BOUILLABAISSE

prep time:: 1 hour
cook time:: 4 hours
total time:: 5 1/2 hours

Makes 6 servings

Connie Rigas Rigas

The ultimate fish stew! Takes a while but is easy.

ingredients

Stock

2 tablespoons EV olive oil
4 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup onion chopped OR 3 shallots, minced
1 cup celery chopped
3 carrots diced
1 Sea salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
8 peppercorns
2 sprig fresh rosemary
1/2 pound fresh fish and shellfish ’scraps’*
1 fish bones and any crustacean shells you’ve save
1 mirepoix/herbes de provençe
1 water to cover at least 3 quarts
1 1-2 cups dry white wine

bouillabaisse

3 lbs. of firm-fleshed fish like sea bass, whiting,
1 grouper cod or red snapper (cut into two inch pieces) OR 2 lbs. fish an
1 14-18 large shrimp
1 whole lobster* OR 2 lbs. good ’local’ crab claws and legs
2 dozen mussels bearded and cleaned
2 dozen littleneck or sweet clams well cleaned
1 Pinch of Saffron
1 cup leeks julienned (whites)
1 cup excellent quality dry white wine
1/2 cup celery thinly cut
3 medium tomatoes peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
1/4 cup fennel julienned (if you don’t care for this much fennel, use fronds)
2 tablespoons garlic chopped
1 large baking potato cubed into a 1" dice
3 shallots minced
2 tablespoon fresh thyme 1T fresh rosemary
1 sea salt and ground black pepper
3 tablespoon olive oil

Rouille

2 tbsp hot fish stock or clam broth.
2 cloves peeled garlic
1 small red hot pepper or 1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup soft white bread pulled into bits
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup good olive oil

directions

stock

1
Using a large and heavy-bottomed stockpot, sauté the veg’s in the evoo/butter, until translucent, then add the fish for a quick browning. Toss in your herbs and fish bones/seafood shells, peppercorns and mirepoix for a stir, then pour in the white wine and water and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and let simmer for at least three hours. If you have all day, fantastic. I prefer it to have an overnight in the fridge, then do stage two the next day.
2
* Honestly, whatever scraps you have are workable in a stock. So take the end bits/bloodline/boney sections you cut off from that fish to use for the stock. For shellfish, you are bound to have some inferior looking shrimps/crab bits, as well as some clams and mussels that don’t look as good as you’d like the ones for the end product to be, separate them and use them in the stock. [I recommend having a stash of frozen seafood that you build by adding leftover shrimp, scallops, squid and odd bits of fish in ziploc bags. You will definitely use them for fish stock]. This batch should give you enough to freeze a quart for your next chowder, soup or sauce.

bouillabaisse

In large stockpot, sauté the garlic,shallot, leeks, celery, and fennel in olive oil. Pour in 8 cups of the strained stock and bring to a simmer. Add the saffron, tomatoes, orange juice, orange zest and herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Add the fish. Cook for 8 minutes. Add the wine, potato, shrimp, scallops, mussels, and clams and lobster or crab meat. Cook for 6 minutes, or until the shells have opened. Discard any shells that do not open. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve over one of the croutons and with another crouton, and top with a rouille* of your choice, preceded by crusty warm bread and a simple green salad.

rouille

1
Put hot fish stock or clam broth into the bottom of a blender. Add garlic and red hot pepper, egg yolk, salt and bread. Blend until very smooth. With the blender still running, add olive oil slowly and stop the blending as soon as the oil disappears. If it separates before serving, whisk vigorously.
2
At serving time pass Rouille in a little bowl along with the bouillabaisse. Each serving is about 1/2 a teaspoon that you stir into your soup. Use gingerly like Tabasco.

Source: Connie Rigas Rigas