This hearty seafood stew (Cioppino) is Mexican in heritage and was lovingly recreated by Mary from this Rick Stein recipe. Instead of monkfish, Mary substituted Rock Ling.
Remove the heads and shells from 12 large prawns (shrimp), leaving the last tail segment in place. Set the prawns aside and simmer the heads and shells in 700ml (1½ pints) of fish stock for 20 minutes before straining and discarding them. Set the stock aside. (If you intend to leave out the first step make sure you have a good quality stock.) In a small saucepan bring 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon of sugar to boil, reduce to a couple of teaspoons and set aside. Now heat 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and butter in a large saucepan. Add 5 minced cloves of garlic, ½ a finely chopped onion, 1 finely chopped stick of celery and 1 finely diced green pepper and cook over low heat until the onions have wilted and become translucent. Add 100ml (3½ fl oz) of white wine, 1 teaspoon of salt, plenty of freshly ground black pepper, ½ – 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes, a 400g (14 oz) can of chopped tomatoes, the fish stock and the vinegar reduction. Simmer for 30 minutes adding 1 teaspoon of oregano for the last 5 minutes. To finish add 250g (8.8 oz) of fresh fish cut into chunks, 20 cleaned raw mussels and the reserved raw prawns. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. To serve, toast some sourdough bread, rub with raw garlic and drizzle with a little olive oil. Garnish the stew with chopped parsley.
michelle picker cooks 