DEC. 30th, 2016 : Easy Bouillabaisse, A French Inspired Seafood Soup

by | Dec 30, 2016 | Friday Four, Soups, Salads and Sides

No. 1 : Quick Recipe

Easy Bouillabaisse, A French Inspired Seafood Soup

  • 2 TB Olive Oil

    2 Cups Chopped Red Onion

    1 Cup EACH, Chopped Celery, Fennel and Carrot

    1/2 Tsp Sea Salt

    1/2 Tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper

    2 TB Minced or Grated Garlic

    1/2 Cup Dry Vermouth

    1/2 Tsp Saffron

    3 (15 OZ) Cans Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes

    3 Cups Clam Juice

    4 LBS Fish or Shellfish of your choice, cut in bite sized pieces

    1/2 Cup Chopped Parsley

    Lemon Wedges

Step One  Add the oil to large heavy stockpot or dutch oven. When warm, stir in the onion, celery, fennel and carrot along with the salt and pepper. Cook over and stir occasionally over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until very soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for about one minute until fragrant.

Step Two Stir the saffron into the vermouth and add both to the pot, along with the tomatoes and clam juice. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, cooking for about 15 minutes.

Step Three Add the fish and shellfish. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the fish is opaque and cooked through. Remove from the heat and stir the parsley through the soup.Garnish with lemon wedges and serve.

2 Kitchen Smidgen

Spain, Morocco, Greece and India are just a few countries that produce saffron, an expensive spice with a distinctive strong flavor. Why so expensive? Between 50 and 75,000 saffron crocus flowers are required to produce 1LB of the dried spice!

3 Get Creative

If you’ve never tasted fennel before, you’re in for a crunchy treat. A flowering plant in the carrot family, its bright crisp texture brings more flavor AND a little more nutrition to salads, soups and stir fries. If you’re using celery for a recipe – try substituting fennel instead! To get a quick primer on how to chop or slice fennel, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBlqSuerwIw

4 WINE FIND of the Week

Sauvion Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine

Loire Valley France
Whole Foods $16.00

Dry, Snappy and Crisp are three good words to describe this white wine from the western end of the Loire valley. Perfect for seafood, Bouillabaisse and slightly spicy fare, the wine is made from a  grape named  Melon de Bourgogne, (or if you’re cool), Melon for short. The term Sevre-et-Maine designates its appellation or location and Sauvion is the producer.

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