Cioppino

Best seafood stew EVER! San Francisco-style Cioppino with halibut, sea bass, Dungeness crab, shrimp, and mussels.

INGREDIENTS:
Seafood:

• 3 pounds halibut, sea bass, or other firm white fish, cut into inch-long cubes
• 1 large (2 lb or more) cooked Dungeness crab (hard shell)
• 1 pound (or more) of large shrimp
• 2 pounds little neck clams and/or mussels (mussels should be scrubbed clean and beards removed right before cooking)

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion (1 large onion)
• 1 cup chopped bell pepper (1 large bell pepper)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 28-ounce can tomatoes
• Broth from the mollusks
• 2 cups red wine
• 2 cups tomato juice
• 2 cups fish or shellfish stock
• An herb bouquet of bay leaf, parsley, and basil wrapped in a layer of cheesecloth and secured with kitchen string
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup minced parsley for garnish

Optional seasonings:

• a dash of Tabasco sauce and or Worcestershire sauce

INSTRUCTIONS:
Steam clams and mussels:

1. Steam mollusks (clams and mussels) in a small amount of water (about two cups) until they just open. Set aside.
2. Strain and reserve the cooking broth.

Prepare the cooked crab:

1.  Remove the crab legs from the body and use a nutcracker to crack the shells so that the meat can be easily removed once it is served (leave the meat in the shell).
2. Break the body in half, and then cut each half again into either halves or thirds. You can opt to keep the crab meat in the body segments and serve it that way (more work for the eater) or you can pick out the crab meat from the body segments.
3. If you pick out the crab meat, try to keep it in big chunks. Keep the top shell of the crab for making stock.
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