Thursday, December 18, 2008

Halibut and Cioppino

Cook Time: 45 min
Level: Easy
Yield: 4 servings


Ingredients
Halibut and Cioppino:

* 5 links chorizo
* 1 large onion
* 2 garlic cloves
* 2 ribs celery
* 1 (28-ounce) can tomatoes, drained, hand-crushed with juice
reserved (recommended: San Marzano)
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1/4 bunch fresh thyme
* 2 bay leaves
* 2 cups dry red wine
* 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
* Salt and pepper
* 2 fresh Dungeness crabs (2 pounds each), cut into 6 pieces
* 16 littleneck clams, scrubbed
* 16 large uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
* 1/4 bunch Italian parsley, chopped for garnish
* 4 (6-ounce) halibut fillets
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* Extra-virgin olive oil

Sourdough Garlic Toasts:

* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
* 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1 loaf sourdough bread, cut in slices but still connected


Directions

Place the chorizo, onion, garlic, celery, and tomatoes in a food
processor and process until the pieces are small and well ground up.
Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat and add the ground chorizo and
vegetables to cook until well colored and fat is rendered. Once the
ground chorizo and vegetables are cooked, add the flour, thyme and bay
leaves. Saute for a further 5 to 7 minutes (this forms the base of a
roux). Then add the red wine, reserved tomato juice, and chicken
stock. Season lightly with salt and pepper and then cover and simmer
for 30 minutes. With 10 minutes to go, turn the heat up and add the
crabs and clams to the broth and steam until open, discarding any
un-open ones. Reduce the heat and just prior to service add the shrimp
and shut off the heat so they don't get over cooked. Remove and
discard bay leaves.


While the cioppino is cooking, prepare the halibut. Season the fillets
with salt and pepper and fresh thyme. Heat a large nonstick saute pan
and add a 2-count of olive oil. Cook fillets 4 minutes on 1 side then
turn once briefly before setting on paper towels to drain.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.


Combine, garlic, butter, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir
to combine. Smear the inside of the bread with garlic butter and toast
on a sheet tray in the oven. Reserve any left over garlic-butter to
serve with the cioppino.


To serve, set garlic sourdough toasts in the bottom of a flat bowl.
Top with halibut then ladle over cioppino. Top with a spoonful of
reserved garlic butter. Garnish with fresh flat-leaf parsley and
serve.

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