Chris McMahon's Blog

Real paella is made in one pan. This recipe is "fake" because the seasoned rice is prepared separately from the other ingredients and added at the end. The advantage is that we can include a bigger variety of fresh vegetables. Feel free to vary the amounts below for your own taste.   Invest in preparation. Once you start cooking, this process goes very quickly. Seasoned rice: 2 cups long grain white rice. (I like jasmine rice, but any will do) 1 spice bottle of saffron (about 1 gram, get the biggest amount for the least cost you can find, more is better) Dried oregano, a healthy shake Cumin to taste (I go easy on cumin, too much smells like armpits) Black pepper, just a bit  Meat and seafood: 1/2 pound or more savory sausage links, like spicy Italian, Andouille, or Spanish chorizo, cut in thin medallions (Note that sausage is required because all the other ingredients rely on a little sausage grease in the pot. If you omit sausage, add a little oil to coo

These are three of my favorite large scale recipes. They all feature complete and concentrated nutrition. They all involve a significant commitment of labor and time, so I learned to make them in large batches. Also, they can all be made in a concentrated form, and reconstituted at serving time by adding water. The marinara and green chile are particularly amenable to freezing and refreezing over and over. Enjoy... Marinara: 5-6 pounds fresh red tomatoes (or more), diced 1 head garlic, skinned and crushed 1 small yellow onion, diced 4 oz fresh basil, diced 4+ oz grated fresh parmesan cheese (optional, see vegan note below) 1 or 2 small cans tomato paste olive oil dried oregano to taste black pepper to taste salt to taste Dice the onion and crush or dice the garlic into a large pot. Cover with olive oil and cook until onion is transparent. Dice the tomatoes and fresh basil and add to cooked onion/garlic. Stir. Add tomato paste, grated parmesan, oregano and black pepper.  Simmer at least