Red Snapper Stew

From Sunset (Lane Publishing's) Cooking for Two or Just For You.

 This is one of the first recipes I ever cooked for myself that I would qualify as being a true gourmet dish. I have made this dish for over 45 years now. 

 

16 ozs red snapper, boned and skinned
1 bell pepper, green, seeded and cubed
1 whole onion, quartered and quartered
15 oz. can tomatoes, whole or diced
12 ozs. tomato juice
¼ cup wine, white, dry
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp salt
½ tsp oregano leaves
3 tbs olive oil

Instructions
Batterie de Cuisine: 3-4 quart pot, knife, garlic grater, small bowls for holding ingredients.
Prepare the fish by drying it with paper towels. Cut into 3/4 inch cubes. Put in a bowl and reserve. Cut the bell pepper along the stem side, remove the top (lid) and pull out the seeds from inside the bell pepper. If desired, using a vegetable peeler, skin the pepper. Cut the stem away from the meat and cut the remaining into dice. Cut the pepper into sections, then into 3/4 inch cubes. Skin the onion and remove the stem and root end, slicing 1/8 inch from each end. Cut the onion in half, from top to bottom. Lay the sides flat, cut in half again, turn around and cut again, making the onion sliced into eights.
Reserved the pepper and onion in a bowl. Peel and grate the garlic and put in a condiment or small cup. Add the 3 tablespoons of olive oil over the garlic. It is important that the garlic go first, or it will flow out in the next step, which is not wanted.
 

Heat the pot over medium low heat. When hot, pour the olive oil from the condiment cup, leaving behind the garlic for the moment. Raise the heat to medium high, add the onion and pepper cubes (pieces). Stir to coat the cubes with the oil. When they are coated, using a spatula or your finger, add the garlic and any remaining oil. Stir to mix the garlic into the vegetables. Sauce the vegetables for up to 8 minutes over medium high heat. The onions are to soften. You can cover the pot for a minute at a time to get some stem to help with the softening.

Next add the tomatoes (if whole) and break them up with a spoon. If using diced tomatoes, add them. Next add all the remaining ingredients, except the snapper. Over medium-high heat, bring the pot to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add the fish. Cover and simmer 8 minutes longer until the fish is flaky and can be prodded with a fork.
 

Serve with crusty French bread (a baguette) and a lettuce salad. 

While any leftover can be eaten the next day, it never tastes quite as good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Worcestershire Sauce & It's Antecedants

The recipe below is not really Worcestershire sauce, nor is it A-1 sauce. It is the best of both and better than either. I must acknowledge that the idea for this recipe was inspired by Herter's "Bull Cook and Historical Recipes". But his recipe used beans and I understood the necessity for authentic tamarind and malt vinegar. Herter doesn't even mention malt vinegar.


This sauce come out of the bottle with the thickness of Heinz ketchup. It keeps indefinitely. It does not need refrigeration and while the sauce thins with age, the flavor becomes even better. Not many food products can say that now a days.


Worcestershire Sauce


128 Servings (1 oz. each)


15 ounces tamarinds
6 to 7 quarts cored/peeled/sliced apples (10 to 12 med. size)
1 yellow onion, 3 inch diameter, sliced
4 ounces peeled and sliced shallots
8 cloves garlic, peeled, pressed, (optional)
2 anchovy fillets, canned in oil
apple cider vinegar
1 quart Malt Vinegar
3 tablespoons ground cloves
3 tablespoons ground allspice
2 tablespoons ground turmeric
6 ounces soy sauce
3 tablespoons ground coffee
2 teaspoons Chile Pequin, dried, ground (or Cayenne)
4 tablespoons light corn syrup
6 tablespoons sea salt or table salt
3 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons ground nutmeg


COOK'S NOTES: In place of fresh garlic, substitute 1 T. garlic powder, if fresh unavailable. Use either shallots or garlic, not both. I grind all the spices fresh, except for those I can't buy whole.


INSTRUCTIONS: Mash 8 cloves of garlic. Add the anchovies to some vinegar to clean the oil off the anchovies a little setting them aside. Put the cider-wine vinegar and soy sauce into a stockpot. Add the tamarind. Peel, core and slice the apples, put them into the stock pot with the wine vinegar. Add the sliced onion. Next add the following: ground Cloves, ground Turmeric, Nutmeg, Allspice, all the garlic and mashed anchovies and ground Coffee. Bring to a low boil. As the vinegar evaporates, add a solution of half water-half malt vinegar solution to replace it. Stir requently as the apples will scorch on the bottom of the pot. Keep on low boil (about 190 to 196 degrees F.) for 2 hours.


When finished, run through a food mill and blend. Next, put all the sauce back in the pot and add the: ground Red Chile, Corn Syrup, Salt, dry mustard, and sugar. Top off the jar with undiluted malt vinegar, to thin to a consistency to suit individual taste. Shake well and let stand 24 hours before using.