Watch and Learn - {Seafood Stew a la Provence (with an American Twist)}

About a year ago, I was contacted by the owners of Wolf Ranch Farmers' Market about helping out at the market. It was an open-ended proposition with a couple of different objectives; one was to write a series of posts in which I shop the market and use the purchased products to make a dish that would help other shoppers also use the seasonal bounty available to them; the other was to actually cook at the market. Over the course of the past year, I wrote a number of posts, and did only a couple of demos at the market. The position morphed rather quickly, and soon, I found myself in the titled role of Special Events Coordinator. In this role, I have recruited a few farm-to-table chefs to come and do demos at the market, coordinated the first chef battle at the market between 2 of those chefs, and organized the 1st Anniversary Farmer's Breakfast Celebration. 

One of my favorite parts of this work has been having the opportunity to watch the chefs create food on the fly using what is at the peak of freshness at the market. I've learned so much about cooking via this observational learning - from flavor profiles that work well together to how a chef sets up their station to knife skills. As is the goal of these demos, I've also walked away with some truly great dishes that I've replicated in my home kitchen for my family.  For instance, last weekend, Chef Jacob Hilbert from The Hollow in Georgetown, Tx. was our guest chef. He is an inspired chef who wholeheartedly embraces locally sourced ingredients. He is a true artist who works very hard to ensure that there is a reason for the ingredients he selects to be included in a dish or on the plate. He takes care of the ingredients. The dish that he was creating at the market was a Provencal-style Fish Stew. He selected traditional ingredients, such as tomatoes, sweet green peppers, onions, fennel, garlic, basil, olive oil, scallops and fish (drum from the gulf) and put a local, decidedly non-European twist with the addition of local, sweet corn. The results of his labor were absolutely divine. The stewed tomatoes made such a great base for all of the other flavors and the fresh fennel and splash of Pernod (an anise flavored liqueur) added a fresh, sweetness to the mix. I knew I had to make this at home - trouble however as El Syd has that inconvenient allergy to finned fish. After speaking with Chef Jacob, he assured me that eliminating the fish and subbing in other seafood with the scallops would be equally good. 

With that knowledge and watching closely, I set out to make this for El Syd's belated birthday dinner. Not a true recipe per se, but more of the type of cooking that I like best - cooking by suggestion. While this might not be exactly what Chef did, I feel it does it justice. Here's what I did: 

Seafood Stew a la Provence (with an American Twist)adapted from Jacob Hilbert

• 5 or 6 large ripe tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 sweet green peppers, diced
• 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced (reserve fronds for use later in the dish)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 4 or 5 ears of corn, shucked and cleaned, kernels cut from the cob
• 1/2 lb dry scallops
• 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 lb mussels, cleaned  and washed
• a couple of splashes of Pernod (or other Anise-flavored liqueur)
• generous amounts of olive oil
• 1 C basil leaves, roughly torn
• 1/2 C fennel fronds, finely chopped

1. In a large dutch oven, heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes cut side down into the hot oil. Sear until the tomatoes begin to break down and then lower heat a bit to allow the tomatoes to stew down until soft and crushable with a spatula. Add a couple of splashes of Pernod to de-glaze pan.
2. In a separate pan, lightly roast the corn cobs (reserved from removing the kernels) and then cover with water and simmer to create a corn cob stock. If you'd rather skip this step, use water at the end of step 3.
3. Add a splash more olive oil, return heat to med-hi, add the onion, peppers, fennel and garlic to the tomatoes and allow to cook until all items are softened and the onions are translucent. Add the cob stock(or water) to the pot (enough to get a loose stew consistency).
4. Continue to cook the mixture until all of the vegetables are tender. Add a bit more olive oil if you like and then add scallops - allow to cook a minute or so and then add mussels and shrimp. Seafood is done when the scallops and shrimp are no longer translucent and mussels have popped open (discard any mussels that don't open.)
5. Add torn basil, and fennel fronds and perhaps a splash more Pernod if you like. Stir well and serve with a delicious French bread (to sop up all of that delicious liquid).
6. Enjoy!

Notes: 

• Just about any combination of fish and seafood will work well for this stew - or even all one type.
• There are other substitutions for Pernod - any anise-flavored liqueur would work in a pinch (eg. Anisette or Herbsaint)
• When buying sea scallops, they should be fresh, large (U10- meaning there are under 10 scallops per pound), and slightly sticky to the touch. The best kept scallops will be designated as "dry", and that's really the only kind you want. If the scallops you see are in a white liquid, then they've been dipped in phosphates to extend their shelf life and to add water weight. These scallops will also appear pure white when the natural color of sea scallops range from white to off-white to pale shades of orange, pink and tan. When cooked, these wet scallops will seep out all of that retained water and fill up your pan with that liquid, resulting in a steamed type item(more important when searing than when adding to a stew, I suppose, but who needs extra chemicals?) and a less than satisfactory result.
• Mussels are alive when purchased. Thus, it is imperative that they not be sealed off from fresh air. Be sure that you carry them home on ice and with the bag partially open. Once at home, place into a bowl, cover with a damp towel and place in the fridge until ready to use - recommended the same day as you're cooking. Follow this link for great info on mussels. 

This dish was very well-received and will definitely earn a place in our Summer dinner rotation.  El Syd loved it and paired it with a lovely McPherson Cellars Roussanne. This recipe makes a healthy amount of stew - we had enough for 2 nights worth of dinners and a lunch portion left over. To reheat, do so slowly over lower heat as to not rubberize your seafood.

Happy Cooking!
sld 

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