THE CHEF FROM HELL

The culinary heritage of cioppino can be traced back to a fish stew found in Italy called cioppin.  The Americanized version of this dish seems to have its origin in the following story:  During the thirties, in San Francisco, Italian fishermen met at the docks after a day of fishing and cooked up a batch of stew which contained a variety of seafood.  All of the fishermen were expected to "chip in" and add some of their daily catch to the stew pot.  Cioppino was born!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1 TBS unsalted Butter

1 large Spanish Onion, chopped medium coarse

1 cups Celery, chopped small 

1/2 cup Scallions, chopped medium coarse

2 Green Bell Peppers; seeded, stems removed & chopped coarse

5 cloves fresh Garlic, diced fine

3 cups dry Red Wine

1 can whole peeled Tomatoes with juice (28 oz)

1 can Tomato Puree (8 oz)

4 cups Shrimp Stock

Note: For my stock recipe, go to Homestyle Shirmp Stock

1 TBS Tabasco Sauce

1 large Lemon; seeded & quartered

1 dozen fresh Little Neck Clams; rinsed & scrubbed well

1 lb fresh Mussels; rinsed, scrubbed well & beards removed

2 lbs fresh Red Snapper fillet, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 lb fresh Flounder fillet, cut into 1 inch pieces

15 large Shrimp; peeled, deveined & tails removed

1 lb fresh Sea Scallops; rinsed & cut in half

1/2 lb fresh lump Crabmeat

Dry Spice Mix:

2 Bay Leaf

1 tsp Basil

1 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

1 tsp cracked Black Pepper

1 tsp ground Sage

2 tsp Oregano

1 tsp ground Cumin

1/4 tsp ground White Pepper

Cooking Procedure: 

In a small bowl, assemble the ingredients for the Spice Mix

Mix well and set aside

In a large pot, heat the olive oil & butter over medium heat 

Once the butter has melted, add the onions, celery, scallions, green peppers, garlic & the Dry Spice Mix

Cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally

Add the wine, tomatoes, tomato puree, the shrimp stock & Tabasco Sauce

Stir well

Raise the heat to high & bring the pot to a boil

Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low & simmer for 30 minutes

Uncover the pot & squeeze the lemon wedges over the pot, adding the juice to the pot mixture

Add the lemon wedges to the pot

Cover on the pot once more 

Let this simmer for 15 minutes

Add the clams &d mussels to the pot

Let this simmer about 8 mnutes; until the clams and mussels begin to open up

Add the red snapper, flounder, shrimp, scallops & crabmeat

Stir well

Simmer for another 10 minutes

Using a slotted spoon, remove the bay leaves & lemon wedges from the pot

Serve the cioppino in bowls with hunks of fresh Italian bread on the side!

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