Monday, April 5, 2010

Fisherman's Stew

Fisherman's Stew is one of our favorite 2-fers. Whenever I fix salmon I make sure there is some extra so we can have this soup the next day. Of course, you can--and I sometimes do--make it with fresh, not-left-over salmon.

I first had fisherman's stew back in 2002. We were in Utah looking for a house and stopped at a restaurant called McGrath's Fish House for lunch. I was 3 months pregnant and just coming out of the sick-as-a-dog stage, and wanted to go easy on my stomach. After looking at the menu I settled on bread and a bowl of "fisherman's stew", whatever that was. I was richly rewarded for my choice. It was so delicious--veggies, potato, tomato-y broth, and big chunks of fish. After finally moving to Utah we ate at McGrath's several times, and each time I had a bowl of fisherman's stew with my meal. I kept thinking, "I bet I can make this. I bet I can figure this out." I spent the next 6 months working on a recipe and then I nailed it. We've been back to the restaurant since, and know what? My soup is better. Yeah, that's right...

I served this soup with buttermilk biscuits made with my homemade Buttermilk Pancake Mix (don't you love the flower shape?). I'll post the recipe soon.


Fisherman's Stew
Printable Recipe

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 large carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 lb. yellow or red potatoes (about 3 med.), cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 8-oz bottle clam juice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 6 to 8-oz fillet salmon

1. Heat a medium pot over medium-high heat until hot; reduce the heat to medium. Add the oil and heat it for 10 seconds. Add the onion, carrots, and celery, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. Add the potato, wine, tomatoes, clam juice, tomato paste, chicken broth, bay leaf, thyme, and salt. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, or until the potato is almost tender.

3. Add the parsley and salmon and cook, stirring to break up the fillet, until it's fully cooked and broken into bite-size pieces.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Note: To use left-over salmon, simply add the cooked salmon at the end with the parsley and heat through.

6 comments:

  1. Thank you for this recipe. I my dad loves mcgrath's fishermans' stew and we were so happy to have found your recipe. He usually eats 2 large bowls when he goes(and that is only when he visits me in Vancouver, WA)

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  2. @Anonymous, That makes me so happy :) I'd love to hear how it goes it you make it :)

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  3. I made it and loved it too. I added some halibut chunks and chopped clams. Was yummy!!!!
    Thank you!!!

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  4. I too love the stew. We live in Tucson and have to cook our own, unless we are visiting in OR.

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  5. I can't wait to make this! I worked at McGrath's years and years ago and for some random reason I was craving this today! (Pregnancy cravings I tell ya!) I'm off to the store for the ingredients! I can say, this pic looks just like the real deal and working there, I do know it was made fresh everyday, along with the bread and chowder, which is why it's so darn good! Well, now that I think about it; McGrath's does have good food because it's all homemade. Oh that reminds me of their homemade mozzarella sticks! Ah man, now I'm craving McGrath's everything!!!

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    Replies
    1. Wow! Reading your comment just made me so excited! :D I hope you love it, it's one of our favorites :)

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