It happened to me yesterday.
I was going through an old copy of the New Larousse Gastronomique and came across recipes for a number of bouillabaisses.
They all call for an assortment of fresh fish as you know. I'll never have that many fish available but it's halibut season here so I thought I'd just use halibut.
At the fish section of the grocery store were four types of fresh white firm fleshed fish. So I bought some of each and a bag of fresh Salt Spring Is. mussels.
When I served the soup to the family last night the reaction I got was seriously amazing. A couple of people said they could eat the soup "every day for the rest of their lives".
In my copy the recipe is on page 139. It's called 'Ocean Bouillabaisse'.
The final result really does capture that elusive back note found in a classical French bouillabaisse. A flavor I have only experienced in France. Until yesterday.
In a large enameled steel pot:
1/2 C best olive oil heated to med.>all veg fine chopped> 1 large leek white part only>3 celery stalks>1 large sweet onion>6 cloves crushed garlic> sweat for 15 minutes> do not brown veg.>1 large 796 ML can of canned whole plum tomatoes cut up in pot> 1 1/2 C of white Moscato wine (I think you need a sweet white wine to counter the acid in the tomatoes)>1 sprig of fresh thyme> 1 C of fine chopped fennel top>2-3 cubed PRE COOKED Yukon Gold potatoes or another firm potato> just a pinch of red pepper flakes>simmer uncovered for 30 minutes uncovered> add a little water if the soup gets too thick>season with S&P to taste>meanwhile in a separate pot put in the mussels and add about 2 C water> cook at maximum heat until the mussels open. This will only take a couple of minutes> remove them from the pot to cool> STRAIN the liquid from the pot and add to the main pot> remove mussels from the shells and set aside> After about 30 minutes season again with S&P to taste>add 2 T butter and stir in>just a few minutes before serving gently add all the fresh fish which have been cut into 2-3" pieces and the shelled mussels. Make sure all the fish pieces are covered. Cover the pot.> When serving try to keep the delicate fish pieces intact>serve with cool Moscato wine and fresh baguettes.
Do you have a 'Best Ever' soup recipe you'd like to share?
I was going through an old copy of the New Larousse Gastronomique and came across recipes for a number of bouillabaisses.
They all call for an assortment of fresh fish as you know. I'll never have that many fish available but it's halibut season here so I thought I'd just use halibut.
At the fish section of the grocery store were four types of fresh white firm fleshed fish. So I bought some of each and a bag of fresh Salt Spring Is. mussels.
When I served the soup to the family last night the reaction I got was seriously amazing. A couple of people said they could eat the soup "every day for the rest of their lives".
In my copy the recipe is on page 139. It's called 'Ocean Bouillabaisse'.
The final result really does capture that elusive back note found in a classical French bouillabaisse. A flavor I have only experienced in France. Until yesterday.
In a large enameled steel pot:
1/2 C best olive oil heated to med.>all veg fine chopped> 1 large leek white part only>3 celery stalks>1 large sweet onion>6 cloves crushed garlic> sweat for 15 minutes> do not brown veg.>1 large 796 ML can of canned whole plum tomatoes cut up in pot> 1 1/2 C of white Moscato wine (I think you need a sweet white wine to counter the acid in the tomatoes)>1 sprig of fresh thyme> 1 C of fine chopped fennel top>2-3 cubed PRE COOKED Yukon Gold potatoes or another firm potato> just a pinch of red pepper flakes>simmer uncovered for 30 minutes uncovered> add a little water if the soup gets too thick>season with S&P to taste>meanwhile in a separate pot put in the mussels and add about 2 C water> cook at maximum heat until the mussels open. This will only take a couple of minutes> remove them from the pot to cool> STRAIN the liquid from the pot and add to the main pot> remove mussels from the shells and set aside> After about 30 minutes season again with S&P to taste>add 2 T butter and stir in>just a few minutes before serving gently add all the fresh fish which have been cut into 2-3" pieces and the shelled mussels. Make sure all the fish pieces are covered. Cover the pot.> When serving try to keep the delicate fish pieces intact>serve with cool Moscato wine and fresh baguettes.
Do you have a 'Best Ever' soup recipe you'd like to share?
