A very wise man and yes he is correct no one single person is ever going to change the world we all have to change ourselves and then collectively maybe, just maybe we can change a small portion of our beautiful world. I am on a roll with my foodie experiments I am now an owner of a home-made dryer, trying to sundry Tomatoes which we love and are very expensive here and not overly great I will say. We are now on our second day and they are shrivelling up quite nicely. Pics of the finished product to follow next time. We used window mesh ( the one that keeps out the nasties) and it cost 40B, the wood was some we had in the shed and voila a nice covered little box. A bit of Himalayan Salt and some fresh Rosemary and away we go, so fingers crossed and my next pic will be lovely sun-dried Tomatoes in Olive oil.mmmm

Yesterday evenings dinner was a family favourite a mixed Paella of Chicken, Chorizo (which was my bargain of the week) from ” Mr Makro ” at 140B for the whole catering size chorizo it sure was a bargain and lovely fresh seafood straight from the boats.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Aribo Rice
• 1 Litre of chicken stock with a few strands of saffron added.
• 2 Chicken Breasts cubed.
• A piece of Chorizo about 150 gm sliced and quartered.
• I onion.
• 3 cloves garlic.
• 1 chilli.
• I red Pepper.
• Half Kilo of Prawns.
• 1 kilo of Mussels.
• 5 baby squid.
• Half Lemon.

Let’s Cook!

Cook Chorizo in tbsp Olive Oil until lightly browned add chopped onion and cook for 2 mins. Put in a dish and leave on one side.

Lightly Brown Chicken in remaining oil and put on one side.

Cook cubed red pepper, chilli, garlic until softened. and put in a dish on one side.

Add rice to the pan and stir to cover with remaining oil( can add peas at this point) and add stock cook on rolling simmer 5-10mins or until the rice has nearly absorbed all liquid. Add chicken and either continue to cook on the hob or put in the oven on 180 degrees. Check and top up with water or stock if required if rice is too dry for 20 mins.

Add Chorizo and Pepper mix cook for further 10 mins checking and stirring or topping up stock if required. Add Prawns and cook for further 10 mins. Add Mussels and cook another 8-10 mins until open. Add squid for last 3 mins of cooking.

Squeeze over lemon and garnish with lemon slices or quarters and if you have parsley in the fridge add some chopped as a garnish. If the rice still has not been absorbed by the stock I cook of on top of stove until absorbed.

Then serve…….. this is very much a recipe where the amount of stock depends on rice absorption and also what meat or fish you have. If I have some to use or in the freezer then I might add or use chicken thighs instead of breast. The mussels we got yesterday were quite big so we steamed before adding to Paella or if I have just shelled Mussels I stir through.

So really anything goes just you and your imagination, as you make more you will learn how to adjust to your own taste and once the initial prep is done it is quite easy to make…enjoy experimenting. It can also be cooked on a BBQ and then you get that lovely crust the Spanish call socarrat, on the bottom of the pan…lovely.

Thank you for reading this post I hope you have enjoyed it if you have please share it on your favourite social media…

Stay safe and be well xx