2015 Cooking Club Week 7: Moorish Fish/Chicken Stew

Curry Addict

I ordered this in a little seafood restaurant in Dingle a few years ago. I was so taken by it that I just had to recreate it at home. It became my favorite thing to eat, its a real treat :pac:

Its a mildly spiced fish broth with flavors of Northern Africa that works equally well with chicken.

I hope you guys like it

Moorish Fish/Chicken stew
(Serves 2)

Ingredients
2tbs vegetable oil
2tsp tomato puree
2tsp harissa paste(“Le Phare du cap bon” is the brand I use)
2 cloves of garlic
1 stick cinnamon
1tsp ras el hanout (optional)
1tsp cumin seed
1tsp ginger powder
1tsp paprika
120gm shallots
120gm celery
120gm carrot
125ml white wine
700ml fish/chicken stock(use a stock cube or make your own from the prawn shells)
½ a tomato
400gm fish( a mix of salmon, fresh prawn, any whitefish, mussels etc. whatever fish you like!) or Chicken)
Herbs(any suitable herbs -> coriander, dill, parsley, fennel)
Season with black pepper and salt to taste


Method
Heat the oil in a suitable pot.
Add the tomato puree and harissa.
Add the spices 30 secs later.
After 30 more secs add the garlic, celery, shallots, carrot and white wine, quickly and stir.
Cook for 3 mins and then add the stock. Let this simmer away for 15mins.


In the meantime, pan fry the fish so it is slightly undercooked. When its cooked remove the skin etc. but keep as whole as possible don’t cut it into chunks.

Strain the contents of the pot into a large bowl. Make sure you get all the juices out of the vegetable matter by pressing against the sieve with the back of a ladel.

Put the strained liquid back into the cooking pot and discard the vegetable matter etc.
Add the tomato and herbs and bring it back to boiling point.
Add the cooked fish, stir once, add the seasoning and serve immediately.

The Hill Billy

Lush! Which restaurant in Dingle - if you don't mind me asking?

Mr. CooL ICE

I can almost smell it through the pictures. Looks amazing.



Just out of curiosity, would there be anything you could do with the discarded veg? It seems like a bit of a waste to me if they just ended up in the bin.

Curry Addict

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Lush! Which restaurant in Dingle - if you don't mind me asking?

it was ashes bar but 5 years ago. i was amazed with the food overall i did not expect to get food of such quality and i have eaten around
we also got a gambas pilpil starter which was also exceptional.

Curry Addict

Nicolas Cage wrote: »

I can almost smell it through the pictures. Looks amazing.



Just out of curiosity, would there be anything you could do with the discarded veg? It seems like a bit of a waste to me if they just ended up in the bin.

yes its a pity but you do squeeze all the goodness out of them
don't be tempted to add them back in as ruins the texture.

Faith

Curry Addict wrote: »

it was ashes bar but 5 years ago. i was amazed with the food overall i did not expect to get food of such quality and i have eaten around
we also got a gambas pilpil starter which was also exceptional.

I had a savage meal in Ashes last summer too. I think it was hake, and it was just perfectly cooked.

I'll definitely try this

Curry Addict

Faith wrote: »

I had a savage meal in Ashes last summer too. I think it was hake, and it was just perfectly cooked.

I'll definitely try this

there are some real gems down there alright. we go there a couple of times a year. The fish shop down past "Oceanworld" is a treasure.

dibkins

Oooh. I just got a jar of harissa for no reason! Retroactive justification. woo.

Curry Addict

lol now you know what to do with it

Loire

I made this last night. I added a red chilli and also noodles. It was amazingly good. The liquid/sauce will freeze very well too so you could make this in minutes if you wanted to.

Just to add - made enough for lunch today and it went down a treat!

Thanks again!

Loire.

Curry Addict

thanks for trying it. Im glad you enjoyed it. you were brave to add a chilli! another option to spice it up is to simply add a little more harissa. I like the spice level the way it is, any more chilli and it can start to claw on the back of your throat.

Loire

Curry Addict wrote: »

thanks for trying it. Im glad you enjoyed it. you were brave to add a chilli! another option to spice it up is to simply add a little more harissa. I like the spice level the way it is, any more chilli and it can start to claw on the back of your throat.

I think what I liked most was the addition the tomato puree made. I'm a total novice when it comes to curries / thai / asian type cooking....I've made a standard thai curry loads of times but this was different. Thanks again.

Mr. CooL ICE

Made this on Saturday with salmon and plaice. Couldn't find harissa paste near where I live (Sandyford, Dublin) and cba going into the city centre, so made my own using a recipe online. I think I used too many chillies as the dish blew the head off me, but it was damn tasty nonetheless. The kitchen smelled amazing.

Also, I was determined to find some use for the discarded veg but once drained, I could see why it was only good for the bin.

Curry Addict

Nicolas Cage wrote: »

Made this on Saturday with salmon and plaice. Couldn't find harissa paste near where I live (Sandyford, Dublin) and cba going into the city centre, so made my own using a recipe online. I think I used too many chillies as the dish blew the head off me, but it was damn tasty nonetheless. The kitchen smelled amazing.

Also, I was determined to find some use for the discarded veg but once drained, I could see why it was only good for the bin.

that's very adventurous to make your own harissa
Pity it was over spiced after all that trouble.
thanks for trying it out and glad you enjoyed!

Mrs Fox

Oh my. Oh my, oh my, oh my. This was very, very delicious. Thanks for your trouble to recreate this dish CA!
I did however simmer the spiced veg stock longer. Like, half hour longer, on low.