SLOW COOKER CATFISH STEW

    

Slow Cooker Catfish Stew

Serves 4 to 6

      INGREDIENTS

1 (28-ounce) can Italian plum tomatoes

1⁄2 pound slab bacon, small-diced

1 large sweet onion, small-diced

1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and small-diced 1 celery stalk, small-diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 whole cloves

1 teaspoon ground mace

1 teaspoon ground allspice

 2 cups bottled clam juice

2 cups fish or vegetable stock

1 pound fingerling potatoes, cut into 1-inch-thick rounds Kosher salt

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon hot sauce

11⁄2 pounds catfish fillets, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1⁄4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

1⁄2 cup store-bought pickled banana peppers

Freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION

Pour the tomatoes and their liquid into a food processor and pulse to break them down a bit.

Set a 4+ quart slow cooker to the high setting. Add the bacon and cook until most of the fat has rendered, 20 to 30 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper, and celery, and cook for 10 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for 5 minutes more. (Alternatively, this can be done in a large skillet over medium heat; cook the bacon for 10 minutes, the onion, bell pepper, and celery for 2, then the garlic and place it all in the slow cooker.)

Add the tomatoes, cloves, mace, allspice, clam juice, stock, potatoes, and 1 teaspoon salt to the slow cooker. Cover with the lid, reduce the setting to low, and cook for 4 hours or until the potatoes are fork-tender.

Add the Worcestershire, hot sauce, and 1⁄2 teaspoon salt.

Season the catfish pieces with salt, add them to the slow cooker, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Add the butter to the cooker and stir it in gently. Then ladle the stew

 into individual bowls. Garnish with the parsley and banana peppers, and finish with a grind of black pepper and additional salt to taste. (Somewhere in those bowls there will be 4 whole cloves. You can pick them out, or live on the edge.)