Friends, after a very long year of cooking nearly every meal we have consumed, the inspiration I am drawing from my fridge, pantry and cookbook shelves is starting to wane. I want to turn the mirror around and have decided to seek out recipes from friends who, like all of us, have been cooking and cleaning on repeat for over a year and have a wealth of culinary perspectives to share. Maybe you have a recipe you’d like to share with The Kitchen Scout community? If so, please send me an email at valerie@thekitchenscout.com. I’d love to hear from you!
This week, we are starting with my friend, Deedo’s submission of Cod Stew with Chorizo, Leeks & Potatoes. It’s a recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine (like last week’s recipe!) and it comes together so quickly for a weeknight meal.
Leeks and smoky, spicy chorizo are sauteed in some olive oil and then just a hint of garlic is added along with some diced tomatoes, white wine and water. The mixture is simmered while you partially cook off some potatoes in a separate pot. The recipe calls for red, but I had some yukon golds so in the pot they went.
Once the sauce has simmered to allow the flavors of the chorizo to infuse, add the potatoes and some parsley to the sauce, and the fish which you’ve seasoned with some salt and pepper. The recipe calls for cod, but I happened to have a beautiful piece of halibut and that worked really well. Everything simmers together for about 8 minutes until the fish is done. The dish is garnished with some more parsley and my addition, a big squeeze of lemon.
Now, when I prepared the dish this week I strayed a bit from the original recipe which is why I put the words “stew” in parentheses as the title of today’s post. Let me share how I approached the recipe. First, I thought the stew ingredients looked like a lot for just a pound of fish and I am really trying to be less wasteful in the kitchen. Sometimes this is a problem because I’ve mentioned before how my husband thrives on leftovers for lunch and sometimes there aren’t any!
Truth is, he is less interested in leftover fish for good reason so I cut the sauce ingredients in half figuring between the two of us we could eat the pound of fish.
And you know what? It worked out really well. It was less of a “stew” per se and more of a fish dish with a luscious sauce surrounding it. Does that make sense? You can probably see from the picture, but what the picture doesn’t say is that it was absolutely scrumptious. I venture to say, this is how I will prepare the recipe going forward…
But I’ve left the recipe as it was originally written in case you actually do want more of a stew. I did increase the weight of fish used just a smidgead because I think you need a slightly bigger piece for 4 servings, the chorizo notwithstanding. And I’ve added a much needed squeeze of lemon juice at the end of cooking to brighten up all the flavors. All those notes are in the recipe, not to worry!
Now, this recipe is also pretty flexible. If you don’t eat chorizo you are going to have a hard time finding a suitable replacement flavor but at a minimum I would add some red pepper flakes for a hint of spice. Maybe a dash of liquid smoke or a smoked salt? You could add some capers, swap out the potatoes with a different vegetables (carrots?) and even add some greens if you’d like. I think you could even simmer some shrimp or scallops in the sauce instead of the fish. But I like the simplicity of the recipe as it’s written with few ingredients that all work together so nicely to make an easy weeknight supper. Thank you, Deedo for sharing the recipe…
Enjoy!
Until next time…
One Year Ago: Thoughts from Quarantine
Two Years Ago: Super Seed Bars with Goji Berry
Three Years Ago: In Conversation with Karen Collins, founder of Bisousweet Confections
Four Years Ago: The Promise (a personal post about The Armenian Genocide)
Five Years Ago: Amuleto Mexican Table
Six Years Ago: Quinoa, Spinach & Feta Bites
Seven Years Ago: Turkey and Zucchini Burgers
Sent to me by my friend, Deedo, this recipe delivers all the flavor with minimal work! The blend of the smoky, spicy chorizo with the delicate fish and leeks works so well and while the recipe calls for cod, you can easily substitute another firm white fish such as halibut or even use a combination of shellfish. A green salad and some crusty bread completes the meal. The recipe is originally from Fine Cooking Magazine and is adapted ever so slightly.
While the recipe as written results in a stew, I prepared half the stew ingredients with 1 pound of fish which we really enjoyed. I felt there could have been just a smidge more fish to feed 4 people so I made that adjustment in the recipe.
If you want more of a stew/soup, use all of the ingredients and if you'd like fish with an ample portion of the stew ingredients more like a sauce, then cut those ingredients in half (everything except the fish). Either way, it's absolutely delish!
Ingredients
- 2 small leeks or 1 large leek
- 6 ounces chorizo
- 1 pound red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, with their juices
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 pounds cod or halibut fillet, cut into 4 pieces
- Lemon juice
Instructions
- Trim off the root, dark green and most of the light green parts of the leeks. Slice the leeks in half lengthwise and then cut into half-moons. Soak in some water to thoroughly remove all the grit, drain and pat dry.
- Cut the chorizo in half lengthwise and slice into half moons about 1/8 inch thick.
- Put the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water by 1 to 2 inches. Salt the water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. Note - if you cut the potatoes small enough you could just add them to the stew in step 4 before simmering to save on a pan. Either way works.
- In a large pot big enough to hold the fish in one layer, heat the oil over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the chorizo and leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chorizo has browned slightly and the leeks are soft, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes and their juices, the wine, 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Partially cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and half of the parsley, season with salt and pepper and stir.
- Season the fish with some salt and pepper and set the fillets on top of the stew, nestling it into the liquid just a little bit. Cover and simmer until just cooked through, 6-8 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish.
- Using a large serving spoon, trasnfer the fish to shallow soup bowls and spoon the stew over it. Garnish with the remaining parsley and give it a big squeeze of lemon. Serve immediately.
Great teamwork, Val and Deedo! Made it last night the “saucy” way. But the men in the house had it over leftover rice and wanted more sauce, so next time I will make the “stewy” way! I now know how to pronounce chorizo, used shallots instead of leeks and halibut instead of cod, just cause that’s what I had. SO DELICIOUS. Immediate family favorite and pulled together super fast. Thanks!
This looks delicious and very flexible! I’m going to try it with the addition of some capers as you suggest, Val!!
Looks delicious — thanks, ladies!!