Stories from lands afar…
Foreign main dishes
“The difficulties of life are intended to make us better – not bitter.”
When we first learned that we were going to Saudi Arabia, I told Lad that I didn’t want to go unless we could afford to travel and do a few things. I didn’t want to think about having to pinch pennies in a foreign country. At the same time we both knew in our hearts that Saudi Arabia was exactly where God wanted us to be thought we did not know why. It didn’t make sense for us to leave all we were doing her to go to a land where it was unlawful to practice Christianity.
So we went and finances were difficult in a foreign country where no one else (American anyway) had those kind of problems. But God has us so busy serving Him that our lack of money was not important. Besides, we were able to do many of things I wanted to do thanks to help from friends likes JoAnn and Gerry who took us to Spain on one of Gerry’s flights.
One day at lunch, we enjoyed a real Spanish dinner called Spanish Paella. I have never made it in America because I have never gotten around to invest in saffron, which is quite expensive here.
Spanish Paella
1/4 cup flour
A 2-3 lb chicken, cut up
1/4 cup olive oil
1 celery branch with leaves
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup diced pimiento
1/4 tsp oregano
2/3 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 tsp salt, dash of pepper
2 carrots, sliced longways
2 medium onions
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp saffron
9 oz artichoke hearts
3/4 lb shelled raw shrimp
12 small clams, in shells
Combine flour, salt and pepper in a bag. Add a few chicken pieces and shake to coat. In a heavy skillet, brown the chicken in hot oil for 20 minutes. Transfer to a large pot.
Add the next 10 ingredients, simmer and cover 30 minutes. Add artichoke hearts, shrimp and clams. Simmer covered 15-20 minutes. Serves 6-8 – enjoy with crusty bread and sangria.
I found this recipe in JoAnn’s cookbook after we returned from Spain. For most occasions, I would leave out the last three ingredients, but they do make the dish more attractive!
Fireside Stories 