Joe'S Paella - Traditional Valencia Chicken & Seafood

• A good paella pan that serves about 2 to 3 people
• Olive Oil
• 250g of Clams
• 10 to 12 Mussels
• 250g of small cooked Prawns
• 250g of Calamari or Squid cut into rings
• 4 to 6 large Prawns
• Good pinch of Saffron
• 1 head of Garlic, crushed
• 400g of Chicken, (breasts or thighs, boned & skinned) sliced into small chunks
• Half a Red Pepper, diced
• Half a Green Pepper, diced
• 1 small Onion, diced
• 1 Chicken stock cube - I use Knorr, they are by far the best I've found, although feel free to use a different variety
• 1 cup of medium grain Paella Rice.
• Handful of frozen Peas
• 4 Pickled Red Peppers, rinsed
• 1 unwaxed Lemon, sliced into 4 wedges.
• -IMPORTANT-
• 1 person = Half a cup of rice = 1 cup of water "plus a bit".
• As we are serving 2 people and hence using 1 cup of rice, we use 2 cups of water "plus a bit", so about 2 & a half/3 cups of water, no more!
• STAGE 1 - STOCK
• Peel small prawns removing the shells and heads & place in a bowl, reserve the prawn meat until stage 3. Clean the mussels & put half of the mussels aside until stage 3.
• Pour measured water into heavy pot, throw in mussels & clams, bring to the boil. Gently boil until all shells have opened. Remove the clams & mussels & any meat in the pot and put aside. Throw in the shells from the peeled prawns, add the majority of the saffron (but not all) and the chicken stock cube & bring back to the boil. (Note- this dish gets it salt from the stock cube so don't add anymore.) In the meantime, separate all the meat from the boiled mussels & clams & discard the shells, put aside the meat until stage 3. Try and do this over a bowl & throw back into the pot any remaining liquid
• Once the stock is boiling, gently simmer for about 5 mins, until it has achieved a deep yellow colour, then sieve out into a jug or pot, discard the shells & put aside until stage 3.

1. STAGE 2 - BASE
2. In a small pot, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom, (4-6 tblspns), add the chicken & cook on medium heat until chicken starts sizzling then add crushed garlic, diced onions & red & green peppers. Cook through for 6-7 mins until all the onion & peppers are soft & there is a reasonable amount of juice in the bottom of the pot. Reserve to one side.
3. STAGE 3 - PAELLA
4. Place paella pan over the stove or gas burner. Add the BASE to the pan, then the rice, and quickly stir around until evened out. Then pour in STOCK (don't worry if theres a bit more than usual, keep this as you may need to add it as the rice soaks up a lot of the liquid.) & add the rest of the saffron. Add the squid, cooked clams & mussels, small prawns & frozen peas. Stir around until even then layer large prawns, mussels and pickled red peppers & spread out like a paella.
5. Lower the heat down to a simmer, as low as it can go, & gently cook for 25-30 minutes. Don't mess around with it, let it cook on its own but keep a watchful eye over it. Towards the end of the cooking time, I usually take the large prawns out & give it a good mix, making sure the whole paella is cooked through properly, theres nothing worse than raw rice.
6. Once this has cooked, turn off the heat, place lemon wedges on top & put aside for 5 mins & cover with a newspaper (try not to get ink on the paella). Once ready, serve in the pan for a delightful meal for two.

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Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/joes-paella-traditional-valencia-chicken-seafood-1244372 (may not work)