Recipe
Jen’s Seafood Stew
This seafood stew recipe looks complicated, but it is pretty straightforward. Use the shrimp shells and vegetable tops to make the broth. While the broth cooks, prepare the vegetables for the stew. When the broth is finished, strain it into a big bowl and set it aside until it is time to add it into the stew. It’s a process…and it’s worth trying! I tried to spell it out step-by-step to make it easier to do. #Losethefear!
The Story of this Stew
Ten years ago, I was consulting for the School District in Georgetown, SC and was fortunate to have friends willing to rent me their historic home on Front Street, just a block from Winyah Bay. I was two blocks from The Stormy Seas Seafood Market where they brought in freshly caught seafood daily. What a treat it was to walk to the market and buy shrimp and fish that was caught that day!
When friends from Columbia came down for the weekend, I decided to make a seafood stew. I worked without a recipe and what I came up with was truly amazing. Of course, I didn’t write it down…
Now, in Columbia
We order fresh seafood from The Shrimp Guy each week. Jeff Dowdy, the owner, goes to the coast and brings back fresh seafood as well as ordering fish from the northeast. “The Shrimp Guy is a purveyor of fresh, local, chemical free, coastal Carolina seafood. Go Wild, Go Local, or Go Without!” is his motto on FaceBook.
A few weeks ago when friends came over for a Sunday evening, I was determined to recreate that stew. I had fresh shrimp from the Shrimp Guy and picked up cod, salmon, This time, I had to avoid mussels and oysters due to food allergies, but it was still amazing. I think I got it right!
Use any variety of fish and seafood you like for this. To make the broth, use the shells of whatever shellfish you use along with the veggie tops.
Video
A video to show you how to make the fish broth. It’s easier than you think!
Ingredients
Broth Ingredients
Stew Ingredients
2 T extra virgin olive oil
3 T butter
5 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 pinch saffron threads
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 large shallots, finely sliced
Stalks from 2 fennel bulbs, roughly chopped
6 large garlic cloves, minced
Green parts of 3 leeks, roughly chopped
2 fennel bulbs, cored and sliced into strips (tops used in the broth)
1 pound shrimp shells
2 leeks sliced
4 bay leaves
1 cup dry sherry
1 t black peppercorns
Juice from 1 lemon
1 piece orange zest
1 recipe broth
1 cup white wine or 1 bottle of clam juice
1 piece orange zest and 1 piece lemon zest
10 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 t black peppercorns
1 ½ lb. small potatoes, diced
5 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 lb. clams or mussels
1 ½ lbs. cod cut into large chunks
2 lbs. fish cut into large chunks (salmon, halibut, sea bass, etc.)
1 ½ lb. shrimp, shelled and deveined (use the shells in the broth)
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Broth Instructions
Broth Instructions
Step 1
Peel and devein the shrimp. Set aside the shells and discard the veins. Cover and refrigerate the shrimp.
Step 2
Prepare the ingredients for the broth. Peel the garlic, trim the ends, and cut each clove in half. Peel the onion and quarter it. Wash the fennel and roughly chop the tops. Cut the green parts off the leeks and thoroughly wash them, then roughly chop.
Step 3
Heat a large heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium heat then add the olive oil. When the oil shimmers, then add all the broth ingredients except the wine and the water. Stir and sauté until the shrimp shells turn pink (7-10 min.), then add the wine and continue to cook until the wine is reduced by about half.
Step 4
Turn up the heat, add the water, and the clam juice if you are using, and bring everything to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down and continue to boil for 30-60 minutes.
Step 5
While the broth is cooking, mis en place the ingredients for the stew. Peel and thinly slice the shallots, peel and mince the garlic, core the fennel and slice it into strips. Dice the potatoes and the tomatoes and juice the lemon. Clean the leeks: slice them lengthwise and drop them in a big bowl of water and swish them around. The dirt will sink to the bottom. (For a video showing how to do this, go here.)
Step 6
Once the broth is finished, strain it into a big bowl and clean your pot.
Step 1
Heat the stockpot over medium heat and add the butter. Add the saffron threads and cook gently until fragrant, then add the shallots and continue to sauté for another minute. Add the garlic, fennel, and leeks and stir. Cover and sweat the vegetables for 8-10 minutes, keeping the heat low enough so the veggies don’t brown.
Step 2
Add the sherry and the lemon and orange zest and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add the potatoes, tomatoes, bay leaf, and lots of freshly-ground pepper, and finally, the broth. Add salt to taste. Bring it all to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked.
Step 3
While the potatoes cook, prepare the fish. Remove any bones and skin and cut into large chunks.
Step 4
Once the potatoes are soft, remove the orange zest, the lemon zest, and the bay leaves. Then remove about 3 cups of the stew to a blender, blend until smooth, and return to the pot, bringing the mixture back to a slow boil.
Step 5
Add the clams if you are using and cook for two minutes. Then add the fish and cook for another five minutes. Finally, stir in the shrimp. Turn off the heat and allow the shrimp to cook while you taste and adjust seasonings as needed. (Salt, pepper, sherry, lemon juice). The shrimp need only 2-3 minutes.
Step 6
Serve with crusty bread with butter or goat cheese or rouille.
This video shows you how to clean leeks. I was so happy when I found this method! For the broth, you’ll just chop the tops off the leeks and scrub them and chop them roughly. But for the stew, you will need a way to clean all of grit out of those little buggers. This shows how.
Jen's Seafood Stew
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Fish Broth
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic peeled and halved
- 1 onion peeled and quartered
- Stalks from 2 fennel bulbs roughly chopped
- Green parts of 3 leeks roughly chopped
- 1 pound shrimp shells
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 t black peppercorns
- 1 piece orange zest
- 1 cup white wine or 1 bottle of clam juice
- 10 cups water
Ingredients for the Stew
- 3 T butter
- 1 pinch saffron threads
- 2 shallots finely sliced
- 6 large garlic cloves minced
- 2 fennel bulbs cored and sliced into strips *tops used in the broth)
- 2 leeks sliced
- 1 cup dry sherry
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1 recipe fish broth
- 1 piece orange zest
- 1 piece lemon zest
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 ½ lb. small potatoes diced
- 5 Roma tomatoes diced
- 1 lb. clams or mussels optional
- 1 ½ lbs. cod cut into large chunks
- 2 lbs. fish cut into large chunks salmon, halibut, sea bass, etc.
- 1 ½ lb. shrimp shelled and deveined (use the shells in the broth)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Broth Instructions
- Peel and devein the shrimp. Set aside the shells and discard the veins. Cover and refrigerate the shrimp.
- Prepare the ingredients for the broth. Peel the garlic, trim the ends, and cut each clove in half. Peel the onion and quarter it. Wash the fennel and roughly chop the tops. Cut the green parts off the leeks and thoroughly wash them, then roughly chop.
- Heat a large heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium heat then add the olive oil. When the oil shimmers, then add all the broth ingredients except the wine and the water. Stir and sauté until the shrimp shells turn pink (7-10 min.), then add the wine and continue to cook until the wine is reduced by about half.
- Turn up the heat, add the water, and the clam juice if you are using, and bring everything to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down and continue to boil for 30-60 minutes.
- While the broth is cooking, mis en place the ingredients for the stew. Peel and thinly slice the shallots, peel and mince the garlic, core the fennel and slice it into strips. Slice and clean the leeks. (For a video showing how to do this easily, go here.) Dice the potatoes and the tomatoes and juice the lemon.
- Once the broth is finished, strain it into a big bowl and clean your pot.
Stew Instructions
- Heat the stockpot over medium heat and add the butter. Add the saffron threads and cook gently until fragrant, then add the shallots and continue to sauté for another minute. Add the garlic, fennel, and leeks and stir. Cover and sweat the vegetables for 8-10 minutes, keeping the heat low enough so the veggies don’t brown.
- Add the sherry and the lemon and orange zest and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add the potatoes, tomatoes, bay leaf, and lots of freshly-ground pepper, and finally, the broth. Add salt to taste. Bring it all to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked.
- While the potatoes cook, prepare the fish. Remove any bones and skin and cut into large chunks.
- Once the potatoes are soft, remove the orange zest, the lemon zest, and the bay leaves. Then remove about 3 cups of the stew to a blender, blend until smooth, and return to the pot, bringing the mixture back to a slow boil.
- Add the fish and the clams if you are using. Cook for five minutes, then add the shrimp. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. (Salt, pepper, sherry, lemon juice). Cook for two minutes and remove from the heat.
- Serve with crusty bread with butter or goat cheese or rouille.