Saturday 16 June 2012

Sort of Spanish Barbecued Chicken Stew.

Disaster has struck. My dishwasher is kaput. After bailing out 2 inches of mucky water at the bottom (which turns out to be about 8 litres, once it's in a bucket) and cleaning the filter etc my personal diagnosis is that the motor is fucked. They do have motors, right? I haven't been able to get anyone out to look at it yet, so I am back to washing up by hand.

It'll be a lot of one-pot meals and not a lot of elaborate cakes and so on until we can get it fixed.

I've posted before about sticking a pot on the fire. Not only do you get a one-pot meal (although the one pot takes quite a bit of washing), but there is something about the very fine, rapid bubble that means the sauce emulsifies to a rich, creamy texture with very little encouragement.

Browning the chicken thighs in the lovely chorizo oil
We started by browning chunks of chorizo in olive oil, then when they were well-browned and had given up some of their delicious red oil, we browned some bone-in, skin-in chicken thighs.

Once the skin on the thighs was really crisp and browned, in went sliced onions, garlic and peppers, a spoonful of sweet paprika and a hefty spoonful of pil pil seasoning, followed by a can of crushed tomatoes and some home-made chicken stock.

Beautifully browned chicken
Once everything was at a rollicking boil, in went some rice. We used arborio, but just because it was open - we were going for a fairly soupy consistency and didn't really need the particular starchy qualities of risotto rice. Then, when everything was very nearly perfectly cooked, we added some prawns, mussels and squid (i.e tub of seafood mix) and just let it finish in the heat.

In a perfect world, we would have finished this with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of chopped parsley. We live in an imperfect world.

Splashes on the plate - further proof of the imperfection of the world

8 comments:

leaf (the indolent cook) said...

It still looks tremendously delicious, even without your ideal finishing touch! All those ingredients must be sensational together.

Bettina Douglas said...

very tasty.
Zero sympathy re: the dishwasher from this dishwasher-free-zone.

Hotly Spiced said...

Your imperfect world looks pretty good. So sorry to hear about your dishwasher. I was in the same situation a couple of weeks ago. It took the guy five days to get out here to fix it. I couldn't believe it. Whatever happened to 'same day service'? xx

Alicia Foodycat said...

Leafy - it really is a great mixture.

Mother - we're much more likely to have grilled-something-and-salad if I have to wash up myself.

Charlie - I hope it was an easy fix!

Angie's Recipes said...

I would have to lick the plate clean! It looks so tasty!

Mary Bergfeld said...

It sounds like a delicious creation and it really doesn't look bad. I hope your dishwasher problems are soon solved. It's hard to go back to the old ways once you've been exposed to what machines such as the dishwasher can do. have a good weekend. Blessings...Mary

Simona Carini said...

Much sympathy from this quarter: I dread the day our old dishwasher decides to retire. However, I am lucky my husband doesn't mind doing the dishes, when necessary. I find your use of the fire very intriguing.

tori said...

There is nothing more miserable than bailing out a dishwasher (except, possibly, a washing machine). My heartfelt sympathies. My dishwasher is a nonfunctional droid that hisses at things rather than cleans them. If it was an employee, I'd fire it. This, on the other hand, looks like a stunning, stunning dinner. x

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