Cioppino!

I read a lot of foodie blogs and enjoy seeing what other people create. I started the What's For Dinner page a year ago (July 27, 2010) and I have been enjoying this page quite a bit. I can't take the beautiful photos that other people do. I'm not creating recipes. I'm just "pretending" every once in a while to be a food blogger. I imagine the only people who read this page are Mom, Grandmommy and maybe Aunt Mary when she's on the site. None of these people will be impressed by this one, but I really wanted to try it.

What's for dinner? Cioppino!

Cioppino is a fish stew originating in San Francisco. Cioppino is traditionally made from the catch of the day, which in the dish's place of origin is typically a combination of dungeness crab, clams, shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels and fish. The seafood is then combined with fresh tomatoes in a wine sauce, and served with toasted bread, either sourdough or baguette.

I made this one with mussels, clams, cod, shrimp and scallops. First, I cooked a large sweet onion in butter and olive oil. I added red pepper flakes, dried oregano, black pepper and garlic. Then I threw in white wine, one big can of whole tomatoes (that I broke apart), a bottle of clam juice and a cup of chicken stock. I diced up one small white potato and threw it in too. I let this all cook for 20-30 minutes or so on a low simmer. Right before serving, I threw in all the seafood and a bunch of fresh basil and let it cook about 4 minutes. The mussels opened up beautifully, but I had a harder time with the clams. I guess I got a bad batch. Only about 3-4 opened. I served it with toasts and soft white bread and garnished it with lemon wedges and fresh chopped parsley.

I learned a good tip from Ina the other day. You should use flat parsley when you are wanting it to enhance the flavor. Flat parsley has a strong taste. You use curly parsley when you just want the pretty color and the "garnish" effect. I've seen the curly parsley sprig on the side of the plate (like at Denny's) but I never though Ina would suggest it. I didn't know the difference. I'd always heard use flat. Needless to say, it works great - she's right!

One other note I discovered yet again: you really do get what you pay for. We are near the coast and obviously there is more fresh seafood and it's cheaper in our grocery store than it is in Texas, but even our grocery stores don't carry the quality that Whole Foods or my new Fish City Market carry. The mussels I made from Whole Foods were FAR superior to these grocery store mussels and the fresh fish from the Fish City Market is no comparison. The problem is, both are SO expensive. But, my lesson was learned and while the bread and broth were to die for, if I ever made it again, I'd buy better seafood. This dish may be too pricey for a week night....I might just have to leave this one to special nights out at the restaurant.