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View Full Version : Attention Catholics : Ash Wednesday



jlgarciaiii22
02-24-2009, 05:34 PM
With tommorrow being Ash Wednesday how about some recipes with seafood we could all share..... This is actually a really good time of year for me, get to cook fish without the wife bitching about the smell. Looking for some new Friday dinner recipes other than Fish Tacos, which is usually what i eat every friday during lent.

sansou
02-24-2009, 06:34 PM
My "Simple Fish Stew"..... Definately a wintertime/rockcod kinda thing.

(Sorry if no ingredient list, this one is all in my head)

Here's the process:

Take a large pot (cast iron is best but not necessary), get a hunk of salted pork from the store (the big cube one with the lard....or you can substitute and use some thick canadian bacon strips) chop it down a tad and heat it up, getting not quite crips. Then, add a big onion, or a (small one and some shallots if you prefer), little bit of black pepper and cook it in all that grease getting the onion to where it is transparent and the salted pork/bacon pieces are crisp and crumbly.

Now quickly add in your pot a whole can of Italian style diced tomatoes (and the juice) and a couple cloves of smashed/finely minced garlic. Add 5 or 6 good size diced and peeled potatoes (you can sub for the small better tasting red ones if you like, and/or add some diced celery). Add about a cup of dry red wine, a couple bay leaves, and some spices (whatever you have that'll work...I sometimes put some tobasco in there, or a few dashes of Old Bay...whatever). Get the whole thing to a boil (high heat), and once it boils, reduce the heat to a simmer.

After 15 minutes or so (depends on how you diced your potatoes) check to see if they are soft. If soft, then you add about 3 lbs of diced fillets of fish (reds, lings, halibut...whatever you got, but sea salt it liberally first for a good 30 minutes, wipe off excess sea salt). You want your fillets chunks to be about inch thick cubes or so and bone free.

At this juncture, optionally, you can add a can of clams (just use 1/2 the juice otherwise the whole thing will be runny...or optionally use the whole can of juice but cut down on the tomato juice and wine). Add a little salt. Let the whole thing gently simmer a bit. Cover it and check with a fork when the diced fillets chunks look/feel cooked.

It's not "fine cuisine", but it works!


*if for some reason it's looking runny, thicken it with some flour, or if you know how to make "rouille" thats a nice touch. If the fish you plan on using is "strong" you can add a thimble amount of cognac to the mix early on to knock back the fishy-ness.