Recipe Cioppino (Fishermans Stew)

Or my version anyways ...


Start with a couple cloves of garlic, & 2-3 Echelon(sp?) Shallots in a pan with olive oil & butter, fry till shallots start to clear. add in a fine chopped green pepper, fry a few more minutes then add Back Pepper, Oregano, Chilli flakes (Mulato in this case) 1 Bay leaf, small bunch of thyme. .

Toast another min or 2 then add in a good dose of dry sherry and red wine (give or take about 3/4 cup each) Simmer till cooked down to half. Add Seafood stock (about a cup of homemade that I had cooked down so its pretty strong) and simmer for 5+ minutes then add a tin (or box) of tomato passata. (or tinned chopped tomato etc) and a slosh of balsamic vinegar. salt to taste.

Remove bay leaf & the thyme twigs (scrap the wee leaves into the stock base)

Fresh from the fishmongers, Monkfish, Squid, Scallops, tiger prawns and Malasian Giant tiger prawns.
Prep for stew as needed (de-head/shell prawns & remove the vein down back. cut monkfish into suitable sized chunks. clean out & ring slice squid. )


Add seafood to simmering pot in order of cooking speed (Scallops ,monkfish , Giant prawns, tiger prawns, and squid last. make sure you time it so you dont get overcooked seafood.

Dish up & toss some fresh thyme leaves & basil over.

 

Dang and no invite that looks really good never had monkfish before but it looks good

 

monkfish is quite firm.. its a bit like chicken in fact.. very good for things like this or skewers etc where you dont want a fish thats going to flake apart

 

Yum.

 

Sounds delish!

Don't forget to remove the bay leaf before serving. Unless bay leaves are ground up fine it's not wise to eat them. The "skeleton" of the leaf remains stiff even after cooking and can cause intestinal perforations.

Sort of like Fu Manchu's Bye-bye Bamboo--a real killer of a dish.

 

looks great

 

Ah yup.. remove bay leaf & thyme twigs before adding seafood.

 

Last time I had cioppino it was amazing, and it was the tomato based version like this. It's been a good 20 years; I should make some

 

Now that sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing, I'll certainly give that one a shot this weekend.

 

With addition of oysters and purple basil.

 

Monk cheeks, prawns, madigascar prawns (about 8” before taking off the head) squid, mussles, queen scallops (lil ones)

 

Topped with fresh basil (purple and genovese)
Garlic chives, safron and thyme