Catalan Fish Stew

The title is translated. In Catalonian is reads Zarzuela de Mariscos a la Catalana.

This is a Spanish recipe from the Catalonians, the area surrounding Barcelona. We love Barcelona. Its a city that comes to life at 10:00 pm. Took a few days to get used to the knew hours but we caught on quickly.
While we were there, we were shopping for tile for the kitchen. The plan was to get different tiles from each country and incorporate them into our kitchen. This is my favorite saying  in Catalonian, in translation it means wine makes warm the heart of a man! It took 4 people to get the translation since its not the spoken language anymore.


I'm not a fish person, but my husband lives for any dish that combines anything from a body of water. So here we go, I hope you enjoy this. Tom swear's its

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cups chopped onions
salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 lb fresh squid, cleaned and cut into 1/4" pieces.
Spanish brandy
1 T tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 cups clam juice or seafood stock
1/2 lb medium shrimp peeled and deveined
1/2 lb small (dime size) scallops
2 dozen muscles scrubbed and debearded
1 T fresh chopped parsley
loaf of crusty bread
Serves 4-6

In a large dutch oven, over medium heat add the oil. When the oil hot add the onions. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until wilted about 10 minutes. Season the squid with salt and pepper. Add to the onions and saute for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add the brandy and carefully flame. Shake the pan back and forth several times until the flame dies out. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and clam juice and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer, cook for 20 minutes. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Add the muscles, shrimp and scallops to the pot. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the shells have opened and the shrimp is fully cooked.
Remove from the heat and ladle into serving bowls. Garnish with parsley and serve with crusty bread.

You can really add any of your favorite fish to this dish. This is just what had - without making a formal to make this. It was very spur of the moment!