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Vietnamese-Style Soup with Mahi-Mahi

4 cups of any fish or chicken stock
1 clove minced garlic
2 dried hot peppers, or use chili oil to taste (optional)
1 pound skinless mahi-mahi fillet or steak cut in 1/2 inch chunks
One 4-ounce package bean thread noodles
1 cup bean sprouts or chopped water chestnut, your choice
6 oz. snow peas
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (if you don’t like it, use more soy sauce)
1 Tbsp. soy sauce (if you can’t have soy, omit and use more fish sauce)
Juice of 1 lime
3 scallions, minced green and white parts
2 Tbsp. cilantro minced

Prepare everything ahead as the cooking goes very fast.

Simmer stock with the garlic and hot peppers. Soak the bean threads in hot water and cover for 5 minutes. Add the snow peas to the stock for up to 3 minutes.

Add the cubed fish and bean sprouts to the simmering stock. It only takes a few minutes to cook the fish. As soon as the fish is done, add the fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, bean threads, scallions, and cilantro. Stir and remove from heat. Taste and adjust for seasonings. Remove the hot peppers.

Adapted from the cookbook “Fish” by Mark Bittman, the best seafood cookbook I have owned.

Claire

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This Recipe is also on the Soups and Stews thread.

Not too many recipes get the excellent rating in my cookbooks. This is one of them. Can be made entirely dairy free, or not, depending on your tastes. Adapted from “The Schwarzbein Principle Cookbook”, by Diana Schwarzbein, Nancy Deville, and Evelyn Jacob.

Salmon Chowder with Pesto Swirl

3 Tbsp butter, ghee, or oil
1 large chopped onion
1 minced garlic clove
1 diced red bell pepper
3 red potatoes, diced into 1/2” cubes
4 cups fish stock, chicken stock or vegetable stock
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 pound salmon fillet, skinned, boned, & cut into 1” pieces
1 cup coconut milk or all-dairy heavy cream
Basil pesto to taste (optional) - recipe below
Salt to taste

Sautee onion, garlic, and bell pepper in butter, ghee or oil until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in potatoes, stock, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Puree ½ to 2/3 in a food processor or blender and add back to the pot.

Add salmon pieces and coconut milk (or cream, depending on what you can eat). Simmer over low heat until salmon flakes easily with a fork, about 5 minutes. Do not overcook the salmon! Using a fork, swirl in pesto while heating gently. Taste and adjust seasonings.


Basil Pesto Recipe

This recipe can be made with whatever your diet allows you to eat. Traditional pesto is:

2 cups packed fresh basil
1-2 cloves of garlic, depending on how much raw garlic you like
¼ cup romano cheese
¼ pine nuts (or walnuts if you don’t have pine nuts on hand)
Olive oil, ¼ to ½ cup
Salt & black pepper to taste

If you can’t have dairy, leave out the cheese. If casein is ok, but not dairy, substitute with rice parmesan cheese. If nuts aren’t ok, leave out. Arugula can also be substituted for basil. Amounts are approximate. Adjust to your tastes.

A food processor is best, but you can also make pesto in a blender. In a food processor, fill it with the fresh basil. Grind the basil. Add minced garlic, cheese, pine nuts, and salt.

Grind everything dry and taste. Adjust your seasonings. Then, with the spout open on the food processor, start grinding again and add about ¼ cup of olive oil. You don’t want to grind the pesto too much with the olive oil, or you will end up liquid. Adjust the amount of olive oil by eye. Add more olive oil and pulse if needed. You can always add more olive oil and mix by hand too.

Pesto can be frozen and used later. Freeze in ice cube trays or shallow containers for easy to use portions later.

Claire