FEATURED SEAFOOD Bluefish
SUBSTITUTES Dogfish, tilefish
This recipe, borrowed from our customer Susan Walker Sink of the Tar Heel Foodie, pairs well with cornbread. From Susan, “Bluefish holds up really well when cooked in a soup… It’s also inexpensive compared to other seafood and easy to find all summer long. Smaller fillets are very tender and make this a fast meal when they are cut up into the one-inch pieces and a great filler fish for a recipe like fish stew.”
Image courtesy of The Tarheel Foodie
Ingredients
Bluefish fillets
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup finely chopped heirloom celery
1 cup finely chopped sweet onion
1 cup chopped light-colored heirloom carrots
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups roasted tomatoes with herbs
1 1/2 cups tomato juice (or vegetable juice)
1/4 cup rough chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
2-3 tsp Old Bay or other seafood seasoning blend
Zest of one lime
squeeze of fresh lime juice (optional)
Preparation
Remove the skin from the bluefish fillets and cut the fish into 1″ pieces.
Saute the garlic, onion, celery and carrot in olive oil on medium heat. Do not brown, just cook them until the onions and celery have just started to soften.
Using a large pot, combine the fish, roasted tomatoes, tomato juice, vegetables, parsley and spices. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 5-10 minutes without boiling. The fish will cook very quickly.
Leave the cover on for another 5 minutes to let the spices mix into the vegetables and serve in a bowl with a squeeze of lime juice and some lime zest or over some steamed rice.
Here are some other variations for this stew.
– add 1/4 cup of cooked yellow split peas for more savory and filling texture
– add 1/4 cup of freeze-dried yellow corn for some sweetness
– add in shellfish like shrimp, mussels and squid