Fish stew

This is a delicious stew that I adapted from a recipe by Diane Rossen Worthington in her "Seriously Simple" cookbook. The recipe yields about six servings. All of the produce used are organically grown. Serve the soup with a hearty French or Italian bread.

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 leeks, chopped very fine crosswise

2 medium size carrots, peeled and cut crosswise into thin coins

1 small fennel bulb that has been thinly sliced crosswise

2 large garlic cloves, either diced very fine or grated with a microplane

2 anchovy fillets that were packed in oil, drained and finely chopped

1 cup of dry sherry

1 28-ounce can of organic, diced tomatoes

1 cup of organic chicken broth

the grated zest of 1 orange

10 strands of saffron

about 1 1/2 pounds of sustainably harvested firm white fish, such as Pacific red snapper or true cod, cut into pieces about 1 inch square

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Then add the sliced leeks. Saute the leeks for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add the fennel and carrot slices and saute for another 5 minutes, until all the vegetables are softened.

Add to the pot the chopped anchovies, tomatoes, sherry, garlic, orange zest and chicken broth. Add the saffron strands, stir the ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down under the pot and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cover and cook the stew for about 20 minutes to half an hour, so that soup is fragrant.

Add the pieces of fish to the pot, cover and cook for about 5 minutes until the fish is opaque. Add the pepper to taste.