We all know how good fish is for our overall health. But when you’re trying to pull some marginal fish eaters over to your way of thinking, a good attitude is only half the battle. The truly successful nudge comes via good cooking. This time of year, a healthy-but-flavorful fish stew might be just the ticket.
But there’s that cooking thing. Not all that difficult on the culinary arts spectrum, but for a week-night meal, some of us might consider it messy and time-consuming. However, if all you have to do was grab a batch of a flavorful stew base from your freezer, defrost, and drop chunks of succulently fresh (or fresh-frozen) fish into the bubbling bath of zesty stew base, wouldn’t that be lovely?
Well I’ve revisited some of my favorite fish stews and found that quite a few qualify for a freezer-to-table approach.
The most important consideration when assembling these fish stews is really fresh fish. Fresh doesn’t have to mean never frozen. Because seafood can be so expertly frozen these days — usually right there on the fishing vessel within hours of catching — slabs of halibut in the frozen fish case is not my concern. But I do ask when it was thawed. If the answer is either “I don’t know” or “two days ago,” I move on. When a fish monger is willing to sell me frozen fillets, steaks, scallops, and shrimp, I jump at the opportunity because then I’m in control.
So here are three approaches to seafood stews. If I had to choose only one to make for the freezer, it would be the first, my cioppino. It’s zesty and delicious and can be used as a back drop to all kinds of seafood offerings. In all three cases, consider them as jumping off points from which to add whatever selection of fish you choose.
Cioppino
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 4 fresh cloves garlic, minced
- 16 ounces salsa (any salsa will do, but I prefer Pace’s “medium” picante sauce)
- 5 cans(141/2 oz each) diced tomatoes (see note below)
- 11/2 cups dry white wine, such as Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, or an Oregon Chardonnay
- 2 teaspoons each, dried (or 1 tablespoon each fresh): basil, thyme, marjoram, and oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 3/4 pound red snapper
- 3/4 pound halibut
- 1/2 pound scallops
- 1 pound steamer clams (optional, but very tasty)
- 2 cups shrimp meat
- Salt and additional pepper to taste
There are as many renditions of this classic San Francisco fish stew specialty as there are folks who’ve left their hearts there. But I have found this one to be a delicious-yet-simple approach. And I now use it as a back drop for a variety seafood beyond what I mention here. So feel free to do likewise.
To make the stew base, which makes about 12 cups, heat the oil in a large, heavy pot and saute the onions and garlic over medium-high heat until the onions are tender. Stir in the salsa, tomatoes, wine, herbs, black pepper, and parsley and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened enough to have enough substance to coat a spoon. Remove from the heat, adjust seasonings and if not using immediately, cool and refrigerate until needed, up to several days, or freeze in desired size freezer containers.
To finish the stew, (note: use the recommended fish above or your own combination) cut the snapper and halibut into 1/2- to 1-inch chunks; set aside in refrigerator until needed. Bring the stew base to a boil, then add the fish chunks and simmer until just barely cooked through. Add the scallops and clams and cook just until the clams open (discard any clams that don’t open). Add the shrimp and remove the pot from the burner; the shrimp will heat through nicely and not become tough. Add salt and additional fresh ground black pepper to taste.
Note: I use one can of diced tomatoes with jalapeno and four cans of regular diced tomatoes. That little bit of jalapeno adds just enough zip. However if you think you’ll be serving some very sensitive palates use five cans of regular diced tomatoes.
Makes 8 servings
Pacific Northwest seafood stew base
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced green bell pepper
- 1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh fennel bulb
- 11/2 teaspoons grated orange zest
- 1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Gris
- 2 cups clam juice
- 3 cups chopped ripe tomatoes (or diced canned tomatoes with juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Dash of Tabasco
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 pound steamer clams in shell
- 1/2 pound mussels in shell, scrubbed and debearded
- 1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 8 shrimp)
- 1/4 pound sea scallops (halved), or bay scallops (whole)
- 1/2 pound mixture of skinless firm-fleshed fish fillets or steaks (consider salmon, cod or halibut), cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks
- 4 small cooked red potatoes, halved (Note! The potatoes are cooked)
- 1/4 cup pernod (an anise flavored liqueur), optional
- Fresh fennel fronds for garnish (optional; but they play off the pernod)
This is delicious straight from the kitchen, of course, but it’s also a great dish to enjoy at the beach after a day of fishing, clamming and mussel gathering. Make the seafood stew base ahead and pack it in your ice chest. Take along a stew pot, add a good bottle of Northwest wine and a loaf of French bread to your picnic basket, and you’ll be all set for a beach feast.
To make the stew base, which makes about 11 cups, pour the olive oil into a large stew pot or Dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, peppers, mushrooms, fennel and orange zest. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often, or until the onion is translucent.
Add the wine, clam juice, tomatoes, salt, tabasco, pepper, basil, rosemary and thyme. Increase the heat to high, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat, adjust seasonings and if not using immediately, cool and refrigerate until needed, up to several days, or freeze in desired size freezer containers.
To finish the stew (note: use the recommended fish above or your own combination), pour the 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a deep, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven and place over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops and fish (or your own selection of seafood). Saute for 30 seconds. Add the cooked potatoes and pernod (if using) and cook for 30 seconds more, then add the seafood stew base. Cover and continue cooking just until the clams and mussels open (remove and discard any of the shell fish that do not open). Immediately remove from the heat and divide the fish and shellfish among 4 individual soup bowls. Ladle in the broth and vegetables.
Garnish with fennel fronds if desired. Serve immediately with warm French bread for dipping.
Recipe adapted from “Pacific Northwest: The Beautiful Cookbook,” edited by Cathy Casey.
Makes 4 servings.
Curried leek and seafood stew
- 1 1/2 pounds leeks (white and pale green portions), cut into 1-inch chunks to measure 6 cups
- 3 cups homemade or canned chicken broth
- 1 cup peeled, cored, and diced apples
- 2 cups diced yellow onions
- 1 cup diced potato (a red, white, or Yukon gold variety would be best)
- 1 large tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced to measure about 3/4 cup (or use good-quality canned diced tomato)
- 1/2 cup diced carrot
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
- 2 pounds fresh or frozen seafood, such as a mixture of bay scallops, crab meat, halibut, snapper, clams, cod, and/or shrimp
To make the stew base, which makes about 9 cups, combine the leeks, chicken broth, apples, yellow onionse pot.
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes and leeks are tender. Remove the soup from the heat and cool slightly, then blend the mixture in several batches in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Cool and freeze in desired size freezer containers.
To finish the stew, bring the stew base to a gentle boil. Add the seafood and simmer just until the fish is cooked through.
Makes about 6 servings.
Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis food writer, artist, and author of “Oregon Hazelnut Country, the Food, the Drink, the Spirit,” and four other cookbooks. Readers can contact her by email at janrd@proaxis.com, or obtain additional recipes and food tips on her blog at www.janrd.com.
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