Found this picture, wondering why I didn’t write up to post. Might have mixed up somewhere. Glad to be able to remember the ingredients and write up to post and glad I have hand written down. Got to look through all my pictures to make sure I don’t miss them and the written down recipes.

Anyway, my sister gave me some mussels from the fisherman on a pier where she went fishing. I have leftover fried drumettes. Have been craving for paella. I have some medium grain left, if I don’t use it, it will soon expire. Decided to do vegetables paella since I have vegetables to go with mussels and fried drumettes. Don’t like wasting food.

Fried drumettes recipe are below. You have to cook it first before doing your paella. I just warm up mine in oven in the last 10 minutes and add in when I serve my paella. My paella is tasty, delicious as mussels are fresh from the sea. Let’s enjoy the food that God had provided for me and help me find the picture and recipe.

Ingredients

16 mussels, scrubbed and debearded
250 g medium grain rice
700 ml water, plus extra
1 bunch baby carrots, peeled, trimmed
250 g cherries tomatoes
200 g sliced mushrooms
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
5 garlic cloves, peeled
1 small red Spanish onion, peeled and chopped
1 red capsicum, deseeded, cut into strips
2 bay leaves
1 Tbs garlic minced
2 Tsp cayenne powder (OPT)
1 Tsp paprika powder
1 Tsp oregano dried
1/2 Tsp nutmeg powder
olive oil
Drizzle lemon juice
A pinch or two of chilli flakes
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Preheat oven 180 degrees C fan forced. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the carrot on prepared tray. Roast for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes. Roast for 15 minutes or until vegetables are soft and lightly browned.

Heat the olive oil in a paella pan over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and cook well until it starts to brown, then add the capsicum and garlic and continue to cook over medium heat until softened. Tip in cayenne and paprika, stir and cook lightly for a few seconds, don’t overdo it or they will burn. Add chopped tomato and cook a couple of minutes longer. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool about 5 minutes then puree to a paste.

In the same pan, heat another 1-2 tbsp olive oil and fry the rice well until starting to colour a bit. Add capsicums, mushrooms, onion paste, bay leaves, oregano, nutmeg, and fry for about 5 minutes. Stir in the water and pepper.

Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat right down. Cook the rice for about 25 minutes, without stirring, adding a splash of water if it’s drying out. Bring out roasted carrots and cherries tomatoes, let cool for 5 minutes. Then cut them to bite size and set aside. I know it may be messy and mushy.

When the rice is just about cooked and the moisture has mostly been absorbed (it shouldn’t be soggy), add the mussels, pushing them well down into the rice. Continue to cook until the mussels open. Once all the mussels have opened, remove from the heat, add in carrots and cherries tomatoes. Gently mix them up and taste if needed salt. Set rice in a warm place for 5-10 minutes. Before serving, drizzle lemon juice and sprinkle chili flakes.

Note: you can use vegetables stock. You can have any ingredients like prawns or fish instead of mussels. You may omit cayenne powder and chili flakes. You don’t have to roast carrot and cherries tomatoes. Just parboil carrot and cut them into bite size. Cherries tomatoes can be added with capsicum just cut into half or chopped. You can add any herbs. Discard mussels that are not open. Do not put salt too much as mussels spits out sea water.

https://helenscchin.com/2021/07/09/paella-vegetables-mussels-and-fried-drumettes/

My fried drumettes recipe: https://helenscchin.com/2020/08/03/fried-drumettes/

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