I grew up in Portland, Oregon, which meant that the Pacific Coast was just a two hour drive away; it was very near, but still too far to go very often. When my family did go, it was always a big deal, and we would pack up the car with beach blankets and towels for laying out on, kites and Frisbees for playing with, and buckets and spades for sand castle construction. We would spend a few hours on the beach, but the Oregon Coast is a chilly place even at the height of summer, and so my favorite part of any trip was heading to one of our favorite restaurants, and warming up with delicious entrees, including delicacies made from the best seafood stew recipes.
Thus I always considered seafood to be a rare treat, only enjoyed on special occasions at nice restaurants. Only recently have I discovered that there are many easy seafood soup recipes that I can manage in my own kitchen! If you, like me, thought that only a professional chef was fit to handle complex seafood stew recipes, think again. The truth is that most recipes are not complex at all, and there is no reason to be daunted.
Of the various recipes that I have tested in my kitchen, one in particular has become my favorite because it requires very little preparation and cooking time. It uses simple ingredients, but also invites variation when I am feeling inspired to culinary creativity. I use canned Alaska salmon, which saves me time cleaning the fish and picking out bones. I use canned corn, skim milk, and a bit of butter and flour. I usually chop up one or two small onions to cook in butter, which is probably the most labor-intensive part of the whole meal! The real genius of this recipe is using frozen hash browns for the potato base. This saves a huge amount of chopping and cooking time. With those ingredients as the substance of the stew, I am free to play with the seasoning. At the most simple, I use salt and pepper, thyme, and a dash of sherry. Adding Mexican, Cajun, or Southwest spice mixes are fun ways to mix it up.
The whole process takes me less than 20 minutes, and just like that I have made a delicious meal that I thought I could only get in restaurants! Play around with various seafood stew recipes, and you will find for yourself how straightforward and rewarding it can be.
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