TGIF, am I right?! Long week, happy it's the weekend. It's the official beginning of what my husband likes to call my 'birthday season.' His family doesn't just celebrate one day for a birthday, oh no. You get a whole season. Mine begins today. J and I are going out to purchase my birthday gift (which I still am not sure I know what it is) and then out for a nice dinner at a restaurant I've wanted to try. Very exciting. And I think I'm going to go see Crazy, Stupid Love tomorrow. It looks so good. And Ryan Gosling is in it so no matter how bad it is, it isn't that bad. Woof.
I had a good day at work yesterday and was itching to make something new for dinner. I whipped out Rachael Ray's Look + Cook and decided upon her Cod & Shrimp Stoup with mashed potatoes. I think the word 'stoup' is a combo of 'stew' and 'soup.' Basically it just means a thinner, yet hardy, stew. I was inspired to try this by a meal I had with my mother when I was home in WI last time. It was a seafood stew in a light tomato broth with hints of garlic, lemon, and white wine. This recipe had all of those. Bullseye!
I'll preface this with a price tag warning: Fresh fish and shrimp isn't cheap. This recipe calls for 1.5 pounds of cod and 1 pound of shrimp and it made a nice little dent in my pocket. But everything else was really inexpensive. So if you have frozen versions of each of those, use that instead. I splurged a little bit on some really nice, fresh seafood.
I never really realized how much 1.5 pounds of fish is either. It's a lot of fish. Mmmm goodness.
I don't know if you can tell, but those are two very large, and very thick, cod fillets. I got them from the fish monger at the local fancy-lady grocery store. Fish monger...monger...what a funny word. The nerd in me must get a dictionary and find out the true meaning of the word 'monger.'
According to dictionary.com, 'monger' is 'chiefly British' and means 'a dealer in or trader of a commodity.' Well, duh. I got that from context. But does that mean I'm a grants monger? And my Mom is a dental insurance monger? And my Dad is a garage door monger? Yes, yes it does. I think I'd better update my resume. (Squirrel!)
Before we get started with the cooking portion of this blog update (and I promise you, we will eventually get there), I want to introduce you to the newest members of my kitchen.
Aren't they amazing!?!?!? They're little sumo salt and pepper shakers. They're pretty much the most adorable thing in my house right now. Outside of my little sous chef, Aldo. More on him later.
THE MISSION: Cod & Shrimp Stoup with Mashed Potatoes
The recipe in the cookbook is actually for salt and vinegar mashed potatoes, but I just couldn't decide how I felt about that. I played it safe with regular, good ole' mashed taters.
THE INGREDIENTS: 4 large Idaho potatoes peeled and thickly sliced, S&P, 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 2 onions thinly sliced, 3 to 4 celery stalks chopped, 3 to 4 garlic cloves finely chopped, 1 large fresh bay leaf, 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme chopped, zest and juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 cup dry white wine (Note: always an awesome ingredient because then you have 1 bottle minus 1/2 cup left to drink), 1 cup chicken stock, 1 15-oz can diced or stewed tomatoes, 1.5 pounds cod cut into thick chunks, 1 pound large peeled and deveined shrimp, 2 tablespoons butter.
The only difference from the above list if you wanted to try the vinegar mashed potatoes is 1/4 cup white balsamic or white wine vinegar. Just throw that in when you mash your potatoes.
Place the potatoes in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Salt the water and cook the potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large deep skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions, celery, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, and lemon zest. Season with S&P and cook until the onions and celery are tender, 7 to 8 minutes.
For this recipe I used a dried bay leaf and dried thyme. They worked fine. I'm getting to the point that unless an herb is a prominent ingredient, I use the dried version. They don't go bad in 2 days. Every time I buy fresh Italian parley, though it's not expensive, it comes in this HUGE bundle, I use a few stems and end up throwing the rest away. I hate that. Fresh rosemary stems are about the only things that keep well in the refrigerator for more than a few days.
While writing this I also just realized I make a lot of soup-y things. Hmm. Wonder why that is.
Deglaze the pan with the wine and stir for 1 minute.
I love deglazing pans. It's just fun. It's like cleaning with a purpose. And for those of you who don't know what 'deglazing' is, it basically just means scraping up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. That's where all the goodness lies.
Add 1/4 cup of the stock and the tomatoes and bring to a bubble.
Add the cod, cover, cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then stir in the shrimp, season with S&P, cover again, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes more. Remove the lid, stir in the lemon juice, and remove the bay leaf.
Drain the potatoes and return them to the hot pot. Mash the potatoes with the butter and remaining 1/4 cup of stock. Season with salt to taste.
To serve, scoop the potatoes into mounds in shallow bowls, then ladle the stoup around the potatoes.
MISSION COMPLETE:
DEBRIEFING: Easy and quick to make? Check. Lots of leftovers? Check. Hearty? Check. Lots of flavor? Mehhhh....not really. But lucky for you, I've made it already and can offer some pointers.
Don't get me wrong, it did taste really good. I just wanted more flavor. So here's my advice.
1) Use at least another 1/2 can of the tomatoes.
2) Use another splash of wine.
3) Add more fresh lemon juice.
4) Give it a little kick by adding in some crushed red pepper flakes.
I'm not a big spice person, but I thought just a little hint of spice would have been really good here. Also, we're big broth people. (Big broth people exist...who knew?) There was way more fish, shrimp, and vegetables than broth. That's why I think adding the 4 things listed above would not only add to the flavors, but also provide more broth. It was way too heavy on the fish and shrimp. And I'm all about the seafood.
Nix the potatoes all together. They didn't add anything to the dish and I didn't like the two together. Replace with crusty bread. Yum. Can't ever have enough bread. And wine.
The funny thing was that it tasted better the next day. I don't know if it's that the ingredients had more time to kind of stew together (no pun intended) or what, but it really did.
I think I'm going to try something else tomorrow so expect another update soon.
Sous Chef Lt. Aldo Raine is now tweeting somehow. I know nothing about it. All I know is that my husband sure spends a lot of time on his iPhone giggling.
Here's a message from Aldo himself. He wants you to follow him here: http://twitter.com/#!/AldoTheDog
Aldo says: I'm sad. Where's my tennis ball?
Aldo says: Oh! There it is!
Aldo days: It's mine! And you can't have it, woman.
He's got such an attitude. Those rebellious teenage years, I suppose.
It's now Saturday. This post took 2 days to finish because of my oh-so-busy schedule. Starting a new book for my old lady book club tonight. With Dirty Shirleys. Well, to be honest, the Dirty Shirley part has already started.
Cheers!
Rachel
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