Paella Valenciana

Clean the snails, poultry and rabbit thoroughly. Cut the poultry and rabbit into small pieces and salt them generously.

Pour olive oil into a paellera and, when hot, sauté the poultry and rabbit pieces until golden brown.

Add green peppers and sauté for 1 minute.

Add garlic and sauté until brown. Be careful; garlic burns easily.

Once the garlic is brown, add paprika followed quickly by the tomatoes to prevent the paprika from burning.

Sauté until the tomatoes become dark and pulpy and the mixture has reduced a bit.

Add water and bring to a rolling boil.

Add the snails, fresh haricot beans (if canned, continue reading to see when to add these), runner beans, and saffron (and/or food coloring).

Allow the mixture to boil for 10 minutes over a high flame.

Sweep a rosemary branch through the broth for no longer than 30 seconds and then remove it.

After 10 minutes have passed, you should have a flavorful broth.

If the broth needs more salt, add more salt a pinch at a time until satisfied.

Add the rice and stir it using the rice skimmer.

Spread the rice over the bottom of the paellera with the skimmer. The coating of rice should be one centimeter thick.

Let it cook over a high flame for 10 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for 4 minutes.

Add the canned haricot beans.

Reduce the heat again to low and let it simmer for another 4 minutes.

Taste the rice frequently to determine when it is fully cooked. It is done when it is slightly firm to the bite.

At this point, there should be toasted rice sticking to the bottom of the pan (socarrat). If no socarrat has developed, increase the flame to high and listen for the crackling sound of rice toasting at the bottom.

Remove the pan from the heat when the rice is almost dry, and place the unused rosemary branches on top.

Cover with a clean white towel and wait 5 minutes before serving to allow the rice to absorb the remaining broth.