Fricassée Catalane

Looking for a dish for friends that's a little different? Here's one you can put together at the very last minute if you've prepared the ingredients ahead of time. It comes from French chef Bernard Grenier, owner-chef of Bistro D'Oc.

Serves four.

1 pound fresh white mushrooms cut in thick slices
10 ounces fresh cleaned calamari cut in thick pieces (available at Whole Foods)
6 ounces Spanish chorizo sausage (available at large supermarkets and Hispanic groceries)
8 green Picholine olives (available at Whole Foods)
12 black Niçoise olives (available at Whole Foods)
8 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons roughly chopped shallots
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
10 cloves of confit garlic (method follows)
2 tablespoons fresh herbs, roughly chopped — chives, basil, cilantro, according to taste Olive oil

In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom and sauté the mushrooms with a little salt and pepper.

Set them aside, pour in a little more oil to coat the bottom, raise the heat and sauté all the seafood until it is opaque.

Then add the chorizo, garlic confit and olives, stir-frying to heat through and
incorporate everything thoroughly.

Remove from heat and add the mushrooms, turning to combine all the ingredients. Season to taste, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve.

To confit garlic, peel as many cloves of garlic as you would like to preserve,
cover them with olive oil in a small pan and simmer over very low heat until soft, then pour into sterilized lidded jars and store in a dark place.

This recipe first appeared in the NorthWest Current. Photo Bill Petros/The Current.

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