Seafood Stew ala Parkside in Stinson Beach

Sea Forager CSF member Beth Gregg shares her favorite stew recipe!

I usually start with about 4oz rock fish per person plus 2 mussels, 2 clams, 2 shrimp.  If you have a chunk of Dungeness crab or scallops, add.  This is the best way to use rock fish, in my opinion.

Also, the Parkside version is extra amazing due to their sublime Pesto Sauce, which you can buy in their market, which they slathered onto toast made from their homemade bread.  If you can’t get out to Stinson, use store bought pesto, or make pesto and make it lemonier than you’d think.

The recipe below serves 4.

Ingredients:

For Stew Base:

·       Two yellow onions, sliced in thin strips

·       Olive oil

·       1 can fire roasted chopped tomatoes (the Muir Glen fire roasted can is perfect)

·       1 bottle clam juice or chicken stock

To Cook Fish:

·       Olive Oil

·       1 lb. rockfish

·       8 mussels, cleaned

·       8 clams, cleaned

·       8 shrimp, peeled and deveined with tail left on

·       4 Scallops (if using)

·       ½ cup Dungeness crab meat (if using)

·       1 cup white wine or dry vermouth (I use Noilly Prat)

·       3T Lemon juice

For Garnish:

·       Red pepper flakes

·       Chopped parsley

·       4 large toasts from rustic loaf, like Acme long Italian

·       4 T Parkside Pesto (or best substitute you can come up with)

Method:

First, prepare the tomato base:

1.     Sautee the onion strips in the olive oil until they are tender and cooked down. 

2.     Add the tomato sauce and cook pressing tomatoes to break them down. 

3.     Add salt and pepper to taste. 

4.     Once tomato sauce is cooked down a bit, add the clam juice or chicken stock and simmer for 5 minutes or so to blend the flavors.  Keep warm.

Next, prepare the fish:

1.     Dry all fish with paper towel and sprinkle with salt.

2.     In a 10’ fry pan with a lid, heat the olive oil over high heat.

3.     Sauté the fish and scallop if using.  Add the shrimp.  Once you have turned them over and begun to cook the other side, add the white wine and the mussels and clams and cover for a few minutes until the shellfish opens. If using crab, nestle it in in chunks now—don’t stir or break up the crab.

4.     Ladle over the tomato broth and let all flavors blend simmering lightly for a few minutes.

To Serve:

Carefully split the fish into four bowls, then ladle the broth over each. 

Sprinkle each bowl with pepper flakes and parsley. 

Garnish with the pesto toasts and serve.