Istrian Mixed Seafood Stew Recipes

EASY MEDITERRANEAN SEAFOOD STEW

Steps:

• Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and crushed red pepper. Cook and stir until onion is soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
• Increase heat to medium-high and add tomatoes, reserved potatoes, and white wine. Bring to a simmer. Cook, breaking the tomatoes up with a spoon, 8 to 10 minutes. Pour in fish stock and return to a simmer.
• Add white fish to the pot, nestling the pieces down into the broth. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Add clams, shrimp, and calamari. Simmer until shrimp are pink and clams have opened, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove and discard any unopened clams.
• Turn off the heat and stir in basil, parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest. Ladle into bowls to serve.

ISTRIAN MIXED SEAFOOD STEW

Steps:

• Break apart the blue crabs one at a time. Grasping them one by one in a cloth towel, pull off the claws and the tail. Pry up and separate the hard top shell from the bottom body, then remove the gills (or lungs) and cut off the head section (eyes and mouth). Rinse well under cold running water. Cut the body in half (leave roe attached if you have she-crabs), and drain in a colander.
• Cut the sea bass crosswise into roughly equal-size head and tail sections. Dredge the bass, monkfish, and eel pieces in flour, shaking off the excess. Heat the oil in the big saucepan over medium-high heat. Put in all the floured fish in a single layer, fry until crisp on the underside, then flip the pieces over. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and fry until crisp all over, about 4 minutes in all, and remove to a platter.
• Dump in the onion, shallots, and garlic, and cook until sizzling and wilted, stirring all around and scraping up the caramelized bits in the pan. Drop in all the blue-crab pieces (but not Alaskan crab legs, if using), then toss and stir over high heat.
• Add the bay leaves, and season lightly with salt. When the moisture from the crabs has evaporated, push the pieces aside and drop the tomato paste in the clear hot spot. Stir it in place for a minute, then stir the crabs and onion and paste together, all around the pan, as they sizzle and caramelize.
• Pour the red wine vinegar into 3 cups hot water, stir to mix, then pour all the liquid into the hot pan. Stir well, scraping and melting all the glazed bits in the pan and creating a broth. Bring to a steady boil, season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and the teaspoon freshly ground pepper, and cook the crab for a couple of minutes by itself.
• Add the eel pieces to the broth, bring it back to the boil, and cook for 10 minutes-or more if the eel is very thick-before reintroducing the monkfish and sea bass. Clear space for the fish pieces, and nestle them in gently, so they don't break up; pour in any juices that accumulated on the platter. Scatter the calamari all over, and shake the pan gently, nestling the calamari between the fish and sloshing the sauce over all the seafood. (If using crab legs instead of fresh blue crabs, add them to the saucepan after the fish are in, just before the calamari.)
• When everything is in the pan and the broth is perking, cook for 5 minutes or more, shaking the pan now and then. When the firm-fleshed fish are cooked through and tender-in particular the eel and monkfish-turn off the heat.
• Scatter the parsley all over, and serve hot, Istrian style. Heap all the meaty fish with a bit of sauce on a big platter, from which people can choose the pieces they want. Dress pasta or polenta with remaining sauce. Provide empty bowls for bones, and plenty of towels for wiping hands.

MEDITERRANEAN FISH STEW WITH GARLIC TOASTS

Steps:

• To make the garlic toasts, drizzle the bread with oil, then griddle or grill until golden all over. While the toasts are still hot, rub them with garlic and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a wide, deep frying pan. Add the onion and cook over a gentle heat for 5 mins until softened. Stir through the garlic and chilli and cook a couple of mins more. Add the tomato purée and tomatoes. Turn up the heat and cook for 10-15 mins, stirring until the tomatoes are pulpy. Pour over the wine and cook for 10 mins more until most of it has boiled away.
• Add the fish stock and orange zest and heat until gently simmering. Nestle the halibut chunks into the liquid and cook for 5 mins. Add the clams and prawns and cook for 5 mins more until the fish is cooked through and the clams have opened (discard any that haven't). Sprinkle the parsley over the stew and serve with the garlic toasts.

IRISH FISHERMAN'S STEW

Steps:

• sprinkle thyme over both sides of fish.
• in a large saucepan cook fish in 1 tablespoon of hot oil.
• heat remaining oil and add onion and garlic and cook until tender.
• stir in flour and cook 1 minute.
• add chicken broth , stir in corn and potatoes.
• remove skin and bones from fish and add to pot.
• Simmer 35 minutes stirring often.