Jose; you're going to love making paella on your performer!! I've got a very similar pan and have made paella several times for guests - always comes out fantastic! I typically follow Alton Brown's recipe as I like that best (google it). I also use spanish chorizo for sausage and buy that from a local shop here, but you can get it online as well. Have a great time!
Thanks Pete! I watched the video on the recipe and his paella looks delicious. And yes, although chorizo is not traditional, I will be adding that to mine
.
That said, I am fluent in Spanish and my research took me to Spain, where I found
Wikipaella (they have an English link). The site is based in Valencia and they are committed to maintaining the classic recipe alive.
The problem that I see with Alton's recipe is that the steps are in the wrong order for classic Valencia paella, but correct for the non-traditional seafood paella. That is actually a dish that evolved from one called "Arroz a la Banda" and was cooked in ships. You see, traditional paella rice, Callasparra or Bomba (take your pick) absorbs many times more liquid than regular rice. This is where the flavor is. So, Spaniards in general regard the broth made in the pan to be superior to anything else, some even add the first amount of water then reduce that and add more water to fit the amount for the rice. All this before adding the rice.
Here's a video (one of six) that Wikipaella made where they filmed six Spanish chef's making the traditional paella Valenciana. Don't worry there is only music no speech
. They are all extremely similar. The one below is one that added ground pork meatballs in addition to the chicken and rabbit. All of them have the Spanish "musica" beans and the large, white Butter beans, which are just mature lima beans and available most anywhere canned. By the way, when you see him add salt to the oil that's so the oil and the pan don't burn from the heat. Nice trick.
http://youtu.be/2wSfwJuYzUs
Thanks again!
Jose
