Text 3502, 127 rader
Skriven 2006-07-18 23:25:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av SEAN DENNIS
Ärende: Welcome002
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 SD> I had some decent chili from a can the other night.  I was at Big Lots
 SD> (a national chain of discount stores, selling overstock, slightly
 SD> irregular items, et al.) and bought a can of Campbell's "Hold The
 SD> Beans" chili.  It was actually pretty good.  It was a lot spicier than
 SD> other canned chili I've tried before - not overpowering, but left a
 SD> nice warm feeling in my mouth for 10-15 minutes after eating.

Funnily enough, I bought this but had to skeedaddle to my
father's before I could try it out: but I found a can of
the same in my father's cupboard and tried it out. The
first impression I got was bitterness - not a bad thing,
because compounds related to capsaicins are bitter ones -
then sweetness. The spiciness was pleasant, a little
garlickiness, and the warm feeling did stick around for a
while. The issue I have with it was that the meat crumbles
were more crumblelike than meatlike. [We took my father to
the doc, who gave him some antibiotics, a B-12 shot, and
he was immediately better, given a clean bill of health for
his England trip. Cost: $583, not paid by Medicare. So what's
another 50 bucks for lunch? My father decreed that we stop at
Listrani's, not my favorite place (we used to huddle here with
our friends the Fishers between visits to the cancer hospital).
He had a bowl of minestrone, which he virtually inhaled. My
brother asked for a side of meatballs for appetizer, followed
by lentil soup with sausages, followed by linguini with lemon
chicken. I convinced him to cancel the meatballs. I had a half
carafe of cheap red wine (I needed this) followed by a pizza (my
couple percent of Italian blood coming up) - mushrooms, peppers,
onions, ham, and pepperoni. It was pretty good (Listrani's has
supposedly been listed by one of the Washington magazines as
having the best pizza in town), not, though, a patch on Pasta
Plus the other night. But I paid for the cheese, wine, and
preserved meat later with one of the most hideous nights I can
remember ever having lived through, with a pounding migraine
that was close to insupportable.]

Sunday Supper My San Francisco Ciopinno
cat: San Francisco, fish, Sunday Supper
Serves: 4

Tomato-Fish Broth
2 lg bulbs fresh fennel (with stalks)
1 lb fish bones, trimmings
1 yellow onion, diced
1 ts fennel seed
2 c water
2 c white wine
3 bay leaves
1/4 c Pernod (or other anise flavored liquor)
2 1/2 Tb tomato paste
2 c chopped Roma tomatoes (skinned and seeded)
- or the canned equivalent
3 cloves finely diced garlic
Fennel and Fish
Reserved bulb fennel, sliced
Olive oil
3 varieties of white fish, 1/4 lb each
1/4 lb prawns, shelled, deveined
a few baby squid
Saffron Rice
1 c basmati rice
1 1/2 c water
a few strands saffron

Cioppino is said to have originated at Fisherman's Wharf in San
Francisco. One version of its origin that I heard (but is
unsubstantiated) says that Italian fishermen would boil up pot
of fish stew at the docks early in the morning to eat after
returning from a night of fishing on the Bay. Those who wanted
to eat the stew had to "chip in" fish from their catch. This
practice resulted in many varieties of fish being put into the
pot, and it was affectionately given the name of "chip-in-o".
The Italianized version came to be called "cioppino". My version
of this traditional San Francisco dish adds fresh bulb fennel,
Pernod and saffron rice. The recipe is relatively easy. Make the
fish stock, then add to it chopped tomatoes, fish and other
seasonings.The saffron rice is cooked separately and added to
the cioppino just before serving.

This recipe is written in 3 parts, but read the whole recipe
before you start to get the right timing so that all the parts
are ready at the same time.

Tomato-Fish Broth Preparation

Trim the stalks off the fennel. (Reserve the bulbs to be used
later in the recipe.) Chop the stalks into 1-2" lengths.

Place the stalks and the fish, onion, fennel seed, water, wine,
and bay leaves into a large pot. Bring to a simmer and cook,
partially covered, for about 45 min. Remove from heat and
strain, reserving only the liquid. Discard the rest.

Return the liquid to the pot and add the Pernod, tomato paste,
chopped tomatoes, and garlic. Simmer until the chopped tomatoes
start to disintegrate (about 20 min). Salt to taste (do not add
pepper). After the 20-min simmer, correct seasonings to your
taste, adding more Pernod, tomato sauce, and salt as you wish.

Fennel and Fish Preparation

Cut the reserved bulb fennel into slices and saute in a generous amount
of olive oil for about 10 min. until the fennel is soft. Add the fennel
to the tomato/fish broth and let it simmer while you prepare the fish.

Clean the fish and cut into bit size pieces (I use 3 varieties of white
fish, a handful of prawns (shells removed) and some baby squid.

Add first add the 3 varieties of white fish and let them cook in the
tomato-fish broth for 3 min.Then add the cleaned prawns and sliced
squid and continue to cook for another 3 min.

Saffron Rice Preparation

Cook basmati rice in water that has been seasoned with a
few strands of saffron.The rice will take about 15 - 20 min to cook.
After it is done, set it aside and keep warm for about 10 min.
(This improves the texture.)

Serving

To serve, ladle the cioppino into large warm bowl and top with a
1/2 c (or more) of saffron rice.

sundaysupper.com
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