Fisherman’s Stew with Green Chile and Collards

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

2 cups/55 g packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
8 cups/2 L fish stock
2 tsp filtered sunflower oil
2 small sweet white onions, thinly sliced
8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 oz/115 g hen-of-the-woods or oyster mushrooms, stemmed
One 8-oz/225-g fennel bulb, halved, cored, and thinly sliced
1 tbsp kosher salt
3 tbsp Hatch or other green chile powder
1 lb/455 g skinless sturgeon, carp, or catfish fillets, cut into ½-in/12-mm pieces
4 oz/115 g young collard greens, stemmed and torn into 1-in/2.5-cm pieces
¼ cup/60 ml fish sauce
12 oil-packed anchovy fillets, minced
1 lemon, halved
Green onions, white and tender green parts, thinly sliced, for garnish
Fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

In a blender or food processor, combine 1½ cups/ 40 g of the parsley leaves and 2 cups/480 ml of the stock and purée until smooth. Set aside.
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the remaining stock to a simmer. Heat a medium sauté pan over medium heat until a drop of water flicked on the surface sizzles gently on contact.
Add the sunflower oil to the sauté pan and then immediately add the onions, garlic, mushrooms, fennel, and 1 tsp of the salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 10 minutes.
Add the chile powder and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer the cooked vegetables to the simmering stock along with the fish pieces, collard greens, fish sauce, anchovies, and remaining 2 tsp salt. Simmer until the fish is cooked and the collards are tender, about 5 minutes. Note that carp and catfish are more delicate than sturgeon. They will fall apart if cooked for more than 5 minutes or stirred too vigorously. Stir in the puréed parsley mixture and remove from the heat.
Ladle the stew into individual bowls. Tear the remaining parsley leaves directly into each serving. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to each bowl and garnish with green onions, parsley, and pepper. Leftover stew will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

From cookbooks365.com