My Mom celebrated another birthday recently and we are all grateful that she did. As our parents get older it is nice to spend time together and celebrate life, family and love. For my mom’s birthday I thought I would fix her a special meal and use her as a guinea pig for a new dish at the same time. She loves seafood so I decided to have fish as the centerpiece of the meal

Both my parents grew up fishing in the south so you can only imagine what I learned to do when I was old enough to hold a fishing pole. There were many weekends we loaded up the car and cast our poles out on a pier or lake in a nearby town. One of the best parts of going fishing was preparing the day before we went. My dad and I would walk down to the compost pile in a nearby field and dig for worms. No, I was not afraid of worms and found them to be quite interesting. Besides, if I was going to fish I had to learn how to bait my own hook. We created a lot of fond memories fishing together and trying to out do each other by catching the biggest fish. If we were fortunate, we would catch enough fish to last a few weeks to keep in the freezer. Thursdays was fish fry day and we would have it with either fried potatoes or grits, hot sauce and a slice of bread (told you I was a southern girl at heart).

I came up with the idea of fishermen’s stew because there was one southern dish my mom liked to fix that I could never bring myself to eat. Fish head stew. Yes, you actually cook and eat the fish heads in a stew. Me? I only like the parts that are used for fillets.

Fishermen’s stew is a combination of fish, shrimp and scallops in a flavorful broth. I would suggest you use a firm white fish or catfish. I used two types of fish just to shake things up. If you really want to make it a hearty dish you can add diced potatoes or corn sliced off the cob.

Thanks mom for inspiring me to make a wonderful stew and for teaching me how to fish.

Happy Birthday !!!

Fishermen’s Stew

Ingredients:

1 lb of tilapia cut into chunks

1 lb of halibut or cod cut into chunks

1 lb of shrimp peeled and deveined

1 lb scallops

1 large onion sliced thin

1 large green pepper sliced thin

2 14 oz cans fire roasted tomatoes

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp ground black pepper

1 tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp old bay seasonings

1 tbsp smoked paprika

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp cilantro

½ tsp red pepper flakes

½ cup fish broth or chicken broth

1 14 oz can lite coconut milk

Optional:

diced potatoes

corn sliced off the cob

Stir together lemon juice, seasoned salt, pepper, garlic, cumin and paprika in a large bowl. Add fish and shrimp and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onions and saute for 2 minutes. Reduce to medium heat and add peppers, tomatoes, remaining seasonings and broth. Cook for 5 minutes then add fish and shrimp. Pour coconut milk over the mixture and stir gently. Cover and reduce heat and let simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until the fish is cooked through and the shrimp turns pink.