Day 17: Cioppino and Really, Really Delicious Shrimp

In this class we had a guest chef - Chef David runs the recreational programs at the school (one-off classes on different subjects) and seems to have spent a good amount of his career working with seafood.

Cioppino is just a fisherman’s stew. Apparently the name has gone out of style these days and is typically associated with chowder houses, so on nicer restaurants you’ll see it labeled as “fish stew” or “fisherman’s stew”. It likely originated from a bunch of fisherman who threw whatever they had on their boat into a pot, so definitely one of those versatile dishes that will allow you to go in a lot of directions. But typically, it has some sort of sautéed veggies, tomatoes or tomato sauce, wine, and then of course, a ton of seafood.

Fish Stock

The base of this dish is fish stock, or Fish Fumet if you’re feeling really fancy.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ pounds fish bones and heads

• 2 cups dry white wine

• 4 cups water

• 2 cups mirepoix (1 cup onions, ½ cup celery, ½ cup carrots)

• 1  bay leaf

• ½ tsp dry thyme

• 3 sprigs parsley

• 6 peppercorns

Method (not too dissimilar from making other stocks, except for the time)

• Clean your fish and bones. You want to get rid of the entire bloodline, or any gross bits.

• Add your ingredients all at once into a pot, and bring up to a boil. Then turn down to the lightest of simmers, and let come together for about 30 minutes

• You don’t want your fish stock to cook for more than 45 minutes or it will develop a really muddled flavor

• Strain and discard everything but the liquid

Cioppino

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ sticks of butter

• ½ tsp chili flakes

• ¾ cup diced onions

• ¾ cup diced leeks

• ¾ cup diced carrot

• ½ cup diced bell pepper

• 3 cloves minced garlic

• 2 tbsp fresh oregano

• 2 tbsp fresh parsley

• 2 bay leaves

• ¼ cup basil leaves

• 2 cans canned tomatoes)

• 1 ½ cup white wine

• 4 cups of stock

• Dash worcestershire sauce, fish sauce and a pinch of Saffron

• 1 pound clams, scrubbed

• 1 pound mussels, scrubbed

• ½ pound squid, cut into 1 inch cubes

• 1  ½ pounds fresh firm fish (cod, halibut) cut into 1 inch cubes

• 2 cooked dungeness crabs, cracked

Method:

1. In a big pot, melt 1 stick of butter and add chili flakes
2. Sweat your veggies and garlic (always add salt when sweating!)
3. Add your herbs (minus the basil, you want to add that later so it doesn’t turn black), and continue to saute over medium heat until softened
4. Add your tomato paste and canned tomatoes, crushing the tomatoes lightly as you mix them in. Simmer for 15-20 minutes
5. Add ½ cup wine and stock, and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes
6. Puree your soup and adjust seasoning - add worcestershire sauce, fish sauce a pinch of saffron, and basil
7. Meanwhile, cook your clams and mussels! Melt remaining butter (½ stick) in a pan. Add clams, and then mussels 2 minutes later. Add remaining wine (1 cup) and cover with a lid. Cook for 3-5 minutes until shells are opened
8. With heat on medium low, start adding your seafood to the soup, starting with the cooked cracked crab. Cook crab for ~7 minutes, and then add fish and squid for an additional ~3 minutes. When adding seafood, stir to submerge. Add the mussels and clams. Let cook for an additional minute or two, and then serve with garlic bread!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garlic Bread

Ingredients

• Loaf of good pain au levain

• ¼ cup of parsley

• 1 stick butter

• 5 cloves garlic, minced

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400

1. Cut bread lengthwise once, all the way through. Take bread halves and cut crosswise almost all the way down, but not entirely through, so that the bread slices stay attached.
2. Mix melted butter, garlic and parsley. Coat the bottom of the bread halves, and place bread buttered side down on a sheet tray. Pour the rest of the butter mixture into the bread crevices
3. Bake until golden, ~10 minutes

Grilled Shrimp with Jalapeno Pesto

We also made this fabulous shrimp that was some of the best I’ve ever had. The recipe calls for grilling and it has single handedly convinced me to get a grill for our stove, the shrimp were that good. Super tender and just perfectly flavored.

Ingredients:

• ⅓ cup sriracha

• ⅓ cup olive oil

• 1 tsp worcestershire sauce

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1 handful chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish

• 1 tsp sugar

• ½ tsp salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Kitchen Tools

• Bowl

• Grill

• Grill skewers

Method:

1. Add all ingredients but the shrimp into a bowl and mix.
2. Add the shrimp, and gently toss.
3. Cover with plastic wrap, and marinate in room temp for an hour or 2-4 hours in the fridge
4. Heat your grill to high heat - getting the grill hot is important because th shrimp cook so fast. The high heat will give the shrimp a little char without over cooking them.
5. Place shrimp on skewers and cook on grill 2-3 minutes per side, until pink and delicious
6. Serve as is, or with jalapeno pesto! Recipe below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pesto ingredients:

• ½ cup jalapenos, roughly chopped

• ¼ cup sliced almonds

• ¼ cup red onions, roughly chopped

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

• ½ tbsp sugar

• Pinch of salt

Puree all ingredients in a food processor! Adjust seasoning as needed