The Ultimate Paella

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Perfection

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awesome

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So far, this is my favorite paella recipe. I made "my version" tonight for well-traveled friends and one commented: "I have had great paella in the world but none compare to this." Instead of "water" I cooked paella in a mixture of 2/3 of broth (chicken or clam juice to 1/3 of white wine. I don't like lobster so I didn't add that. I did add artichoke hearts along with shrimp (for the final layer. I also added mussels (once the clams had had a chance to bake first since they take longer than mussels. Added red bell pepper strips which contribute to the color and taste. Also used Spanish "chorizo" which is different from regular chorizo. Because there were only three of us, I used only chicken thighs. Once it was nearly done, I squeezed lemon juice on it besides serving it with lemon wedges. My friends encouraged me to start a catering business tonight. Served with baguette brushed with Spanish olive oil and herbs plus Sangria.

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Excellent if prepared as recipe calls for.
How can you modify almost everything in it and then rate original?
There is a reason for whole chicken and lobster and chorizzo- it makes a specific flavor. :

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Sorry, Tyler! I love you, and usually your recipes, too. HOWEVER, this recipe required too many mods to give it more than three stars.

Planned mods: halve recipe, sub cilantro for parsley, omit lobster, sub italian sausage for chorizo, sub lobster stock for water, sub canned peas for frozen, sub chicken legs instead of whole chicken.

Unplanned mods: double the liquid called to cook the rice, split the dish into two pans (one to finish cooking proteins while the rice finished, triple the cooking time to finish the rice and chicken.

In the end, the flavor was good, but I can't imagine how bland it would have been without the substitution of the stock and cilantro. However, rice was creamy, bordering on mushy because I had to keep adding liquid periodically to prevent serving crunchy rice.  Finally, agree w/ earlier reviewers that "large paella pan" is too vague. This dish overwhelmed my 14" cast iron skillet, so clearly what I think of as "large”, isn’t. :

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Really good. Made a few substitutions to use what I had & was more to my taste. For the meat, I used kielbasa, langostino & chicken thighs. I also used 4 cups homemade turkey broth with 2 cups water for the liquid & added red & orange bell peppers to the veggies.

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Excellent! Husband loved it! Thanks for all your talents with food.

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Good basic recipe if you make the changes noted in previous reviews (broth & blooming the saffron.
My main point is that the clams should not only be scrubbed, but soaked in a gallon of water and 1/3 cup salt for 20 minutes. Drain and repeat 2 more times. When you see what comes out of the clams you'll be glad it didn't come out in your expensive paella!!

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I too wish I had read all the reviews before beginning this dish. I have used Tyler's ultimate,ate recipes before with great success, but this was bland, bland, bland. Nothing came out exactly as it should have. I'm glad I didn't invest in lobster and clams for this, but stuck with chicken, shrimp and chorizo or I really would have been upset. I waited until the end to add the toasty rice bottom...set my timer for 40 seconds exactly and that was enough time to burn the bottom of the rice. All around disappointing.

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It turned out well, but with a few adjustments based on other reviews. I changed the rice/liquid ratio to 1.5 cups/5 cups because I have a 13.5" paella pan and was only cooking for two. I used chicken stock instead of water, and steeped the saffron in the stock. I only used chorizo, shrimp, and lobster (you can really use any combination of chicken, sausage and seafood you like to accomodate the number of people you're serving. It took almost 2 hours, from start to finish. The key to this recipe is cooking the rice until done then adding the seafood, cooked meats, and peas at the end. You ABSOLUTELY MUST wait for the the crust in the pan; the real flavor in this recipe comes from the carmelized tomatos, onions, and rice and the squirt of lemon.