Halibut And Cioppino With San Francisco Sourdough Recipes

HALIBUT AND CIOPPINO

Steps:

• Place the chorizo, onion, garlic, celery, and tomatoes in a food processor and process until the pieces are small and well ground up. Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat and add the ground chorizo and vegetables to cook until well colored and fat is rendered. Once the ground chorizo and vegetables are cooked, add the flour, thyme and bay leaves. Saute for a further 5 to 7 minutes (this forms the base of a roux). Then add the red wine, reserved tomato juice, and chicken stock. Season lightly with salt and pepper and then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. With 10 minutes to go, turn the heat up and add the crabs and clams to the broth and steam until open, discarding any un-open ones. Reduce the heat and just prior to service add the shrimp and shut off the heat so they don't get over cooked. Remove and discard bay leaves.
• While the cioppino is cooking, prepare the halibut. Season the fillets with salt and pepper and fresh thyme. Heat a large nonstick saute pan and add a 2-count of olive oil. Cook fillets 4 minutes on 1 side then turn once briefly before setting on paper towels to drain.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Combine, garlic, butter, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir to combine. Smear the inside of the bread with garlic butter and toast on a sheet tray in the oven. Reserve any left over garlic-butter to serve with the cioppino.
• To serve, set garlic sourdough toasts in the bottom of a flat bowl. Top with halibut then ladle over cioppino. Top with a spoonful of reserved garlic butter. Garnish with fresh flat-leaf parsley and serve.

SAN FRANCISCO CIOPPINO

Steps:

• Make the stew base. Heat a large stew pot or Dutch oven over medium heat with the olive oil. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine, and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits in the pot. Simmer the wine until reduced by about half. Add the tomatoes, peppers, parsley, thyme, and bay leaf and cook for 5 minutes. Add the stock or broths; bring to a boil, then adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook the base, with a cover slightly ajar, for 30 minutes. (The base may be prepared ahead up to this point, refrigerated for 1 day or frozen for 1 month).
• Finish the Cioppino. Bring the base to a simmer. Add the basil and the clams, and cook covered, over high heat, for 5 minutes, or just until the clams open. Add the crab and cook for 1 minute. Add the mussels, shrimp, squid, and scallops. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mussels open, the shrimp curl, and squid and scallops are just firm, about 3 minutes. Serve in large heated bowls with plenty of crusty bread.

CIOPPINO

Steps:

• Cook garlic, onions, bay leaf, oregano, and red pepper flakes with salt and pepper in oil in an 8-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and boil until reduced by about half, 5 to 6 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice, clam juice, and broth and simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• While stew is simmering, hack crab leg through shell into 2- to 3-inch pieces with a large heavy knife. Add crab pieces and clams to stew and simmer, covered, until clams just open, 5 to 10 minutes, checking every minute after 5 minutes and transferring opened clams to a bowl with tongs or a slotted spoon. (Discard any unopened clams after 10 minutes.) Lightly season fish fillets, shrimp, and scallops with salt and add to stew, then simmer, covered, until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf, then return clams to pot and gently stir in parsley and basil.
• Serve cioppino immediately in large soup bowls.