Last Friday was one of the best lunches we’ve had at the HOG Shack, ever! Joshua was feeling particularly inspired by his time spent living (and eating) in Paris and decided to make us Bouillabaisse. It is a traditional French soup originating in the port city of Marseille that has made its way around the globe with tons of variations and deviations along the way. Mythology tells us that the goddess Venus cooked this seafood soup to lull her husband, Vulcan, to sleep so she could sneak off with Mars, the god of war. Here at the HOG Shack, we just wanted to have a delicious Friday lunch.
Bouillabaisse has several components that when made all together can be a bit time consuming to prepare. You can, however, make the fish stock and the rouille ahead of time and then pull it all together when you want to serve the Bouillabaisse.
The first step is to make the fish stock from aromatics and fish heads and bones.
Then you need to marinate the fish for the soup, and mix up the rouille, which is a tasty aioli-like spread that is served on a toasted baguette and traditionally floated in the soup, but can also be enjoyed on the side.
Last step is the soup itself which is basically just adding fish and shellfish to the stock and simmering until done.
Since there are so many variations of this recipe you can use a number of different kinds of fish and shellfish. We used halibut bones for the stock, and a scrumptious mix of sturgeon, cod, mussels, shrimp and Dungeness crab for the soup itself.
We put some McFadden Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc on ice and ended up having quite a crowd for this lunchtime feast! There were a couple of our neighbors from Acupuncture Kitchen, and a whole hoard of awesome photographer friends; Stevan Nordstrom, Heidi Zumbrun and Bill Cendak. It was one for the books. Hopefully you’ll join us next time!
- fontaine
Bouillabaisse (from Sunset Magazine)
Serves 8 to 10
For the Fish Stock
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, quartered
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 medium carrots, each cut into 3 or 4 pieces
1 large leek, split lengthwise, rinsed between layers, and cut into several pieces; separate white parts from green
2 pounds non-oily fish heads (gills removed) and bones*
3 or 4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
3 or 4 sprigs thyme
8 peppercorns
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, carrots, and leek whites and sauté, stirring, until limp, 2 to 3 minutes. Add fish heads and bones and cook, stirring, until flesh begins to turn opaque, about 3 minutes. Add leek greens, parsley, thyme, peppercorns, wine, and 6 to 8 cups water (just enough to cover). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Skim any foam. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer or a colander lined with cheesecloth. Set stock aside (you will have about 9 cups).
For the Marinated Fish
1 fennel bulb with stalks and fronds
1 pound Pacific halibut fillets, cut into 1-in. chunks
1/2 pound each of 4 Pacific fish fillets* such as petrale sole, Pacific cod, sablefish, and rockfish, in whole pieces
1/4 teaspoon saffron (threads or powder)
2 tablespoons pastis or Pernod
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Slice fennel bulb thinly and lay on a platter along with its stalks and fronds. Lay fish on top in a single layer and sprinkle with remaining ingredients. Turn several times to coat. Let stand at room temperature, lightly covered, 2 hours (chill if longer than 2 hours, and use within 4 hours).
For the Rouille
6 dried cayenne or arbol chiles, seeded and chopped
7 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons dried bread crumbs
4 egg yolks
3 to 4 tbsp. Fish Stock
1 to 1 1/3 cups extra-virgin olive oil
1 baguette, cut into 1/4-in.-thick slices
Crush chiles, garlic, and salt in a mortar to form a paste. (Alternatively, mince chiles and garlic together, sprinkle with salt, and mash with flat side of a chef’s knife.) Scrape into a bowl. Stir in bread crumbs, then blend in yolks and stock.
Add oil drop by drop to chile mixture, beating on low speed with an electric mixer, until it starts to thicken. Increase the pour of oil to a thin stream, beating constantly, until a mayonnaise-like mixture forms. Preheat oven to 225°.
Arrange baguette slices in a single layer on 2 baking sheets. Bake until dry but not golden, about 20 minutes, turning once.
For the Bouillabaisse
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 leek, white parts only, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
Platter of Marinated Fish
3 large, ripe red tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or 6 good-quality canned Roma tomatoes
4 cups Fish Stock
1 cup white wine
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 pound spot prawns or other West Coast shrimp, heads and tails intact, live if possible
3 cooked Alaskan snow crab legs, thawed if frozen and cut into 2-in. pieces; or 1/2 lb. cooked Dungeness crab, cracked
1 pound California mussels
1 pound California squid (calamari), tubes and tentacles separated, tubes cut into 1/2-in. rings
Heat oil in a large, wide pot over medium-high heat. Sauté leek and onion until translucent, 2 minutes. Add garlic, then fennel slices from under fish on platter. Sauté 2 minutes, then add tomatoes, stock, wine, bay leaf, thyme, pepper, and salt.
Remove fish from platter; set aside. Lift off fennel stalks and fronds and discard. Scrape marinade into broth. Bring to a boil, covered; then simmer, covered, until fennel slices are meltingly soft, 30 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 1 qt. water to a boil.
Bring broth to a rolling boil. Lay in the halibut and add enough boiling water to just cover fish. Cook until just opaque, 5 to 7 minutes; transfer to a platter and cover.
Add thinner fish fillets and spot prawns and cook just until opaque, 2 minutes; transfer to platter as done. Add crab and mussels and cook just until mussels open, 5 minutes. Transfer both to platter. Add squid and cook just until opaque, about 1 minute; transfer to platter. Bathe platter with a ladle of broth. Remove bay leaf and thyme.
Ladle about 1 cup broth each into big soup bowls (keep broth hot for a second serving, covered). Bring bowls, platter, rouille, and toasts to the table. Put a little of each seafood in every bowl and top with a dollop of rouille.
