Chum Cioppino & Friend Fondue

This past weekend nothing really went as planned. It was the weekend epitome of "life is what happens when you are making plans." Planned to go to Tahoe...bowed out of that. Planned to go to the MOMA and get Irish Coffee in SF...weather ruined that. Overall, though, the weekend turned out quite nice, even though nothing was according to plan. Sometimes the best things happen when being spontaneous, which was exactly this meal. Again, I "planned" to have a girls sleepover, but friends ended up being sick or just being able to make dinner. So I decided to invite a few girlfriends over for a bit o'chatting (aka gossiping) and sharing a wonderful meal.

I've never had cioppino but I've seen friends order it at restaurants and it looked quite scrumptious. Plus, the appeal of a one-pot meal with minimal preparation was quite enticing. Ok, I take that back, the minimal preparation is ONLY true if you buy peeled and deveined shrimp (which I HIGHLY recommend). Too bad I didn't. I admit, at first it was pretty gross

to literally extract the poop from shrimp, but you get the hang of it after while or an hour...agh.

This dish was really yummy and even more so the next day after the flavors married. It makes a TON, so definitely use it for a multi-person meal.

Comrade Cioppino

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

• 3/4 cup butter (next time I would use EVOO just to a little healthier)
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 1/2 cups white wine (I used Vermouth - do not use a sweet white wine).

1/4 cup of fish stock or a bottle of clam juice

• 1 pounds large shrimp - peeled and deveined
• 18 small clams
• 18 mussels, cleaned and debearded
• 1 pounds cod fillets, cubed
• 
  

1) Over medium-low heat melt butter or heat EVOO in a large stockpot. Add onion, garlic and parsley and cook, stirring occasionally until onion is soft and translucent.

2) Add tomatoes and break down with spoon. Add chicken broth, bay leaves, basil, thyme, oregano and wine and fish stock or clam juice. Mix well. Cover and simmer for an hour.

3) Stir in clams, cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until clams open.

4) Stir in mussels, shrimp and cod and simmer for another 5 minutes until shrimp are cooked through and the mussels open. The shrimp are cooked when their color turns pink and they curl.

5) Ladle into bowls and serve immediately. Discard any clams and mussels that did not open.

For dessert I stuck with the "one-pot" theme and made a simple, yet delicious chocolate fondue. You do not need a fondue pot in order to make fondue or a mini-burner to keep it warm. The great thing about this recipe is that it makes SO much that the fondue stays warm and liquidy long after taking it off the stove-top.

I ended up with about 4 cups of leftover fondue and this is AFTER four girls made a huge dent in the fondue. So I recommend either cutting the recipe in half or using the leftovers to make

chocolate truffles, which I ended up doing.

Friend Fondue

Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com

32 ounces of semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)

• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/3 cup of brewed coffee
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I didn't have any on hand so I substituted a little less than 1 tsp of almond extract).
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/3 cup hot water

1) In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the chocolate with the heavy cream. Mix in the coffee, vanilla extract, sugar, and hot water. Continue to heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture is smooth.

2) We used the following goodies to dip in the fondue: strawberries, bananas, apples, pound cake

and pretzels

Chocolate Truffles from Fondue Leftovers:

If like me, you have a ton of fondue left over, then refrigerate overnight.

1) Take cold leftovers and form into truffle balls using a teaspoon. I recommend lightly flowering your hands and working quickly with the truffles so there isn't a sticky and chocolaty mess.

2) After forming your truffles, place back into refrigerator for another hour. Because the fondue had a lot of cream, the truffles will always be a bit soft. I coated my truffles in cocoa powder and toasted coconut. I stored them in a large tupperware, separating each layer with wax paper.