Something Fishy

Tonight I am preparing Portuguese Fisherman's Stew. I cut it off of a White Northern Beans package years ago and kept it tacked on my refrigerator as a reminder to make. Well... that day has finally come! I am preparing it to be eaten tomorrow to give it a night of "rest" to allow the flavors to mingle and mature.


Portuguese Fisherman's Stew
Serves 4-6


2 cups Great Northern Beans, pre-cooked
1 lb. filleted firm white fish
1/4 cups lemon juice
2 quarts water
2 tbsp. margarine
3 small onions, sliced
1/8 cup minced garlic (fresh)
2 bay leaves

1 can (16 oz) chicken broth
 1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes
 1 1/2 tsp. thyme
 Salt and pepper to taste

In large pot brown onions and garlic in margarine. Add cooked  beans, water, bay leaves, broth, stewed tomatoes, and thyme and  simmer for 45 minutes. In separate skillet add lemon juice, fish and 1/2 cup water. Simmer slowly until fish flakes with a fork. Drain liquid and add fish to stew. Season to taste with salt pepper. 

 

A peek from start to finish.

I made a few modifications to this recipe. For one, I used a olive oil and butter combo instead of margarine for cooking the onions and garlic. I also used concentrated natural chicken bouillon paste instead of broth. For the tomatoes, all I had on hand was the canned, diced variety so I used those instead of stewed. I'm not sure if there is a real difference if adding to soup or stew but I increased the simmer time anyways. The butcher at Copps helped me pick out a nice "firm white fish" to use. We decided on Flounder. He said it was more fishy than Tilapia or Roughy. I thought fishy would be good flavor for a rich broth (and it also happened to be a cheaper choice). Let me tell you something though, it really smells fishy too! My apartment is going to stink like fish for days...


I seem to be on the roll with fishy things since I just finished off some homemade pasta sauce that included canned sardines. It was one of those nights where you are scavenging your bare refrigerator shelves after a long weekend away trying to find something dinner-worthy. My choice ended up producing very potent breath that lingers until morning (even after brushing and Listerine-ing). It's funny how something so terribly smelly can taste so good!


So the stew is now finished and sitting on my counter to cool before putting it into the refrigerator for the night. I just realized I forgot to drain the cooked fish before adding. I think I will serve with some of my sauteed sourdough bread, that I talked about in a previous blog, and perhaps some white wine.