Winner of the Derby

DEAR SOS: At Hosteria Derby, a restaurant in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, I ordered Mexican paella. It was so delicious I want to tell the world about it. Can you help?

--DIANE

DEAR DIANE: This multi-ingredient recipe is for staunch cooks who love puttering in the kitchen and searching for ingredients (a Mexican grocery store is your best bet to find all the chiles required). This paella deserves a party crowd and a round of applause.

HOSTERIA DERBY’S MEXICAN PAELLA

24 medium shrimp

3 to 4 quarts fish or chicken stock

Olive oil

1/2 cup vegetable oil

6 cloves garlic, sliced

1 sprig rosemary, chopped

12 pork ribs

12 Catalonian sausages (Spanish sausage) or any pork sausage, thickly sliced

12 small chicken drumsticks or thighs or 12 chicken half breasts, cut up

1 rabbit, cut up, optional

1/4 cup tequila, rum or brandy

5 tablespoons chopped onion

3 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, deveined and chopped

6 red bell peppers, cut in thin strips

8 small hot chiles (gueros or serranos), deveined, optional

12 small artichokes, trimmed of tough outer leaves and stems peeled

Juice of 2 lemons or vinegar

3 dried ancho chiles, roasted, deveined and soaked in hot water

1 (2-inch) stick cinnamon, toasted

Salt or 1 tablespoon bouillon

1 pound tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

36 small squid, cleaned

12 large shrimp or prawns with heads intact

36 clams

4 1/2 cups converted rice

1/2 pound pea pods, shelled (1/2 cup frozen peas)

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Peel medium shrimp and cook shells in simmering stock until shells turn color, about 10 minutes. Strain stock, discarding shells. Return stock to pan and keep hot.

Heat 1/2 cup olive oil and vegetable oil in paella pan. Add 4 cloves garlic and rosemary and cook over medium-high heat until garlic browns, about 5 minutes. Remove garlic and rosemary.

Add ribs and sausages and brown over medium-high heat, about 10 minutes. Remove to platter.

Add chicken and rabbit, if desired, to pan and brown, about 10 minutes. Remove to platter.

Deglaze pan by adding 3 tablespoons tequila, placing pan over high heat until sauce bubbles and reduces, and scraping up solids stuck to bottom of pan. Carefully light remaining tablespoon tequila in ladle and immediately add to tequila in pan. Flame until all alcohol burns off.

Add onion, poblanos, 1/2 of bell peppers and small hot chiles to pan. Cook until tender, about 8 minutes.

In separate saucepan, cook artichokes in simmering water and lemon juice until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and cut in half. Add to paella pan and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Remove to platter.

Grind ancho chiles with remaining 2 garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons olive oil, cinnamon and salt to taste. Add to paella pan along with tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes. Add squid, peeled medium and head-on large shrimp and clams to pan, cover tightly, and cook just until shrimp are done and clams open, about 5 minutes. Remove seafood to platter.

Add rice to pan and cook, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 14 cups strained hot stock to pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.

Return chicken, ribs and sausage to pan, cover and cook 15 more minutes, adding more stock if necessary. Return artichokes, medium shrimp, squid and clams to pan (reserving large shrimp for garnish) and cook 5 more minutes.

Add peas and 1/2 to 1 cup more hot stock to paella, cover and remove from heat. Set aside 5 minutes until ready to serve. Garnish with remaining strips of bell pepper, large shrimp and sprinkling of parsley.

Makes 12 to 14 servings.

Each of 14 servings contains about:

824 calories; 1,407 mg sodium; 202 mg cholesterol; 42 grams fat; 64 grams carbohydrates; 44 grams protein; 1.27 grams fiber.

*

Bowl and platter from Cattura: Melrose Avenue and Century City Shopping Center, Los Angeles, and Fashion Island, Newport Beach.