Comfort foods are just that, ways to make us feel at ease. Whether it’s after a long day or simply to take our minds out of negative spaces, comfort food is something that Dylan and I have been turning to more and more as of late. Can you really blame us though? I’ve been out of work for the better part of a month by now, and many yearlong projects that I do for non-profits have been canceled. Poof! All gone. Like many of our friends, family, and neighbors, the past few weeks have been difficult to comprehend and cope with.

That’s when I decided to take inspiration from my colleagues and friends who have been showcasing their own quarantine activities and lend my support to the movement; I picked up a chef’s knife and got to work. Its been incredibly calming, chopping and prepping the mise en place, that it takes me out of the doom and gloom, and puts my attention squarely on the canvas of food I’m painting. To start off, I made something that I know would bring Dylan joy, especially after a long day at work: His favorite food, Paella.

**There’s a reason this is one of Dylan’s favorite foods: It’s so comforting!**

With a delay in the farmer’s markets this year due to the pandemic, we utilized ingredients we had in our fridge and freezer to make this Chicken, Rabbit, and Sausage Paella. This dish is closer to a traditional Paella with its inclusion of rabbit, but feel free to change the ingredients and additions to fit your Kitchen and tastes. The same cooking logic applies to the recipe, which makes Paella an incredibly versatile comfort food. All the ingredients we used can be purchased from either Lark and Larder, The Boise Farmers Market, or Roots Zero Waste Market. Furthermore, our rabbit and chickens came from Hen and Hare Microfarm, our herbs (an optional addition to homemade chicken stock which I highly recommend) came from Purple Sage Farms, and the sausage came from Malheur River Meats. If this dish inspires you, feel free to support our local food community directly to create your own version of this!

First, and foremost, you’ll want to have some stock ready. Chicken stock is the general go-to, but vegetable also works well! For this one, I customized it a little bit and tossed in not only chicken bones from the thighs that I prepped, but also the rabbit bones we had, some frozen Basque-style peppers that I chopped up, and some spices like bay leaves, juniper berries, and good old fashioned thyme. I let all that cook down with quite a few cups of water in out Instapot for a few hours and then strained it, packaged it, and reserved what I needed for the recipe. Regular chicken stock, even store-bought, is perfectly ok for this Paella!

The first step to making a good paella is the Sofrito, which has A TON of the flavor that will deepen as it cooks. Assuming all the chopping and prep is done, start with a good turn of olive oil in the Paella pan over medium-high heat. It’s very important that you use this type of pan to make Paella, as it has much more surface area, and conducts heat much better than a regular pan. Once the oil is nice and hot, drop in the diced onion, and sprinkle on a nice chef’s pinch worth of salt. This will help the onions sweat a bit easier and speed up the caramelization process. Let that cook for about 5 minutes, then add in the peppers and get them nice and soft, another 5 minutes or so. Once that’s all good, add the dry spices and toast them for another 30 seconds or so. Lastly, toss in the garlic until you can smell it. That’s a great indicator that the garlic has lost its raw punch and will blend into the dish well. It’s also a great indicator of when to take the garlic off direct heat. If garlic keeps cooking past this point, it’ll get bitter, and eventually burn.

**This luscious ruby red stock does wonders in terms of flavor!**

Once you have the delicious smell of garlic wafting through your kitchen (30 seconds to a minute), add in the crushed tomatoes, drop the heat to medium and let that develop a deep red color and thicken up a bit, around 10 minutes or so. While that’s going, get that stock up to a simmer in a large saucepan, so it’ll be nice and hot when we add it to the Paella. If you are recreating this recipe exactly, Cook the rabbit legs at this point by searing them in a hot pan with a splash of oil over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes each side. Set them aside for later.

**A little salt and pepper go a LONG way!**

Once the Sofrito is sufficiently rustic red, push it over to the edge of the Paella pan, and add another good turn of oil in the center. Add in the chicken and brown for 5 minutes or so. Push the chicken to the side, and add in the diced rabbit meat and brown for an additional 4 minutes or so. Push that to the side as well, add in the diced sausage, and cook for an additional minute or two. At this point, combine ALL the delicious meat with the sofrito, and mix it all together well. Add in most of the broth, about 3 cups, and add the rice, making sure to evenly distribute the grains throughout the pan. Bring this to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook for about 5-6 minutes, so that the rice starts to break the surface of the stock. At this point, add the rabbit legs, cover, and reduce the heat to let the Paella simmer gently. Don’t touch it while it simmers! This should take about 10 minutes but sneak a peak after that to see if the rice is drying out. You should have a little stock left just in case it does.

When the rice is nice and al dente, crank the heat up to medium-high and move the pan around to distribute the heat evenly. If you don’t, you’ll get a great big patch of burn on the bottom of your pan. What you want to do is slightly crisp and caramelize the rice on the bottom of the pan. This rice is called the Soccarrat, and it’s considered a delicacy in Spain. It provides a delicious textural element to the paella that invites bite after bite! Only have the heat up for about 1-2 minutes or so. You’ll want to check with a spoon to make sure it’s not burning and has the consistency you’d like. Finally, turn off the heat, sprinkle on some thawed peas, cover, and let the magic of time do its work. Let it sit for 10 minutes at least before garnishing with lemon wedges and serving! If no lemons (like we left out when we made this), the paella will still taste great as is!

**It stacks ever so nicely on a plate!**

Nothing beats seeing Dylan’s eyes light up when he comes home from a very long day of work and being surprised with his favorite food. Over a plate of good paella, the stress and concerns of the world can melt away, even for just a short time. We certainly experienced that with this hearty dish. Enjoy, and Happy Eating!

Chicken, Rabbit and Sausage Paella

Makes: 6-8 hearty servings

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes (2-4 hours if making homemade stock)

Cooking Time: 45-50 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Sofrito:

A turn or two of olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 red bell peppers, finely diced
3-4 cloves minced garlic
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon pimenton, or smoky paprika (optional)
2 teaspoons Spanish Paprika (3 if not using pimenton)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 bay leaf

For the Paella:

A good turn of olive oil
2 chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 medium rabbit, legs set aside and saddle meat cut into 1 inch cubes (about 4-6 ounces)
4 ounces Spanish style sausage, diced
3 ½ cups chicken stock(or use your own from the parts set aside while prepping the rest of the ingredients!)
1 ½ cups Bomba or Calasparra rice (arborio can work as a substitute as needed)
2 teaspoons salt
A sprinkling of frozen peas, thawed.
Lemon wedges, for garnish

Instructions:

1. Over medium-high heat, add a good turn of olive oil to the Paella pan. Once the oil is shimmering, add the onions and cook until translucent and tender, stirring frequently, about 5-10 minutes or so. Adding a pinch of salt can help speed up this process. Then, add the red pepper, and proceed to cook for 2-3 minutes more, just to soften them a bit. Add the garlic and cook only until aromatic, about 30 seconds to a minute or so. Then, push the sofrito the side, and add the spices in the ban, toasting them for about 30 seconds. Then mix the sofrito into the spices, and add the crushed tomatoes, bay leaf, and a sprinkle of salt to taste. Reduce the heat down to medium and cook until thicken and deep red in color, about 10 minutes. Stir frequently to make sure the sofrito doesn’t burn!

2. At the same time, add a good turn of oil into a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add generous salt and pepper to the Rabbit legs, and sear until browned, about 4-5 minutes per side. Set legs aside for later.

3. While the Sofrito intensifies, bring your stock to a simmer in a saucepan.

4. Let’s make the paella! Once the Sofrito is sufficiently deep red and thick, push it to the side of the pan and add another turn of oil. Once this oil is shimmering, add the chicken and sauté until nice and evenly browned, about 5-7 minutes or so. Push the chicken to the side, add the diced rabbit meat, and brown for 3-4 minutes or so. Add the sausage, and combine everything together with the sofrito. Ladle 3 cups of stock into the sofrito and stir in the rice and a good 4-finger pinch of salt. Increase the heat to medium-high and boil for about 5 minutes. Then, reduce heat to medium-low, and add the rabbit legs to the Paella. Cover, and simmer gently undisturbed for at least 10 minutes. If the rice looks dry, add the rest of the stock to the pan.

5. Once the rice is cooked, remove the lid and increase the heat to medium-high, Cook for two minutes or so until the bottom layer of rice begins to caramelize, creating a socarrat. Make sure to watch your pan so that the rice doesn’t burn!

6. Use a spoon to check the socarrat. If the rice is al dente and the bottom layer is toasty, but not burnt, remove from the heat and sprinkle on the peas. Cover, and let the paella rest for at least 10 minutes. Finishing the paella by garnishing with lemon wedges.

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Apr 12 Comfort Food to Ease the Soul: Traditional-Style Paella with Chicken, Rabbit, and Sausage