Spicy Fish Stew

This is an ancient recipe in my personal repertoire - it came from Cooking Light at least fifteen years ago. I have no idea where my physical copy of the recipe is, and had to hunt for it online using what I remembered from the ingredient list. It is just as good as I remembered it!

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups red potato, halved (about 1 1/4 pounds)
1 1/2 cups chopped seeded peeled tomato
1 1/2 cups clam juice
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 pounds cod or other lean white fish fillets, cut into 3- x 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. 
2. Add onion, bell pepper, crushed red pepper, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. 
3. Add potato and next 7 ingredients (potato through bay leaf); bring to a boil. 
4. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes. 
5. Stir in cod and sherry; cook an additional 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Stir in parsley.

Sweet Potato Chickpea and Spinach Coconut Curry

All things have their cycles, and I wonder if mine is swinging back around to food. I spent some time this past weekend just reading a cookbook, something I haven't done in ages. I'll hunt through them for a recipe I want, or entertain wistful memories of a more ambitious period in my food-life and then move on to something else, but I haven't been reading them.

It was Patricia Wells' Vegetable Harvest, by the way, a lovely volume and a pleasure to browse through. I found some soup recipes I had quite forgotten about, and look forward to trying them when the weather cools off.

Last night was another Pinterest find, however, Sweet Potato Chickpea and Spinach Coconut Curry, which apparently was sourced in turn from a different blog, which has altogether too many recipes on it for me to find the page for this one. The whole cumin seeds in this added a very different flavor, and we agreed that it was an excellent recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp neutral cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 2 cups)
• Salt to taste
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 4 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch
• 1 14-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juices
• 1 14-ounce can light coconut milk (or if you're me and think "light" products are ridiculous, use full-fat)
• 5 oz baby spinach
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. The oil is hot enough when a cumin seed sizzles when tossed into the pan. Add the cumin seeds and toast for about a minute, until fragrant and lightly darkened in color (be careful not to burn them). 
2. Stir in the onion, season with a pinch of salt, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent.
3. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, coriander, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine and sauté for a couple of minutes, until the garlic softens.
4. Add the sweet potato, chickpeas, tomatoes with their juices, and coconut milk. Stir to combine, cover, and simmer over medium heat for 20 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes are fork-tender.
5. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted. 
6. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve over rice.