Paella Mixta "Mixed Seafood and Meat Paella"

DIRECTIONS Let's begin by preparing all of the ingredients. Chop all of your vegetables and prepare your stock. Clean and prepare the chicken and add a little salt and pepper for seasoning. Clean your seafood. Now add the oil to the pan spread to cover the entire pan. I have to "straddle" my pan over two burners on my stove to cook. This complicates the process as I have to constantly rotate the pan to avoid hot spots. You can also cook paella on the bbq grill. The best paella is cooked over a wood fire. When the oil is hot (over medium-high heat), add the onion and garlic and cook for a couple minutes. I now add the chicken and begin to brown it for a few minutes. I then add the chopped peppers and cook for another few minutes. We now add the rice and the cognac (or wine). Spread the rice around and the let the alcohol burn off while flavoring the rice for a couple minutes. I now add about half of the stock and the saffron. Stir everything together well and let it cook for about 10 minutes. I now add the seafood and another 2 cups of the liquid. I also add some salt and pepper (remember the stock is already pretty salty). I stir everything together and get it all evenly distributed. I now leave the rice to cook over medium heat without touching it ever again. Check on it from time to time (I have to in order to rotate the pan!) and check the liquid. Add more if the rice looks dry. It should be wet during the cooking process. The rice will probably take about 30 minutes to fully cook after you add the seafood in the step above. When you are getting close, taste a bit of the rice from different areas in the pan to see if it is done and to see if you have enough liquid. The rice should be soft but still have just the slightest bite to it. Once cooked, remove the paella from the heat and cover it to let it rest for about 5 minutes. Serve and garnish with the lemon! Enjoy!