Bear Cuisine

Lobster Stew

Lent is fast approaching and some as part of their Lenten discipline eschew meat. The riches of the sea can help to keep us from a dreary diet of nothing but beans and rice. I recommend this excellent recipe for Lobster Stew to lighten your Lenten fast or to celebrate on a feast day.

LOBSTER STEW

(serves 4 to 6)

1. Two 1 1/2 pound lobsters
   
2. Salt
   
3. 4 tablespoons butter
   
4. 1 yellow onion finely chopped
   
5. 2 ribs celery, diced
   
6. 2 springs fresh tarragon
   
7. Pepper
   
8. 2-3 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
   
9. 1 cup white wine
   
10. 1 cup good fish stock
    
11. 1 cup heavy cream
    
12. Chopped chives for garnish
    

Plunge the tip of a large sharp knife into the heads of the lobsters just behind the eyes. Drop the lobsters into a large pot of salted boiling water over high heat and cook for about 8 minutes. Remove the lobsters from the pot and set them aside until they are cool enough to handle.

Remove the meat from the lobster, reserving the shells and any juices. Cut the lobster into large bite-size pieces, leaving the claw meat whole.

Melt the butter in a large heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add onions, celery, and tarragon. Season with salt and pepper. Add the large pieces of lobster shells along with any juices and cook, stirring from time to time, for 10 minutes. Add potatoes, wine and fish stock, cover and gently simmer until the vegetables are just soft, about 15 minutes, Remove and discard the tarragon and lobster shells.

Add cream and lobster meat and cook until lobster is just heated through, about 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Ladle into bowls; garnish with chives.

(in Canal House Cooking, Volume No. 2)

 

Portuguese Fisherman's Stew

There is a substantial Portuguese population in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and these folks have long been part of the fishing industry here. Many of them are wonderful seafood cooks and this stew shows off one of their signature ingredients--Linguica. This is a mild sausage with just a bit of spice and I have never found it outside of New England. Since we were right there, I decided we could honor all the great fresh seafood and this distinctive sausage by preparing this dish. We loved it!

PORTUGUESE FISHERMAN'S STEW

(serves 4 as a main course)

1. 1/4 cup olive oil
2. 4 small dried bay leaves
3. 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4. 1 tablespoon minced garlic
5. 1 medium onion (5 ounces), thinly sliced
6. 1 medium red or green bell pepper (6 ounces), cored, seeded and thinly sliced
7. 4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed (1 tablespoon)
8. 1 teaspoon saffron threads, chopped
9. 1 14-oz can whole tomatoes in juice,drained, juice reserved, cut into strips
10. 1 cup dry white wine
11. 2 cups Fish Stock, clam juice or chicken stock
12. 4 ounces chouricio or linguica sausage, casings peeled off and cut into 1/2" thick slices*
13. 8 littleneck clams,scrubbed and rinsed
14. 10 ounces fatty fish, such as bluefish or mackerel, with skin removed; cut into 4 pieces**
15. 10 ounces lean fish filets, hake, cod, halibut or striped bass, cut into 4 pieces
16. 10 ounces mussels, scrubbed, debearded and rinsed
17. Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
18. 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
19. 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the olive oil in a 6-to-8 quart pot over medium heat. Add the bay leaves and red pepper flakes and saute until they sizzle and the bay leaves begin to turn brown. Add the garlic, onion, bell pepper, and thyme and saute,stirring frequently, until the vegetables begin to soften but not brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the saffron and saute for 1 minute more.

Add the tomatoes with their juices, the white wine, and fish stock, increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring once or twice.

Stir in the sausage and clams and simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Add both kinds of fish and stir to submerge them. Simmer slowly for 5 minutes. Add the mussels, leaving them on top of the stew, without trying submerge them (the seam will cook them), and simmer for 3 minutes more. Remove the pot from the heat and allow the stew to sit for about 10 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

Distribute the fish and shellfish evenly among four soup bowls. Return the broth to the stove, add salt and pepper to taste and stir in the parsley and cilantro. Ladle the broth into each bowl of fish.

*  I doubled the amount of sausage.

** Neither bluefish or mackerel were available so I substituted salmon. That worked perfectly.

(adapted from Jasper White's Summer Shack Cookbook)