I surprised myself with how easy – and good – this was.  I used this as a reference.  https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/paella/    It’s simpler than other recipes and I like simple as long as it tastes good – and this does!

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare the Rice:

• 3 ½ cups of rice
  • I used washed basmati rice – not “Spanish” rice, but very high quality (probably higher than the stuff they recommend in recipes).  I definitely wouldn’t use cheap white rice.  I also washed it and that wasn’t a problem.  I didn’t want mushy rice and leaving the starch can lead to that.
• Clean and put in paella pan (as recipe says, special pan is not mandatory – but sure looks nice!).

2. Prepare the Meat:

• 1 lb. large, cleaned shrimp (but kept 4 of the biggest whole to lay on top for effect).
  • Save shells/heads for liquid
• 1 large chicken breast in ¾” cubes
  • Sauteed quickly with some additional turmeric for color
• Muscles, squid, sausage, etc. can also be added.  I would guess keeping them in reasonable quantities would be important.

3. Prepare the Liquid:

• Boil discarded shrimp shells and heads for about 5 mins to make a seafood broth.  Set aside.
• I didn’t have real chicken stock, so I just added 3 cubes to the seafood broth.
• Combine cubed tomatoes, seafood broth, and chicken broth.
• You want the total liquid to more or less equal the amount of rice (3 ½  cups in this case)

4. Prepare the Sauté

• Chop your sauté ingredients and have them ready
• Very quickly sauté the spices (15-30 seconds – don’t burn it!) – NOT the saffron though
• Stop the spices from cooking by adding cold onion, green onion, garlic and bell pepper in with the toasted spices.
• Add ½ cup cooking sherry once translucent.
• Add the saffron
  • I used two pinches of hand-ground Persian saffron – as a powder it was probably 1/8 tsp. of spice (I use a tiny mortar and pestle – but a spoon and a small bowl might work)
  • Added a couple TBSP of boiling water to it and then tossed it in with the sauté.
• Add a few tsp of chopped parsley and mix.

5. Combine & Cook the Paella

1. Combine the rice, sauté, liquid and slightly cooked chicken (and any other meat you choose to use). 
2. Gently mix/fold it all.  
3. After it was mixed I strategically placed sliced jalapeños in half of it (Texans!)
4. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes on stove (uncovered). 
5. Shake (don’t stir) pan once or twice, if necessary – and add a bit of water, if needed.
6. Press so everything is submerged
7. Move pan to 300 degree oven (uncovered).
8. Cook 15-20 minutes
9. Remove from oven (can add a little water if it seems too dry – but don’t make it soggy)
10. Spread 1 cup green peas over the top
11. Gently press peeled shrimp and some of the peas into the rice (again, don’t stir it!)
12. Place the 4 big shrimp in center for effect (Add any other seafood, if using)
13. Add 8-10 sliced lemons on top in a circle
14. Increase heat to 350 degrees and cook until shrimp look done.
15. Remove, cover (I used a pizza pan, but a towel would work, too) and let it set for at least 15 mins.

INGREDIENTS

Liquid

• 3 Chicken bouillon cubes
• 3 tomatoes
• Salt & pepper (easier to add it to this)

Meat

• 1 lb shrimp
• 1 lg chicken breast

Spices

• 1 Tbsp. Paprika
• ½  tsp teaspoon Tumeric
• Bay leaf
• Couple pinches of high quality Saffron (obligatory)

Sauté

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. chopped parsley
• 1 lg. onion
• 3 green onions
• 1 Tbsp. fresh garlic
• 1 lg. bell pepper (I used ½ of a green and ½ of a yellow)

3 ½ cups rice (used basmati)

1 jalapeño

1 yellow lemmon