Cod and Calamari Stew

Recipe: Cod and Calamari Stew
Page: 65
Date Cooked: January 15, 2012


It sounds strange saying that cod has an interesting place in my heart, but it does. I went to Portugal a few years ago and went a little cod crazy. Salted cod, or bacalhau, is a staple in Portugal and I ate it in many forms. So whenever I see cod on a menu (or in this case, a recipe), I fondly recall my trip and remember why I like this fish so much.

Ingredients: Fish bones and head, cleaned squid, garlic, red onion, cilantro, orange, olive oil, red pepper flakes, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, dry white wine, tomato, cod fillet, salt, and pepper

I have never gone to the seafood counter and asked for fish bones before. Never really thought about getting them. Well, that just added to another "first" for this project. I even decided to get more than the recipe required to keep in my freezer for later. I rinsed the fish bones and removed any gills. I used kitchen shears to cut the bones and head into smaller pieces. While I would normally put a picture right about here, I'm going to pass. I'm not particularly affected by it, but it isn't the prettiest picture.

With the mess of the fish bones out of the way, I proceeded to mince the garlic, chop the onion, and remove cilantro leaves while keeping the stems. I also zested and juiced the orange.

Left: Minced garlic
Right: Chopped onion

I sauteed the garlic with some olive oil in a pot, until the garlic softened. I added the onion and cooked that for a bit. I stirred in the red pepper flakes, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, white wine, orange zest and juice, and the cilantro stems. Finally I added the fish bones and enough water to cover all the ingredients. I brought the broth to a boil, and reduced the heat to simmer for some time. After said time, I strained the broth.

The makings of fish broth

While the fish broth simmered, I diced the tomato, cut the cod into cubes, and sliced the squid bodies into rings. I want to make note here that JW advises to definitely and only use fresh squid. His exact words are "fresh squid is essential here, so if you can't find it, either leave it out or try another recipe."

1. Diced tomato 2. Squid rings 3. Cubes of cod

I heated some olive oil in a Dutch oven and tossed in the squid and cod. I then added the strained broth, cilantro leaves, and tomato. 

Squid + Cod + Broth + Tomato + Cilantro leaves

The stew simmered gently until the cod was cooked through. I seasoned the stew with some salt and pepper and it was ready to be eaten...

Cod and Calamari Stew

At first I was a bit taken aback. When you hear the word stew you expect something on the heartier side and this definitely was not that. But, it was delicious. The fish broth had an incredibly depth of flavor. I really enjoyed the citrus notes and loved the coriander flavor coming through. I can see why JW makes a big fuss about using fresh squid - the texture and taste were just perfect! In the future, I would just add more seafood - either more cod and squid or even experiment with other seafood in general. It was a pretty simple and straightforward recipe. I'm pretty sure I will be making this one again. And it did make me miss Portugal...

Enjoy!