RECIPE AND A RESERVATION: Bayou Tavern

Bayou Tavern
Address: 6814 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key
Phone: 312-4975
Hours: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday
Known for: Continental European cuisine, homemade pizza

Cioppino
(fish stew similar to bouillabaisse)

Ingredients
½ cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
10 ounces tomato sauce
¼ cup freshly chopped parsley
¼ cup dry white wine
1 cup clam juice
1 pound fresh mussels, scrubbed and rinsed well
¾ pound fresh clams, scrubbed and rinsed well
½ pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 large scallops
½ pound calamari, sliced
Salt and pepper
½ pound angel hair pasta

Method
1. In a large, heavy pot, pour ¼ cup of olive oil and one clove of crushed garlic. Cook over moderate heat until pale golden.

2. Add shrimp and scallops, season with salt and pepper, and sear both sides for about two minutes. Pour half of the white wine and allow to evaporate.

3. Remove shrimps, salad and garlic. Add clam juice to the pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat and allow sauce to simmer for about five minutes.

4. In a large skillet, add remaining oil, one minced garlic clove, and cook over medium heat until the garlic is golden. Add mussels and clams, stir, add wine, and cover and steam for about five minutes. Reduce the heat, remove the cover, and, using tongs, transfer open clams and mussels into the sauce, discarding any mussels and clams that don’t open.

5. Pour carefully only half of the liquid that is released in the sauce, watching for sand at the bottom. Bring the sauce to a boil and add calamari, shrimp and scallops. Cook for three to five minutes and sprinkle the chopped parsley. Serve in a large bowl over angel hair pasta.