Soupe de Poisson Jardiniere

If there had been no leftovers, this soup might have rated only a three ... but on night two this soup really stepped up and delivered.

Although there is quite a bit of chopping, the soup comes together quite quickly if you skip the step of making your own fish stock. You can use a mix of water and clam juice, but I used chicken stock and it was fine.

Cream and pernod are added as the last step before serving and, on night one, the flavors hadn't really blended, so the soup's broth was a bit harsh with the pernod standing out a bit more than we liked. By night two, the balance of flavors was better and we cleaned our plates.

The recipe calls for almost two pounds of bass or blackfish. I used 4 tilapia loins, totaling about 1.25 pounds, cut up into pieces about 3/4 - 1 inch in size). I also used canned tomatoes rather than fresh. The recipe calls for one cup of diced potato and this seemed just the right amount. I often think that veggie soups are dominated by potatoes, but not here. I also used an additional cup of broth since I wanted a more soup-like, less stew-like consistency.

The recipe is a modernized version of an old Pierre Franey recipe and makes 6-8 substantive servings -- or three meals for two. We drank this with a California sauvignon blanc that didn't quite complement the dish -- too light bodied and acidic. I think I would have preferred a Chardonnay of a slightly oakier stripe.