Rosie Wants Seafood Soup.

It was one of those cold, gray Spring days and Rosie wanted seafood soup.

And if you know Rosie, you know she's going to start at the very beginning.

 Rosie will show you how to make a shrimp stock, which will then be used in a rich seafood soup with a triumvirate of shrimp, cod, and clams.  It's gonna be good.

First, let's make the shrimp stock.

 Shrimp Stock

shrimp shells from a pound or so of shrimp

1 onion, skin on, coarsely chopped  (More flavor in skin.)

1 carrot, coarsely chopped

1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped

herbal bouquet (a bunch of parsley, thyme, oregano, and bay leaves all tied together)

1 TB peanut oil

1 TB unsalted butter

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Pour a tablespoon or so of oil into hot pan over medium high heat.  Add in butter and melt until sizzling.  Add in shells, squishing with a wooden spatula, until they turn pink.  Add in vegetables and continue cooking for about 5 minutes, stirring.  Season with maybe 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper.  Pour in water to cover - about 2 quarts - and add in bouquet, pressing down to submerge.  Bring to boil, reduce heat to bare simmer, and cook about 20-30 minutes.

Let cool, then pour through cheesecloth-lined sieve.

Refrigerate until ready to use, within 2-3 days, or freeze it.

 Coarsely chop the vegetables and tie up the herbs.

 Cook the shells, vegetables, and herbs in butter and oil.

 Pour in water to cover, bring to simmer, and cook down a bit.

  

 

Shrimp stock!

Now, I'm ready to make my seafood soup.

Rosie's Seafood Soup

unsalted butter 

1 carrot

1 celery stalk

1 onion

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 quart homemade shrimp stock
2 1/2 cups cream
1 cup skim milk
sherry to taste
1/2 pound cod filets
10 oz. baby clams
8 oz. shrimp

Prepare equal amounts of chopped carrot, celery, and onion. About 1/3 - 1/2 cup each.
Sauté vegetables in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter 3-4 minutes over medium heat.
Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Add another tablespoon of butter and 3 TB flour.  Cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes, until flour is cooked and you don't have that raw taste.
Turn heat to medium low and add about 1 1/2 cups shrimp stock, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.  You want bare bubbles going on here.
Add in a cup of cream.  Simmer and let thicken, about 3 minutes.
Immersion blend.  If you don't have an immersion blender, do batches in a regular blender until smooth.

 Add in rest of cream and milk.

Season cod and shrimp with a sprinkling of pepper and a dusting of paprika and Old Bay seasoning.
Heat 1 TB each peanut oil and unsalted butter over medium high heat until butter sizzles.  Add in cod and shrimp and cook 30 seconds or so.  Pour into soup mixture.

 Deglaze skillet with 1/4 cup sherry.  Pour in the sherry with the pan off the heat.  Return to heat and tilt pan to flame it.  I love a good flambé!
Pour deglazing mixture into soup.  Pour in clams and juice.  Heat through.  Taste test.  Add a splash of sherry.  Perfection.











Serve with sliced scallions and thyme sprigs from the garden, a sprinkling of paprika.
Slice some toasted slices of homemade ciabatta.

Jauntily erect toast slices in the soup bowl.

The next day, I reheated my seafood soup and added some sautéed mushrooms in it.

Throw some croutons on top and you're good to go.

And Rosie used store-bought croutons!

Good soup!