Recipe : My Bouillabaisse

This is a recipe for French Bouillabaisse only with a twist. I added a few more ingredients that my mother used to throw in, such as carrots, celery (leaves and stalks), 1 potato, ...other than that, my Bouillabaisse is made exactly the classic and standard way, the one that identifies itself as the Marseilles way, that comes from the Provence region of France on the Mediterranean coast. This is the Region that has had the best of culinary influences from the Classic French Cuisine to the North, to Italian and now, to the Greek styles to east, and Spanish and Portuguese to the west.

EYMOLOGY:The name "Bouillabaisse" comes from the pair of words meaning "to boil" and "to reduce". In this recipe the long duration of its boiling and simmering is of a great importance, as it contributes to concentrating and intensifying the soup's flavor.

INGREDIENTS
For the SOUP BROTH:

2 smaller size whole fish, I used a snapper and an exotic looking Mediterranean pink fish, (all scaled and cleaned), 3 oyesters, completely rinsed
9 cups of water
2 carrots, cut up in large pieces
Celery leaves and some stalks
1 onion, whole
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
10 whole springs of fresh parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste

For the SOUP BASE:

2/3 cup olive oil
2 onions, chopped finely
6 cloves of garlic, chopped roughly (my mother used to crush the garlic)
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 stalks of celery, cliced
1 potato, cut in cubes
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and cut in chunks
1 fennel, chopped
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
3 springs of dried thyme (use fresh thyme if available)
3 bay leaves
3 springs of parsley, finely chopped
3 strips of orange rind (not including the white pith)
1 teaspoon of saffron powder
crushed pepper flakes or 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of rouille (a mix of spices exclusively for bouillabaisse)
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup dry white wine

Seafood and shellfish for the "body" of the soup:

1 pound of scallops
1 pound of clams, with the shells on
1 pound of whole Lagostinos
1 pound of large shrimp, whole
1 pound of crab legs

PREPARATION:

In a large soup pot, combine all the ingredients for the Broth. Bring to a very light boil, and allow to simmer for about half an hour.

Simultaneously, in another smaller pot, heat the oil and throw the garlic, onion, the sliced carrots, the chopped fennel, cubed potato and parsley, and sautee for about 8 minutes, or until veggies are soft, but not too soft.

Add tomatoes, thyme, orange peel, bay leaves, pepper, saffron, rouille. Simmer
for up to 30 minutes.

Run the broth through a strainer, and keep aside.
Return the fish broth to the Large Pot.
Transfer all sauteed ingredients from the small pot, and add them to the fish broth in the Large Pot.

Remove the orange peel and bay leaves, Add the scallops, shrimp, lagostinos, clams, the inside of the oysters, crab legs and some of the boiled fish meat after removing the bones (make sure there are no bones) in the soup. Pour the white wine, salt and pepper, and let simmer for 15 minutes.

There are two ways to serve this soup. One way is to pure everything, before you add the shellfish and seafood. The other way is to leave it as it is, without pureing it. And this is the way my husband and I prefer it.

So, our New Year's bouillabaisse dinner was accompanied by our home made french baguette and a refreshing glass of Alsatian riesling wine. That was a memorable experience...not only for the result we got, but also for the whole "ritual" throughout the preparation of this soup.

"Happy New Year"!!!!! Happy 2010!!!
More smiles, more cooking and more bouillabaisse!!!!!!!!!!!!!