Looking for Paella help

[San Jose Dale]

I am looking for some advice on the method for making paella in the WFO. I found lots of recipes here but wondering about the technique for a WFO. I have been making it for years on a burner, but never in an oven. I though someone here might have some experience.

Thanks,

Dale

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Looking for Paella help

Hi Dale,

I had the pleasure of personally watching (and listening to) the incomparable Antonio Laudisio (Laudisio Italian Restaurant) prepare a paella at the inaugural Forno Bravo Expo in 2010. He began the dish by lightly sauteing his rice in oil and garlic, then gradually added each of the components much as you would on the stovetop. The heat of the oven caused him to periodically remove the pan from the oven to keep it from getting too hot. He would also add water from time to time to keep the top from drying out/bottom burning. The second photo is actually of his chicken breast/sausage dish, but included for you to see the size of the oven he was cooking in.

The paella picked up the smoke flavor of the red oak that was being burned and was wonderful.

Hope this helps.

John

[San Jose Dale]

Re: Looking for Paella help

Thanks John, well at least I know it can be done The issues I think are getting teh appripiate temp so it doesn't burn and compensating for heat from above.

Dale

[TropicalCoasting]

Re: Looking for Paella help

My mum used to make a baked rice dish similar to a paella that was a family favourite she used to cook it in a WFO as a young girl but had to convert to gas in Australia.(no WFO).
When I try a traditonalish paella and put it in the oven the prawns and mussels burn on top and dry out. Its supposed to be cooked from bellow only.
Mums baked rice recipe had no smoked paprika and chorizo or roasted red peppers as bull fighters capes.
Just rice, stock,chicken, onion,parsley, garlic, oregano, sweet paprika and capsicum.
The trick seems to be to leave out the seafood (although squid would be ok in a long cook) or bury it deep or throw it in in the last 30 seconds or minute.
Your major hurdle is rice takes about 10 minutes to cook and seafood doesn't and the flavour of the seafood paella is the mussel juices combined with the rice.
or
Precook the mussels, remove the juices add to the rice and decorate at the end with the mussels and prawns.

[San Jose Dale]

Re: Looking for Paella help

Tropical Coasting, good advice. I actually had decided to precook the seafood as you suggested, so I sauteed the prawns and chicken in the chorizo grease until almost done, I did do the clams however in the oven 100%, which seemed to work fine. I also increased the liquid to rice ratio just a bit as well, figuring the evaporation would be greater in the oven. Turned out well, I did one practice run before our holiday meal.