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Thursday, June 7, 2018

Cajun Style Paella on the Grill




I've made a lot of seafood and mixed paella on the grill and wanted to do something different. Came across some nice looking crawdads and decided to put this together. I'm glad I did!

It took awhile to prep everything, but I wanted to have it ready when I got to the grill.
I cubed some boudin, tasso, chaurice and andouille...


Celery, onions, scallions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, parsley, lemons....


The cubed sausages, onions, garlic, peppers, scallions, celery, cubed chicken, crawfish tails, saffron...


Made a shrimp stock....



I went with a bit of duck fat for the fry...



Started with the celery, onions, garlic and peppers...


When they were starting to get tender, I added the chaurice, tasso and andouille...




Next came the chicken...



I added some okra, and let it fry to catch some color...




Time for the rice....




After cooking the rice for a few minutes to catch some flavor, I added tomatoes, the shrimp stock, cajun seasoning and saffron threads...






I covered the grill and let the rice cook and absorb the stock and seasonings..
Then added crawfish tails...




Some crab meat and boudin slices... I tucked the boudin down into the rice...


Next came some head on shrimp ( I love the flavor) and a few crawdads...



I closed the grill again and let these cook through..
Added lemon slices, scallions, parsley and called er good.





Served with a cold beer and lots of napkins.








I really liked this one better than past paellas and will make it again. The prep took a lot of time but the cook went fairly fast. I like the flavors the tasso, andouille, boudin and chaurice added to the rice. The bottom of the rice layer had a nice crust, just like I like it...
I was happy with the outcome.

Still having a dry spell here but the garden is doing fine. The windmill sort of fell apart during high winds, but it's repaired and up and running again. I'm hoping to go camping for a few days next week. Can't wait to do some campfire cooking.
Hope everyone is staying healthy and happy!
Thanks for stopping by!

6 comments:

Rob said...

Looks good! All that cubed stuff sounds like a good bit of prep time...
You put uncooked rice in & let it cook with the liquid from everything else?

Good luck with getting out camping!

cowgirl said...

Thanks Rob! Yes, it took awhile to get everything ready. I use uncooked Bomba rice. Any short grain rice would work. After the rice cooked a bit, I added shrimp stock. I didn't measure... but kept some stock handy in case I needed to add more while the rice was cooking. When the rice absorbs the liquids, I just check and see if it's tender enough. If not, I add more stock.
The rice really absorbs the flavors well.
Hope you give it a try sometime!
Thanks about the camping. I'm hoping to catch a few fish while out there.
Hope you have a great weekend! :)

Oneeye said...

Oh yea!

Errol Wayne said...

Looks awesome Cowgirl! I made some paella last year camping too, although a lot less ingredients. Short grain rice is a little harder to find around here but it came out tasty. Like the crunch of the rice.

cowgirl said...

Thank you Oneeye! Just got home from camping. Brought a few catfish home for the freezer.
Hope you had a great week!

cowgirl said...

Thanks so much Errol Judy! I bet your paella was fantastic!
I love the rice "crust" on the bottom too. I tried to snap a pic of some with this cook and made a big mess. lol
This version is my favorite paella so far. I think the spicy sausages won me over.
Hope you're having a great week too!