Cioppino

Pronounced cho-pee-no, it may sound Italian, but its not. I believe the origin of this dish was Northern or Central California. The fishermen in the area wanted to come up with a dish and they each "chipped in" their catch of seafood for the dish. "Chip in" came out to "chip-pee-no," and the name Cioppino was born.

Well, there's my history lesson on this dish that I learned from the Food Network. lol! I've been meaning to make this dish for a while. I was shopping at Costco last week and found a pack of seafood medley consisting of calamari, shrimp, scallops, and mussels. It inspired me to try to actually make this dish, so I bought the seafood medley and decided to finally make it for dinner tonight. Also, I promised my friend from work, Stacy, that I'd bring some for her once I made it.

I found this recipe from Allrecipes.com and looked pretty easy. But YUMM-O! This seafood stew was delicious. Its definitely a comfort food. So soothing yet delicious to eat. Hubby and daughter really liked it. This is one dish, not a pasta dish, that my daughter actually liked. It may not be real Italian, but it sure tastes like it. The original recipe didn't call for additional seasonings, but I added a teaspoon of salt for more flavor.

3/4 cup butter

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

2 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes

2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1 Tbsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 cup water

1 1/2 cups white wine

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 lbs. large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 1/2 lbs. bay scallops

18 small clams

18 mussels, cleaned and debearded

1 1/2 cups crabmeat or crab legs

1 1/2 lbs. cod fillets, cubed (or any white fish)

1) Over medium-low heat, melt butter in a large stockpot. Add onions, garlic and parsley. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until onions are soft.

2) Add tomatoes, breaking them into chunks. Add chicken broth, bay leaves, basil, thyme, oregano, salt, water and wine. Mix well. Cover and simmer 30 minutes.

3) Stir seafood. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer 5 to 7 minutes until clams open up. Ladle into bowls and serve warm with crusty bread.