This stew I made from Great Bowls of Fire turned out more like a pilaf dish with all the rice; the flavors were pretty good, and it was nice to have butternut squash in a dish other than soup or baked in the oven. The chicken, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, and onions made for a nice combination with the rice and squash.

Chris says:

You’re gonna love the portion sizes here — chalk up another one for Great Bowls of Fire!

Lisa says:

Wow, this is only four servings?? It’s so much food! How many “peppers” is this on the heat index?

Chris says:

The book claims two, but it’s not nearly that spicy…

Lisa says:

Nope, it’s not… I love th — I mean, I [heart] the squash.

Chris says:

Thanks for keeping the theme alive.

Locro Chicken
————-
1 tbsp canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
1 14-oz can stewed tomatoes
3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, diced
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups peeled, diced butternut squash
1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
4 scallions, chopped

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and jalapeños and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the chicken, tomatoes, and all the spices, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Stir in the broth, squash, and rice and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook about 20 minutes, still over medium heat, or until the squash and rice are tender.
Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff the rice and serve in wide bowls.

4 Servings

Tonight I made a cioppino from Great Bowls of Fire. I love the combination of the swordfish and the shrimp in the tomato and fish-stock based broth. The recipe calls for a quarter cup of dry red wine — the one we used was so dark it almost gave the broth a purplish hue!

Chris says:

I loves me some cioppino! This is one of those GBOF recipes that you don’t really notice the heat.

Lisa says:

It tastes really good. Hmm, did you butterfly the shrimp?

Chris says:

Yeah, why?

Lisa says:

Makes it look like calamari or body parts or something.

Chris says:

Well that sounds appetizing; let’s eat!

Mediterranean Swordfish Cioppino
——————————–
1 tbsp canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
3 cups fish stock
1 14 oz can stewed tomatoes
1/4 dry red wine
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 lb swordfish steak, cubed
1/2 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 tomato paste
1/4 cup parsley

Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large saucepan. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and serranos and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the fish stock, stewed tomatoes, wine, oregano, basil, pepper, and salt and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Add the swordfish and shrimp and return to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in the tomato paste and parsley and cook for 5 minutes more.

4 Servings

This is the second version of Moqueca we’ve attempted, and it couldn’t be more different than the first. In this version, as featured in Healthy Latin Cooking, you puree the stock, onions, peppers, and tomatoes, which creates a thick broth to which you add the fish (in our case, mahi mahi) and shrimp. It worked really well over rice.

Thad says:

It’s as if every culture has their bouillabaisse…

Lisa says:

This is WAY different than the other one we made. Before you put the fish in, it looked like a butternut squash soup! I don’t know which one is more traditional, but they’re both really good.

Chris says:

I like this recipe — there’s only a cup of coconut milk in this but it’s so rich and creamy. More please.

Moqueca de piexe (Brazilian Seafood Stew)
—————————————–
2 pounds mahi mahi, cut into 2″ pieces
1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tbsp lime juice
8 cloves garlic, minced
salt and ground pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups finely chopped onions
5 scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
3 cups fish stock
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup light coconut milk
ground red pepper

In a shallow 13″x9″ glass baking dish, combine the fish and shrimp. Add the lime juice and one-quarter of the garlic. Season with the salt and pepper, toss to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, scallions, bell peppers, and the remaining garlic. Cook, stirring often, for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft and translucent but not brown.
Increase the heat to high. Add the tomatoes and cook for two minutes or until most of the juice from the tomatoes has evaporated. Stir in the stock and 1/4 cup of the cilantro. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until slightly reduced and richly flavored. Remove from the heat.
Transfer the vegetable mixture to a blender. Puree until smooth. Return to the skillet. Add the coconut milk and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer for 3 minutes. Add the fish and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer for 2 minutes more, or until the fish and shrimp are opaque. Sprinkle with a pinch of ground pepper. Season with more red pepper, salt, and black pepper, if desired. Sprinkle the remaining cilantro on top.

Thad and Abbie came over tonight to be a part of Lisa’s first experience with catfish. This recipe comes from Great Bowls of Fire, which we’ve (sadly) been neglecting for a while, but now that we’re into the cooler weather I’m sure that spicy stews and hotpots are going to make a more regular appearance. Abbie and Thad brought over some cornbread to serve with the stew.

Abbie says:

Yuuum! Hey, why didn’t you take a picture of my cornbread?

Thad says:

It was good; I wasn’t paying much attention and then I looked at my bowl and realized I had eaten all my fish.

Chris says:

I haven’t had much catfish since moving from Dallas… I used to love me some fried catfish and hushpuppies… Lisa, what did you think about your first taste of catfish??

Lisa says:

It’s good… catfish tastes…. fishy. I mean, fishier than some other fish. I think I’d have it again.

Catfish Creole Stew
——————-
2 tbsp canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14 oz) stewed tomatoes
1 can (14 oz) crushed tomatoes
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp bottled red hot sauce
1 1/2 lbs boneless catfish fillets, coarsely chopped
4 cups cooked long-grain white rice

In a large saucepan, heat 1 tbsp of the oil. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring, for 6 minutes over medium-high heat. Add the stewed tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, thyme, black pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, and hot sauce and bring to a simmer. Cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil. Stir in the catfish and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until the catfish is cooked in the center and opaque, about 7 minutes. Fold the fish into the sauce and return to a simmer.
Spoon the rice into shallow bowls and ladle the stew over the rice. Serve with corn bread.

4 Servings

This week’s meals were all prepared by Lisa while I was going batty fighting viruses on the computer (hence the lack of recent posts). Tuesday night was Chicken Yassa, a lemon-flavored stew with lots of onions and herbs. Lisa prepared this dish over couscous, which soaked up all the juices — it made for great leftovers. The recipe comes from Great Bowls of Fire.

Chicken Yassa
————-
1 lb boneless chicken thighs or breasts
Juice of 2 large lemons
1 tbsp canola oil
2 medium yellow onions, slivered
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups diced potatoes
2 carrots, diced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup couscous

Combine the chicken and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour.
In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onions, garlic, and serranos and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes over medium-high heat. Stir in the chicken and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes. Add the broth, potatoes, carrots, wine, parsley, salt, thyme, and black pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is fully cooked.
Meantwhile, combine the boiling water and couscous in a bowl, and cover. Let stand for 10 minutes. Fluff the grains, cover the pot, and let stand until the stew is ready. Spoon the couscous into bowls and ladle the chicken stew over the top.

4 Servings.