Seafood Paella

Serves 1
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Directions

  1. 1Chop a few onions for the sofrito.
  2. 2Put chopped onions in a pot with enough olive oil to cover them, and add salt, a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary.
  3. 3Cook the onion mixture down until it's about to start caramelizing.
  4. 4Add tomato paste and grated garlic to the onion mixture.
  5. 5Mix well and throw it into the oven at 250 degrees for 4 hours to gently cook and deeply caramelize.
  6. 6Take shrimp heads and shells out of the freezer, lay them out on a sheet pan, and roast them in the oven for stock.
  7. 7Clean the scallops by removing the adductor muscle (the foot).
  8. 8Salt the scallops and place them onto paper towels on both sides to soak up any excess moisture.
  9. 9Cure the shrimps with a mix of 3/4 salt and 1/4 sugar to season and accentuate their sweetness.
  10. 10Lay shrimp on paper towels next to the scallops to pick up moisture.
  11. 11Clean mussels by scraping them with the tip of another mussel until they are nice and pretty.
  12. 12De-beard mussels by grabbing and pulling the beard.
  13. 13Clean clams by shaking them up, giving them a rough mix, and changing the water a few times until the water runs clear.
  14. 14In a large pot, sauté some onions and garlic with a bit of salt.
  15. 15Throw in 95% of shellfish (mussels and clams), saving a handful of each for the final cooking process.
  16. 16Add a bunch of white wine to steam the shellfish.
  17. 17Pull out the shellfish right as they pop open to prevent overcooking.
  18. 18Remove all the meat from the shells of the shellfish.
  19. 19Go through each piece of steamed mussel meat to ensure there are no hidden beards.
  20. 20Add back the shells and roasted shrimp shells to the white wine liquid with clam and mussel juice.
  21. 21Add water and chicken stock to the pot and simmer for an hour to make paella stock for maximum seafood flavor.
  22. 22Prepare caviar service by buttering toast points.
  23. 23Chop hard-boiled eggs for caviar service.
  24. 24Chop chives for caviar service.

Ingredients

  • few onions
  • enough to cover olive oil
  • salt
  • few sprigs thyme
  • few sprigs rosemary
  • tomato paste
  • garlic
  • shrimp heads and shells
  • scallops
  • clams
  • mussels
  • shrimps
  • 0.75 quarter salt
  • 0.25 quarter sugar
  • bunch white wine
  • water
  • chicken stock
  • butter
  • toast points
  • hard boiled eggs
  • chives

Equipment

potcutting boardsheet pancolandertweezersbowlsinkstrainerbrushknifeoven

Tips

  • Do not include fresh peppers if a client cannot have them.
  • Cook the onion until it's about to caramelize before adding tomato paste and garlic to avoid burning them.
  • Roast shrimp heads and shells for stock.
  • Remove the foot of the scallop as it's tough.
  • Cure shrimp with salt and sugar to enhance sweetness.
  • Clean mussels thoroughly by scraping them with another mussel and de-bearding them.
  • Purge clams of sand by soaking them in salted water overnight or by rough mixing and changing water.
  • Pull out shellfish as they pop open to avoid overcooking.
  • Remove meat from shells for paella to fit more seafood.
  • Go through each piece of steamed mussel meat to ensure no hidden beards remain.