“Fish Stew” from “Notes From My Kitchen Table”
Maureen: It’s a new year. We’re going to try to keep to Fish Friday in 2013.
Tim: I think it’s a good idea. There’s no reason not to, given that we have a great fishmonger, called conveniently The Fishmonger– just up the hill.
Maureen: We just need to form the habit of doing it, and then we’ll do it and not even think about it. Like Pizza Night on Saturday, which we’ve been doing since 1995. Or Meat Free Monday, which we started in earnest last year.
Tim: Meat Free Monday didn’t go so brilliantly this week, since we decided to have the Sausage of the Month from Dring’s for dinner on Monday.
Maureen: Well, that’s true. But we just moved Meat Free Monday to Tuesday this week. No biggie. So what do we think of the fish stew?
Sorry for the foggy lens. That was due to the steam rising up from the dish. At least you know it was hot!
Tim: I love it. Though you know I love stuff like this.
Maureen: What about you boys? Please bear in mind that I made it nice and easy for you to eat– I took all of the fish that were in shells out of them. So all you have to do is eat.
Andrew (13): I’m not so sure.
Nicholas (9): I’m with Andrew. I don’t know.
Maureen: Well, I know it looks a little funny, but actually there’s all sorts of things in there that you like. Salmon, tomatoes, prawns and potatoes.
Nicholas: Well, maybe, but I’m not sure that all of those things should go together.
Andrew: (pushing his plate away) Actually, I’m not that hungry.
Maureen: You’re missing out Andrew. I think it’s very nice, even if I had to do a lot of substitutions from the original due to what was available at the fishmonger. This really was my fault since I got to the fishmonger so late in the day.
Tim: What substitutions did you make?
Maureen: Well, it’s supposed to have langoustines, but they only had frozen ones, so I used giant prawns instead. It should have had halibut, but they were out, so I used monkfish. It also called for red mullet, which they didn’t have, so I used salmon.
Tim: Salmon seems an interesting substitution.
Maureen: The shop assistant helping me said he loved fish stew, so I trusted his suggestions. I think this is very nice, even if my hands are going to smell of fish for the rest of the night. Would you like me to make this again?
Tim: Sure!
Andrew and Nicholas (simultaneously): No.
Maureen: Roll on Fish Friday!
Well I pressed the like button cos your post made me smile, but really, fish stew? That’s just wrong, on all levels, and I’m with da Boyz on this one.
I know what you mean. I am not a fan of stew *at all* but generally that refers to beef stew. I thought fish stew would be different.
Not included in this dialogue was the pre-dinner conversation between me and Tim.
Tim: Why don’t we have fish stew tonight?
Me: Well, I’m not so sure. You know how I feel about stew.
Tim: But there’s no stringy beef in this one! I’m sure you’ll like it.
Me: OK. We”ll give it a go. But I’m still not so sure.
(And I’m still not. Given how much the ingredients cost for this, we’re unlikely to have it any time soon.)