything in place and ready and this is a wonderful dinner or party fare.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Guatemala Dreaming: Trying out some typical recipes

Page from the cookbook for my daughter - note the
very stained page from my notebook.

Tomatillos (Miltomates)

Lately I have been thinking about Guatemala, talking about Guatemala and making Guatemalan dishes that I had not made in a while, as well as some I had never made. I really enjoyed my time in Guatemala. I was 20 years young and willing to learn so many things that so vastly diverged from anything I had previously known in my upper Midwest upbringing. 

I made a "cookbook" of a sort for my oldest daughter when she turned 40, with all sorts of recipes and photos. Unfortunately, though I had made many of these recipes, I had not been so photography-minded back then. Nowadays I take photos of almost anything I make, to have a record of it in case I may need it some day. With a blog, website and Pinterest, I do use a lot of photos. I do have a couple of notebooks and a handful of recipe cards I wrote out, with lots of typical Guatemalan dishes, some of which I had made often and others I have yet to try. My sister gave me the idea to make this cookbook, mainly because some of my recipes are so terribly stained you can really see how well they have been used. The result is one I am quite proud of - and yet - the pictures and the recipes are for the most part, not "mine." I "Swiped from the best with pride," as they say, filling the pages with photos I took from the internet, since it was meant only for my daughter's eyes.

At this point in time, I could nearly fill the book with food photos of my own. I have been consistently making dishes and getting photos where possible. I wish that I had photos of all the places I visited back in the 1970s; sadly, I do not. Short of a nice long photography trip back to Guatemala, I have little hope of ever having those type of photos for a book. It was a most interesting time in my life and one I will always treasure. One of the many spices I learned about while there was Annatto:

Annatto - Bixa orellana

Annatto Seeds (Achiote)

Annatto seeds, called achiote (a-CHO-tay) in Guatemala, are a spice from the pods of the Bixa orellana tree. The tree produces fruits that are vaguely heart-shaped, with thick, spiky hairs all over them. When the fruit matures, the pod opens to reveal the orangey seeds inside. The seeds are orange to red in color, and the outer, powdery orange coating on the seeds is what is used for flavor and color in so many of the dishes in Guatemala as well as many of the other central, South American and Caribbean cuisines. It will make rice a lovely yellow color similar to saffron, though with a different flavor component. Depending on how much annatto is used, more flavor can come through, lending a signature flavor to things such as Hilachas, the recado that goes on top of tamales or chuchitos and Arroz con Pollo. This is by far an incomplete list, as these seeds are use widely and extensively. 

I was cautioned, while in Guatemala, to avoid ever grinding the whole seed, as the inner seed is bitter and will ruin the flavor of a dish. I have never substantiated this admonition. 

While I mainly write of these seeds as a spice, the reddish color they lend is also used in other varied ways. In some of the native cultures of these countries the red color, which rubs off of the seeds easily, is used "cosmetically" as a lip or cheek color. Many American processed cheeses, as well as some Cheddar or Colby cheeses are given their appetizing yellow orange color with annatto seeds. 



"Pollo en Jocon"
or Chicken in Green Sauce

So that brings me back to the present. I love the flavor of Green Sauce or "Salsa Verde". It uses tomatillos as the green base, along with all other green things, such as green pepper, celery, parsley and cilantro. I have been making it recently and using it to braise pork, which is heavenly, but not Guatemalan so far as I know. What I had never really made was Carne or Pollo en Jocon. This is a stewed dish with either beef or chicken, and a green sauce thickened with corn tortillas or corn masa (a substitute can be using corn masa flour as the thickening agent). It is served over Guatemalan Style Rice, usually made as the Guatemalans do, with the addition of onion, carrot, peas, celery and/or green pepper. Sometimes annatto seed is cooked in oil and this colored oil is also added. Since my son and his wife were coming to visit this past weekend, I decided sort of last-minute to make the Carne (Beef) en Jocon. It was a real hit; so much so that the kids were arguing over the leftovers later. I decided to make it again, since they obviously had not had their fill, and this time with chicken.

Today, for whatever reason, I started thinking about Pepian, another very typically Guatemalan dish, and one I have never made. It is another stew type dish, made with beef or chicken usually, but this sauce is more red, and made with tomatoes, toasted sesame and pumpkin seeds, dried chili peppers such as ancho and guaque and possibly some annatto seeds for color. It is also served over rice, but may have the addition of vegetables such as carrot, potato or chayote squash. There are so many wonderful flavors in Guatemalan cooking and sometimes I become nostalgic. I am so grateful both for the time I spent in that country and for my ability to cook all these wonderful dishes.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Memories from Childhood and Comfort Food

I come from a large family. I am the oldest of seven children. My Mom and Dad liked to cook, and had to think of ways to stretch a meal to feed so many. Dad didn't have as much time to spend at home cooking, but now and again he would make one of his dishes. Some of his specialties were things like scrambled eggs with canned salmon, omelets, and his version of a Chicken Paprikas. As Dad's parents were both from what today is Serbia, his version of this Chicken Paprikas is far different from my Mom's Slovakian recipe. To avoid confusion, Dad started calling his version "Chicken Stew." I always loved both versions, but Dad's was made more rarely, as he wasn't always around to make it. Perhaps for that reason my excitement was greater when I knew Dad was going to make that for dinner.

Dad was an innovative cook, and liked experimenting and trying new things. He and Mom would collaborate on some recipes, such as their Bean Soup and Stewed Tomatoes. Dad always had a garden and loved to plant things to see what would grow. Some things were less exciting to us kids, such as the year he planted eggplant. We had never had eggplant before and it just didn't fly. I have learned to eat eggplant since then, but I never eat it without thinking of Dad.

In reminiscing about Dad today, I made his version of Chicken Paprikas, or Chicken Stew, and I will share this recipe here:

Dad's Chicken Paprikas, aka Chicken Stew

Dad's Chicken Paprikas, aka Chicken Stew

Serves 6 to 8

1 whole chicken, cut into about 12 pieces
2 tablespoons butter
3 - 4 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1 large onion, cut in 1-inch chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch chunks
3 - 4 carrots, peeled, sliced
3 - 4 medium potatoes, peeled, cut into 1½-inch chunks
1½ teaspoons salt
Pepper, freshly ground, to taste
4 cups water

Cut the chicken into wings, thighs, legs, and after dividing the breast, cut each breast portion in half, and cut the back in half. Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven, and begin browning the chicken pieces; when browned, remove to a plate and brown the rest. Sprinkle paprika over both sides of all the pieces and return to the pot with the onion, garlic and green peppers. Toss to begin softening for about 5 minutes. Add in the water, salt, pepper and potatoes. This part should take about ½ hour. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, put a lid on the pot and allow to stew for about 1½ hours, or until the meat is beginning to fall off the bones. Check for seasoning. Serve in soup bowls.


My passion is to teach people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. Join me at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook and Pinterest.

An Old Slovak Recipe

I am currently dedicating myself to making all the foods I grew up with and getting photos of them.  It is incredible to think how I have taken for granted all these foods.  The family knows what they are, what they look like, and what they taste like.  Why take a photo?  All that is changing for me now.

Last night I dedicated to making Chicken Paprikas (or Paprikash, if you will), a recipe that came down from my Slovakian Grandmother.  I cannot begin to count how many times I have eaten this dish in my lifetime.  A hundred, for sure.  There was no actual written recipe that I ever knew of, so while I had the "recipe" in a family cookbook I made, the ingredients were a broad range of possibilities.  "Lots of paprika" is probably too vague for most!

Chicken Paprikash

First I decided to cut up a whole chicken and have my husband take photos of how it is done.  I don't know if I will ever need this sequence, but now I have it!  I am sure there are plenty of new cooks out there who haven't had the opportunity to cut up a chicken.  When I started out cooking 40 years ago, I really appreciated how-to photos. 

The recipe needs to be made with a whole chicken, or whole pieces of chicken, because the bones and skin really give all the flavor to the broth.  (I tried it once with just boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  It was not very good that way.)  I took the time to measure exactly how much of everything I used and write it down for the very first time.  I took photos every step of the way, too.  It turned out perfect, and perfectly seasoned, as I remember it.  I hope my Grandma would be proud!  Here is the photo of my dinner last night.

Chicken Paprikas

Chicken Paprikas

Makes at least 6 - 8 servings

1 whole chicken, cut up
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 - 4 cloves garlic, sliced or smashed
4  tablespoons sweet Hungarian Paprika
2½ cups water
1½ teaspoon salt
Pepper, to taste
½ cup flour for thickening
1 cups milk 

Cut up the chicken into the usual pieces; wing, breast, thigh, leg. Slice the onion thinly, and then cut the slices into quarter rounds.

Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch Oven; add the onions and saute till softened. Add chicken pieces and brown slightly on one side. Turn chicken pieces over and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the paprika onto the browned side of the chicken. Make sure that all the exposed surface of the chicken is fairly well covered. Once the second side of the chicken is browned, turn over once again and repeat with 1 more tablespoon paprika till this surface is also fairly well covered. Push these chicken pieces to one side, piling to keep out of the way and add in the rest of the chicken, repeating the browning process, and sprinkling with another tablespoon of paprika per side.

Add water to the pot till the chicken is nearly covered. Add salt and some pepper, if desired; bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until the chicken is done and will easily be pulled off the bones, about 1 to 1½ hours. Remove chicken pieces from the pot and set aside to cool slightly, reserving the broth in the pot. If there is too much fat floating on the top of the soup, use paper towels to skim off some of it. Whisk together the milk with the flour till fairly lump free. Place a strainer over the remaining pot of simmering broth, and pour the milk/flour slurry into the strainer, at the same time whisking the simmering liquid briskly, to thicken without lumps forming. This may take a little juggling if your strainer isn't long enough to hang across the pot! If so, pour some of the milk/ flour mixture into the strainer, whisk until incorporated, and pour in a little more and whisk some more. The goal is to have thickened the "soup" in the pot to a gravy. Mix until the milk/flour has been cooked in. Taste. Add salt if needed. At this point the mixture should be a lovely pinkish color from all the paprika. If not, add more paprika! Maintain a low simmer. Remove all the skin and bones from the chicken pieces. Tear the chicken into medium shreds. Add the chicken back into the pot and reheat. Serve over mashed potatoes or white rice.

NOTES: This dish must be made with whole chicken, on the bone. This is what makes the dish so flavorful. In the interest of a healthier outcome, I have tried using just boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The final product had no flavor at all. As a thought, possibly using chicken stock rather than water to cook it might help, but I strongly recommend using a whole cut up chicken.

In every other recipe for "Chicken Paprikash" I have ever seen, the step with the milk and flour added to thicken is conspicuously missing, yet there is always the addition of heavy cream or sour cream to the dish at the end. I have to wonder if Grandma, having made this through Depression times, had no cream or sour cream at hand, and substituted thickening it with the milk and flour? No way to be sure at this point in time. Out of curiosity though, I have added some sour cream at the end of making the dish Mom and Grandma's way, and Yum, it is good!

Mom always, always served this with cranberry sauce. The flavors are so ingrained in my mind together.

Mom also, very occasionally, would substitute veal stew meat for the chicken in this recipe, and then it was called "Veal Paprikas."

Mom never cooked with fresh garlic, but I learned to use and love it. I add in a couple of cloves of garlic, minced just before adding the water to the browned chicken to cook.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. I would love to hear from you, to help me continue my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest and sign up for my Newsletter.