Fish Stew with Peppers, Almonds and Saffron

Fish Stew with Peppers, Almonds and Saffron

(recipe courtesy of Food & Wine May 2007, page 103)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 large red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
2 large garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
1/2 teaspoon sweet Pimenton dela Vera (Spanish smoked paprika)
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups dry white whine
One 14 oz. can crushed Italian tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water (I used bottled clam juice- you could also use fish stock, but I'm too lazy to do that!)
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads crumbled into 2 tablespoons of hot water)
1/4 cup salted roasted almonds
1 dozen littleneck clams (I used Manila clams), thoroughly scrubbed
1 1/4 pounds monkfish, trimmed of silver skin, meat cut into 1-inch pieces

1. Heat the olive oil in large, heavy casserole. Add the onion, bell pepper srips and garlic and season with salt and black pepper. Cover and cover over moderatly high heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the rosemary, paprika and bay leaf and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and bring to a boil. Simmer until the liquid is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, water (clam juice) and saffron water and bring to a boil. Cover the casserole tightly and cook over moderate heat for 5 minutes.

2. Finely grind the almonds in a food processor. Stir the almonds into the stew and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Add the clams, cover and cook until most of them open, 5 - 10 minutes. Add the fish and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until the fish is cooked through, 2 - 3 minutes. Discard the bay leaf (I left mine in). Transfer to bowls and serve.

Serve with : Crusty bread (or rice. Wait, I don't mean crusty rice! Regular rice!)

Wine: A Spanish wine, perhaps an Albarino.

Mmm...for a first attempt, it came out pretty good. I was able to find the monkfish and clams at Nijiya. Next time, I need to really grind the almonds because some pieces were still kind of "nutty".

Marinated Shrimp Scampi

Marinated Shrimp Scampi

(recipe courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens special issue, "Appetizers", page 93) - alterations by me!

These shrimp, marinated in a combination of wine, garlic, and lemon, are served in aclassic scampi style.

Prep: 35 minutes
Marinate: 1 hour

Ingredients:
2 lbs fresh or frozen extra-jumbo shrimp in shells (I used fresh medium sized shrimp)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
6 cloves garlic, minced (1 tablespoon - but I just used however many cloves I wanted!)
2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons snipped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
Lemon wedges

1. Thaw shrimp, if frozen. Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails intact. Rinse shrimp and pat dry with paper towels. Place shrimp in a large resealable plastic bag set in a shallow bowl.
2. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, wine, garlic, lemon peel, crushed red pepper, and salt. Pour over shrimp. Seal bag and toss gently to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Steps 3 & 4 are from the magazine...
3. Remove shrimp from marinade reserving marinade. Arrange shrimp on unheated broiler pan. Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat 2 mintes. Turn shrimp over and brush with reserved marinade, broil 2 to 4 minutes more or until shrimp turn opaque.
4. To serve, mound shrimp on platter: sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges.

Here's how I did steps 3 & 4 because I was too damn lazy to broil...
3. Reserve some of the marinade from the plastic bag and dump shrimp into skillet and sautee until pink. Set aside the shrimp
4. Put in reserved marinade, add more wine, garlic, lemon juice as needed. Reduce the sauce. Pour over shrimp. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with rice. Or in my case (in my second trial run), with linguine with extra sauce.

Makes 10 - 12 servings.

Make-Ahead Directions:
Prepare marinade up to 24 hours before using. Add shrimp and marinate as directed.

Pictured below: My second attempt a few days later. You can see I used WAAAAY too much shrimp, garlic and parsley. I also served the shrimp over linguine.

You could tell by these 2 shrimp recipes that I was on a shrimp bend that week. Plus, my younger daughter now knows how to shell shrimp and leave the tails on. Shrimp is good but in moderation...

Shrimp Pil Pil

Shrimp Pil Pil (Sizzling Shrimp)

(recipe courtesy of Everyday with Rachael Ray, "Hot on the Tail" page 82)

4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails left on)
Salt
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 loaf crusty bread, sliced


1. In a large, heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, crushed red pepper and paprika and cook, stirring, for 20 seconds. Season the srhimp with salt, add to the skillet and cook until opaque, 1 - 2 minutes on each side. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley.


2. Transfer the shrimp mixutre to a bowl and serve with the bread.

I made this recipe twice in one week. Yeah, bad for my husband's cholesterol levels. This is a classic Spanish tapa also known as gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp). You can buy the smoked paprika at Pata Negra, the Spanish market next to Costa Brava (a Spanish restaurant) in Pacific Beach. When I bought it, it was on a lark but now I've been using it for other recipes like crazy. Well, try this recipe. It's pretty easy to do and it's very delicious!