Ingredients
6 cups very strong chicken broth preferably homemade
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1 small onion peeled
2 small chickens about 2 1/2 pounds each
coarse salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 pound chorizo sausage in 1/4 inch slices
1 large pork chop, boned and diced
A 1/4 pound piece curred ham diced
1 medium onion chopped
4 scallions chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
2 pimientos homemade or imported diced
1 pound small or medium shrimp shelled
2 live lobsters split and divided into tail sections and claws (discard or keep the head and small claws) or 4 lobster tails, split lenghtwise or 8 king crab claws or 8 jumbo shrimp in their shells
3 cups short grain rice
5 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 bay leaves crumbled
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 pound fresh or frozen peas
18 clams, smallest available at room tempeture
18 small mussels
lemon wedges for garnish
chopped parsely for garnish
chopped clams for garnish
Preparation
Heat the broth with the saffron and the whole onion. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Remove the onion and measure the broth you need exactly 5 1/2 cups. Cut the chicken into small pieces the whole breast in 4 parts each thigh into 2 parts the bony tip of the leg chopped off, the wing tip discarded and the rest of the wing separated into 2 parts. Dry the pieces well and sprinkle with salt. In a metal paella pan with about a 15 inch base heat the oil. Add the chicken pieces and fry over high heat until golden. Remove to a warm platter. Add the chorizo, pork and ham to the pan and stir fry about 10 minutes. Add the chopped onion. scallions, garlic and pimientos and saute until the onion is wilted. Add the shrimp and the lobster and saute about 3 minutes more or until the shrimp and lobster barely turn pink (the lobster will cook more in the oven) Remove the shrimp and lobster to the platter with the chicken. Add rice to the pan and stiur to coat it well with the oil. Sprinkle in the 5 tablespoons chopped parsley and the crumbled bay leaves.(make in advance up to this point) Stir in the chicken broth boiling hot, the wine lemon juice and peas. Salt to taste. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally over medium heat about 10 minutes. Bury the shrimp and the chicken in the rice. Add the clams and the mussels, pushing them into the rice with the edge that will open facing up. Decorate the paella with the lobster pieces then bake at 325 degree oven uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit on top of the stove, lightly covered with foil for about 10 minutes, To serve decorate with lemon wedges and chopped parsley
