Matching Tracksuits

Friday for Catholics often means no meat. Good Friday for Catholics means no meat. Period. What to do? What to cook? Seafood soup with migas.

First, the migas, because it has to sit around for a while and get soggy.

• 1 large loaf of day-old French bread
• 1 medium-size onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup crumbled, crispy cooked bacon
• 1/4t each, salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup water

Cut the bread into thin, rather uneven slices. (I tore a lot of my slices up to create irregular shapes.) Then mix the bread, onion, garlic, and bacon together, spread it evenly in a pan, and sprinkle the water over it. Let it sit for at least half a hour. (Cooking it for Good Friday, though, I separated it into two different batches: one with bacon, one without.)

When you begin to fry it, you’ll need a mixture of garlic and olive oil:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

Once the migas is migasizing, it’s time to start the soup.

• 3T olive oil
• 2 medium-size onions, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green pepper
• 1 can (15 oz.) tomato puree
• 2 bottles (8 oz. each) clam juice
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 small dried whole hot chile
• 1/2 t each
  • ground coriander
  • dried basil
  • thyme leaves
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced
• 2 medium-size carrots, sliced
• 1 1/2 pound firm-textured white fish (halibut, rockfish, sea bass, etc.)
• 1 1/2 dozen hard-shell clams
• 1/2 pound medium shrimp

Cook the onion, green pepper, and garlic together in olive oil. When soft, pour in tomato puree, clam juice, wine, broth, bay leaves, chile, coriander, basil, thyme, half the lemon slices, and carrots. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for about 20 minutes (until carrots are soft).

Add fish, clams, and shrimp and simmer until clams open and shrimp are pink.

Immediately after adding the fish begin to fry the migas. Brush a hot frying pan evenly with the garlic and olive oil mixutre, then spread about 1/2 cup of the migas mixture in the frying pan, pressing it down until it’s about 1/4 inch thick. Let it cook for about four minutes, then turn it. It will break apart as you flip it — it’s part of the idea, I guess.

Once the migas is brown and crisp and the calms have overcome their shyness, it’s time to serve.

It’s not for the budget-minded. The ingredients cost over $50, since all the seafood was fresh, fresh, fresh, and wild-caught. Halibut at $18 a pound and shirmp at $12 a pound does indeed add up.

But it was worth it. As a friend would say, fresh and honest.