Recipes

[Beebee2]

I'm thinking what a restaurant critic might write after having a
bowl of this soup. It might go something like this, "I enoyed this
little pleasant, unassuming mildly flavored soup. It is a delicate offering
perfectly made with no strong herbs or spices. In fact, it was a
mistake when I added a drop of Tabasco to mine."

Normally, I am one who wants strong flavor and lots of it, but I
was pleasantly surprised by that very lack in this recipe. Just as
there's much to be said for gentle, quiet people, there's much to be
said for such recipes.

Mary Ann Esposito’s Fish Stew

2 T olive oil
1 carrot, minced
1 celery stalk, minced
1 small onion, minced
1 1/2 c fish stock or bottled clam juice
1 c cooked, squeezed dry and chopped spinach or Swiss chard
1 c frozen corn
1/4 c minced fresh parsley
1 lb haddock or other sturdy fish, cut into ½ inch chunks; I used cod
1 can evaporated milk or 1 1/2 c low fat half and half
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a soup pot and add the carrot, celery and onion and cook until mixture softens.

Add the stock, spinach, corn and parsley and cook a couple minutes over medium high heat.

Lower the heat and add the fish. Mix gently so as not to break up the fish too much.

Add the milk or Half and Half and gently bring to a low simmer. Cook until the fish turns opaque or white looking. That will take just a couple of minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve hot with cornbread. Serves 6

edited to add: I used half of a 16-oz bag of spinach, microwaved with just a tad of water for 3 minutes, then squeezed through my potato ricer to remove virtually all of the juices. Then I gave it an easy chop. It was perfect.