Venetian Fish Soup Or Stew

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This is probably one of the best fish soups or stews you will ever eat.  It is a classic at Harry's Bar in Venice.

 Having lucked out on some fish this week, I decided to serve it as a stew by adding more fish and shrimp and serving it with white rice on the side. I also cut the pieces slightly larger than I would for a soup.  Either way, it is fish soup (or stew) at its best, but only if you follow it to a t and use good fresh fish.

I know I have just published a recipe from Harry's (the cannelloni) and you may be wondering what's up with me.  While looking for the pasta recipe I came across this and decided I must try it.  Heaven knows I have heard raves about it but never had enough room in me to have both this and a pasta when I visited the restaurant.    So I had to give it a go before this winter was over and here we are, March 1st.  The daffodils are about to pop.

Although I served it for dinner tonight, it would also make a fine main course for Sunday lunch with friends or family.

Make sure you make the fish broth from scratch.  A good stock can make or break a soup or stew like this and fish cubes don't cut the mustard here.  Trust me, the end result will more than reward you.

I used fresh mahi mahi and flash frozen cod.  Fresh shrimp would be great.

Don't skip anything, and that includes the anchovies and the parsley.  I know you are frowning at the former and consider the latter a waste of time.  They are not.
 

Make sure you accompany with a fresh baguette even if you serve with rice on the side.

The real color of the soup is a beautiful saffron or that of butternut squash.  Not being a great photographer, I had to touch up and it came out like this. 

  

 Venetian Fish Soup

Serves 6 to 8 as a first course or 6 if doubling the fish and shrimp and serving with rice as a stew.

Ingredients

• 2 stalks celery, cut into julienne strips
• 2 medium onions, julienned
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded, julienned
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 8 cups stock (brodo) -- fish or half fish and half vegetable
• 1/4 (or more) t. saffron threads (steep in tablespoon of hot stock for20 minutes)
• 1 bay leaf
• pinch cayenne
• salt and black pepper
• 1/2 lb. EACH of two kinds of boneless, skinless white fish (such as halibut, sea bass, monkfish) cut into 1/2 inch. pieces
• 1/2 lb. medium shrimp (shelled, deveined), cut into thirds
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 1 clove garlic, minced                                                 
• 2 canned anchovy fillets, drained and chopped (or use anchovy paste)
• 3 flat leaf parsley sprigs, chopped
• fresh rosemary, leaves from 1 sprig chopped (or pinch dried)
• fresh thyme, leaves from 1 sprig chopped (or pinch dried)

Directions:                                                 

• First make the brodo or stock (See below). Set aside. 

• Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in large saucepan over medium heat.
• Add celery, onions and carrot and cook, stirring often for 5 minutes or until soft but not brown.
• Add tomato and cook for 1 minute
• Stir in 1/4 c. flour and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Stir in wine and bring to a boil, then simmer, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes, until mixture has thickened.
• Stir in stock, saffron, bay leaf, cayenne, salt and pepper to taste, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine remaining flour with 1/4 t. salt and 1/4 t. pepper in plastic bag, and toss fish and shrimp until well coated.
• Heat 2 Tbsp. of the oil in large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook fish and shrimp, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until browned and just cooked. Don't overcook.
• Add brandy to skillet to warm it, then (standing back) ignite brandy. Swirl the skillet until flames die down, then add contents of skillet to soup.
• Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients, anchovies, rosemary, thyme, parsley and garlic and cook for a minute or two.  Pour the flavored oil through a strainer into the soup.   Let flavors blend a few minutes before serving.

Brodo (fish stock):

2 to 3 lbs bones of any white fish
1 medium onion cut in chunks
2 leeks, white part only, washed and sliced
1 celery rib cut in chunks
2 quarts cold water
1 cup dry white wine
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp salt
bouquet garni of
3 flat leaf parsley sprigs
1 thyme sprig
1 bay leaf
10 peppercorns all tied in cheesecloth

Throw everything in a stock pot, bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes on medium partially covered.  Let cool.  Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl


Recipe adapted from Harry's Bar Cookbook
All photos Lindaraxa

Spring Beef Stew In A Red Wine Sauce

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Making a stew at the height of Spring season is unusual for me but there is a story behind it.

Last week I asked my daughter to bring some things from the store,  including a sirloin steak for shish kebabs.  If the meat was on sale, she was to buy extra.  I could always make a stew for one of the nights she came home late from work.  As a caveat, let me tell you that if you think husbands are bad about going to the store, she is worse.  You can give her a list of five things to bring, all written out ,and she will forget three.  I've come to think that perhaps she tends to "forget" things she doesn't care for and have watched out for this.  But no, no matter what I ask for, she apparently zones out or claims to "forget" the list.

In any event, this time she nailed it  and I was ecstatic when she came home with everything I had asked for since it was a fairly long list.  A couple of days later I decided to rearrange the freezer and sure enough there was the sirloin steak for shish kebabs.  I was surprised as I moved to the refrigerator to find a small tray of meat still in a grocery bag.  When I opened it,  it was beef stew meat with a "Sale By" date two days later.  Oh dear, I thought, she must have misunderstood and bought that awful stew meat  instead of the extra sirloin I had asked for to make a stew.  Better cook it tonight so it won't go to waste.

The pieces were cut fairly small and instead of making a beef bourguignone, I decided to try a recipe I had seen by Jacques Pepin.  The method reminded me of the one Lidia Bastianich uses in her Beef Goulash for the Pope.  The stew did not include water or beef bouillon and cooked at a fairly low temperature for a relatively long period of time. That was what I needed,  for "beef stew" meat is amongst the toughest you can find on the shelves.  To boot, I had everything required in the recipe, including the pancetta and the small onions.  Jackpot!

The stew was everything I expected.  The flavor was concentrated and sublime.  The meat one of the tenderest I have ever tasted in a stew.  I accompanied it with pasta and it was perfect for an early Spring dinner.  We were both delighted.  Awhile later, as I was relaxing in front of the TV, I heard her go to the refrigerator and close the door.  "Gee Mom, I do hope you realize you just cooked the meat I had bought for the dogs.  It was really good, though!"

Well, all I can say is that if it was outstanding with meat meant for the dogs, imagine how it will turn out if you make it with a fairly decent cut.  Just goes to show, you don't have to spend a  lot of money to have a really good meal.  For less than four dollars, we had dinner for two with leftovers for another night. Not bad.

No words can express my disappointment in those two.  Sad, really sad...

Recipe after the break.

Dinner in Marrakesh...Apricot Lamb Tagine

Pin It This North African stew is named for the traditional dish it is cooked in. A tagine is a clay pot that consists of a shallow round base and a cone shaped lid designed to allow the moisture to flow back down into the base during cooking. The stews known as tagines are oftened thickened and flavored with dried fruit. The recipe here contains apricots, but prunes raisins and dates are also common.

In France, tagines are often accompanied by couscous, while flatbread is more typical in Morocco. I think yellow rice or jasmine rice would also be nice, particularly for a dinner party where some of the guests might not like couscous.

This recipe for Apricot Lamb Tagine uses a wonderful blend of Moroccan spices to season the meat before it is braised and falls apart. Near the end of the cooking, dried fruit and honey are added for a bit of sweetness and red pepper flakes for some heat. The combination of the flavourful slow braised lamb with the spices and the sweet dried fruit and the warmth is simply amazing. It's a wonderful dish to serve at a dinner party, as you can prepare it the day before.

Choosing a wine is the tricky part of this exercise due to the spiciness, sweetness and heat combination in this dish. I frankly prefer a dry rose with character, such as Bandol or Tavel, or a red like a Syrah or Shiraz. Make sure the latter is served at the right temperature (65 degrees) by chilling it a bit in the fridge. 30 minutes should do it. For the right temperature to serve red wines, particularly in the summer click here,

*After I published this post, I asked members of the Wines & Spirits Group at Linkedin to weigh in with their recommendations. This is what they came up with.

The Bellini Sorbetto with Amaretti Cookies would be a nice dessert.


Makes 4 servings



Ingredients:

2 tsps paprika
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 pinches of saffron
3 1/2 cups of water
1 teaspoon lemon (zest)
2 1/2 pound lamb stew meat*
3 tablespoon oil
1 onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon ginger (grated)
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoons tomato paste
1 TB honey
1 beef cube
6 oz dried apricots
1/2 cup raisins
red pepper flakes to taste
or Harissa*
1/2 cup slivered onions
Chopped parsley


Directions:


1. Mix the paprika, turmeric, cumin, coriander, cardamom, salt, cayenne pepper, lemon zest and oil in a ziplock bag. Add the lamb, mix well and marinate in the fridge for a few hours to overnight.

2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir the saffron into the water in a small saucepan and set aside for 10 minutes, then just heat to simmer (saffron is not soluble in oil so you must first soak it in water to release flavors).

3. Heat the oil in a large dutch oven.

4. Add the lamb, brown well on all sides and set aside.

5. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.

6. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for about a minute.

7. Add the lamb, tomato paste, the bay leaf, cinnamon sticks and cover with the saffron water. Add bouillon cube.

8. Bring to a boil, cover, put in the oven and cook for about 1 hour 30 minutes or until the lamb is almost tender. Halfway through skim fat and turn lamb pieces over so they cook more evenly.

9. Add the honey. Add the apricots and raisins, submerge them and continue cooking covered until the apricots fall apart and the sauce thickens, about another 30 minutes. If the sauce hasn't thickened, remove the lid. You can also mash some of the apricots to help the sauce thicken, or dissolve 1 tsp. corn starch in water (if all else fails) and add to the stew.

10. Discard the bay leaf and cinnamon sticks, add more salt and red pepper flakes (or harissa) if necessary.

11. Add the slivered almonds and parsley to garnish.

12. Serve with couscous on the side. You can also serve with yellow rice.

*Harissa is a fiery blend of hot chiles, garlic, spices and olive oil that is often used to embolden stews and other African dishes. It is available in Middle Eastern and specialty stores. For me its a bit over the top but if you have the fortitude, go for it! Below is a photo of a tagine.