a photographic guide to last night's dinner (long, lots of pictures)

[Rhone]

So I don't know really why I'm posting this, just seems like an OOTish thing to do. I think I'm a pretty good cook, and there have been a few tentative questions from people here lately looking to get into cooking themselves, so who knows, maybe this will help someone.

Now, I fully expect some smart-assed replies and pictures of 5-minute microwaveable frozen Swanson's dinners...that's cool. No problem. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

But anyway, for those of you who might be interested, I present to you, fellow OOtiots, the dinner I made last night. Now, you too can impress your family and friends with daring feats of culinary skill!!


Seafood Stew with Spicy Chorizo

First off, to make this dish, you'll need a few things:

A good bottle of white wine.


This is an Alsatian Riesling that's really nice, but you can use a lot of different things. Sauvignon Blanc would work fine. If you must go with a chardonnay, make sure you get a knowledgeable wine seller to give you one that is not overly "oaked".

Three potatos, a head of garlic, a lemon, and a chorizo, which is a dry Spanish sausage.


Unless you really can't stand any heat in your food, make sure you get spicy chorizo.

Seafood! I used about two dozen small clams, a dozen mussels, and a small piece of monkfish. Any firm white fish will do, for instance cod.



(above, the monkfish)

For equipment, all you really need are a few random plates and bowls, two big pans or pots (pictured below), a cutting board, a potato peeler, and a knife.


First, clean the clams and mussels. Most likely the clams will just need a quick rinse under cold water. The mussels will take a bit more work, but it's really not too bad. Some of them will have crud on the outside, and some will have "beards," a stringy type thing coming out of the shell. This one below has both.


Use another mussel to scrape the shell under running water until it is clear, and pull the beard out with your hands. This will just take a few seconds per mussel.

(a note on shellfish: if a raw clam or mussel is slightly open, and it doesn't close up when you tap on it, THROW IT AWAY. If a cooked clam or mussle doesn't open, THROW IT AWAY.)

Next, I prepared my ingredients.

Peel the garlic (give each individual tooth a gentle whack with the side of your knife, and they peel really easily), and chop it finely.

Slice the lemon.

Peel the potatos, and slice into about 1 cm thick rounds.

Slice the chorizo slightly on the diagonal, into about 2 cm thick pieces.

Next, you cook the shellfish, and create a broth for the stew at the same time. In a pot, put about a cup of the wine, a cup of water, and half the garlic. Squeeze the juice in from half the sliced lemons.



Cover the pot, bring it to a simmer on medium heat, add the shellfish, and re-cover. It's best to have a clear lid so you can see what's going on inside. After a few minutes, you'll see the clams and mussels begin to open. Once they're open, they're done, and you really don't want to overcook them, so pay attention and remove them as they open. Set them aside, and don't throw away the cooking liquid!

When they're cool enough to touch, use a small fork to pull the meat out of the mussels and clams, and set aside. Throw away the shells. Now's a good time to chop your white fish into cubes as well.


Next, throw the potatos and chorizo into another pot, or, as I use here, a pan that's deep enough to hold the ingredients and some liquid.


You may need to start it with just a touch of oil, but the chorizo will give off a lot of fat while it cooks. Turn the flame on medium, and stir. Try to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom.

After a bit, you'll notice both the potatos and sausage getting some nice color.

When it begins to look like it does in this picture, throw the other half of your garlic in.

Stir for 30 seconds or a minute until you can smell the garlic, then pour in some of the liquid you used to cook the shell fish. Use as much as you want, depending on how thick/watery you want your stew. Remember, the potatos have a lot of starch in them, so it's going to thicken up somewhat after you add the liquid.

Also, some sand may have come out of the mussels and clams while they were cooking. When you're pouring that liquid into your potatos and chorizo, do it slowly and carefully, without sloshing the broth around, so the sediment stays in that first pan.

Once it begins to simmer, add your fish.

The fish will only take a few minutes to cook. The pieces should loose any tranluscence they may have had, and become firm and white. If you're unsure, take a large piece out and cut it in half and see if the middle is cooked.

When the fish is cooked, the last step is to throw the shellfish in for 30 seconds or so. Remember, it's already cooked, so all you're doing here is warming it up.

Final product:

If you were preparing this for guests and you really wanted to make it look nice, you could add some chopped parseley at the end.

It took me almost exactly an hour to make this, but I'd say 10 minutes or so of that was wasted taking the pictures. It's really not that complicated or time consuming, and the result is terrific.

One more note: the chorizo is pretty salty, so you most likely won't need any additional salt. But you can always add salt and black pepper at the end if you want to.

Serve with some good french bread, and you've got yourself one hell of a great meal.

[swede123]

Very nice job!

Swede

[jakethebake]

Is there saffron is that? Is that why it's yellow?

I love chorizo. I've never noticed it's salty thyough, so maybe it just depends.

This stew reminds me of a good paella that my wife makes that's very good. Mostly the same stuff except rice instead of potatoes. Maybe I'll ask her about doing this stew next time.

[Yobz]

Very cool, send me over a spoonful next time you make some! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Rhone]

No saffron. The yellow or red color came from the chorizo, I imagine from paprika or chile that's mixed into the sausage.

[chaas4747]

[ QUOTE ]
This is an Alsatian Riesling that's really nice, but you can use a lot of different things. Sauvignon Blanc would work fine.

[/ QUOTE ]

My GF loves Riesling, what is the price tag for that brand?

[Rhone]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This is an Alsatian Riesling that's really nice, but you can use a lot of different things. Sauvignon Blanc would work fine.

[/ QUOTE ]

My GF loves Riesling, what is the price tag for that brand?

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't remember exactly how much I paid this time, but I've seen it around for between $10 and $15.

Oh yea, I think I forgot to mention, the last step of the recipe is definitely to finish off this bottle with the stew! They went really well together. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Shajen]

Nice job man, good to see other ootiots know their way around a kitchen.

I'm not much of a fish eater, have you subbed any other seafood/meat with this meal?

[chaas4747]

Thanks will have to look for that. By the way the dinner looks great.

[Stupendous_Man]

Nicely done!