Cioppino Reginato

My good friend Tom Starr’s father served this on Fridays at their Palo Alto Restaurant in the fifties. It was always sold out before eight o’clock.

Pre-heat oven to 400 F to be used to quickly toast the French bread as the bowls are plated. Pre-slice bread pieces so they are ready to go into the oven when needed.
Loaf good French bread
1/3 cup olive oil
1 + 4 cloves chopped garlic
3~4 ribs of celery, chopped
Whites of 2 leeks, chopped fine
1⁄2 cup chopped parsley
8 ounce can of tomato sauce
Water (see recipe)
2 whole crabs, live
2 pounds large prawns
Large sea scallops (optional)
A firm white fish (optional) (monk fish, halibut, cod)
A slice of oven toasted French bread per person (in bottom of each bowl)
Garnish
Sprigs of parsley
Cook 1 clove of garlic in 1/3 cup of olive oil in the bottom of a 12 or 16 quart stock pot. When the garlic is golden brown, remove garlic from oil with a slotted spoon and discard. Add to the pot, garlic, celery, leeks, parsley and sauté while stirring for 15 minutes over medium heat, do not over brown. Add tomato sauce and enough water to completely cover the vegetables. Cook for 45 minutes. Now add enough water to completely cover all the seafood you will be adding. Bring the pot to a high boil. When boiling, add the crabs head first so the die immedi- ately. This prevents them from souring. Cover pot, boil. After 17 minutes add fish or scallops (optionally) and add prawns. Cook another 8 minutes. Remove lid on crab pot. Place bread to toast. Cioppino Reginato
Soup
 ened sweet butter.t
 Tom Starr’s father served this on Fridays at their Palo Alto Restaurant in the fifties. It was always sold out before eight o’clock.
Pre-heat oven to 400 F to be used to quickly toast the French bread as the bowls are plated. Pre-slice bread pieces so they are ready to go into the oven when needed.
Loaf good French bread
1/3 cup olive oil
1 + 4 cloves chopped garlic
3~4 ribs of celery, chopped
Whites of 2 leeks, chopped fine
1⁄2 cup chopped parsley
8 ounce can of tomato sauce
Water (see recipe)
2 whole crabs, live
2 pounds large prawns
Large sea scallops (optional)
A firm white fish (optional) (monk fish, halibut, cod)
A slice of oven toasted French bread per person (in bottom of each bowl)
Garnish
Sprigs of parsley
Cook 1 clove of garlic in 1/3 cup of olive oil in the bottom of a 12 or 16 quart stock pot. When the garlic is golden brown, remove garlic from oil with a slotted spoon and discard. Add to the pot, garlic, celery, leeks, parsley and sauté while stirring for 15 minutes over medium heat, do not over brown. Add tomato sauce and enough water to completely cover the vegetables. Cook for 45 minutes. Now add enough water to completely cover all the seafood you will be adding. Bring the pot to a high boil. When boiling, add the crabs head first so the die immedi- ately. This prevents them from souring. Cover pot, boil. After 17 minutes add fish or scallops (optionally) and add prawns. Cook another 8 minutes. Remove lid on crab pot. Place bread in oven to toast. 
Fetch out crabs with thongs. Under cold spray of water, break of the legs and return to pot. Now clean crab cavities: remove bottom tail flap and back shell casing, break shell in half, remove gills, and wash away gunk. Further break each crab body half in half again so there are four main body segments in all. Return cleaned crab body segments to crab pot to heat back up.
Add slices of bread to individual generous deep serving bowls. Add a crab body segment, legs, prawns, and ladle over fish, scallops and liquid to fill each bowl.
Garnish with a sprig of parsley.