Bouillabaisse Recipe from "Joy of Cooking"

Have ready:

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

4 finely julienned leeks: use the white portion only

Skin and squeeze the pulp out of and then dice:

4 medium-sized tomatoes

Combine:

5 cloves minced garlic

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh fennel

1/2 to 1 teaspoon saffron (very expensive)

2 pulverized bay leaves

1 teaspoon grated orange rind

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/8 teaspoon celery seed

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons salt

Heat in a large casserole:

1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil

When the oil is hot, add the prepared ingredients above and cook until the vegetables are transparent. Meanwhile, cut into 1- inch dice and then add:

4 lbs. very fresh fish in combination:

red snapper, halibut, pompano, sea perch, scallops; also 1-inch pieces of well-scrubbed lobster, whole shrimp, clams and mussels --all in the shell

You may prefer to leave the fish in 2-inch thick slices and use some of the smaller fish whole. If so, add the thinner pieces or small scrubbed shellfish to the pot slightly later than the thicker ones -> but do not disturb the boiling. Cover the fish with: 2 1/2 cups hot Fumet, (see below), or hot water_>Keep the heat high and force the boiling, which should continue rapid for 15 to 20 minutes.

Correct the seasoning

To serve, have ready to arrange in the bottom of 8 hot bowls:

3/4-inch slices of French bread

Dry the bread in the oven and brush with: Garlic butter

When the bouillabaisse is ready, arrange attractively some of each kind of fish on and around the bread. You may remove the lobsters from the shell and remove the upper shells for the clams and mussels. Then pour the hot broth into the bowls and serve at once. Or, you may strain the broth onto the bread, and serve the seafood on a separate platter. Plan the meal with a beverage other than wine.

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Fumet or Fish Stock:

This is the most useful for cooking "au maigre," on those days when religious observance calls for meatless meals. combine the fumet with vegetables and cream as a base for soup or use it in the sauces or aspics. It will keep for several days, covered, in the refrigerator, or for several weeks frozen.

Melt in a pan:

3 tablespoons butter

Add and cook gently about 5 minutes:

1/2 cup chopped onions or shallots

1/4 cup chopped carrot

1/2 cup chopped celery

Then add:

6 white peppercorns

3 or 4 cloves

1/2 cup white wine or 2 tablespoons vinegar

2 cups cold water

A Bouquet Garni, (see below)

A twist of lemon rind

1 to 1 1/2 lbs. washed fish bones, heads, tails, skins, and trimmings

The fish heads are particularly flavorful, but -> avoid strong-flavored fish trimmings like mackerel, skate, or mullet. Use salmon only for salmon sauce. Shells from crab, shrimp and lobster are delicious additions, but these are usually cooked with bay leaf, thyme and wine rather than with vinegar. Heat until the liquid begins to ->simmer and continue cooking, uncovered, over rather brisk heat, and not longer than 20 to 30 minutes-- or a bitter flavor may develop. Add, at the last minute:

Any extra oyster or clam juices

Strain the stock and use in soups or sauces. To clarify fish fumet for aspic, proceed as for the quick method of beef stock clarification, see below.

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Bouquets Garnis or Faggots

Nothing helps a soup or stock as much as one of the combinations below. They are best made of fresh materials. To make removal easier, the smaller ingredients can be bound inside an informal tube made from the overlapping celery stalks and tightly tied with white string.

I. Bunch together:

3 or 4 sprigs parsley or chervil

1/3 to 1/2 bay leaf

2 sprigs fresh thyme

(1 leek, white portion only)

(2 cloves)

Place them inside:

Several celery stalks

and bind tightly with a white string.

II. Tie in a bunch:

3 sprigs chervil

3 sprigs parsley

1/2 bay leaf

2 sprigs fresh thyme

III. If you cannot get fresh materials, wrap your freshly dried herbs still on the stem or coarsely crumbled but not powdered in 4-inch squares of cheese cloth. Tie them into bags and store them in a tightly covered container.

->Cook them not longer than 25 to 30 minutes, during the last part of the cooking period.

Allow for 12 bags:

2 tablespoons dried parsley

1 tablespoon each thyme and marjoram

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons dried celery

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Clarifying Stock:

If you have followed the directions in Stock-making carefully, your product should be clear enough for most uses. But for extra-sparkling aspic, jellied consommé, or chaud-frod you may wish to clarify to remove cloudiness; but the second method also strengthens flavor. ->Be sure the stock to be clarified has been well degreased; and never let it boil.

For the first method, allow to each quart of broth 1 slightly beaten egg white and 1 crumpled shell. If the stock to be clarified has not been fully cooled and is still lukewarm, also add a few ice cubes for each quart. Stir the eggs and ice into the soup well. Bring the soup very, very slowly ->without stirring, just to a simmer. As the soup heats, the egg brings to the top a heavy, crusty foam, over an inch thick Do not skim this, but push it very gently away from one side of the pan. Through this small opening, you can watch the movement of the simmering -- to make sure no true boiling takes place. Continue simmering 10 to 15 minutes. Move the pot carefully from the heat source and let it stand 10 minutes to 1 hour. Wring out a cloth in hot water and suspend it, like a jelly bag, above a large pan. Again push the scummy crust to one side and ladle the soup carefully so it drains through the cloth. Cool it->uncovered. Store it -> covered tightly and refrigerate.

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Enjoy Your Soup.

Typed by Michael Louis Scott 10/12/97 from the "Joy of Cooking".