The Garden of Immortal Peaches

This is really a dish best suited for the cold winter months, but it's so good that I just couldn't resist when the craving hit. The original recipe is from Allrecipes.com, and it is delicious and near perfect! This is good for about 6 servings, and I've made a couple changes here and there to my liking.


Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1.5 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
  
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 cup clam juice
  
• 1 cup white wine
• 1/2 pound large shrimp - peeled and deveined
• 1/2 pound bay scallops
• 8 small clams
• 8 mussels, cleaned and debearded
• 2/3 cup crabmeat
• 1/2 pound cod fillets, cubed
• salt and pepper, to taste
  

Directions:

1. Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large stockpot, add onions, garlic and dried parsley. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until onions are soft.
2. Add tomatoes to the pot. Add chicken broth, bay leaves, basil, thyme, oregano, clam juice and wine. Mix well. Cover and simmer on low for 1 hour. Add salt and pepper to taste, but don't add too much at this point because the seafood will add their natural salts to the soup.
   
3. Stir in the clams, mussels, crab, shrimp, scallops, and lastly, the fish. Bring to boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer 5 to 7 minutes until clams open. Add the fresh parsley. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with warm, crusty bread!

If you like your soup to be more chunky, substitute the crushed tomatoes for diced.
Obviously, this can end up being a very pricey dish. Save some money by picking up bags of seafood medley in the frozen section (I buy mine at the Asian Food Center). It's great because the medley includes oysters, mussels, squid, and shrimp. I usually use any fresh firm white fish, frozen shrimp and frozen crab legs. Just remember to allow ample time for defrosting!

In the oven, toast up some fresh Italian bread drizzled with olive oil, and use it to sop up all the delicious juices. 5 Stars!!!