All Things Chill

Cioppino with Shrimp, Manilla Mussels, Calamari, and Bay Scallops

Larger view here. Cioppino. With a name like that for a seafood stew, you’d think its origins would trace back to Italy. Not so. According to its Wiki page, Cioppino was created by Italian fishermen in the 1800’s in the neighborhood of North Beach… in San Francisco, CA. Wow, huh? It’s 100% American – but don’t quote me on that. LOL.

Apparently, one of the best places to eat this delightful combination of seafood is the Hayes Street Grill (in Hayes Valley), where my culinary classmate Kathrina interned for a while. There’s also a recipe from Rose Pistola – where I’d go late night on the weekends to nosh on their tiramisu. OH THE MEMORIES.

Never had made the soup, I figured I’d follow the Epicurious recipe, which was comprised of a base of onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, green onion and tomato paste. A few more liquids were added (wine, chix stock and clam broth) along with chopped whole tomatoes and then cooked until combined. Then, all you gotta do is throw in your seafood and you’re good to go! I used bay scallops, 16 – 20ct. shrimp, Manilla mussels and calamari… great combination of food. Also, to brighten the flavors, the recipe calls for some basil and parsley.

There wasn’t much left after giving a bowl to a few neighbors (they did give me a bottle of wine a few days ago). But if I had more than a few spoonfuls in the pot, I think I would have reserved the leftovers to make a killer sauce to go with angel hair pasta. OOH, or maybe combined with some heavy cream to make a spicy dipping sauce for fried zucchini slices. DAMN. Next time I’ll remember to be selfish. selFISH. SEE WHAT I DID THERE? lawl.

I made this dinner for Liana and I (mostly because she requested it), but this recipe could totally feed 4-5 people if you include a light salad (something simple with thin ribbons of Parmesan, chunks of romaine & an aged balsamic perhaps?) as the opening course. One more thing: Naked Sushi made a “warm yourself up” kale soup too, is it really that time of the year already? Boo.

CIOPPINO! WOOP WOOP!

~Spec

This entry was posted on Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 10:20 pm and is filed under Cheap [and GOOD] Eats, Cooking Culture, Cuisine, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.