Recipe: Mariscada Salsa Verde (Seafood in Green Sauce)

MARISCADA SALSA VERDE

6 cherrystone clams
6 lobster slipper tails (membranes split lengthwise)
1 lb. pre-cooked New Zealand greenshell mussels, thawed
1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 lb. par-boiled squid bodies, cut into rings

1/3 cup olive oil
1 lb. tomatillos, minced (see instructions)
1 lg. onion, minced
1 large head of garlic, minced (or two smaller ones)

6 cups of fish stock made with wine (a shrimp fumet works great)
3/4 cup (half a 14-oz. can) of UNSWEETENED coconut milk
1 ts. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 ts. green Tabasco sauce (the mild kind; made with jalapenos)
1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro (about 1/2 cup)

Remove leaves from tomatillos, boil for 3 minutes, cool in cold water and mince in a food processor. (Par-boil squid rings in same water.) Combine the minced tomatillos, onion and garlic for a coarse pur e.

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil until hot and add the coarse pur e. Cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until onions are tender. Add stock, coconut milk, salt and pepper. Return to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add Tobasco (or similar product) and cilantro. Can be made ahead, to this point.

Add clams; simmer, covered, for 5 minutes or until clams just start to open. Add slipper tails, mussels and shrimp; return to a boil and then simmer, covered for 5 more minutes, or until clams are open. Add squid and heat.