My Southern Style Shrimp Stew

I think it's fair to say this weekend has been spent mainly in the kitchen, on walks with my boys or sleeping. Things that charge the batteries best. I haven't been spared from back pain either, last night I woke up again at four am to massage my back and take pain killers. Not quite as rosy as I thought the other day, but I'll get there.

Last night's warming tasty shrimp stew.

My fiancé's team won the championships on Thursday and I got him home for a good couple days now before the French national team steals him away for training camp. The world championships take place every year in ice hockey and I've gotten used to the one to one and half month break in seeing each other each spring. Knowing this break will start next week, we've tried to make the most of our time together. We both love good food and I've wanted to spoil him with tasty homemade dinners before he heads out to train for the world championships; one last big tournament before summer holidays. This has also meant stepping slightly outside the strict diet but we've had walks to cover up the calorie intake.

I made this dreamy shrimp stew last night, and have to say it suits perfectly well to the chilly weather we have in Krakow at the moment. The union of garlic, tomato, orange peel and pastis is unbeatable and by the time you combine it with the aioli, it has taken over your heart for good! Enjoy in good company :)

My Southern Style Shrimp Stew

serves 2-3, time 30 min

400 g large shrimps 

1 leek

1 fennel

3 tomatoes

3 garlic nails

olive oil

2 table spoons anis licquor (Pernod)

cayenne pepper

juice of 1/2 orange

peel of 1 orange

hint of ground cloves

3 dl fish stock 

salt & pepper

Easy Aioli

1 dl mayo (Hellman's)

1 garlic nail

lemon juice (optional)

cayenne pepper (optional)

Coriander for decoration

Split leek to two (you only need the light green and white bits for this) and wash so there's no dirt between the layers. Remove the bottom from the fennel and split to pieces. Chop tomatoes, leek, fennel and garlic nails. Drizzle olive oil to kettle and add tomatoes, leek, fennel and garlic in. Let cook until the leek and fennel get a little softer (do not fry), around 5-10 minutes. 

Add anis licquor and spices in and mix. Add orange peel, orange juice and fish stock in and let cook 10-15 minutes and color is less "see through". Check taste and add spices if needed.

Add shrimps in and let cook for 5 minutes if you use uncooked (grey) or 1-2 minutes if you use cooked (pink) shrimps. I used cooked big shrimps with tails on and they worked well. If you can find these without tail in your grocery store's freezer, even better. The Easter weekend also meant the shop was out of fresh fennels so I used fennel seeds for the flavor which worked well but obviously meant there was less to eat here. I also used piment d'espelette instead of cayenne pepper as I had run out and no harm was done, the end result was really tasty.

Serve the stew with aioli and baguette or rustique bread.