Whew!
Long, strange few months it has been. School goes well, I think. Having some issues with my chem a bit, but all in all good. Les and Elysa got their own home :D So happy for them, and we got a new roommate too. Needed someone to pick up the slack. Hunny is still in Tunis for two weeks, but I'm managing to hold in there. Mostly with games and wine. And cooking! Went to Uwajimaya earlier today to get sauces we were running low on and we picked up a catfish too, since
taterlain has never had catfish. Apparently new roomie never has either. Yay!
On the gaming front, I recently recieved Aion. And I LOVE it. I'm torn though, WoW's halloween even starts tomorrow/tonight but I really want to catch up to Elissa in Aion. (I've got 9 levels to go and you know how those Korean games can be. Grindtastic, y'all.) Aion fulfills my need for shiny and fluff while WoW fills my needs for depth and story.
So tonight I am making catfish steaks, onion rings and rice. Seems like a good mix. Gonna start on the stew tonight and finish it tomorrow, it's a simple fish head stew. It stares at me mournfully from the pot. New roomie just left with Skye to get veggies for me ^-^ I'll keep you updated on how it goes!
As far as the stew goes, the recipe is below:
FISH HEAD STEW
Stock:
1 large fish head and frame (snapper, grouper, salmon)*
1 chopped onion
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 bay leaves
Place all in a pot, add water to cover, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for about an hour. Strain liquid from stock into a large bowl. Discard vegetables. Pick the meat from the fish head and frame and save in a bowl.
Soup:
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
½ each red and green bell pepper, diced
2 parsnips, diced
about 5-6 parsley stalks
4 tablespoons oil
In a large pot on medium high, heat the oil and sautee all the above till soft.
Add:
3 medium potatoes, diced into about ½ inch cubes
About a gallon of the fish stock
1 large can peeled or diced tomatoes
1 cup V-8 juice
3 tablespoons salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less to your liking)
2 tsp. marjoram
2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. celery seed
2 tablespoons worchestershire sauce
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about an hour.
Add:
The saved fish meat
1 can chopped clams*
8-9 large shrimp, peeled, deveined, cut in thirds*
Add some chopped parsley at the end for garnish.
Tweaking - Omit the stock step, and use some bottled clam juice and/or chicken broth. You don't have to add the extra seafood if you don't want to.
Let the stock and veggies simmer for about an hour, then add the catfish cut up into bite size chunks, and simmer them for about 5 minutes til cooked through.
.
Never made fish head stew before, but it seems simple enough :)