Pressure-Cooker Fish Stew

The aftermath. Ida's aftermath is like every aftermath: debris on the streets, tarps on roofs, the smell of rotting food from refrigerators that lost power and the deeper smell of a community processing what just happened. I've been through this before — Katrina, the 2016 flood — and the familiarity doesn't make it easier. It makes it worse. Because familiarity means the body knows what's coming: the weeks of cleanup, the months of rebuilding, the years of looking at a patched roof and remembering the night it happened.

The anxiety is back. Full force. The Katrina room is not just open — it's flooded. Dr. Tran and I had an emergency phone session on day two of the power outage, and she said, "This is a trauma trigger, Tommy. This is exactly the situation your body has been preparing for since 2005." She was right. My body was ready for this storm. My body has been ready for this storm for sixteen years. And the readiness doesn't help. The readiness is the problem. The hyper-vigilance that served me during Katrina — the listening, the alertness, the refusal to sleep — is back, and this time I know what it is, and knowing what it is doesn't turn it off. It just means I can name the thing that's consuming me while it consumes me.

I'm working eighteen-hour days. Emergency electrical. Free. For neighbors, for strangers, for anyone with a dark house and a blown panel. Marcus and DeShawn are with me. Terri is running the paid jobs that can't wait. The business is doing double duty: making money and giving it away, working for clients and working for the neighborhood, because that's what Beaumont Electrical does when the lights go out. We turn them back on. All of them. Even the ones that can't pay.

Danielle is managing everything else. The house. The kids. The insurance claim. Mama, who is staying with us and who is a terrible houseguest because she's trying to cook in my kitchen and rearranging my spice cabinet and putting the cayenne on the SECOND SHELF which is where Colette also puts it and I am surrounded by women who don't understand shelf hierarchy. But she's here. She's safe. The cottage is standing. The screen door is gone — I'll fix it — but the walls held and the roof mostly held and the bayou didn't breach and Joey's fig tree is still there, battered but there, the way Beaumonts are always there: battered but there.

Made red beans on Monday because it's Monday and the world is in chaos and Monday red beans is the only thing I can control. The beans simmered. The house smelled like normal. And for one hour, one Monday hour, everything was okay. Everything was beans.

Not every Monday after a storm lets you simmer beans for three hours — sometimes the propane is low, the generator’s running the refrigerator, and you’ve got thirty minutes between jobs before you’re back under someone’s panel in the dark. That’s when the pressure cooker earns its place. I keep this fish stew in rotation for exactly those weeks: the weeks where you need something hot and real on the table but the world won’t give you the time to do it slow. It’s not red beans — nothing is red beans — but it’ll hold you together until Monday comes around again.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs firm white fish (catfish, cod, or tilapia), cut into 2-inch chunks
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (15 oz) white beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 cups low-sodium fish or vegetable broth
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery stalks, sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 medium carrots, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 medium russet potato, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp kosher salt
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped (for serving)

Instructions

Sauté the aromatics. Set your pressure cooker or Instant Pot to the Sauté function. Add olive oil and heat until shimmering. Add the onion and celery and cook 3–4 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic, paprika, thyme, oregano, and cayenne and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
Build the base. Add the carrots, potato, diced tomatoes (with their liquid), white beans, broth, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper. Stir to combine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Pressure cook. Secure the lid and set the valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 8 minutes. When the cycle ends, carefully perform a quick release of the pressure.
Add the fish. Remove the lid, discard the bay leaves, and set the pot back to Sauté. Gently nestle the fish chunks into the hot stew. Cook uncovered for 5–7 minutes, stirring minimally, until the fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork. Do not overcook.
Adjust and serve. Taste and adjust salt and cayenne as needed. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh parsley. Serve with crusty bread or over white rice to stretch the pot further.

Nutrition (per serving)

Pressure-Cooker Fish Stew — When the Beans Are Gone, You Make Do