Fresh Fish Soup

This fresh fish soup recipe makes a nutritious pot of deliciousness, perfect for a chilly winter night, but equally enjoyable on a summer evening because it is so light and flavorful. Best of all, it’s very easy to make.

As much as I love creamy soups, we tend to eat them mostly when it's cold outside. I love clear broth soups more because I can enjoy those all year long. In the summer, they cool you off in the same way that drinking a cup of hot tea does. You start to perspire a little bit, and a slight breeze cools you right off. And if you make soup like I make soup, there's going to be a little chili pepper added as well which has the same effect.

But in the winter time, the hot broth (with chili too, of course) warms you up from the inside out.

Fresh Fish Soup

This fresh fish soup recipe is inspired by one I saw either online or in a magazine but for the life of me, I can’t seem to find it again to give the creator credit.

Ingredients
5 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 red chili peppers
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
1 large ripe summer tomato, sliced
4 1/4 cups or 1 L homemade fish stock
1.1 lbs or 500g firm fish steaks, with bones (I used Kingfish but you can substitute any firm fish.)

For garnish:
green onion tops, chopped

Method
Layer the potatoes at the bottom of the pot. Split the chili peppers with a sharp knife. Tuck the crushed garlic, peppers and carrots in and around the potatoes. Add the sliced onions on top.

Top with the sliced tomato. Season with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour in the fish stock.  Bring the pot to the boil, then turn it down to simmer and cover with a tight-fitting lid.

Season the fish steaks with sea salt and black pepper and set aside while the stock simmers for 30-40 minutes.

Add the fish steaks to the pot and cover again.

Simmer until the fish is cooked through.

Taste the soup and add more salt, if needed.

Serve in a shallow bowl with a sprinkling of chives or parsley, with crusty bread for dipping.

Enjoy!

Pin it!

 .

Slow Cooker Confit Pork Belly

Using a slow cooker makes it simple to cook pork belly that is succulent and tender. Finishing it off in the oven ensures that crunchy crackling we all fight over.

A couple of years ago, my mom and I were traveling together in France so we made a quick stopover in Jersey, one of the islands in the English Channel. At a pub lunch one day, I ordered the confit pork belly and we both swooned. I knew it was just a matter of time before I’d recreate that dish.

The first time I made it, I also added a bunch of peeled garlic cloves to the slow cooker about three quarters of the way through the cooking time and served them, all soft and mellow, alongside the pork. I also left the skin tender since I was trying to duplicate the dish we'd enjoyed at the pub. Divine!

The second time, I left out the garlic and served the confit pork belly with a spicy chutney I’d made from nectarines, kumquats and habanero peppers. And, I added the oven step to make the crackling crunchy. This became our favorite.

The spicy sweet and sharp chutney is the perfect accompaniment to the melt-in-your-mouth pork.

Slow Cooker Confit Pork Belly

Confit is a method of slow cooking meat in its own fat but in this recipe, I use canola oil instead of lard. The oil can be strained through a clean cloth and stored in the refrigerator in a sterilized jar, to be used to make this dish a second time.

Ingredients
1 lb 10 oz or 750g pork belly, skin on
Canola oil to cover (about 3-4 cups or 720-960ml)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
If your butcher has not already done this, score the skin of the pork belly with a sharp knife. Rub it liberally with the salt on both sides. Set it in the refrigerator uncovered for a couple of hours or overnight.

Transfer the pork belly skin side up to your slow cooker and pour in enough canola oil to just cover it.

Set it to cook on low for four hours. Turn the pork belly over and cook for an additional two hours. Since the pork belly chuffs up while cooking, it won't be covered with oil any more.

Remove the pork belly from the slow cooker and place it on an ovenproof baking pan. Use the broil (US) or grill (UK) function in your oven to cook the skin till crunchy. Keep a close eye on it so that it doesn’t burn. This doesn't take long.

Sprinkle on a little more salt and a few good grinds of black pepper. Slice the confit pork belly to serve. I also recommend accompanying it with something sweet and spicy, like my nectarine kumquat habanero chutney.

Enjoy!

Pin it!

 .

Chorizo Shrimp Corn Chowder #FishFridayFoodies

Spicy smoky chorizo and succulent shrimp are the best addition to a creamy corn chowder. Warm yourself up with a steaming bowl of chorizo shrimp corn chowder tonight.

Several years ago, I made a recipe from a friend and fellow blogger that had us ooo-ing and ah-ing. I saved the link and the instructions because I knew I’d want to make it again. But, of course, time and new recipes to try got in the way of that happening.

That delicious recipe came to mind again when I saw that the theme for this month’s Fish Friday Foodies was Out of the Shell and into the Pan. It was time to peel some shrimp! I switched out the bacon for some spicy smoky Spanish chorizo and used frozen corn instead of fresh. Oh, and I added cayenne because we really do like things spicy. But otherwise, this is very much like Susan made it originally.

Chorizo Shrimp Corn Chowder

Packed with flavor, this warming bowl of goodness is just the sort of comfort food we all need in chilly January.

Ingredients
8 1/2 oz or 240g hot and smoky chorizo, skin removed, diced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1 large potato
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 1/4 cups or 740g fresh or frozen corn kernels
3 cups or 720ml chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
a few good grinds black pepper
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne
12 1/4 oz or 347g jumbo shrimp (weight after peeling and deveining)
1 cup or 240ml whole milk

Method
In a Dutch oven or another thick-bottomed pot, cook your chorizo pieces over a medium heat, stirring often, until they are a little bit crunchy. They will release some gorgeous red oil. Tip in the chopped onion and bell pepper and lower the heat a little.

Sauté until the onion is translucent and the pepper has softened, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, peel and cube your potato and cover it with cool water in a small bowl, so it doesn’t turn brown.

Add the garlic to the pot and cook for a minute or so, then drain the water off of the potato and add it to the pot as well, stirring well.

Add the corn kernels to the mixture in the Dutch oven, then pour in the chicken stock. Season with the salt, black pepper and cayenne.

Bring the whole pot to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer with the lid on for about 25 minutes. Remove the pot from the stove and allow to cool for a few minutes, uncovered.

Use a slotted spoon to remove about 2 cups of vegetables and chorizo from the pot.

Blend the rest using a hand blender or in batches in your blender.

Add the shrimp to the pot and put it back on the stove over a low heat. Cook for a few minutes or just until the shrimp are pink.

Add the removed vegetables back to the pot, the pour in the milk and stir well.

Heat through again. Taste the chowder and add more salt, black pepper and cayenne, if necessary.

Serve in bowls, making sure that each person gets a few of the shrimp. Garnish with some parsley or cilantro, if desired. Some toasted crusty bread for dipping is also a fine idea.

Enjoy!

Check out the other shellfish dishes we are sharing today. Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Camilla’s Cooking Adventures for this great theme.

An InLinkz Link-up

Pin it!  

.