Here’s my late post of the Daring Cooks August Challenge. We returned home Saturday, the day after the reveal date and were back to school and work on Monday. Yikes, it’s a wonder I got anything on the table let alone a Challenge recipe.

I didn’t have to work on Wednesday and Olga’s challenge paella was scheduled for dinner, we were looking forward to it. My son spent part of last summer in Spain where he became of fan of paella. The anticipated treat was a disappointment, to say the least. To start with, there was not enough seafood for us … 2 cuttlefish for 4 servings? And nothing else? And, no fault of the recipe but the pan reacted with the food and turned an awful grey green color and had a metallic taste to it.

But there were a few positive notes, the Sofregit was good and the recipe made enough for several future paellas. I will freeze it in portions and use it next time. The recipe did work and I can use it as a template to make paella in the future. The Paella pan in the middle of the table got my son talking about his trip to Spain and the food he enjoyed there. I loved our lively conversation and look forward to sharing Spanish inspired meals with him.

Photos: José Andrés recipe begins with very pretty ingredients. But I’m already worried … not enough seafood for us, I’m sure. Recipe for Sofregit, the sauce at 5 o'clock in the photo made 2 ¾ but I only needed about ¼ cup. I’ll freeze the rest for future Paella.

Looks great, right? Do you see the artichoke beginning to turn black? ....

Boo. The entire batch turned an awful gray green. The saffron couldn't even shine through.

Andrew made the best of it and had 2 helpings. Found as much squid as he could and pushed aside the mushrooms. We had a great discussion about the Paella he had last summer in Spain and what he liked about it ... 4-5 types of seafood, peas, carrots, and red pepper. Next time, now that I have the rice and the Sofregit.