With cooler weather around the corner, though it may not appear so in much of the US, perhaps the conversation will turn towards heartier foods. To help nudge it in that direction, I'd like to solicit your thoughts on fish stews. Bourrides, Cioppinos, and even Bouillabaisse. If you have a good recipe (especially for Cioppino) please share!
Bourride, Cioppino and Bouillabaisse.
- Thread starter professorchaos
- Start date
You ought to get an honorable mention just for spelling the words correctly (unless you copied them from a book). I like fish stews with saffron, but never have made one due to lack of ingredients. We flatlanders would have a tough time finding all the fresh shellfish.
i don't measure anything, but here's my basic cioppino recipe. as is tradition, it varies greatly depending on what ingredients you have available that day. since it's fairly simple to make, the quality/freshness of those ingredients will really determine how good your cioppino is.
onions, celery, carrots, green bell pepper, garlic--sweat in a large pot with some olive oil, salt, pepper
add maybe 1 tbsp tomato paste, cook until it starts to darken/caramelize
deglaze with a decent white wine, or a light red will work too
add canned tomatoes, and whatever broth/stock you have available. vegetable or chicken stock will work (especially if flavored with saffron as mentioned), fish broth is better. adding a small bottle of clam juice is optional.
season with a few dashes of a good hot sauce, and some fresh herbs--parsley, oregano, thyme, basil, maybe a bay leaf, whatever you have around. simmer until it tastes good, 20-30 mins minimum, all day if you feel like it. when it tastes like a soup you wouldn't mind eating on its own then you know it's time to add the seafood.
when it's close to dinner time, add your seafood in stages according to cooking time. live dungeness crab or lobster first, clams and mussels next, then shrimp, calamari, and fish (halibut works great but whatever you have around), scallops last.
finish with a little more olive oil and a serve with a good crusty sourdough and the same wine you cooked with.
a note--i tend to overestimate the amount of seafood i need and end up with too much leftover (there's some in my fridge right now!) cioppino doesn't really keep well and if you're using lots of different types of seafood keep your portions in mind so you don't overdo it. also, if you don't have live crab or lobster available to you by all means leave it out. using what's fresh and local to you is really what makes this dish. i'd like to see what some of you guys could do with some trout or crawfish!
onions, celery, carrots, green bell pepper, garlic--sweat in a large pot with some olive oil, salt, pepper
add maybe 1 tbsp tomato paste, cook until it starts to darken/caramelize
deglaze with a decent white wine, or a light red will work too
add canned tomatoes, and whatever broth/stock you have available. vegetable or chicken stock will work (especially if flavored with saffron as mentioned), fish broth is better. adding a small bottle of clam juice is optional.
season with a few dashes of a good hot sauce, and some fresh herbs--parsley, oregano, thyme, basil, maybe a bay leaf, whatever you have around. simmer until it tastes good, 20-30 mins minimum, all day if you feel like it. when it tastes like a soup you wouldn't mind eating on its own then you know it's time to add the seafood.
when it's close to dinner time, add your seafood in stages according to cooking time. live dungeness crab or lobster first, clams and mussels next, then shrimp, calamari, and fish (halibut works great but whatever you have around), scallops last.
finish with a little more olive oil and a serve with a good crusty sourdough and the same wine you cooked with.
a note--i tend to overestimate the amount of seafood i need and end up with too much leftover (there's some in my fridge right now!) cioppino doesn't really keep well and if you're using lots of different types of seafood keep your portions in mind so you don't overdo it. also, if you don't have live crab or lobster available to you by all means leave it out. using what's fresh and local to you is really what makes this dish. i'd like to see what some of you guys could do with some trout or crawfish!
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #4
Thanks, but I do have an unfair advantage or two. I used to be a chef, French was my second language and I lived in San Francisco for three years. I'd be ashamed if I hadn't spelled them correctly!
I love garlicky fish stews with saffron too. I've made Bouillabaisse but never Bourride or Cioppino. Bouillabaisse is a lot of work, something I'd do only on special occasions. Hopefully one of B&B's foodies will weigh in on the other two.
- Thread starter
- #5
That sounds tasty! Now I cannot wait for the first cool day. Instead of canned stocks/broth, do you make a traditional Fumet or it isn't worth the extra effort?
I'll try and post some soups and fish stews I favor from Spain & Portugal: Zarzuela de Mariscos , sort of a Spanish version of Bouillabaisse and Almeihas con Chourico a clam stew.
I also make a nice fresh cod soup with collards greens and Spanish chorizo which is more of a local Boston variation. in most recipes I need to adapt to the local New England fish and seafood which is plentiful and delicious.
Any recipes for Bacalao, salted cod?
I also make a nice fresh cod soup with collards greens and Spanish chorizo which is more of a local Boston variation. in most recipes I need to adapt to the local New England fish and seafood which is plentiful and delicious.
Any recipes for Bacalao, salted cod?
i'm sure a homemade stock would be better, but i've never gone through the effort. i've toyed with the idea of making a simple dashi broth and seeing how that works in the recipe, but when i got home i found that i had run out of bonito so i'll have to try it some other time. if you have the time and ingredients by all means do it. if all you have is canned stock it will definitely still come out awesome. for reference my cioppino broth is roughly equal parts wine, stock, and canned tomatoes so if stock is only 1/3 of the equation it might not be worth the effort. also i use A LOT of the aromatic vegetables and a fair bit of herbs too, so a fancy/delicate fish broth might be overpowered by the other big flavors here.
usually if i have a head/bones/shells from fish or shrimp i'll let them simmer with the soup to help make the broth a little richer. if i don't have them i don't worry about it. just make sure that if you do this you have a plan for fishing all that stuff out of the soup before you add the edible parts of the seafood.
Last edited:
i should note that my recipe was inherited from my next door neighbor, a portuguese gentleman who loved to go deep sea fishing every chance he got. he would often make cioppino and show up on our doorstep with some to share with our family. we loved it so much that eventually we broke down and asked him how he makes it. mine doesn't quite do justice to his but it's close--i'm curious to see how his recipe compares to yours for zarzuela
Last edited:
Zarzuela is a Spanish comic opera, colorful and delightful. This recipe is from Galicia by way of Cuba B.C.
The stage:
1/4 cup good olive oil
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
1 green bell pepper finely chopped and seeded
1/4 cup finely chopped smoked ham
1 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups clams juice or fish stock
4-5 saffron threads crushed
salt
The performers:
1 pound of fresh firm flesh fish like monkfish or swordfish
12 mussels, bearded, scrubbed and soaked
12 clams, scrubbed,soaked. (I use little necks or cherrystones from local New England waters)
3 11/4 lb. lobsters boiled and broken into claws, knuckles and tails
12 large shrimps, deveined and with talis left on
12 raw sea scallops cut in half
3 tablespoons of finely minced fresh parsley
Lime or lemon wedges for garnish
the Rehearsal:
In a large heavy saucepan,I use a Dutch oven, heat the oil on low heat 'til fragrant, add the garlic, onion bell pepper and ham and cook stirring for several minutesuntil the onion is tender. (the mixture of onion green pepprs and garlic is called sofrito and is the basis of many Spanish/Cuban dishes)
Add the tomatoes, bay leave and oregano and cook until thickens (10-15 min)
2. Add the clams until opened and release their broth. Tke the clams out and reserve for later. Add the sherry, monkfish, white wine, stock, salt and saffron, stir to blend, bring to a boil uncovered.
Add the Mussels, reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook 6-8 min.Then add the cooked lobster on its shells pieces, shrimps and scallops and the opened calms still in thir shells, cook covered for 5 minutes.
Remove and discard any unopened clams or mussels
The performance:
Correct the seasoning, transfer the stew to serving bowls and serve hot garnished with the parsley and lime wedges.
I prefer to eat it with crusty french bread and olive oil...and wine of course
Salud, Buen provecho
nice one confilo--as i suspected it looks very similar to the recipe i've been using, but yours has ham and sherry which can only make things better!
i'll have to try it your way next time
Logging in to follow along...Love the Cioppino! Don't know the bourrides
Tis true, you do have to live in a larger city for the fresh stuff...
Cioppino:
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 Turkish bay leaf or 1/2 California bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
1 (28- to 32-ounces) can whole plum tomatoes, drained, reserving juice, and chopped
1 cup bottled clam juice
1 cup chicken broth
1 (1-pound) king crab leg, thawed if frozen
18 small (2-inch) hard-shelled clams (1 1/2 pound) such as littlenecks, scrubbed
1 pound skinless red snapper or halibut fillets, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 pound large shrimp (16 to 20), shelled (tails and bottom segment of shells left intact) and deveined
3/4 pound sea scallops, tough muscle removed from side of each if necessary
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
Cook garlic, onions, bay leaf, oregano, and red pepper flakes with salt and pepper in oil in an 8-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and boil until reduced by about half, 5 to 6 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice, clam juice, and broth and simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
While stew is simmering, hack crab leg through shell into 2- to 3-inch pieces with a large heavy knife. Add crab pieces and clams to stew and simmer, covered, until clams just open, 5 to 10 minutes, checking every minute after 5 minutes and transferring opened clams to a bowl with tongs or a slotted spoon. (Discard any unopened clams after 10 minutes.) Lightly season fish fillets, shrimp, and scallops with salt and add to stew, then simmer, covered, until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf, then return clams to pot and gently stir in parsley and basil.
As for the red snapper I prefer grouper it is a very nice dense meat I'm also not a huge fan of the crab legs and would use muscles instead
Bump. Expecting company Friday. I was thinking scampi, but cioppino would be fun. Maybe a quickie version with wine, fennel seeds, chicken broth (flavored with shrimp shells), tomatoes, garlic, shallot, clams, mussels, shrimp + a baguette. It is a tad messy, but that can be fun, too.
shavefan
I’m not a fan
Cioppino. . . one of my favorite meals.
Similar threads
- Locked
