Copy cat

[Shuley]

Over on the guru there is a copycat challenge in which you are supposed to pick a cook and copy it. There were a few things I have been wanting to try, but DerHusker's paella has been something I have wanted to try for a while. My mom wanted to make paella last Christmas- but she isn't quite as into cooking as I am so she wanted to take lots of shortcuts- which made me so interested in what I could do taking DerHusker's recipe and only slightly altering it. I did have to make a few changes due to ingredient limitations. So I gathered my veggies and most other non protein ingredients. 

the rice is calsparra rice, by the way. Which is considered authentic in addition to Bomba rice.  Then I began chopping

i didn't dice my tomatoes and I used plum tomatoes because I remembered a technique from a Catalonian stew. You take the plum tomatoes, and use a box grater to remove the pulp from the skins, then that is cooked down with the onions for a while and thought that would apply nicely here. Then I got to working on my saffron broth. This was taken word for word from DerHusker. Crushed up saffron in a glass measuring cup then boiled with some white wine

then I got to working on the proteins. First, some shrimp including some insanely HUGE shrimp. I couldn't get any prawns, so I thought these would sub nicely. I included a picture with my finger in for scale because they were definitely the largest shrimp I have ever seen 

i pulled off the shells, threw in a hunk of butter, seasoned and let them cook a bitadded water to cover and now let it cook for a while to make a shrimp stock after a while, I strained out the shellsThen I started prepping some of the other ingredients 

and started heating the paella pan

I did the rest of the cooking from here on on my KK. I seasoned some bone in chicken thighs with smoked paprika, garlic powder, and salt and pepper and then put some color on them with some EVOO

after they had cooked a while, I added in some of the linguisa to cook as well

then I removed the chicken and linguist and Began to cook the onions and red peppers. then after a few minutes I added the tomato pulpafter that cooked down I added the rice in the shape of a cross 

then added my shrimp and saffron broths and stirred together then I added the linguisa and submerged the thighs

shut the lid for about 15 minutes and got the shellfish ready. Pulled out the clams and mussles. 

Went back out to my KK and this is now what it looked like- most of all that flavorful liquid was absorbed

then I added some peas and the clams. 

on go the mussels

I closed the dome for a few minutes before adding some more ingredients the monster shrimp, regular shrimp and calamari

after that cooked a while I added the lemons 

the clams and mussels were taking forever to cook so I ended up putting them directly on the grate and they opened within a minute so it kinda ruined the picture but by this time my mouth was watering uncontrollably 

but did I get the socarrat?

YES!!!  And it was delicious

too my great surprise, even with all the expensive ingredients the most amazing part was the rice. This was an  absolutely fabulous meal. So glad I tried it!

[MacKenzie]

Shuley, what an awesome cook, I just wish I could have been able to give it more than 1 LIKE. Beautifully done. 5 Stars.

[KayJab]

What an amazing cook. One of the best I've seen - made with real love....

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[Bruce Pearson]

Wow! That’s looks amazing and delicious! Great cook. I kept waiting for that pan to overflow lol.

[BIGSHEP]

That looks yummy. I wish I could have joined you for that feast.

[Tyrus]

Nice cook and wish I was there. I do love Portugese cooking, one of the reasons I visited the Azores. Many , many portugese in my area and the restaurants are traditional. That looks traditional to me and something worth trying. How about Shrimp Mozambique for a cook and Chicken Madiera if you like this type of cooking. Again that looked real good, love that stuff.   Please excuse my spelling

[tony b]

Shuley, all I can say is - NAILED IT!! Looks spectacular. Break a leg, kid, in the Guru Challenge!!!

[ckreef]

A really fantastic cook. When I saw that I really didn't even want to post mine - LOL - if you don't win it'll be a miracle. 

I will say I don't think I could have put those monster shrimp in there. As you were dropping them in a swear I heard them yelling from afar  "stuff me, stuff me!" 

 

[Shuley]

15 hours ago, MacKenzie said:

Shuley, what an awesome cook, I just wish I could have been able to give it more than 1 LIKE. Beautifully done. 5 Stars.

 

13 hours ago, KayJab said:

What an amazing cook. One of the best I've seen - made with real love....

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk
 

Thank you!  It was definitely a labor of love but an interesting process. I'm always looking to learn. 

[Shuley]

12 hours ago, Bruce Pearson said:

Wow! That’s looks amazing and delicious! Great cook. I kept waiting for that pan to overflow lol.

It actually didn't get close, but the pictures made it look that way. I learned that lesson when my mom and I made paella and it was spilling everywhere lol. 

[Shuley]

7 hours ago, BIGSHEP said:

That looks yummy. I wish I could have joined you for that feast.

Yeah, this was one of those meals that was killer when it was fresh and just pretty good when reheated. I should have had more people over!

[Shuley]

4 hours ago, wayne romanowicz said:

Nice cook and wish I was there. I do love Portugese cooking, one of the reasons I visited the Azores. Many , many portugese in my area and the restaurants are traditional. That looks traditional to me and something worth trying. How about Shrimp Mozambique for a cook and Chicken Madiera if you like this type of cooking. Again that looked real good, love that stuff.   Please excuse my spelling

I'll have to look into those dishes!  I love this kind of food but it's not really common in my area. Thanks for the kind words!

[Shuley]

4 hours ago, tony b said:

Shuley, all I can say is - NAILED IT!! Looks spectacular. Break a leg, kid, in the Guru Challenge!!!

Thank you!  I tend to suck in the challenges so we will see. 

[Shuley]

21 minutes ago, ckreef said:

A really fantastic cook. When I saw that I really didn't even want to post mine - LOL - if you don't win it'll be a miracle. 

I will say I don't think I could have put those monster shrimp in there. As you were dropping them in a swear I heard them yelling from afar  "stuff me, stuff me!" 

 

Thank you!  I really don't think I will win. I've never won any of them, but now it's more about trying things I'm curious about. Lol. I'll have to check out your cook later on today!!  I'm sure it is great. And I've never stuffed shrimp so I never even thought of that. However I liked eating these giant ones. They were almost like lobsters!  

[Tyrus]

2 hours ago, Shuley said:

I'll have to look into those dishes!  I love this kind of food but it's not really common in my area. Thanks for the kind words!

When I saw your cook I made a Linguica and black olive pizza for game time. Consider yourself fortunate because most areas around the country don't know or can't find this sausage. It's soooo good. An inspirational cook