Autumn fish stew

Sometimes in the dark days of early November, when I'm still getting used to the early nights and digging for scarves and toques at the back of the hall closet, I find myself eating loads of red meat. I crave the substansial nature of a bit of seared cow.

I have to take myself by the hand and go to the fish section, though nothing ever looks hefty enough for those cold winter evenings.

Enter the humble fish stew.

I had two halibut steaks sitting in my freezer, ordered in a moment of halibut-ambivalence amnesia from those nice Ocado people. Hence why they've been lurking there ever since.

A half-hearted recipe search later, and I came up with this Sophie Grigson recipe. I wasn't initially convinced, as the tomatoes looked like they'd give me heartburn and it sounded slightly boring and labour intensive to boot. But after some improvised tweakage (you want me to dry orange peel for HOW many days??), it was incredible. Recipe after the bump.

Autumn fish stew
Amended from Sophie Grigson's Winter Fish Stew

500g or so firm-fleshed white fish (I used halibut, whatever sustainable option you've got that won't fall apart in a stew)
500g bag of frozen fruit de mer (they usually come in a bag found in the freezer section including some or all of scallops, prawns, squid rings, mussels)
4 shallots
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp coriander seeds
olive oil
2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp vermouth (don't skip this, it's a crucial taste element!)
2
strips orange peel
pinch of thyme
300ml/½ pint fish stock

1. Slice the shallots and garlic into pieces you're happy to find in a stew.
2. Add a glug of olive oil to a medium-sized pot on the hob on medium heat. Once the oil has warmed up, add the shallots, garlic and coriander seeds. Try not to let the shallots get too brown and definitely don't burn the garlic. If you do, start all over again or it will taste bitter, trust me, I've ignored this rule to my peril.
3. When the shallots are soft, dump in the tins of tomatoes, vermouth, orange peel, sugar and tomato puree. Break up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon and stir everything up. Bring up the heat a couple notches and stir regularly until the mixture reduces by a third or so. You shouldn't have much tomato water hanging around at this point. Meanwhile, throw the frozen fruits der mer in a frying pan on medium heat to defrost, stirring every so often. If you can multi-task really well, now is also the time to cut your white fish into bite-sized chunks.
4. Add the fish stock and crank up the heat so the whole lot is boiling. Stir every so often so nothing burns on the bottom for the next couple minutes.
5. Take the pot off the heat, add your white fish chunks and the thyme. Dump the defrosted, semi-cooked fruits de mer into a colander, and then once drained, into your stew. Give the whole thing a good stir and pop the lid on for three or four minutes or more.

Slice up a nice baguette into rounds to serve with your stew, and you're ready to decant into bowls. I like to add my own levels of salt, so I keep the seasoning until the individual bowl stage. Tastes amazing the next day. No photos this time around, as we scarfed it all too quickly! [I notice this is becoming a recurring Aub & Egg theme here... must eat more slowly]