BOUILLABAISSE

 
Conventional wisdom says that you should only cook bouillabaisse for at least 8 people, as you need at least 8 different kinds of fish, some of which are only found in the Mediterranean.

This may be so, but taking our courage in both hands, we have invented this recipe for 2 people, using 4 types of fish and some mussels and prawns. It may not be quite authentic, but it's close, and a lot cheaper than going to Marseille for the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE BOUILLABAISSE

 

 FOR THE FISH STOCK

1 1/2 Lb (675 g) Assorted fish fillets with skin
6 King Prawns with shell left on
12 Mussels
1 Medium sized Onion Chopped
1 Fennel Bulb
1 Small Leek Chopped (White Part Only)
2 Cloves of Garlic Chopped
1 Pint (560ml) Fish Stock 
2 Medium Tomatoes Skinned and Chopped
1 Pinch of Saffron Strands
2 or 3 sprigs of Thyme
1 Piece of Orange Peel cut into strips
1 Teaspoon Chopped Red Chilli
1 Tablespoon Flat Leaf Parsley Chopped
Salt
Black Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Olive Oil

 

1 Medium Sized Potato   Roughly Chopped
1 Carrot Roughly Chopped
1 Leek Sliced White Part Only
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Medium Sized Onion Roughly Chopped
1 Stick of Celery Roughly Chopped
1 Bay Leaf
1 Small Bunch of Parsley
12 Black peppercorns
5 fl oz (150 ml) Dry White Wine
2 Pints (300 ml) Water
Fish Heads and Bones
6 Cooked Prawns with shells

PREPARATION
We bought our fish whole for this recipe, mainly so we could photograph them. You can save time by getting your fishmonger to fillet the fish for you, but remember to ask for the heads and bones for the fish stock. Traditionally, Bouillabaisse is made with whole fish, or slices of large fish, not fillets. But as we are breaking the rules, we may as well break them.

The fish we used were one Red Gurnard, one Seabass, one Red Mullet and one Hake Steak. In each case we bought the smallest fish we could find.
You can use whatever you like, Monkfish, Cod, Bream, John Dorey etc. We used what was available at the time.

So, the first thing to do is to make the stock. Put all the vegetables for the stock in a large pan with the water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the stock and throw away the vegetables. Now add the fish heads and bones and the prawns to the vegetable stock, bring back to the boil and simmer for another 20 minutes. Strain the Fish stock and throw away the fish heads, bones and prawns. Add the wine to the stock, and bring to the boil for a few moments to drive off the alcohol.

Whilst all this simmering is going on, take a large pan and pour enough olive oil into it to cover the bottom. Heat gently and add the chopped Leek,Onion, Garlic and about 2 tablespoons of chopped fennel bulb. The green fennel fronds will be used near the end. Fry gently until soft and the onion is translucent. About 10 mins. Add the Chilli about 1 minute from the end

Now add about a pint of the fish stock. If you have some left over, you can freeze it for next time.
Add the Orange Peel, Saffron, chopped Tomatoes, sprigs of thyme and simmer for about 10 minutes.

It all gets a bit exiting from this point on, we are about 8 minutes away from the finish. If the phone rings at this point, don't even think about answering it.

Check the seasoning. Add salt if you think it needs it. Add freshly ground black pepper, and if you think you need more heat, add a little cayenne pepper.

Turn up the heat. We now want to bring our soup up to a rapid boil.

Decide which fish will take longest to cook, in our case, the Hake was the thickest and so it went into the pan first, together with a good wineglass of olive oil. The idea is that the oil emulsifies with the rapidly boiling soup.

About 2 minutes later, the rest of the fish fillets go in. Do not be tempted to stir the bouillabaisse.

2 minutes later add the mussels and the King Prawns. Wait about 4 minutes and the mussels should all be open and the Bouillabaisse will be ready.

Carefully lift out the fish, and pour the soup over. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.