Quick and simple foods are the order of the day, since there is little worse than missing the fumble recovery or 90-yard kickoff return because you are fussing in the kitchen.
Even the most seasoned armchair athlete needs sustenance after all the cheering and jeering, not to mention a bit of activity to stretch the legs during the commercials. How does a soup brimming with scallops, shrimp, fish and clams sound to all you devoted football fans? Wonder how you’ll swing getting someone to make it for you? Well, with this specially developed recipe you will be able to make it yourself!
Here is a chance for loyal fans to get off the couch and prepare their own hearty and healthy dinner. Commercial breaks, more often than not, will allow ample time for the various stages of preparation. With a little planning you’ll be able to enjoy the fresh, hot soup without missing a second of crucial play.
While this recipe might look difficult at first glance, it is only because each step is outlined to allow any number of cooks to participate. Most steps can conveniently be completed during a commercial break from “The Big Game.” While one or two people clean the seafood, others chop parsley and green onions and someone else makes croutons. Then you all grab another cold beverage and head back to the couch to rest up for the next round of assignments. Allow about 20 minutes cooking time when you’re ready to eat.
To streamline the process, pull out pans, knives, colanders and cutting boards ahead of time and set up several work stations. You may even want to write out sets of specific instructions for each station on recipe cards. The chopping station, for instance, will be the place to prepare the parsley, cilantro, green onions and oranges. The stove station will be for cooking the onions and potatoes, charring the peppers, mixing the broth and making the croutons. Those at the sink prepare seafood and clean up. Do one job at
each station during each trip to the kitchen.
When at last you sit down to eat, you will have tremendous gain with no pain—a truly spectacular meal. Give yourselves a pat on the back for a team job well done and dig in to enjoy the fruits of a hard day of spectator sports.
SEAFOOD SOUP:
While this soup is designed to be an all-day affair, it really is quite simple to make.
BROTH:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
4 large cloves garlic
6 cups chicken broth
1 ½ cups dry white wine
1 cup clam juice or chicken broth
1 large orange
SEAFOOD:
1 pound sea scallops
1 pound medium shrimp
1 pound mild white fish fillets-such as halibut, cod, orange
roughy or snapper
pound live clams or mussels
VEGETABLES:
3 large onions
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 large red bell peppers, or 1 jar (14 oz.) roasted red peppers
2 pounds small red potatoes
SEASONINGS:
2 oranges
1 small bunch green onions
1 small bunch fresh parsley
1small bunch fresh cilantro
CROUTONS:
1/4 cup butter or margarine
6 garlic cloves
1 loaf (1 lb.) French or Italian bread, preferably country-style
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
BROTH
Broth ingredients can be combined and refrigerated in the pan until ready to cook, or you can assemble them at the last minute.
1. Heat the oil in a 3- to 4-quart pan over medium heat. Mince or press the garlic, add it to the pan and stir until soft and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, wine and clam juice.
2. Remove the zest (orange portion only) from the orange with a grater or zester; put it in a small bowl, cover and set aside. Squeeze 1/2 cup orange juice and add it to the broth.
SEAFOOD:
As each kind of seafood is prepared, put it on a platter or in separate containers, cover and refrigerate until ready to cook.
1. Rinse the scallops and remove the small white muscle on the side of each. Slice scallops that are larger than 1 ½ inches in diameter in half horizontally; leave smaller scallops whole.
2. Peel and devein shrimp.
3. Rinse the fish, remove the skin if necessary and slice it into 1/2inch-thick strips or 1-inch cubes. Remove and discard any bones.
4. Scrub the clams or mussels and let stand in a bowl of cold salted water about 10 minutes; discard any that either are not firmly closed or do not close when pressed together. Pull or cut the beards from the mussels.
VEGETABLES:
Onions and peppers can be served at room temperature. If you cook the potatoes ahead of time, reheat them before serving.
1. Peel the onions, cut in half, thenslice thinly. Heat the oil in a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Partially cover the pan and cook the onions over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 30 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
2. Lay the peppers under a broiler or hold with tongs over a gas flame and cook, turning occasionally, until the skin is evenly blackened. Put the peppers in a plastic bag, seal and let stand 15 minutes (steam created helps loosen skin). Remove peppers and peel blackened skin with a small knife. Halve the peppers, discard stem and seeds and cut them into ½ inch squares (or drain bottled peppers, then dice); put in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Put potatoes in a 3- to 4-quart pan, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender when pierced, about 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes and set aside.
SEASONINGS:
Cover seasonings to prevent drying and let stand at room temperature until ready to serve soup.
1. Remove the zest (orange portion only) from the oranges with a grater or zester; add to the orange peel from broth. With a small sharp knife, cut away all the white pith from the oranges. Slice along either side of each membrane all the way to the center of orange to loosen segments. Put orange segments in a bowl and set aside.
2. Thinly slice green onions and put into a small bowl.
3. Wash the parsley, pat dry and chop the leaves, discarding the stems. Put into a small bowl.
4. Wash the cilantro and pat dry. Mince the stems and coarsely chop the leaves; add to the bowl with the parsley.
CROUTONS:
To avoid a crunch when finishing the soup, make the croutons earlier. They can be reheated or served at room temperature.
1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Mince or press the garlic and sauté in the butter until soft and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes; set aside.
2. Preheat the broiler. Trim and discard the ends of the bread. Cut the loaf into 1 ½ inch-thick slices. Lay the slices on a baking sheet and broil until light golden on top, 30 to 60 seconds. Turn the slices over and brush with garlic butter, then sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Broil until golden, about 1 minute. Set aside to cool.
COOKING:
Total cooking time is about 20 minutes.
1. If you want to serve the croutons hot, reheat them in a 200°F oven while cooking the seafood.
2. Cover the potatoes with foil and reheat them in the oven alongside the croutons. Alternatively, reheat them, covered with vented plastic wrap, in a microwave oven on HIGH (100% power) until piping hot, 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Cover the broth, bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.
4. Bring 1 ½ quarts water to a boil in a 3- to 4-quart pan. Add the scallops and cook until just opaque in the center, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a soup tureen or large bowl; cover to keep warm.
5. Add the shrimp to the water and cook until just opaque in the center, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the tureen.
6. Add the fish and cook until opaque in the center, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to the tureen with the other seafood.
7. Add the clams and simmer until the shells open, 3 to 6 minutes. Remove clams as they open and put them in the tureen. Discard the cooking liquid.
TO SERVE:
Have a couple of people assemble the soup bowls while the seafood is being cooked. You can ladle soup into the bowl either in the kitchen or at the table, whichever is easier.
1. Pour the simmering broth over the seafood in the tureen.
2. Put a crouton in the center of each bowl. Add a scoop of onions and peppers, 1 or 2 potatoes and 1 or 2 orange segments. Sprinkle with green onions, parsley, cilantro and orange zest.
3. Ladle the hot seafood and broth into the bowls and serve.
4. If there are soup, vegetables and seasonings remaining, combine them all in the tureen for second helpings.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.