Sunset Farm Cod Stew

With or without the half and half this stew is easy and great!

		A couple large onions chopped
		Diced celery
		Shaved and chopped carrot
1	Tbs	butter
2	Tbs	dry sherry
3	Tbs	flour
		veg oil

2	lbs	cod or other seafood
2		- 4 bottles of clam juice
1	Tbs	boullion ((I use "Better Than Boullion")
1		- 3 Tbsp Old Bay
2		- 4 Tbsp chopped parsley
1/4	cup	half and half (optional)

1	Clarify or lightly brown the butter.
2	Sauté the onions until golden brown.
3	Add the celery and carrots and sauté for a few minutes. If you have larger chunks of these vegetables, sauté until they are al denté.
4	Add the flour and sauté until cooked and combined.
5	Add the Sherry and cook until evaporated.
6	Add the Old Bay, boullion and 3/4 of the parsley and stir into the onions for about 60 sec or until uniformly mixed. Turn off the heat. Do not add salt until you correct the seasoning at the end because the Old Bay and boullion are salty.
7	Add the clam juice.
8	Add the seafood (if using shrimp wait to add them until the last 7 - 10 minutes), making sure the liquid level is above or even with the seafood. Add more clam juice if necessary.
9	Add the half and half and gently stir until mixed. being careful not to break the pieces of fish.
10	Cover the pot.
11	Place in a preheated 210 degree oven (or as close as possible). The point is that you want the seafood to poach and not boil. The stew is finished when the seafood is cooked. Since the stew is in the oven the heat is even and the cooking is easy. Depending on the size of stew, the cooking may take 45 minutes to an hour - less in a convection oven.
12	Garnish with remaining parsley and some cayenne pepper to taste.
13	Serve with OTC crackers and plenty of wine - a nice oaky Chardonnay.

Tips

The main concept used in this soup is poaching, which cooks the seafood while allowing it to remain tender and sweet.

If adding shrimp, I usually delay adding them until the the last 7 - 10 minutes of cooking.

If adding canned clams, add just before serving, to make warm.

Source

Author: K Frederick

Author Notes

I usually use a combination of cod, shrimp and clams for the seafood. I don't like potatoes in a soup of this type but many do. A mildly flavored addition like fresh diced al denté cooked zucchini would be good.