San Francisco Style Cioppino Food

CIOPPINO

Steps:

• In a heavy kettle (at least 5 quarts) cook garlic in oil over moderate heat, stirring, until pale golden. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened. Add pepper flakes and bell pepper and cook, stirring, until softened. Add vinegar and boil until evaporated. Add wine, oregano, and bay leaf and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in tomato purée and tomato paste and bring to a boil.
• Add crabs and clams and simmer, covered, 15 to 20 minutes, checking often and transferring clams as they open with tongs to a bowl (discard unopened ones).
• Transfer crabs with tongs to a cutting board and remove top shells, adding any crab liquid to soup. Halve or quarter crabs (depending on size) and reserve, with any additional liquid, in a bowl.
• Add shrimp, scallops, and fish to soup and simmer, covered, 5 minutes, or until seafood is just cooked through. Stir in gently crabs, their liquid, and clams and sprinkle with parsley.

SAN FRANCISCO CIOPPINO

Steps:

• Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a deep skillet or ductch oven over medium heat.
• Add the fennel, onion, shallots, and salt. Saute until the onion becomes translucent about 5-7 minutes.
• Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and continue to saute for 2 minutes.
• Add the tomato paste, plum tomatoes and all juices, wine, chicken stock, and bay leaf.
• Bring the sauce to a light boil, then reduce the heat to simmer and allow to cook for one hour, stirring occasionally
• While the sauce is simmering using another saute pan, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and sear the shrimp, scallops (and fish pieces if used) on both sides, making sure not to fully cook them (about half way is fine)
• Remove the seafood from the pan and place it on a plate until needed. If you did use the fish pieces you can add them to the sauce now. *do not add the shrimp or scallops at this time
• In the same pan add a little more oil, the clams and mussels. Cover and steam them until they open. *If any of the mussels or clams are open before cooking discard them, they're dead and aren't safe for consumption.
• At about the 45-minute mark of simmering the sauce, add in the crabs, mussels and clams with all the pan juices. Continue to simmer.
• If you are serving your Choppino over pasta you may begin getting the water ready at this time.
• With five minutes of cooking time remaining, add in the shrimp and scallops.
• Taste the sauce and re-season as needed.
• If you cooked pasta serve over pasta. If not, enjoy this delicious stew with a loaf of crusty bread.

OLD-STYLE SAN FRANCISCO CRAB CIOPPINO

Steps:

• Using a TALL 8-10 quart pot, cover the bottom of the pot with a good virgin olive oil, about ¼ cup. Add the chopped onion, sage, garlic, parsley and celery and sauté slow and stirring often until tender, approximately 20 minutes. If it gets too dry, add a little more olive oil. Add tomato sauce and cayenne pepper. Reduce to lowest simmer and cook for approximately 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. If it gets too dry, add a little water.
• Add 10-12 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Begin adding the seafood. Raw crab first (if not raw, then cooked is an ok substitute.) If you get raw crab, cleaned and chopped, it will be much better). Return to a low boil, then lower to low-medium heat for 15 minutes.
• Then add clams and mussels. Continue to simmer 10 minutes. Add the shrimp and scallops, simmer for 10 minutes, along with a cheese glass of white wine (6 oz.) before serving. Ok if this sits on low heat for 15-20 minutes. Add the fish 5-7 minutes before you are ready to serve. Any longer than that, take it off the heat and reheat gently before serving. Ladle into large bowls and have a few extra bowls on the table for shells.
• Have plenty of garlic and olive oil basted sourdough bread, finished with shredded parmesan cheese and your favorite California Chardonay. Offer the usual complement of crab tools, crackers, pickers, etc.
• Left-overs should be refrigerated and eaten next day or two. After eating, offer your guests a warm hand towel with fresh lemon squirted on it, with a little water, microwave on high for 30 seconds.

SAN FRANCISCO CIOPPINO

Steps:

• Make the stew base. Heat a large stew pot or Dutch oven over medium heat with the olive oil. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine, and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits in the pot. Simmer the wine until reduced by about half. Add the tomatoes, peppers, parsley, thyme, and bay leaf and cook for 5 minutes. Add the stock or broths; bring to a boil, then adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook the base, with a cover slightly ajar, for 30 minutes. (The base may be prepared ahead up to this point, refrigerated for 1 day or frozen for 1 month).
• Finish the Cioppino. Bring the base to a simmer. Add the basil and the clams, and cook covered, over high heat, for 5 minutes, or just until the clams open. Add the crab and cook for 1 minute. Add the mussels, shrimp, squid, and scallops. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mussels open, the shrimp curl, and squid and scallops are just firm, about 3 minutes. Serve in large heated bowls with plenty of crusty bread.

CIOPPINO (SAN FRANCISCO SEAFOOD STEW)

Steps:

• For the Seafood Stock: In a large, 8- or 12-quart heavy-bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion, fennel, celery, and garlic, and cook, stirring, until softened and beginning to brown, about 7 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
• Add crabs, if using, and shrimp shells, and cook, stirring and scraping, until shells are cooked through and turning red, about 4 minutes.
• Add white wine, bring to a boil, then cook until raw alcohol smell is gone, about 4 minutes. Add fish heads and bones along with the clam juice. Cover with water (at least 2 quarts). Add parsley, bay leaves, and black peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 1 hour. Strain seafood stock and reserve until ready to make cioppino. You should have about 2 quarts (1.9L); add enough water to bring total volume of the stock up to 2 1/2 quarts (2.4L), then set aside.
• Meanwhile, for the Roasted Red Pepper Salsa: Working directly over the flame of a gas burner or under a broiler, cook the red bell peppers, turning occasionally, until deeply charred all over, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a heatproof bowl, cover with plastic, and let stand 5 minutes.
• Using paper towels, rub charred skin off peppers. Stem and seed peppers, then roughly chop flesh and add to a blender jar or tall, narrow vessel compatible with an immersion blender.
• Add olive oil, lemon juice, chile paste and minced fresh herbs and blend until fairly smooth. Season red pepper salsa with salt, then set aside or refrigerate until ready to use.
• For the Cioppino: In a large 8- or 12-quart, heavy bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, fennel, garlic, red pepper flakes, and chile paste (if using). Season with salt, and cook, stirring often, until very soft but not browned, about 15 minutes; lower heat if necessary to prevent browning.
• Add crushed tomatoes and their juices along with the 2 1/2 quarts (2.4L) seafood stock. Bring to a simmer, then add mussels and cook just until they pop open, about 4 minutes. Using tongs and a spider or slotted spoon, lift out and transfer mussels to a bowl. Set aside to cool slightly.
• Add squid and cook at a gentle simmer for 25 minutes. While the squid cooks, shell all but 12 of the mussels, then transfer to a warmed platter; cover with foil and, optionally, a small amount of hot broth to keep warm.
• Add clams and cook until they just begin to pop open, about 6 minutes. Using tongs and a spider or slotted spoon, lift out clams and add to platter with mussels.
• Season halibut with salt, then place in a large strainer and lower into the simmering broth until fully submerged, then cook until halibut is just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer halibut to platter with the clams to keep warm.
• Season shrimp with salt, then place in the same strainer and lower into the simmering broth, then cook until just pink, about 1 minute. Transfer shrimp to the platter and keep warm.
• In warmed serving bowls, arrange the mussels (both shell-on and off), clams, halibut, and shrimp. If using crabmeat, add to the strainer and lower into the simmering broth until just warmed through, about 30 seconds, then remove and arrange on the plate. If any of the seafood has cooled too much, you can place it in the strainer and dip it back into the simmering broth before plating. Using a ladle, spoon the broth and squid into each bowl. Garnish with toasted sourdough and serve, passing the red pepper condiment on the side.

FISHERMAN'S WHARF CIOPPINO

Steps:

• In a large deep pot, cook onion, parsley and garlic in the olive oil for 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add tomatoes (mash them into pieces with your hands), wine, tomato paste and seasonings.
• Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Add seafood and simmer for another 20 minutes. You can use a little more seafood, especially if you're adding crab claws.
• Serve in heated bowls with crusty French bread and green salad. Top with fresh shredded parmesan cheese, chopped parsley or cilantro and lemon, if desired.

SAN FRANCISCO-STYLE CIOPPINO

Steps:

• For the tomato base: In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the carrots, onions, peppers, and celery, and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chile, herbs, and seasonings and cook until fragrant. Add the wine, vinegar, Worcestershire, and hot sauce and reduce until the liquid is almost evaporated. Add the tomatoes and all of the fish stock, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Strain through a fine strainer, discarding the solids.
• For the seafood: Place the strained liquid into a clean pot and bring to a simmer. Add the crab, clams, mussels, and sea bass, cover the pot, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the prawns and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
• To serve: Divide the seafood into 6 large bowls and ladle the broth over top. Serve with garlic bread.
• In a large pot, add all of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes. Strain, reserving the broth and discarding the solids.