Now I know what the axe in the kitchen is for...

Last night I had an authentic Paella experience, and it was so yummy that I would hate for anyone in the States to miss out simply because they didn´t have a recipe. So here you are. I dilligently followed Pilar around our small white kitchen taking pictures and scribbling down notes.

Step One: Clean and cut the squid into small pieces. You have to make sure you wash out all the ´tinta´ or ink.

Step Two: You break out your mini axe and cut up the lobster. Now, This is where things get tricky and I don´t want to be accused of poisoning anyone, but hey, I´m still alive. Hannah informed me this morning that it´s ´MUY MAL´ to eat a lobster that has died before you cooked it. We bought the lobster the day before and it ended up dying in the fridge that night...so I´m not really sure what that means. Also I was informed that you are only supposed to eat the tail and the claws and Pilar hacked that baby to pieces and threw it all in the pot. Once again I´m still alive...but it makes me rather nervous to know this all now because guess who got leftovers for lunch? yup, me.

Step Three: Fry the lobster and four whole gloves of garlic in olive oil.

Step Four: Add half a diced onion, two bay leaves, and a diced bell pepper (ideally red and green because Pilar explained has two flavors).

Step Five: Let that all cook up. The lobster will turn red and once the veggies start to brown add a cereals bowl worth of rice. Fry the rice a bit in the oil so it absords the flavor.


Step Six: Add boiling seafood broth to the skillet and the most important ingridient, Saffron. Let cook and simmer for 20 minutes. The water will evaporate and you´ll be left with Paella!