Seafood Stew

If you can't decide which kind of seafood you're in the mood for, this rich and flavorful stew won't make you choose. The fish stock base of this soup is packed with nutrients. Consuming seafood can help prevent heart attacks and strokes, can lower blood pressure and may even help ward off depression. Regular fish consumption reduces the risk of heart attack by as much as 40 percent. Seafood magic ingredient: omega-3 fatty acids. This stew is perfect for when the weather turns, you'll want to sop up every last drop.

Total time: 1 hour 55 minutes

ingredients

• Avocado oil, ghee, or brown butter for searing
• ¼ pound bay scallops, cleaned
• 4 tbsp butter
• 5 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• ½ pound medium shrimp or prawns, shelled and deveined
• 4 pounds thick, firm, white fish fillets, such as snapper, bass, halibut, swordfish or monkfish, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 bulb fennel, minced
• 3 sprigs thyme, chopped
• 1 celery rib, coarsely chopped
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 6 cups Fish Stock
• ½ pound mussels, cleaned
• One 14.5-ounce can peeled whole tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• fresh parsley for garnish

method

In a medium skillet, heat fat for searing over medium-high heat. On a linen towel, pat scallops dry and season with salt. Once pan is hot, add scallops and sear - don’t move them for about 30 seconds (depending on the pan & the heat). Once golden brown, flip and brown other side. Remove scallops from the skillet and reserve in a medium dutch oven or pot.

Add butter, garlic, and red pepper flakes to the skillet and heat until fragrant, careful not to brown the garlic. Once fragrant, add shrimp and quickly coat in butter, lightly caramelizing the outside. Reserve shrimp in the dutch oven with the scallops. Cook the fish the same way and transfer to dutch oven.

In the same skillet, add onions, fennel, herbs, bay leaf, and remaining spices. Sauté until onions are translucent, then transfer to dutch oven with the seafood.

The skillet should now be empty and fairly clean at this point. Turn the heat on high and deglaze the pan with white wine. Once deglazed, pour in 2 cups of the stock and bring to a simmer. Add mussels and cover until they are all open.

Once mussels are open, combine contents of pot with the rest of the seafood and vegetables in the dutch oven. Add tomatoes and bring to a low simmer, cooking for 20 minutes. Finish with lemon and fresh parsley. Serve hot with sourdough toast points.