It’s a cold, dreary, Monday night. You want something that’s gonna knock your socks off and comfort you like a warm blanket. Yes, it has 3 different pieces of seafood. Yes, they all swim in a flavorful, delicate broth. Yes, you can have a tasty saffron and spiced rouille slathered on toasted bread. “Brendan, what part of ‘it’s a...Monday night’ did you miss?” What if I told you that you could have a classic, delicious dish cooked and plated in 60 minutes on a weeknight? I just timed myself and it was one hour on-the-nose! Enjoy this condensed classic.
Weeknight Bouillabaisse
Bouillabaisse
1.25 lbs baby potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1 inch pieces
1/2 onion, minced
Small fennel bulb, cored and minced
14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups seafood/fish stock
1 leek, white and light green part, cleaned and sliced into ¼ inch thick pieces
Bouquet garnis: Fresh bay leaf, 2 or 3 spriggs each of thyme and parsley
1 lb small clams (or mussels)
½ lb halibut
½ lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
Rouille
1.5 tbsp warm water
1 tsp saffron threads
2 large egg yolks
3 tbsp lemon juice
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup grapeseed oil
Cayenne pepper
French or Italian loaf of bread
Preheat 3 tbsp evoo in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Saute onion, fennel and potatoes with a pinch of salt for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in the bowl of a mini-prep, combine the can of diced tomatoes and tomato paste and blend until combined. Mince 2 cloves of garlic and add to the cooking vegetables and stir until fragrant. Add wine, bring to a boil and deglaze the bottom of the pot and stir in the blended tomato mixture. Add the fish stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the sliced leeks and reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered for about 15 minutes.
Tie together the bay leaf, parsley and thyme and toss the bouquet garnis into the simmering soup. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine 2 tbsp warm water and saffron in a bowl and set aside.
While the soup simmers, rinse and scrub the clams. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Peel and devein the shrimp, then toss with salt and pepper. Then, slice your bread and place in the oven on a baking sheet.
After the soup has simmered 15-20 minutes, add in the clams and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Then add the fish and cook for 2 minutes. Finally, add the shrimp and cook for another 5 minutes.
After you drop the clams into the simmering soup, prepare the rouille by rinsing the tomato residue out of the mini-prep bowl. Secure the bowl back on the machine, with the blade, then add the yolks, lemon juice and reserved saffron water. Blend until combined. Then, with the machine running, add the extra-virgin olive oil, followed by the grapeseed oil to reach a thick texture. You’re aiming for a slightly loose mayonnaise. When you’ve reached the desired consistency, sprinkle with cayenne and pulse to combine.
When ready to serve, remove the bouquet garnis and taste the soup for any seasoning needs.
Serve in bowls with crusty bread and rouille.
_____________________________________________ Copyright 2020, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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