For Elisa, a simple guide to seafood stews

Occasionally at work I am looked to for my marketing acumen, but I am most satisfied when my colleagues look to me for insight into the growing, preparation and consumption of food.  Recently, as an unusual bitter freeze descended upon the Bay Area, one friend asked me for advice on protecting winter vegetables. My response was, "They're winter vegetables.  Tell them to get over it and deal."  She followed my advice and the vegetables survived, with marginal frost damage. In the summer and early fall when I pile gigantic zucchini on the table outside my office, I point people to my posting on zucchini and encourage experimentation.  One colleague, Elisa, took my zucchini and my advice and reported happy results and leftovers for days.  When she recently approached me to brainstorm about what she might cook for her visiting family over Xmas, I had a certain recommendation: Cioppino, the tomato-based seafood stew that has become a San Francisco tradition, filled with Dungeness crab and accompanied by sourdough bread.  Hearty, tomato-based seafood stews are one of my favorite things to make.  Sometimes it's got chorizo and I call it Zarazuela.  Sometimes I use herbes de provence and a lighter touch and I call it Bouillabaise.  Sometimes I start with okra and call it Gumbo.  As long as you start with fresh ingredients, you can't go wrong.  Elisa, you're going to make a great Cioppino.  And here's how:

The Seafood 
1 lb rock cod or other soft, white fish
1 lb halibut (or shark) or other firmer flesh fish
1 lb shrimp (peeled)
1 lb clams (if you like them)
2-4 Dungeness crabs, cleaned and cracked
You can vary the amounts according to the number of people you have.  Think of approximately 1/2 lb of sea food for each person and 1/2 a crab per person.

For prepping the seafood
1-2 lemons
Italian parsley
A little olive oil

The Base
One large onion (or two medium), chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 red serrano chiles (or jalapenos, just good fresh redchiles)  chopped
Chile powder (optional, add a tsp or so, according to your tolerance for heat)
Black pepper
Olive oil (1/3 cup)
Optional:
2-3 links of spicy Italian sausage, chopped into 1 inch rounds
2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes
Red wine
Thyme (if fresh, two tbsp finely chopped.  if dry, a heaping tsp)

Preparing the Base
In a large stew pot, heat the olive oil, add the onions and cook until lightly browned
If using sausage, add the sausage and cook until well-browned
Add the garlic, chiles, chile powder and black pepper and cook about three to five minutes, until the chiles and garlic are soft
Add the tomatoes, crushing each tomato by hand as you add it to the pot
Bring to an active simmer
Add a healthy splash of red wine (1 cup +)
Add the thyme
Bring back to an active simmer
Allow to simmer, partially covered, for about an hour, stirring occasionally

Preparing the seafood
The fish (keep them separated, but prepare the same):
Chop the fish into 2 inch chunks, removing any bones that might be present and place into a bowl
Toss with a little olive oil, lemon juice, chopped parsley and salt and pepper

Rinse the shrimp and toss with olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, etc...

Rinse the clams and crab

Final preparation
After the base has been simmering for an hour or so (longer is fine), start adding the seafood according to the following rough timeline:

1. 45 minutes before dinner time:  The soft white fish (it will dissolve, which is fine)
2. 20 minutes before dinner: The hard flesh fish
3. 10 minutes before dinner: Crab
4. 5 minutes before dinner: Clams and shrimp

Make sure you bring the stew back to a low boil after each addition.  This is a hearty, fisherman stew, so don't worry about giving everything a big stir after you add it.  If you're using clams, make sure they open up before serving.

Don't stress out if you have trouble getting people to the table within the five minute time frame.  The key thing is to lower the heat after the clams and shrimp have been cooking for five minutes.  Just cover the stew with the heat off as people gather.

Serving

Serve in bowls with chopped parsley as a garnish and lots of sourdough bread on the side.  Have some bowls for the crab shells and lots of napkins or kitchen towels.  A few finger bowls with warm water and lemon juice wouldn't be a bad idea either.  This is a hands on experience, but well worth it.