J and I have invited a couple of friends over for tonight’s dinner, and I have to say I’m pretty excited. We’ve decided to make a bouillabaisse, a traditional French seafood stew with a light tomato-based broth. Bouillabaisse is savory but light at the same time, which makes it kind of perfect for this time of year when it’s starting to get cooler but isn’t yet cold enough for really hearty dishes. And the canteloupe and citrus flavors in the Amaral Chardonnay should balance out nicely with the saltiness from the seafood and the acidity from the tomato broth. As a reminder, you can find the Amaral Chardonnay at Wine Chateau for $15.99/bottle.
Neither J nor I have ever actually made our own bouillabaisse, so I decided to look up some recipes on the Internets (you know, the series of tubes). The best one I found comes from Epicurious.com (no surprise – this website is great, although its recipes are sometimes more complicated than necessary). We’re not going to be following Epicurious’ recipe exactly, as I’ve decided to substitute some scallops and calamari for the more expensive lobster.
Bouillabaisse (Traditional French Seafood Stew)
Ingredients for Soup
2 large tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb red new potatoes
1/3 cup finely chopped fennel fronds (sometimes called anise)
1 California bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
1 1/2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
5-6 cups white fish stock (Epicurious has a recipe for this, but we just bought ours from the fish market)
1/2 pound white fish fillet (we’re using red snapper, but you can also use monkfish, turbot, striped bass, porgy, grouper, and/or cod), cut into 2-inch pieces
4 large sea scallops
1/4 to 1/2 pounds of cleaned calamari (squid), tentacles and tubes
12 cockles or small hard-shelled clams, scrubbed
12 cultivated mussels, scrubbed and any beards removed
1/2 pound large shrimp in shells
Rouille (pronounced “roo”)
Ingredients for Rouille
3 tablespoons water
3/4 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a baguette, crust removed)
3 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Make Rouille:
Pour water over bread crumbs in a bowl. Mash garlic to a paste with sea salt and cayenne using a mortar and pestle. Add moistened bread crumbs and mash into garlic paste.
Add oil in a slow stream, mashing and stirring vigorously with pestle until combined well.
Cooks’ note:
If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, use a large heavy knife to mince and mash the garlic. Transfer paste to a bowl and vigorously stir in bread with a fork. Add oil, stirring in same manner.
Make soup:
Cook tomatoes, onion, and garlic in oil in cleaned 6- to 8-quart pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, peel potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Stir potatoes into tomatoes with fennel fronds, bay leaf, saffron, sea salt, and pepper. Add stock and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until potatoes are almost tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
Add thicker pieces of fish and cockles to soup and simmer, covered, 2 minutes. Stir in mussels, shrimp, scallops, calamari, and remaining fish and simmer, covered, until they are just cooked through and mussels open wide, about 5 minutes.
Stir 3 tablespoons broth from soup into rouille until blended.
Carefully transfer fish and shellfish from soup to bowl with a slotted spoon, then ladle some broth with vegetables over seafood.
Top each serving with 1 teaspoon rouille and serve remainder on the side. Serve with crusty grilled bread.
YUMMMMMMMM…..
