If you’ve been reading my blog, you probably know that I grew up in Port Said, Egypt. But my family often frequented another lovely Mediterranean city called Alexandria; famed as the pearl of the Mediterranean. I am equally smitten with this great metropolitan as I am with my hometown of Port Said. Alexandria is rich in scenery, life, and culture. From its captivating beaches to its majestic ancient architecture; modern high-rises; and the magnificent Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Library of Alexandria) — which in addition to holding millions of books also houses four museums! And by the way, this library overlooks the Mediterranean.
Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Library of Alexandria) There is not a day that I do not miss the shores of the Mediterranean. I long for the simple things, however. The miles of soft sand. The endless sunshine. Fishermen’s boats bringing in the fresh bounty of the sea. And of course the taste of the glorious and ever-so-fresh seafood. Desperate for a good bite of seafood, what’s a Mediterranean girl living in the heartland of the United States to do? You guessed it! This girl did find a way. I made a yummy seafood stew ever reminiscent of that served in Alexandria’s finest restaurants.
Terrace Restaurant, Alexandria, Egypt; Timothy E Kaldas photography On this crisp rainy fall day here in Iowa, this seafood stew is just the thing to bring some much needed warmth. To make this seafood stew, I chose to go with some of my favorite ingredients: shrimp, lobster tail, baby kale, scallions, tomato, and parsley. All that, richly-flavored with garlic, lemon juice, crushed red peppers, coriander and more. Who says you can’t bring a little taste of the Mediterranean to Iowa? I hope you will try this soon!
Here it goes…
Clean and chop the tomatoes, red onions, green onions, garlic and parsley. Set aside along with baby kale.
In a bowl, season shrimp with a little salt and pepper and juice of 1/2 lemon. Place in fridge briefly.
In a large heavy pan, boil four cups of water with one bay leaf, one crushed garlic clove, dry minced ginger, salt and pepper. Add the lobster tails to the boiling water. Turn the heat to medium-high; cover and let cook for three more minutes or until the lobster shells turn bright pink. Remove the lobster from its broth and set aside to cool. Keep lobster broth to use later.
With a pair of kitchen scissors, cut each lobster shell right down the middle. Extract lobster tails and chop into bite-sized chunks. Set aside.
Heat two tbsp of olive oil on medium-high heat. Saute the chopped red onion with crushed red pepper flakes. To that, add the remaining chopped garlic.
Toss together briefly then add the chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper and coriander. Add white wine and cook to reduce. Now, using a mesh colander, pour in lobster broth. Follow with the chicken broth and remaining lemon juice. Let come to a high simmer, then add the shrimp. One minute later, add the cooked lobster. Now stir in fresh baby kale, chopped green onions, and parsley leaves.
Remove from heat. Let sit, covered, for five minutes. Divide into four serving bowls. Serve with French style bread. Enjoy!
Looking for more seafood meals? Check out my 15-minute baked sole fillet, grilled swordfish, roasted Spanish mackerel or our Greek-style baked cod. Or, for another kind of stew, check out one of my favorites the chickpea and roasted cauliflower stew. It’s worth a try! Please SUBSCRIBE to my blog, and do stay in touch. I love to hear from you! Try these delicious recipes: 4.5 from 4 reviews Grilled Swordfish Roasted Spanish Mackerel Greek-style Baked Cod Chickpea and Roasted Cauliflower Stew
