Bouillabaisse-Simplified

Page: www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Bouillabaisse-Simplified-241658

Cuisine: French | Course Type: Soups and Stews

(1 review)

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Recipe Review

I was very surprised at how delicious this turned out to be, even after I discovered I had used up the last bottle of clam juice in the pantry and had none for the soup. The recipe called for seafood stock or a mix of vegetable stock and clam juice. I used the last of an open carton of chicken stock and some water.

Even so, the broth was just the star of this simple version of bouillabaisse, a type of soup I'd never tried before. The aromatics are fennel and onion, and a couple of cloves of smashed garlic. Once those are sauteed in some EVOO, you add the broth, some saffron soaked in OJ (I tossed in the 2 T. of OJ as well), a strip of orange zest, and some canned tomatoes. The soup is then brought to a boil and boiled until it is reduced by half at which point you reduce the heat to medium (per the recipe) and add the fish -- I went to a simmer and was glad I did since I was using tilapia and shrimp and didn't want either to overcook and become tough. The soup is finished off with some chopped parsley.

While the soup was reducing I made my first rouille, using the Epicurious recipe below but using a different technique (from a YouTube video). I am sure my approach was flawed, my resulting texture a little odd, but it was great in the soup,along with a slice of toasted Italian bread.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rouille-238412

I'd love to try this again with mussels.

(1) useful  

Comments

Zosia - 27th August 2012
This sounds wonderful.....I've never attempted bouillabaisse as the stock seems so complicated, involving fish heads and bones.........
This recipe actually looks doable! Thank you for the review.

aj12754 - 27th August 2012
I was amazed at the depth of flavor in what is essentially a 30-40 minute prep. I really loved the fennel-orange combo in the broth.

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