Cioppino

An Italian-American hearty fish stew guranteed to please friends and family-very delicious and full of nutrients. Years back I saw this recipe on Bobby Flay's show and tried out- it was ok but I sort on ways to improving it. Many recipes call for red wine but instead I use clam juice or fish stock. I also use a hot pot-style instead of frying the fish- less fat and still delicious. The original recipe came from tadich Grill Cioppino from Saveur Magazine. It is easy to make- important to have fresh seafood.

what you need: Serves 8

• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil


• 16 tbsp. butter or Ghee


• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped


• 2 medium carrots, peeled, trimmed, and chopped


• 1 rib celery, chopped


• 1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped


• 1 leek, white part only, trimmed, cleaned, and chopped


• 1⁄2 small fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped


• 2 28-oz. cans crushed Italian tomatoes


• 2 tbsp. tomato paste


• 4 bay leaves


• 1 tsp. dried oregano


• 1 tsp. dried thyme


• 2 pinches cayenne


• Salt and freshly ground black pepper


• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped


• 1 1⁄2 lbs. halibut filet, cut into large pieces


• 16 sea scallops


• 16 large shrimp, peeled and deveined1⁄2 lb. raw bay shrimp, if available, or smallest shrimp available, peeled


• crabmeat, preferably dungeness, picked over


• 16 manila clams, scrubbed


• 1⁄2 bunch parsley, chopped


• My addition-5 whole jalapenos, 2 tbs honey, 1 cup clam juice instead of wine, 2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice,1/2 ts red pepper flakes, 1 ts. fresh oregano chopped, 1/2 ib salmon and 1 whole fish any you like- or several whole small fish ( clean and marinate). And a pinch of safaran, 1/2 bunch cilantro, 1/2 ts fresh ground ginger root, 1/2 ts anis seed, and a pich of five spice.

Directions:

1. Heat 1/2 cup of the oil and 8 tbsp. of the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, for about 2 minutes.

2. Add carrots, celery, peppers, leeks, and fennel and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, 4 cups water, 1 cup clam juice, bay leaves, oregano, thyme, basil, and cayenne, pepper flakes and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours.

3. Add fish stock to another skillet over high heat, scraping browned bits stuck to bottom of skillet. Add clams, cover, and cook until shells open, about 5 minutes. (Discard any clams that don't open.) Add clams and adjust seasonings.

4. marinate rest of the seafood with garlic, giner, lemon juice, anis seed and five star

5.Add to the soup and let them simmer together until done. Add basil and cilantro and jalepeno last.

5.Ladle soup into large bowls, garnish with parsley, and serve with toasted Italian bread, chapati or any bread that you like.

Baklava with a twist.

I love baklava but the reason which holds me back eating them is the sweetness. Baklava is just too sweet. There are different types of baklava and they are commonly eaten in Greece, Turkey, Libya and the rest of the Middle east. When I saw the episode on Everyday Italian with the recipe of Simple Baklava on the food network channel. I just had to cook it.
The changes I made- I only used 2 tablespoons of butter for the filling as in the original recipe but used Butter flavored cooking spray to cover the sheets.

Thank you Giada de Laurentiis for this heavenly treat!!!