Fish Cod Stew Minus one

Last week our family was minus one.  Daughter #1 took off to the week-long, fifth grade, outdoor education experience, so our family of five for five days, became a family of four.  A 20 percent reduction in humans in our house, but the workload reduction exceeded 50%.  Somehow, the one child being gone reduced so much drama and work in the house that I was, dare I say it, kind of bored.

Suddenly Daughter #2, who is usually at odds and in a fierce battle with Son became this docile, sweet, older child figure, attentive and helpful to Son.  Son, who usually attacks Daughter #2 with his light sabers and bad karate chops along with verbal assaults and whines suddenly became awesome younger brother who was a fun playmate.  Add to that that I no longer had to manage and moderate Daughter #1s homework, early arrival to school, and clothing choices, time was suddenly on my side.  I breathed a little bit more, prayed a little bit more, and read more of Bible.  It was a peaceful time and a quiet time and a bit of rest.

Thursday night, after Daughter #1 had been gone for a while, suddenly made me realize that I missed some of the chaos.  That her presence, albeit sometimes infuriating and crazy-momma making, was sorely missed.  Everything seemed quieter, mellower, more subdued and my normally psychedelic life took on colors of restrained muted tones.

I wanted her back.  I wanted her back in one piece, back in the house, making the noise and making the chaos where it should fall.

When Friday rolled around, I knew I would make her this fish stew, which she declares, "One of my favorite meals ever!" I asked her, after we sat down to eat together, "Did you miss mommys cooking?" to which she paused and said, "A little, but the food there was really good."  I guess Im happy that she didnt starve being away from home.

The best thing about this stew is that it comes together so quickly in a single pot.  Use some crusty bread to make delicious toasts or plain oyster crackers also work just as well.  For a bit of heat, I like a sprinkle of red chili pepper flakes.  This recipe also easily doubles, and Ive made it for my house church to rave reviews.

Fish (Cod) Stew
Serves 4

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
¼ cup finely chopped red onion
1 tablespoon fennel seed
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 can (14.5 ounces) whole or diced tomatoes, in juice
16 ounces clam juice
1 1/2 pounds skinless cod fillet, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

Method
In a large pot, over medium heat, heat olive oil and add carrots, celery, and red onion. Add a healthy pinch of salt and pepper. Saute until vegetables are softened and slightly translucent, about 6 minutes.  Add fennel seeds. Add tomatoes, juice and all and cook until almost all tomato juice is evaporated, about 5 minutes.  If you use diced tomatoes, you won’t need to break the tomatoes up at all, but if you use whole tomatoes, break up tomatoes with the back of your spoon.

After tomato juice is cooked off, add clam juice and bring to a simmer.  Add cod pieces and cook until fish is opaque and cooked through.  Immediately remove from heat.

Serve with crunchy bread or oyster crackers.

Printable recipe

The perfect warm welcome home.

The clam juice I used.  Purchased at Whole Foods for a lot less.

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Korean Kale Soybean Paste Stew Kale Doenjang Jjigae 된장찌개 On giving the rice cooker the night off

Since Husbands return to regular hours with the family, Children have been slightly disgruntled, as they say,"Its ALWAYS rice mom."

Husband loves his Korean food and it seems that since hes spent a majority of the past 10 years in Asia, that desire for a hearty Asian meal is not at rest.  It is, in fact, more fired up than ever, and what he wants ALL the time and asks for ALL the time is some sort of soup with rice and kimchi.  Every. Single. Night.

I cant even handle the daily rigor of a full Korean meal for dinner as I often dont have the ability to pull one out every single evening, and Children are also just DESPERATE for something different.  "Anything mom, just not Korean."  Ive taken to batch cooking some Korean comfort dishes and preparing some non Korean dishes on other nights, so that Children get a break from the onslaught of Korean meals.  Husband will come home, and on some nights ask, "What did everyone else eat?" and Ill tell him and hell politely say that hed like both menus - Western and Korean.  Sigh.

On a recent weekend, after I had not gone to the market to replenish a variety of supplies, Husband declared that he needed to have some sort of soup with his dinner that evening, which I was trying to keep simple for the sake of simplicity.  I held in the exasperation because on some level, its rather reassuring that Husband thinks that I can bang out dishes at his request.  Only this time, I didnt have very much to make and so I began scrambling for ingredients, and what I came up with was kale, tofu, onions, and a bit of meat.  I wasnt sure how it would turn out, but I was pretty sure that a kale soybean paste soup had great potential to be tasty.

Turns out - very tasty.  And Children happened to really like the kale in the soup (with Son declaring that he ATE IT ALL loudly) and the picky Husband slurped the soup like it tasted good.  Daughters even enjoyed it despite their protest of Korean AGAIN, and it was a great find.  Ive taken to making a large pot of this so that I can have it at the ready should Husband need his daily Korean fix and the kids are in rebellion mode.

Korean Kale Soybean Paste Stew (Kale Doenjang Jjigae ????)
Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients
1 tablespoon sesame oil
¼ lb of steak, or some sort of lean meat, chopped into small pieces
1 large onion, chopped into 1 inch pieces
4 scallions, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 jalapenos, sliced
1 teaspoon crushed sesame seeds
1 bunch of kale, tough stems removed, and roughly chopped
½ cup of Korean soybean paste (??) - but there is great variances in the flavor of doenjang so you may have to adjust accordingly
6 cups of water
1 large block of firm tofu, cut into chunks

Method
Heat a heavy pot over medium high heat and sesame oil, meat, onion, scallion, garlic, jalapenos, and sesame seeds.  Saute and cook until meat is browned, onions, translucent, and entire mixture is fragrant.  Add chopped kale all at once and begin wilting kale until it is slightly softened and more pliable.  Add Korean soybean paste and stir until it is mixed throughout vegetable meat mixture.  Add 6 cups of water, and cover, reduce heat and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes, until kale is tender.  Add chunks of tofu and bring to boil again.

Serve with rice and kimchi.

Printable recipe

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