Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Bouillabaisse (aka Fish Stew)

Fancy name and apparently it can be much more fancy and time consuming than what I  made. Call it fish stew, call it bouillabaisse, or cioppino, but call it delicious. I scanned several recipes until I found ideas of what I already wanted to do.  I mostly just looked for the secret ingredients that showed up in most of the recipes:  fennel, saffron, and fish stock.   I will say I agree with Cooks Illustrated that you must combine some sort of firm fish (halibut/grouper), flaky fish (snapper), and shellfish (mussels, scallops, shrimp) to get the right textures in play.  I also learned that the fish counter keeps frozen fish stock so that I will never have to buy or deal with fish bones and shells (hooray!).

The leftovers were absolutely devoured by my toddler. He even sopped up all the juices with the garlic bread and ate fennel without knowing it.  (Big parenting win!)

Bouillabaisse

4 small Snapper fillets (thanks to Uncle Stanley's fishing success!)
4 scallops
5 shrimp (keep stocked frozen)
3 leeks or 1 small onion
1 small fennel bulb, slice thin
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 pinch saffron
4-6 C fish stock (can substitute a fortified version of clam juice if not available)
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

In a large Dutch Oven, heat 1 tbsp olive oil.  Add leeks and fennel and cook over medium heat until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute.  Add stock, saffron, and tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Simmer 20 minutes until veggies are soft.

Heat broiler and make garlic bread while you simmer.

Add snapper, cook 2 minutes. Add shrimp and scallops and cook 2 more minutes.  Turn off heat. Serve.

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