Paella

So we have decided to try our hand at some variety in cooking, and are looking to the various cuisines of the world to help with that.  As such, this month we decided to try some paella, from the Andalusian region of Spain.  It's basically a chicken, sausage, seafood mishmash in rice.  We started with Tyler Florence's recipe from the Food Network, but made a couple of modifications, noticeably removing the clams (couldn't find any) and swapping the entire chicken for a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Also, Tyler says this makes 4-6 servings.  I would call it 8-12.  You can EASILY halve this recipe.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons oregano
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in large chunks
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 chorizos, cut in large chunks
1 Vidalia onion or 1016, diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
1 bunch flat (italian) parsley, chopped
1 can of whole peeled tomatoes, drained
4 cups medium grain rice
6 cups water
big pinch of saffron (this stuff is way expensive, fyi)
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 lobster tails (we had to peel ours to get them to cook right)
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

Steps

1. Rub paprika and oregano all over the chicken breast pieces.  Salt/pepper the pieces as well.  Set in a bowl in the refrigerator for an hour.
2. Cook chorizo in oil until browned over medium-high heat in a large pan.  It will separate into what appears to be ground pork.  Set aside.  You can start this after chicken has been in the fridge 45 minutes or so.
3. Cook chicken pieces in the same pan until browned, cooked.  Set aside.
4. Reduce heat to medium.  Cook garlic, onion, and parsley in the same pan 2-3 minutes, turning frequently.
5. Crush tomatoes by hand into the mixture, stir, and cook another 4-5 minutes.
6. Add rice, and stir into onion mixture.  Add water, and simmer for 10 minutes - don't worry about bringing to a boil, that may cook too much liquid off (what we did).
7. Add chorizo and chicken back, and pinch of saffron.  Add shrimp, and cook for 8 minutes, turning occasionally.
8. Shake the pan heavily, cook for about 5-10 minutes.
9. Add lobster, cook another 5-10 minutes until cooked through.
10. Turn up heat to high for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes or so.  Sprinkle in the peas and serve.

That's it - hope you enjoy it.We had it with some Crianza from the Rioja region of Spain.  I presume it would go well with white wine as well.

Sunflowers

So I had this great idea to plant sunflower seeds every two weeks from March until July, so I would have staggered growth and sunflowers blooming for a long cycle, but nature beat me to the punch and these remnants from last year's seeds came up first. We'll see if the rest make it.
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Half Dark

Well, one of my light fixtures blew a bulb, and then when I turned it over, I found that the plastic end to the plug had totally come undone, meaning I couldn't even put a new bulb in.  So, time for new lights.  As you can see, the aquarium is currently sporting a pretty fancy half-and-half look.

Did you know that aquarium lights are EXPENSIVE?  No?  Well, they are.  Some even range up into the HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS FOR A SINGLE LIGHT.  Luckily, I found some that were not as expensive (difficult considering I'm buying two sets at 36" apiece), and was able to leverage an Amazon Gift Card to make that happen with zero out of pocket cash.  I'll end up with dual bulb fixtures, too, with a 6700K light and a plant grow light (something my plants have wanted anyway, but I was hesitant to give them, ha).

Hopefully they show up soon, and I'll snap another pic.  Also did some maintenance Thursday night, including refilling my CO2 canister (yeast-based) and swapping out some filter media.  Yay for aquarium maintenance.

Tomatoes

First this year - a couple of Cherokee Purples and a couple Rutger's Select (ripening). I always try to pick before they "vine ripen" so the pests don't get them. They'll ripen on my counter just fine.
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May Cocktail of the Month - Mint Julep

OK so this post is a little late for you to get your pour ready for the Kentucky Derby, but you might as well enjoy this cocktail once this month.  I bought a little too much mint (don't do that), so I have a few more probably to make later in the month.

What you need:
Bourbon
Crushed Ice
Mint
Sugar
Water
spoon
muddler or wooden spoon

How to make it:

1. Take about 15 mint leaves and put them in a glass (if you have a julep glass or collins glass, awesome, but if not, use a rocks glass like I have inappropriately used above).  Sprinkle in about a teaspoon of sugar (you can use more, it won't hurt) and a little bit of water (no more than a tablespoon).  
2. Take your wooden spoon or muddler and smash the mint leaves around and around until the sugar is no longer visible in there (this point is debated by julep fanatics, but is not debated by me).
3. Fill glass to the brim with crushed (as finely as possible) ice.
4. Add 2 1/2 ounces (I use a shot glass as a measuring device, but don't use one that's too big) of bourbon to the ice.  
5. Stir it up with your spoon, you should see some mint come up into suspension in the ice.
6. Top it off with more crushed ice.
7. Stick a sprig of mint in there as a garnish (you bought too much.  What else are you going to do with it?)
8. Drink it, but hold it from top or bottom so you get a nice frosty frost on the outside of the glass.
9. Enjoy!

Congratulations to Animal Kingdom for winning the Kentucky Derby and also for having what I considered to be the worst name of any Derby horse in the running this year.