With my love across the Atlantic, I was slipping into bachelor mode – fast food, sandwiches, lots of eggs. So walking into the kitchen to make yet another sandwich, I fought the urge and fish stew quickly came to mind. I made a quick assessment of the pantry and fridge. Garbanzo beans, a can of whole peeled tomatoes, a bulb of garlic and not much else for such a dish, I decided to make a quick trip to the market to round out the ingredients.

A pound of firm white fish, a nice fennel bulb, a bunch of organic celery, a green pepper, sweet onion and a large can of whole baby clams later, I head home to throw together a big pot of fish stew to hold me over until the little lady returns, and stave off the fast food.

The baby clams were as much for background flavor as anything, certainly if you have some seafood stock stashed in the freezer (I have shells from shrimp and lobster in the freezer, just haven't made any stock yet and wasn't feeling that adventurous) certainly you could just use that. I've never had any luck with commercial fish bouillons, but if you have one that works for you, certainly that can augment the stew as well. Bottles of clam juice can be used in a pinch as well. Likewise, additional seafood could be added. Certainly shrimp or squid would lend themselves to the flavors of this dish as well.

I diced the onion, green pepper, half the bulb of the fennel, 3 stalks of the celery (including tops) and 4 cloves of garlic and tossed it all in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in my trusty enamel coated dutch oven. I big pinch crushed red pepper, and a few bay leaves round out the first phase.

Saute the vegetables over medium high heat until the vegetables are softened, but not mushy. Next add the tomatoes. I prefer to drain off the juice first into the pot, then crush the tomatoes by hand. I also like to add some filtered water to the can and swish it around and add that to the pot as well. Finally add the whole clams and their juice to the pot, as well as the garbanzo beans (I added roughly a cup and a half) bring to a simmer, cover and cook another 15-20 minutes to let the flavors develop and finish cooking the vegetables.

After 20 minutes or so, you can cut the fish up into chunks, depending on the type of fish, I tend to cut mine into pieces about the size of a die. This way, they will cook through, but hold their shape. I prefer chunky, and since it's more a stew, chunks seem more appropriate. However, again, we are improvising, and it's all about your tastes and preferences. There is no right or wrong. Just keep in mind, the smaller the pieces, the less time the fish needs in the stew, otherwise it will disintegrate anyway.

Before adding the fish, check for seasoning. Certainly salt and pepper, salt will be dependent on the type of stock, broth, bouillon clam juice, etc. I also like to add a little acidity to help round out and balance the flavors. A little dry white wine, or in my case, a few splashes of sherry vinegar, and some fresh ground pepper was all I needed.

Lower the heat on the stew, add your fish, and chop a few tops of the fennel, roughly 3 tablespoons, give or take depending on your tastes. I'm a fennel addict, and like the contrast of the slight anise flavor of the fresh tops, especially with tomato and fish. The bulb tends to sweeten as it's cooked, so the fresh tops round the flavors out nicely.

Depending on the size of chunks you cut your fish in, 5-8 minutes should be sufficient at low heat. Recheck seasoning, and your stew should be ready to serve.

A stew like this on a warm summer evening could certainly be served by itself, with a simple salad or some crusty bread, or some combination there of. If I were to pour a glass of wine, I'd probably opt for a viognier, or a light pinot noir.

Well, as the week winds down, I wanted to enjoy a nice dinner with my muse, so after a failed trip fishing in the morning, I head to the market. Some nice looking bay scallops and small white shrimp seemed just the ticket. I had some fennel bulb left over from the Moroccan shrimp, so I decided to grab a couple of lemons and make a broth. A can of artichoke hearts, and some perfect pencil sized asparagus rounded out the dish.

As normal, angel hair pasta is the de facto pasta around my home, and, as normal, I like to get the water going right away, as I will use the same water to blanch the asparagus as well as cook the pasta. This asparagus is so tender and thin, it could actually skip the blanching, but since I want to make things quick, I'll give a quick trip to the boiling water anyway.
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Have been doing some "under the hood" work on the site, but not writing, (or cooking much this week for that matter) but did put this together on Monday.

After a Memorial Day weekend of cookouts, and all you can eat corn at the Zellwood Corn Festival, I needed something light, and filling. Enter pasta dish. A quick glance at the vegetable crisper revealed some fennel left from an earlier meal, so I knew that would get tossed in. Hmm, ok salmon and fennel are a great marriage, so we are almost there. Angel Hair is the de facto pasta around here, as A, my muse loves it, and B, it works well as a leftover during the week. My muse turned me onto tossing it with olive oil, garlic and nutrional yeast (she actually turned me onto using the yeast for several things, it very well mimicks parmesan, without the fat and calories). Anyway, off to the market for the salmon, and something else to round out the pasta.
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