Cioppino

Daryl starting preparing the yeast 2 weeks ago for Basic Country Bread, taken from Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson. Today it was  ready to use. So the big question was, what to make for dinner that would be tasty and would highlight the bread.  I wanted something completely different from the gravy laden Thanksgiving Feast that we have enjoyed for 2 days now.

Something you should know about us is that I prefer lighter meals with fish, seafood, and vegtables and Daryl is a good old fashioned what we call here int the midwest, a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy. Don't get the wrong idea - I do love meat and potatoes!  Daryl, occasionally will agree to a meal of fish or seafood.

Basic country bread right out of the oven.

I knew the meal that would make us both happy and go really well with the bread was, Cioppino!  We are lucky that here in the midwest, end of November, we are able to get fresh seafood locally from Coastal Seafood.  It is the place that supplies all of our best restaurants with seafood.

Many different recipes are out there for cioppino so finding the right one is always a challenge. We used to use Giadia de Laurentiis' version pretty faithfully, but we decided to try something different this time.  It's a little difficult because I do not like fennel, which is crazy due to my college days of enjoying many shots of Sambucca, although now that I think about it, that's probably why....

After some deliberation we went with the following version.  It is a conglomeration of a few recipes we thought sounded interesting.  One was Fulton Fish Market by Bobby Flay and the other was from A Spicy Perspective blog.

Yes, the yield is correct.  There are only two of us, but we always make a big batch of whatever it is we are cooking so that we can have leftovers.

The final recipe was:

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

San Francisco Cioppino

Ingredients:

2 Tb. olive oil
2/3 of a fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, sliced
3 Tb. tomato paste
2 Tb. fresh tarragon
4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 large pinch of saffron
½ tsp. crushed red pepper
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. salt
Black pepper to taste
1 ½ cups wine, pinot noir
1- 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1- 32 oz. carton of seafood stock(Classic Seafood Stock + water and the shrimp shells that simmered for a half an hour or so)
1 ½ lbs.  mussels
1 lb. firm white fish - we used Grouper
1 lb. large raw shrimp, peeled
1-2 Tb. flour
Lemon wedges and chopped parsley for garnishing

Directions:

Prepare the fennel: Cut off the stalks. Then half the bulb and remove the core. Slice the bulb thin. You may want to quarter the bulb for smaller slices.
Place a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add 2 Tb. of oil to the pot. Sauté the fennel and onions for 5 minutes; then add the garlic and tomato paste.
Sauté one more minute; then add the tarragon, thyme, saffron, red pepper, bay, salt and pepper. Mix well. Next pour in the wine, stock and tomatoes. Bring the stew to a boil. Lower the heat, COVER, and simmer for AT LEAST 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut the fish into 1 inch cubes and toss the fish and shrimp in flour.
Rinse and check all mollusks for freshness. They should all be completely closed. If they are open, squeeze them shut. If they don’t instantly close up again, THROW THEM OUT. Any open or cracked mollusk should NOT go in the Cioppino!
Once the stew has simmered for 30+ minutes, add the mollusks. Stir and allow them to cook for 3-5 minutes until they are mostly opened. Next add the fish and shrimp. Stir well and simmer another 3-5 minutes. The broth should thicken and all the mollusks should open wide.
Remove the thyme sprigs, bay leaf, and any unopened mollusks. Garnish the Cioppino with parsley and lemon wedges; then serve with LOTS of warm crusty, prefereable homemade bread.

Good enough to eat. It was.

Review:

Well, it was good.  Sadly good doesn't mean we'll make this version again.  The seafood was amazing. The bread, honestly OK.   It's a challenging endeavor that is a work in progress.  We expected nothing short of mind blowing, but it tasted like a great version of a bread we could get at a good bread company here in the cities.  Cioppino - I mentioned the fennel - the next time we make it we're going with a version that doesn't call for it.

Most blogs show the gorgeous presentations of the food. I wanted ours to be real.  We all know that after a great meal there is the aftermath...the cleanup.  Here is a typical view of ours, and I didn't even include the pots and pans!

The end!