Cioppino

Joseph had decided our next cooking collaboration should be Cioppino. Boy, was I game! I frequently dream of the blackened Le Creuset pots filled with the piping hot sea stew that they serve at the Sea Chest in Moonstone Beach, just a few hours up the coast from Los Angeles.

We needed a solid recipe that could compete with all the fabulous Cioppinos that Joseph has eaten by his father's side. If you look around, you'll notice there are tons of recipes for Cioppino. We were searching for something sparkly with a touch of wow-factor.

Strangely, right at the start of our quest, Jonathan Gold, Los Angeles' revered Pulitzer Prize winning food-writer, put out a call for questions from his fan-base on Facebook. He promised to try to respond regarding all manner of subjects from Los Angeles restaurants, to baking tips, to courtship advice, and even Rodarte's fall line.

Ambitious man!

Here was our ticket to the perfect Cioppino recipe. I immediately requested the best Gold had to offer. And guess what. He responded!

He recommended a Tadich Grill recipe that appeared in Saveur magazine a few years ago. Gold emphasized that this was in no way his Tuesday-night Cioppino, but a far more luxurious Saturday-night affair.

Cioppino is actually something of a poor man's fish stew originating out of fisherman culture in the late 1800s in San Francisco. Cioppino was originally made with the odd bits and leftovers from the day's catch. If you've made it yourself, you'll realize that it costs a fair bit more than a poor man's pay to actually make this dish.

In typical Joseph and Jacqueline fashion we went overboard. Big time. Jonathan Gold mentioned showcasing the beautiful Alaskan halibut that is just coming into season. I was with him completely. And it wasn't until we were paying that I realized that a pound and a half of that beautiful white flesh cost us fifty big ones.

Yikes!

I can't even tell you how much we spent on the crab legs. But it was a dazzling success of a dinner. A bubbling cauldron of red, overflowing with plump sea scallops, sweet shrimp, first of the season halibut(!), briny manila clams, lump crab meat and king crab legs, is a decadent stew well worth sharing.

Jonathan Gold conspiratorially advised against mentioning the two sticks of butter in this dish to anyone. And truth be told, we didn't whisper a peep about it to our guests. Of course, I have to be straight with you. Let's face it, that is no small serving of butter. There is no denying however, that it produces a stunning velvety effect.

The stewy broth takes a bit of work -- plenty of chopping and two hours of simmering -- but that kind of care develops a deeply flavorful base for this Cioppino. Dredging the seafood in flour and browning all of it is the kind of last minute, pain-in-the-assiness that I often steer clear of the night of a dinner party, but when you've got a three-man team working on the production, it's no big thing.

Our dear friends and family were delighted, and we were very pleased. I feel good about recommending this recipe to you, despite the fact that I have a couple of reservations.

In the end I am more of a soupy Cioppino girl. This recipe is best suited for those of you who enjoy a thicker, stewier Cioppino. Now, I may have allowed the sauce to reduce a little bit too much or perhaps we could have used a slightly lighter hand with our dredging. The butter likely contributed to this thicker, richer experience as well. I might tinker with the recipe a touch to arrive at a brothier outcome.

Those qualms could easily be due to user error. The only other issue I had was with the use of green bell pepper. And that is definitely just a personal preference issue. I'm not a big fan of green bell peppers any more. This recipe only calls for one, but the flavor is distinctly there in the forefront of every bite. It brought a definite cajun jambalaya/gumbo flavor to the Cioppino that I did not love or think really belonged. I might substitute a red pepper or omit the bell pepper all together in the future.

Just two other small notes. We added king crab legs, giving a half of one to each guest. For me this was a revelation. At thirty-eight years old, I'm not sure how I've missed these my whole life, but wow! The crab meat was incredibly sweet and tender and so easy to get at -- a really great addition to the dish.

And finally, back to the fifty-dollar halibut. I feel like a less fabulous fish, would do just as well in this Cioppino. The flesh falls apart too much to fully appreciate the halibut's wonderful texture and taste.

Other than those bits of nit-pickiness, I can whole-heartedly suggest you make this quite spectacular Cioppino for your next spendy dinner party. Your guests will be in for a real treat. Just don't forget to serve it with a crusty sourdough boule, and some Irish butter (conveniently available at Trader Joe's these days!).

Tadich Grill Cioppino

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped

2 medium carrots, peeled, trimmed, and chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped

1 leek, white part only, trimmed, cleaned, and chopped

1/2 small fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped

2 28-ounce cans crushed Italian tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato paste

4 bay leaves

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 pinches cayenne

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 pounds halibut filet, cut into large pieces

16 sea scallops

16 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 pound raw bay shrimp, if available, or smallest shrimp available, peeled

1-2 cups flour

12 ounces crabmeat, preferably dungeness, picked over

2 cups dry white wine

16 manila clams, scrubbed

1/2 bunch parsley, chopped

Warm 1/2 cup of the oil and 8 tablespoons of butter in a big pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Stirring frequently add the carrots, celery, peppers, leeks, and fennel, cooking for approximately 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste, 4 cups of water, the dried herbs and cayenne. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to low. Simmer for 2 hours stirring every so often.

Heat the remaining 1/2 cup oil, and 8 tablespoons butter in a large heavy pan over high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, approximately 1 minute. Dredge the halibut, scallops, and both sizes of shrimp, in the flour. Be sure to shake off any excess flour. In two batches, cook the seafood until golden, approximately 2 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the sauce pot and add the crabmeat. Cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the wine to the pan and heat over high heat. Scrape up any browned bits from the seafood. Add the clams and cover. Cook until all the clams have opened, approximately 5 minutes. Toss out any clams that do not open. Add the clams and the broth to the pot. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly. Serve in large bowls, garnished with the chopped parsley.

Serves 8

Roasted Scallops with Tomatoes, Onions, and Paprika

Mark Bittman has saved me twice this week.

I love that about him. He has the ability to make everything better when I am exhausted and at a complete loss as to what to do for dinner. I can bring home any ingredient and if I am uninspired or unmoved, I can turn to Bittman and he will illuminate a path.

On Tuesday, while Fe. napped at my parent's house, I raced over to Santa Monica Seafood to find something piscine for dinner. I came away with plump, glistening sea scallops.

It seems like everyone I know had scallops for Valentine's Day. Not us. We supped on tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. A's choice all the way. We tend to do things a bit backwards. So scallops on a run-of-the-mill Tuesday, instead!

And why not? They take no time to cook, which makes them a perfect weeknight dinner... Except that they're not cheap. So maybe they're a splurgy weeknight dinner, but definitely something to keep in mind.

It turns out that you don't always have to make a fancy pan sauce or super rich beurre-blanc to showcase sea scallops properly.

Mark Bittman, in his always handy, How to Cook Everything, turned me on to something entirely new. Granted, this may not be new to all of you, but for me it was verging on revelatory.

You can roast scallops!

Okay, so maybe it isn't headline news, but it definitely is good news.

Bittman's roasted sea scallops have a bit of a mediterranean slant thanks to the tomato, onion, parsley, and olive oil. The onion brings additional sweetness to the scallop's own. The tomatoes add tang and zip, and the paprika lends warm depth. You don't have to strew the suggested breadcrumbs over the top, but I really liked the bit of crisp.

These scallops are not only snip-snap and tasty, they're rather healthy. That is as long as you don't use too heavy of a hand during the final drizzle of olive oil.

I had almost all the ingredients on hand. You probably do too!

I did not have a medium tomato in the house, so I used halved cherry tomatoes. While the dish will be a bit soupier if you use canned tomatoes, the flavors should be just as satisfying. I wouldn't hesitate to turn to San Marzano for help here.

My stash of homemade bread crumbs in the freezer had been depleted, but I did have half a baguette patiently waiting for a new life. I tore it into chunks and whizzed it in the food processor. Bread crumbs in two minutes. If possible, always make your own.

All in, this shouldn't take you more than thirty minutes. The vegetables and parsley get a chop-chop and are tossed in the baking dish with the olive oil and paprika. They're thrown in the oven for about ten minutes until the juices are flowing and bubbling. The scallops are nestled into the mix and the bread crumbs sprinkled over. The extra-virgin olive oil is drizzled and in ten more minutes, dinner should be ready.

The only addition I'd make is to serve this with lemon or perhaps add a wee bit of preserved lemon rind to the tomato mixture. I know. I know. Enough already.

Mark Bittman's Roasted Sea Scallops

1 medium tomato, peeled if you have time, cored and roughly chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves, plus parsley for garnish

1 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil,plus more for drizzling

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

About 1 1/2 pounds sea scallops

1/2 cup bread crumbs, preferably fresh (optional)

Heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Combine the tomato, onion, parsle, paprika, oil, and some salt and pepper in a baking dish that will just hold the scallops in one layer.

Bake until the juices begin to bubble and flow, approximately 10 minutes. Tuck the scallops into the vegetables, and sprinkle the bread crumbs over. drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Return the pan to the oven and roast until the scallops are just opaque about halfway through, approximately 10 minutes. Serve with the tomato mixture along side.

Serves 4