Recipe: Creole Fish Stew

Recipe Source: Jollands, Beverly.  500 Hot & Spicy Recipes.  Anness Publishing, London, 2008 p. 87

I think fish is probably my favorite protein source.  It always has been.  When I was a kid, fish was a rare treat for me.  My mother and sister hated fish (Mom still does, sister is a little more adventurous but still not what you'd call a fan.)  Mom never bought it when she did the food shopping, so my fish consumption was limited to what my father caught (trout) and restaurants.  (What my father caught was best.  We would bring the fish over to my grandmother's, where she would do... something simple but delicious and we would eat it, pitying the clearly deformed taste buds that kept Mom and Sister from enjoying the treat.)  Nowadays I can get very high-quality frozen fish at Whole Foods and sometimes even Costco, and my husband loves fish almost as much as I do.  On Fridays, when I do the food shopping, I can also get fresh fish. 

This was a Friday dish.  I made a few changes, as I do.  My husband will not eat a whole fish - boneless fillets only, so while the recipe called for two whole red snapper I substituted haddock fillets, squid and some mussels.  I skipped the step where the fish sits in vinegar, since I couldn't find malt vinegar and I didn't think that would be a good way to treat these particular types of fish.  I increased the tomatoes and chiles to use up some of the bounty from our garden, and I increased the garlic because I wanted to increase the garlic.  The result was a delicious treat, satisfying and filling and reasonably light. 

Creole Fish Stew (serves 4 generously; approx. $6.52/serving)

1 lb haddock fillets, cut into 1" pieces

1 lb squid (tubes and tentacles), cut into pieces

2 lb mussels, scrubbed and debearded

Flour for dredging

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

8 garlic cloves, crushed

1 onion, finely chopped

10 fresh plum tomatoes, chopped

2 tablespoons thyme

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cayenne chiles, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 pinch kosher salt

Equipment:

• Large pot with a lid
• Plate

1. Dredge the haddock pieces in the flour and set aside. 
2. Heat the oil and butter in the pan.
3. Fry the fish until it is golden brown.  This should only take about 5 minutes; it shouldn't be cooked through.  Set it aside on the plate. 
4. Add the garlic and onion to the pan and saute until softened, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes and thyme.  Stir well and simmer another 5 minutes.
6. Add the water, cinnamon and chiles. 
7. Add the fish, squid and peppers to the pan.  Top with the mussels, cover, and simmer until the mussels are all opened. 
8. Season to taste with kosher salt and serve. 

Comments

[Angie@Angie's Recipes]

I like fish stew, but have yet tried creole style. The only fish my husband eats is Fish Chips...sighs...he has absolutely no idea how good a seafood stew could be in a cold winter day.
What's the difference between cuttlefish and sqid?