Seafood Stew and an Interview

With an extra day off today, Adam and I decided to make the trek to the nearest Trader Joe’s for groceries instead of just going to the local store. My first thought went to all the wonderful sweets and treats they have there above all the frozen foods… and then my thoughts went to the weight I’m gaining, and how I really need to NOT eat that stuff! THEN a thought went to their wonderful frozen fish. I remembered that my mom had a stellar fish stew recipe when I was growing up, so I of course, called her. She gladly gave me her recipe, and we set out to Trader Joe’s.

Mom’s Seafood Stew

Ingredients

1 green pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 c. dry white wine

2 big cans crushed tomatoes

1 bottle clam juice, strained

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

1 lb. firm-flesh frozen fish, such as cod (I used mahi-mahi), cut into chunks

1 tbsp. olive oil

(the following is what I put in my stew, you can use any seafood you like!)

1 lb. frozen scallops

1 lb. frozen shrimp

1 can chopped clams, drained

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions, garlic, and pepper. Sautee until aromatic and onions are soft. Add wine, tomatoes, clam juice, salt, pepper, and red pepper. Simmer over low heat about 30 minutes. About 10 minutes before serving, add in the frozen fish. Simmer until the fish is cooked. Add the clams. Before serving, add just enough of the remaining fish for the people you are serving, as the shrimp can get very tough. Heat until the shrimp and scallops are heated through, and serve.

My mom usually added a sprinkle of fresh parsley on the top, but that was the ONE thing I forgot! It was just as good as I remembered it, and seriously satisfying! I’m glad we have bunches of leftovers so I can bring it for lunch…and have it for dinner… and then bring it for lunch again!

OH, and I also had a lovely green salad with sesame ginger viniagrette and avocado:

Now, the Interview portion of the post! Krista sent me these interview questions to answer on my blog, along with some rules for participation. If you want to be interviewed by me, leave a comment expressing interest! I’ll randomly pick 2 people, and send you questions.

1)  If you could be any animal, what would you choose to be?

Any animal? I’ve always said that I’d love to be a house cat. I swear, they have the best lives! They sleep, eat, bask in the sun, get taken care of by doting humans… oh, and find simple things like yarn and paper bags truly amusing.

2)  What season is your favourtie and why?

I’m a huge fan of summer! I work as a director at a day camp, and have for the last 10 years, and have seriously grown to love the summer. While I truly love my teaching job, I love being outside and influencing year after year of 4-year-old campers to be brave and adventurous. My first group of campers will be entering 8th and 9th grade this coming school year. My summers are full of happiness and simple pleasures, and of course, I love eating outside too!

3)   Name one food that you would never eat and explain why.

I can’t say that there’s really anything I’d NEVER eat, but there’s definitely a few things that I don’t eat if I can help it! One of them is veal. I just can’t bring myself to eat it after I found out at about age 11 how veal is bred/kept. Another one is okra. I can’t bring myself to eat something thats hairy on the outside and has snot on the inside!

4)   What was your motivation for starting a blog?

I’ve always loved to write and Lord knows I’ve always loved to eat! A few people, ok, Beadie, had mentioned that I really should write about all these dishes I’ve been cooking, so I started one for the heck of it. Next thing I know, I’m writing every night, getting hundreds of hits, getting free products from companies… I’m really glad I did it!

5)   If you were given $5000 to use for a good cause, how would you spend it?

I think I would give the $5000 to a needy family that I teach. As they always told us in college, there’s always more going on at home than we originally think, and there are so many families that need much more than they have. I’d love to keep the money local, and help children I truly care about.

WHEW! That was a LONG post… thanks for reading!

Make sure you check out the BSI Winner post, and let me know if you’d like to be interviewed!

xoxo,

Tagged as: BSI, interview, seafood, vegetables