What a brilliant holiday Monday. The weather was spectacular, and if this is any indication of how the summer’s going to unravel for us, we’ve got happy summer days ahead.
We’ve also got a Sabrosito cooking demonstration coming up very soon. Watch this space for an update or ask me about it when you’re in the shop next.
In the meantime, from Pistachio, here’s this week’s recipe: stewed haddock with tomato and basil.
Steph writes:
I was thinking Mediterranean, and when Laurie recommended haddock, it hit me. I rarely eat haddock, which is criminal, really. It’s so versatile, meaty, delicious and doesn’t have to be handled with kid gloves, which is why I thought of stewing it.
To feed four, you’ll need about 1 ½ pounds of haddock [depending on appetites], a 100-ounce can of good quality whole tomatoes, some fresh basil, a half onion finely diced, one clove of garlic stuck w/a toothpick so that it can be hauled out later and extra virgin olive oil.
In a wide pan about 2” deep, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat, until soft. Strain the can of tomatoes, reserving the liquid, and mash the tomatoes with your hands.
Add the tomatoes and liquid to the onions, with a few torn leaves of basil. Season with salt, pepper and maybe a few cracked chilis for some fresh top notes to this dish, or more chilis, if you and your guests like it hot.
Simmer slowly, uncovered; 20 minutes should do it; the stew will be have tightened up but should reduce to a puree. [This can be done ahead of time, even the day before, even in batches for the freezer, so that you can pull out a stew and bring on a meal super fast on a busy weeknight.]
When ready to cook, heat the oven to 400 F. Bring the tomato stew to a boil on top of the stove. Pour the stew into a baking dish. Place the fish [cut into eight equal-sized pieces; they’ll be about three ounces each and cook faster in smaller pieces], add the fish in a single layer, evenly spread out. Dab each piece of fish with a dot of olive oil to make a delicious, moist seal while it cooks, and bake for about 7 to 12 minutes.
What are we drinking with this, Glenn?
I’m thinking Portugal, a vinho verde. The wine is delicate, earthy and has a slightly greenish hue. The grapes are picked young, before a lot of sugar has been allowed to develop, which gives the wine some natural acidity and some mild effervescence, and which is going to make the flavours of this dish shine. Some more detail about our vinho verde here.
Glenn Barley is an agent with Stem Wine Group.
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