Marsha's Fish Stew

My sweet friend Marsha brought this stew to us for dinner one day when we were in need. I asked her for the recipe as soon as I finished my first serving. She said she's never written it out before, so, after making it twice, and adding some broth to make it a bit soupier, here's my recording of her delicious fish stew. I hope the collaboration does justice to her marvelous culinary ingenuity.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. of fish (I use Tilapia)

2-3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

salt and pepper, to taste

1 1/2 tsp. berbere (or more, or much more, to taste)

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper (or orange or yellow, whichever you choose)

1 onion

5-6 Roma tomatoes

3 C chicken broth

3 C water

Optional: cooked rice (cook according to package directions, or find recipe here)



Mis en place:

If using frozen fish, thaw in sink. Trim and cut fish fillets into approximately 2” cubes—the thickness of each fillet varies, so some will be too flat to technically be “cubes,” so get them to roughly equal size- some will fall apart in the process of cooking and that’s okay.

Cut the peppers, onions, and tomatoes into large cubes, also approximately 2” cubes. Don’t worry about precision here. Put peppers and onions into one bowl and tomatoes into another bowl.

Method:

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat.

Add fish; sauté for about 4 minutes.

Add butter, salt, pepper, and berbere and gently mix to coat the fish with seasonings. Continue to cook for another minute.

Gently push the fish to one side; add peppers and onion; sauté for 3-4 minutes.

Add tomatoes, broth, and water; bring to a boil and reduce immediately to a gentle simmer, cooking until tomatoes are softened. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. If desired, serve over rice.