Tis the season. I often equate the areas around the Pyrenees as having a long tradition of game hunting. From birds like partridge and quail to wild boar. It also seems that all countries have a blood sausage tradition. Well you can see where I am going with this. Let me just say there is something about bird hunting in the pine forests of southern Indiana for ruffed grouse that is like no other to me. The only thing that beats faster than the wings of a Ruffed Grouse is your heart as it pumps adrenaline clear up to the tip of your trigger finger. You have to be Jesse James fast because the bird will cross the pine rows and be gone. I always figured if you bagged ten of these birds in a life time you were a great hunter. In the case of this paella if you are not a hunter or don't like wild game cornish game hens would be a perfectly acceptable substitution and in fact I am going to write the recipe that way. The picture above is a pheasant from a hunting trip to South Dakota.

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