Recipe: Cioppino

Saturday’s party was so fun. I really should host a 1906 earthquake anniversary party every year! We’ve created our own traditions: no electricity, a table set with candles in odd glass containers and chandelier crystals, lots of wine and good conversations about disaster preparedness (more entertaining than you might think!)

From this year forward, cioppino will be our official main course. It was delicious! And not that hard to make:

Cioppino for Eight

2 large cans of the highest quality chopped tomatoes
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 box of stock
1 bottle of clam juice
Fresh taragon
Fresh parsley
Fresh rosemary
2 cups of red wine
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1 dungeness crab, cooked, cracked and cleaned (they do it for free at Safeway)
1 pound of shelled, frozen, uncooked shrimp
1 pound of frozen jumbo scallops
1 1/2 pounds of white fish, cut down to two inch cubes. I used basa which was on sale.
1 small fillet of salmon, cut down to two inch cubes
If you like clams and mussels, add those too.

Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a large pan. Add garlic and herbs until softened. Add the tomatoes, stock and wine. Cook down and season to taste. You can make this base ahead of time and refrigerate.

About 10 minutes before serving, heat the tomato base to a low boil. Dump in the frozen shrimp and scallops and fish cubes. Heat until just cooked. Add the crab and serve with a big loaf of warm buttered sourdough bread.

This was the perfect amount for serving “seconds” to most of the table. I followed it with a simple strawberry shortcake. You can see all my photos from the party in this set.