Paella

A couple of weeks ago Michael and I made our first attempt at paella.  I'm not going to say it was a total failure, but we have some work to do!  At least it looks pretty : )

Last year when we went to the Dominican Republic, we both had paella for the first time and completely feel in love!   Yum!  I made friends with a Cuban woman from Boca Roton, FL who assured us that it was super easy to make and that all you needed was a good pan.  She suggested on from William Sonoma which was gasp....$315....WAY out of our price range.  Apparently I forgot the fact that my Cuban friend was loaded.  So instead I ordered Michael one for Christmas last year from World Market, for less than $15, which suited us just fine!

My Cuban friend was right, it wasn't too hard.  First you saute the peppers, tomatoes and onions and then made a stock.  After both veggies and stock were done you combine the two.  Add rice and simmer, then add seafood and bake in the oven or cook on the grill.  Finally, garnish with parsley and lemons, or whatever your recipe calls for.  

The trick apparently is getting the rice just rice.  Our local grocery store of course didn't have Spanish rice so we had to us Arboria.  One of the many faults of living in an uncultured city.  I shouldn't blame the rice completely, but it was the rice that we didn't like.  Better luck next time!

I'm not going to post the recipe for this, because like I said it needed work, and I know that there is a much better one out there!