Seafood Stew

When  I first started this cooking adventure I was a cooking chicken.  By that I mean that unless it was something I had made before or if trying a new recipe it had more than a few items and a short set of directions it was not going to be tried here.  Then I moved onto a few cooking websites and if it didn't have a lot of positive reviews it wouldn't be cooked here.  Well over the past year and a half I have certainly become more adventurous and much braver. 

What brings all this to mind is yesterday's dinner.  Michael was talking about making some type of a fish soup, we talked about what we would like in it (red sauce or white sauce, what vegetables, what kinds of fish).  Once we had decided on the preliminaries off to the Internet we both went each with an idea of what we were looking for.  We came up with a combination of tastes from two different recipes and two different chefs.  Earlier in my cooking journey I would have had to stay exactly with the recipe and heavens forbid there was not every item called for in the pantry, that recipe would have been out the window!  So here is (to the best of my recollection) a combination of Emeril and Ina's seafood stew!

Seafood Stew

1 Tbls olive oil
1 Tbls butter
1 carrot diced
1 stalk celery diced
1 medium onion diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 cup diced green pepper
6 small red potatoes cut in small pieces
Cayenne pepper
Salt
2 cups seafood stock
1 can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
A couple threads of saffron
1 cup white wine
1/2 lb firm white fish (we used whiting) cut into chunks
1/2 lb mussels
One dozen small clams
1/2 lb raw shrimp (shelled and de-veined)

In a large stockpot heat oil and melt butter, add the carrot, celery, onion and potatoes.  Add some salt, cayenne pepper and bay leaf, stir and let cook over medium heat for 6 minutes (or until onions and peppers are soft).  Add your seafood stock, wine, tomatoes and saffron.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about a half an hour (potatoes should be soft).

Add the white fish and clams, simmer until the clams open.  Add the mussels and shrimp, once again let simmer until mussels open and shrimp turn pink.

Serve with crusty bread!

A Beary Good Day

It is a beautiful spring day here in Charleston.  The temperature is in the low 80's, the humidity is low and the sun is shining so Bear decided he and I needed an adventure!

Bear in the car (harnessed in since he cannot stay in one place) ready to go!  Where are we going? Only Mom knows, or in this case wasn't quite sure at the start.

 Our adventure started near the Coast Guard station at the Battery in downtown Charleston.  By the time we walked to the High Battery (I think it is called that because it is higher than the rest of the Battery) Bear needed a rest.

When we got back to Whitepoint Park (at the tip of Charleston and where people actually watched the bombardment of Fort Sumter from) he was one thirsty dog.  Not sure if it was the stroll or the number of people who petted him that made him so thirsty!

Fortunately there is an unending supply of fresh water!  A nice man from Germany (at least that's where I think he was from) tried to take Bears picture but for once he was not interested.

After we finished our stroll (planned to tire him out slightly before we headed to the beach) we went to Folly Beach for some play time and more walking.  The super nose missed nothing!

I think he is either watching a bird or some children near by.  As you can see he enjoyed the ocean which is remarkably warm already!

On the way home we stopped at Crosby's fish market on Folly Road to pick up some fresh Mussels for dinner tonight.  Michael has a busy day today and I think a special meal is in order!  Right now Bear is laying at my feet fast asleep. Probably dreaming about our next adventure, I'm thinking another walk on the Battery is in order tomorrow!

Finally, The Mussel Recipe!

Moules a la Mariniere

Makes 6 servings
Cooking time: 1 brief hour

Ingredients

8 cups of mussels cooked as below
1 1/4 cups cooking liquid
2/3 cup of white wine
2/3 ounce of shallot finely minced
2 good pinches of minced parley
1/3 cup of butter
2 good soup spoons of bread crumbs ground into a fine semolina
1 medium onion sliced
5 sprigs thyme
1/3 bay leaf
pinch of white pepper
1 cup of water

Preparation

Put mussels, onion, thyme, bay leaf, pepper and water into covered casserole.  Heat over high heat until mussels are just opened wide (6-8 minutes).  Decant mussel liquor into one container, mussels into a second.
Rinse casserole, add the wine and the shallot.  Reduce vigorously until about 3 tables spoons are left.  Add 1 1/4 cups carefully measured mussel liquor.  Boil it for only a few seconds without reducing it.  Turn off the heat. Off the fire, add the butter divided into very small pieces.  Sprinkle in the bread crumbs mixing well and shaking the casserole to melt the butter.  Add the parsley.

Put the mussels back into the casserole.  Shake them in the sauce for a sew seconds only without putting them back over the heat.   You want to heat the mussels and to cover them with sauce but not to boil or over heat because the butter loose its creaminess and turn to oil.

Pour into a large bowl and enjoy!

Our Anniversary!

Michael and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on September 29th. It was a weeknight and we both had to go to work the next day so we had a special day together topped off by one of our favorite meals.  We discovered this Mussel recipe at one of our favorite restaruants here in Charleston called The Fat Hen.  If you have never had the chance to sneak out to this fabulous place out on Johns Island and you live here shame on you!  Often I try to recreate recipes that we have had at differnet places and this was no exception!  You have to have plenty of crusty bread to soak up the juices from the mussels, wine and butter!