a seafood paella

My first taste of real paella occurred during my brief visit to Amsterdam a few years ago. While Amsterdam is a great city, for a first time visitor finding an restaurant that serves edible meal can be quite challenging, especially in the tourists districts. I knew all too well to avoid the usual tourist traps. I would use my instinct to survey the restaurants, and by observing carefully the clienteles. It is generally a good sign when you see what appears to be mostly local regulars. Better yet if the staff or owner welcome them warmly.

Yes, even near the red light district I found this Spanish restaurant. It was one of the few restaurants that I narrowed down that night. After seeing the owner warming greeting the guests I knew that was the one. Most of the patrons order paella, and I did too. I ordered a seafood one and half a bottle of Spanish wine. I would return there for a second night.

I went shopping this past weekend and as usual I didn't plan what dishes I would cook. I just shop for what looks good.

this bag of shrimp piqued my interest because of the "Seacatch" word; being a born skeptic I checked the package's fine prints and "Seacatch" is just the brand name - it is the run of the mill farm raised shrimps

Finding good quality wild shrimps is getting more difficult by the day, especially a home cook foodie like me. I would prefer to buy shrimps with head and this goes counter to the US food distribution system. It is such a tragedy that perfectly good wild caught shrimps are shipped and sold with the head removed.

i spotted this box that contains tiny squids - wild caught in Monterey, California - i was there only 8 months ago

 i bought a handful of these tiny squids - i would assume they are from Asia without seeing the box

 i also bought some clams and oysters, as well as a live crab

 i decided to make paella for one meal in this 11-inch pan

The size of a paella pan is very deceiving. It is very important to judge properly what size of a paella to make based on the number of diners. I have 4 paella pans of range of sizes. To cook for myself, I found the 11-inch pan most suitable.

i use short grain rice that i have

 i like to use annato seeds to taint the rice yellow as Puerto Ricans would with their rice dishes

 i shucked two oysters

 i added in the ingredients in stages based on how long they take to cook

 the baby squids were added in last - i would prefer cuttlefish but I used up all that were in my freezer

 i could only eat one half without stuffing myself

 the other half is perfect for a quick lunch the next day