Recipe Monday - Portuguese Fish Stew with an American Twist

My husband is Portuguese, and every once in a while I'll try to branch out and make some of their cuisine. But it's hard. Portuguese recipes were not fashioned with quick and easy in mind. I found a recipe for traditional Fish Stew online, and I changed it to suit our needs / ingredients. It came out amazingly well! Even if I did burn the sandwiches I made to go with it.

• 2 pounds fresh fish of your choice (I used a bag of mixed fish...calamari, clams, mussels, and shrimp, plus two white fish fillets.)
• 5 table spoons olive oil
• 1 carrot
• 2 potatoes
• 1 onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 pound good red tomatoes (I used a can of diced tomatoes with chili pepper infusion)
• 1 red chili (see above)
• 1 cup white wine
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 pints water

• Boil the fish and the prawns in water seasoned with salt and bay leaf.
• Use a big pot and start cooking the chopped onion, garlic and carrot in olive oil. Let it be in low heat for 10 minutes stirring occasionally so it doesn't burn.
• Add the skinless potato in cubes, the tomato and the wine. Let it cook for 10 minutes and don't forget to stir.
• Save the boiled fish water and add to your vegetables. (hahaha, yeah right. At this point I poured the vegetables into the boiling fish water. I'm not good at pouring, separating and warming)
• Taste it and season again if needed. It's time to add the chili pepper. (Already added with the diced tomatoes)
• While you let the soup cook, get rid of the fish bones. (Fish bones?! I don't buy fish with bones. Or heads. Just saying.)
• 45 minutes later take out the chili and the bay leaf and use a hand blender to transform your veggies and water into a nice broth. (There's no getting around this one. You've got to blend a few cups of this to thicken it. I obviously left the chili in, though.)
• After blended add the fish, prawns and chopped coriander leaves. (I didn't have to use this step)
• Cook for 10 minutes more and serve.