Paella Valenciana

There was a lot of prep work involved in making this recipe, including shopping at several different stores, making fresh seafood stock, and lots of chopping. This is a time consuming and expensive dish, but it was quite delicious, and that's good because we get to make it again with a couple of substitutions! (First variation had blue crab and pimiento, the second stone crab and roasted red peppers.)

To make the stock, sauté chunks of carrots, onions, and celery (or fennel) with some garlic in oil. Then add 3 cups of water, about 1 cup of clam juice (with clams if necessary), and the odds and ends of shell fish (can be just the shells, but this time we had extra shrimp, clams, mussels and scallops that I added). Don't forget the bay leaf! And some salt and pepper. Simmer for an hour, then strain. After straining the broth, I picked out the meat and stuck it in the freezer to be used at a later date.

The recipe called for half a chicken, cut into four pieces. Picking out the bones while eating was a bit tedious and we'd probably prefer boneless chunks the next time we make paella - or maybe just drumsticks - but the second half was already prepped and in the freezer for the next variation before we realized that.

The pork and red snapper needed to be cubed, the onion, green pepper and tomatoes chopped, the whole lobster cut into chunks, and the rest of the ingredients gathered. Finally, we were ready to start cooking!

Paella Valenciana

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• bay leaf
• 1/2 pound pork loin, cut in chunks
• 1/2 chicken fryer, cut into four pieces
• 1/2 cup peeled tomatoes, diced
• 3 cups fresh seafood or chicken stock
• 1 pound red snapper, cut in chunks
• 1 pound lobster, cut in pieces
• 1/2 pound shrimp, raw and peeled
• 8 scallops
• 8 mussels, with shells on
• 4 clams, with shells on
• 4 stone crab legs or blue crabs, shells cracked
• 1 1/2 cups white rice, uncooked
• pinch saffron
• 1/4 cup white wine, optional
• asparagus spears and peas, cooked, for garnish
• sliced pimientos or roasted red peppers, for garnish

Heat oil in large Dutch oven and sauté onion and green pepper until soft. Add garlic, bay leaf, pork and chicken and cook until browned. Stir in tomatoes, stock and seafood and bring to a boil. Stir in rice and saffron and return to boil. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until everything is cooked and rice is soft. Sprinkle with wine. Serve warm with garnishes.

Version Two: With chicken stock, stone crab claws, and roasted red peppers.