Dreams do come true. Choppino.

7:57 PM Remy Maguire - Manifest the Best 1 Comments

If I ever see anything like 'fish stew' or Choppino on a menu there's little question what I'm having, unless it's 9am. Even then. I don't think there's anything as delicious as a piping hot bowl of stewed, spicy tomatoes surrounded by chunks of tender seafood. I always feel sufficiently fed, warm and healthy when I swipe the last bits out of the bowl with a bit of crusty bread. Heaven. With a name like Choppino I didn't think my kitchen could handle the traditional stew.

According to wikipedia..."Cioppino is a fish stew originating in San Francisco and derived from the various regional fish soups and stews of Italian cuisine. Cioppino is traditionally made from the catch of the day, which in the dish's place of origin is typically a combination of dungeness crab, clams, shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels and fish. The seafood is then combined with fresh tomatoes in a wine sauce, and served with toasted bread, either sourdough or baguette. The name comes from ciuppin, a word in the Ligurian dialect of the port city of Genoa, meaning "to chop" or "chopped" which described the process of making the stew by chopping up various leftovers of the day's catch. At least one restaurant in San Francisco, the eponymous Cioppino's, describes an apocryphal story in which the name derived from the heavily Italian-accented cry of the wharf cooks for the fishermen to "chip in" some of their catch to the collective soup pot."

That makes sense to me and the crazy, toss this in, try this spice way I finally made me own version tonight! I started with chopped garlic and shallots and a little olive oil in the bottom of a tall copper pot. I added chickeb broth and more chopped onions. When the onions turned translucent I added a canned of diced tomatoes with green chilies (I like it SPICY).

My spice drawer is unsightly and a bit like a stew itself...a little bit of everything spilled out of plastic bags, glass and plastic containers, some labeled and some identified by smell.

I tossed it a good amount of cumin, red pepper flakes, some 'italian blend', fennel seeds (for fun), garlic powder and good old salt and pepper. Standing in the kitchen with the refrigerator door open I figured a little worchester, white cooking wine and some red form my own glass would be just the thing!

Andrew and I stopped by Trader Joes after our gym date where I picked up a bag of frozen salmon and their frozen seafood medley complete with shrimp, calamari, scallops and cod. After simmering the spicy tomatoes for about an hour on low I tossed in the defrosted and chopped up fish just before Blazers half time. I threw together a small salad, popped some bread in the toaster and served my first Choppino to one hungry, handsome dude flanked by desperately meowing kitties. (Sorry Sherman and April, this stew isn't for you!)

Amazing. I've got enough for tomorrow -- but not enough to share:)