Portuguese Fish Stew by Tyler Florence

I am an Aquarius. My due date to be born was December 24th, but I held in there until January 26th. I tell my mom I was just making sure I could be born an Aquarius. She is not amused. Can't blame her really, I wouldn't be amused to be pregnant a MONTH longer than necessary just to then give birth to a 10 pound baby who grew to be an incredibly sarcastic and strong willed child. But I digress.

The reason my astrological sign is mentioned is because it was my birthday recently. For a gift a few of my friends got me what they knew I would love the most, an amazon gift card. With that gift card I purchased the beautiful masterpiece you see here:
No, amazon did not sell me a pot of soup, but I did get the fabulous pot it was made in. That is pure Lodge Logic enameled dutch oven greatness. In green, which happens to be my favorite color.

I could not wait to get cooking with it. Funny how I have made about a million recipes that call for a dutch oven, at which point I would bust out our hilariously huge 12 quart camp one, and curse that I did not have a smaller one. So of course when I finally get a smaller one I cannot find a single recipe to break it in with. So I searched The Food Network website and found one.

My only regret about the recipe I chose is that I did not take step by step pictures as I usually do. Once it was ready to serve I saw the error of my ways and managed to at least snap a few before eating it.

So here it is:

Portuguese Fish Stew courtesy of Tyler Florence (who I happen to kind of be infatuated with)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
2 medium onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 pound linguica or chorizo sausage, sliced in chunks
5 sprigs fresh thyme sprigs
1 handful fresh oregano, hand torn
2 bay leaves
2 pounds potatoes, sliced
3 quarts chicken broth
1 pound kale, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed
1/2 pound perch, cod, or bass fillets, skin and pin bones removed (I used cod)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 Recipe Rustic Crusty bread, for serving, recipe follows

Directions
Heat the oil in a heavy 4 to 6-quart pot over medium flame. Add the onions, garlic, and sausage; cook, stirring with wooden spoon, until the sausage renders out some of its fat and the onions are soft. Toss in the herbs and then the potatoes, stir that around for a minute to coat in the oil. Pour in the chicken broth and bring up to a simmer. Add the kale, season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the potatoes are nearly tender.
Uncover the pot and add the clams; simmer, covered, for 15 minutes until the clams open. Add the fish and continue to cook for another 3 to 5 minutes until the fish is cooked. Serve with crusty bread.

There you have it, a soup pot to heaven.
Pardon the shadow, I was jittery with the excitement of sitting down to this fabulous feast. I sprinkled some parmesan cheese on it because... well why the hell not?

Now for a random picture. This was the scene out of our master bedroom window a few weeks ago. Unusually dry winter + high winds + a brush fire = this madness. We were incredibly fortunate that it didn't reach us. Anyhow. Make this stew and love it as I did. You certainly won't regret it. It is even better a few days later. YUM.

Now fellow foodies, please tell me, what is your favorite piece of kitchen equipment?