Q. Liz Asks: This weekend I made your Doable, Delicious Paella, but I had some problems and I’m trying to figure out what went wrong. After I added the broth and tomatoes it said to reduce heat to low and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes I lifted the lid and hardly any of the liquid was absorbed and the rice was still hard. I put the lid back on and cooked for another 15 minutes. When I checked it again it was better but the liquid was still hardly absorbed. I cooked for another 15 minutes and it was still pretty soupy but I went ahead and added the chicken, seafood, peas, and parsley. I put the lid on, cooked for another 5 minutes and turned the heat off. I let it sit for about 10 minutes with the lid on.
Though the dish was still very tasty–the flavors were wonderful–it looked nothing like the beautiful picture. Mine was more like a thick stew. I followed the recipe exactly except I used medium grain brown rice, not white. Do you think tha t was the problem? Opening and closing the lid several times didn’t help the rice either I suspect. I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks Pam!
A. Brown rice takes a lot longer to cook (45 to 50 minutes) compared with white rice (15 to 20 minutes) and seems to have had a big impact on Doable, Delicious Paella. Next time try the dish with the medium-grain white rice. You can also try it again with brown rice, adding the chicken and sausage back in after about 20 minutes and the seafood at the end. Because of the longer cooking time you may need more liquid and remember that medium grain rice is stickier than brown rice so you won’t get that creamy risotto-style dish. Thanks for checking in!
