First day’s challenge: done

I had a beautiful sandwich for lunch and for dinner I made a pasta dish with the fish stew I made a day earlier.

For pasta with seafood you just have mix those two. Who am I to tell you  about cooking pasta. Let’s hear what great chef Marco Pierre says.

But I know a thing or two about fish stews. 

Here is the recipe for the traditional fish stew from my home town Ordu, Of course I had to make a couple changes in Ithaca and in this mediocre kitchen.

-1 kg of sea bass (or any white meat fish) filleted. Do not throw away the bones and the head. The juices from these will thicken your sauce. 

-5 medium size tomatoes, grated

If you are willing to devote time to your stew follow these small steps. Finely blend you tomatoes with seeds and skins. Pour your grated tomatoes over a sieve, add 1 tablespoon of grape vinegar and the vine of the tomatoes. Leave it to sit for 1 or 2 hours. 

-Garlic (It’s important not to overwork your stew with the taste of garlic – 5-6 cloves should be fine)

 -Chop fresh green peppers. (And some red peppers if you like) In a fish stew, you should not use spices for taste. If you want a spicy stew, use hot fresh green or red peppers, not dried. Since the stew will cook slowly for a long time, dried spices tend to change the taste. 

-Lightly pour some olive oil into your pan. Place the fish in a way that pieces don't touch each other. Pour your cured tomato sauce (with vine but remove it after 30 minutes), garlic and pepper. Be generous with salt and butter. Start cooking with very low heat. A stew that cooks in an hour is very good. If you can lengthen the cooking time without losing juices, do it. If you can't please don't waste the fish. After taking the stew off the heat, leave it sit for 5 minutes. 

I urge you to use a thick, good quality pan. 

-If you are going to use bay leaf, add it half an hour before taking off the heat (that is, if you are cooking the stew for 1 hour). For parsley and basil, adding them 5 minutes before taking off heat is enough. That way they will lose their beautiful green when served.