What's for dinner

Cioppino

There are so many recipes for Cioppino, an Italian seafood stew, but of course I've got my way of doing things too. So here's my take on it.
You'll need:

Fish and shellfish. Whatever is fresh or frozen fresh, or even canned if you like. You pick. Here's my pick this time: 12 oz Mahi Mahi, 16 oz shrimp, two 10 oz cans of whole baby clams, drained. Our seafood selection has been horrible, but if I had a choice I'd pick: 1 whole dungeness crab, separated, 16 oz shrimp, 1 good size fillet of halibut, 2 pounds of littleneck clams in shell, 1/2 pound calamari.

1 large onion, rough chopped

2 fennel bulbs, rough chopped

2 large celery stalks

3 cloves garlic, minced


1 heaping tsp thyme

1 heaping teaspoon oregano

1 heaping tsp Old Bay seasoning

1 heaping tsp black pepper

1 pinch of red chili flakes

2 tbsp chopped parsley

2 bay leaves


1 cup of dry white wine (I used Sterling Sauvignon Blanc)

1 eight oz bottle of clam juice

1can of 28 oz Cento tomatoes (I used chef's cut) or you can use tomato juice or whole, whatever consistency you want. I like it chunkier. Use the juice too.

16 oz of chicken stock

Preheat to med. on stovetop a large dutch oven or stew pot. Add enough olive oil to coat pan. In this order, add onion, fennel, celery. Saute until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. If you decide to season with salt, do so very sparingly because the clam juice has a lot of salt and the stock typically does, too. Add garlic and all the above spices (except parsley), and stir another minute. Add the wine and let simmer a minute or so. Add the clam juice and the can of tomatoes. Add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for at least 30 minutes, more if you like a thicker stew. Here's how I would add the fish: fillet cooks about 10-15 minutes, clams or mussles about 10 minutes, scallops about 5 minutes, shrimp about 5 minutes, calamari about 3 minutes, and the crab goes in last because it's already cooked and just needs to warm. Add the chopped parsley last, give a quick stir and serve with crusty bread or garlic bread.