The Mister has been doing research on some of his health issues recently. One thing that kept creeping up was a zinc deficiency. We aren’t sure that’s the problem, but did find that seafood is high in zinc. TADA! A recipe is born 🙂
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced
1 large stalk celery, diced
1 pound shrimp, peel & deveined …save the shells
1 pound white fish, (I used flounder, but haddock, cod, or whitefish would be fine)
2 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 large potato, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon basil
salt & pepper to taste
Tabasco Sauce, optional, to taste
Begin by making a stock with the shrimp shells. To a medium saucepan, add the shrimp shells, chicken stock, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and Old Bay Seasoning. Simmer on low heat for a minimum of 20 minutes until the stock reduces by at least 1/3. Remove from heat, strain, and set aside. At this point, I added white wine to the stock to make almost 2 cups. A little more wine never hurts, does it?
In a large stockpot, melt the butter and add the onions and celery. Saute on medium-low heat until the onions and celery are tender, about 15 minutes.
Add the potatoes, wine, and the reserved stock. Simmer until the potatoes are almost tender, about 10-12 minutes.
Add the basil, oregano, salt and pepper.
After the herbs have heated through, add the fish, shrimp, heavy cream, and milk. Simmer just until the fish and shrimp are cooked and the sauce begins to thicken.
Test for taste and add Tabasco if desired. If you prefer your soup to be thicker, you can thicken it with a combination of corn starch and water. I chose not to thicken mine and it was delicious!
We served this with French bread to soak up all the yummies in the broth, along with a salad.
A wonderful comfort food for a cool, fall evening!
