Bouillabaisse

“Bouillabaisse, you can’t make bouillabaisse because you are not French.” Sorry if you don’t get that obscured quote. It’s from my favorite cooking show Good Eats’ Episode “Waiter There is a Fish in My Soup”. I love learning new recipes from this show and this was my second time making this one. It is Lentin season and we were having another couple over for dinner this past Friday. I wanted to make something a little nicer than our typical fish and vegetables that we eat during this time. Bouillabaisse is delicious, but it is also a huge task to make, is it worth it? Absolutely! Depending on where you live your seafood choices might be limited; however, this time of year there are always more options.
​The following recipe is adapted from Alton Brown’s Good Eats:
Ingredients:
Fish Stock:
1 pound raw fish heads, bones, tail, and lobster tail shell
4 whole fresh bay leaves
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
6 cups water
 
Stew:
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
6 ounces onion, coarsely chopped
3 ounces fennel bulb, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt, divided
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 (3-inch) piece orange peel, optional
1/16 teaspoon saffron
8 ounces firm fish fillets, such as farmed cobia or wild striped bass (1 or 2 types), skin and bones removed, cut into 1-inch pieces, at room temperature (I used bass)
8 ounces flaky fish fillets, such as black cod, wild halibut, or black rockfish (1 or 2 types), skin and bones removed, cut into 1-inch pieces, at room temperature (I used cod)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 ounces mussels, cleaned and beards trimmed, at room temperature (I could only find frozen already shelled)
1 large raw lobster tail, shell removed and meat cut into 1-inch pieces, at room temperature
 
To Serve:
1 baguette, sliced
1 clove garlic, cut in half
1 recipe Rouille, recipe follows, optional
 
Rouille:
1 large red bell pepper
3 large cloves garlic, peeled
1 fresh red chile, stem removed and seeded
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. For the fish stock: Rinse the fish heads and place in a tall 6-quart pot with tails, bones, lobster shell, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon sea salt, black peppercorns, and water. Place over high heat, cover, and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to maintain a bare simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Strain, discard solids and set the stock aside.
2. To make the stew: Place 1/4 cup olive oil in a clean 6-quart pot and set over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the onions, fennel, and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. Sauté until semi-translucent, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Deglaze the pan with the wine and scrape any bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the reserved fish stock, tomatoes, parsley, orange peel, and saffron, if desired. Place over high heat, cover, and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Increase the heat to high. Add the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, fish, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Boil rapidly, uncovered, for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pot from the heat, add the mussels and lobster, cover, and let stand until the fish is cooked through and the mussels open, 2 to 4 minutes. Discard any unopened mussels.
3. To serve: Set the broiler to high. Lightly rub the baguette slices on both sides with the garlic. Place the prepared bread slices on a half sheet pan and broil, 1 inch away from the broiler, for 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the slices over and broil for another 1 to 2 minutes. Top with Rouille, if desired, and serve with fish stew.

Rouille:

1. Cook the bell pepper over a gas burner set to high, turning every few minutes, until the skin blackens and is thoroughly charred. Remove the pepper to a metal mixing bowl, cover with a spare pot lid, and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the blackened skin from the pepper by rubbing with a clean kitchen towel. Pull out the stem and seed cluster and discard along with the skin.
2. Place the roasted and skinned pepper, garlic, chile, lemon juice, and salt in the bowl of a mini-food processor. Process until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Stop and scrape down the side of the bowl once or twice. With the food processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until thick. Serve with fish stew.

Our guest loved the dinner and Jack was extremely impressed as well. Maybe I am a little more French than I thought! BOUILLABAISSE!