Bouillabaisse-Simplified

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.