CIOPPINO
The joys of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Fran to the old Momma Leone’s in NYC ending with Pete and Sams in Memphis. The wonderful flavors of this Italian Soup bring back a lot of good memories for me. Cioppino is a unique fish stew. Each chef has their own rendition and that’s what I love about this dish.
Couple it with a dry white wine, fresh focaccia and it’s total bliss!
Cioppino is an excellent fish stew. I really like this dish as it is served on the Piers of San Francisco. It’s very simple to make. The seafood broth is very full of flavor and is made from the shells of lobster, shrimp and crab. The more the shells, the richer the stock.
The choice of seafood relies on person tastes. Some go with all white fish but for me, I really like a rich Halibut along with a Deep Flavored Fresh Salmon from Alaska. All a matter of taste.
The flavor profile is
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 cups white wine (optional - can replace with additional fish or chicken stock)
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 5 cups fish or seafood stock*
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 pound small clams
• 1 pound mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 2 pounds crab (I used 1 whole cooked Dungeness crab, with its legs removed from its body)
• 1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 pound bay scallops
• 1/2 pound cod fillet, cut into large chunks (or other firm-fleshed fish like halibut or salmon)
• Fresh basil and parsley, chopped, for garnish
To make this stew, gently open the flavors of the garlic by browning the garlic in a cast iron skillet with the EVOO. Add the onion and fennel while gently moving the veggies around the skillet. The Himalayan Sea Salt will help theses veggies to sweat and add flavor to the dish.
Melt the butter over medium heat in a large stock pot, then add the onion, fennel, garlic, parsley, sautéing until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, basil, salt, thyme, oregano, and red pepper flakes and Sautee 2 minutes longer.
Add the white wine, crushed and diced tomatoes, fish stock, and bay leaves, then cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 30 minutes so the flavors can blend. While the meat simmers, prepare the crab by removing the crab legs from the body (if not already done for you) and using a nutcracker to crack the shells (leave the meat in the shell) so that the meat can be easily removed once the cioppino is served.
Increase the heat to medium and add the clams and mussels to the broth and cook for 5 minutes until they start to open. Then add the crab legs and cook for another minute, followed by the shrimp and scallops. Finally, lay the chunks of cod on top of the broth and cover and cook for 3-5 minutes until the mussels and clams are open, the shrimp curl and the scallops are just firm.
Ladle the cioppino into large bowls garnish with chopped fresh parsley and basil. Serve with warm, crusty sourdough bread! Have plenty of napkins, extra bowls for shells, and nutcrackers and tiny forks on hand for the crab. Serves 4 to 6.
Comments
Post a Comment