SEAFOOD BOUILLABAISSE

By ldelmas

Ingredients

• HE BROTH:
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup each finely chopped onion, carrots, and leeks, well-washed
• 1/8 cup finely julienned celery
• 2 teaspoons minced shallots
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 1/2 cups fish stock
• 1 tablespoon sea salt (approximately)
• 1 bouquet garni consisting of 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, 1/2 teaspoon anise seed, 1/2
• teaspoon freshly ground pepper, 1 bay leaf, 1 clove, pinch of thyme, and 2
• cloves garlic crushed, wrapped in a cheesecloth
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron
• THE SEAFOOD:
• 6 mussels
• 4 little neck clams
• 1/4 pound sea scallops
• one 1 pound Maine lobster
• 1/4 pound raw shrimp (20-24 count)
• 4 ounces fish fillets: red snapper, sea bass, grouper
• 4 oysters (optional)
• 2 teaspoons Pernod
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh fennel
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic

Preparation

Step 1

TO PREPARE THE BROTH:
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add the onions, leeks, celery,
and carrots and cook covered until tender, about 15 minutes, stirring often. Add the
shallots, tomatoes, tomato paste, white wine, fish stock, salt, and bouquet garni. Boil
for approximately 25 minutes. Add the saffron and simmer 5 more minutes.

TO PREPARE THE SEAFOOD:
While the broth is cooking, prepare the seafood.
Clean the mussels individually under cold running water, scraping off any clinging
barnacles or “beards.” Discard any half-open shells or any unusually heavy ones,
indicating internal grit.
Rinse the clams, oysters, and scallops in cold water.
Using a sharp heavy knife, force the point of the blade through the top of the
lobster head between the eyes; then cut down through the center of the head and
tail, splitting the lobster in half. Remove and discard the lobster head and the
intestinal vein running down the center of the tail. Remove the claws and crack
them with the blunt edge of the blade.
Peel and devein the shrimp. Cut the fish fillets into 2-3 inch diagonal slices.

TO PREPARE THE BOUILLABAISSE:
Add the mussels and clams to the boiling broth and simmer 5 minutes. Then add
the lobster, shrimp, scallops, and fish. Continue boiling until all the shellfish are
open, approximately 5-8 more minutes. Do not overcook.
Remove from heat, adjust seasoning (more garlic or saffron according to taste), add
Pernod and chopped fennel, and serve immediately in large warm soup platters.
Garnish with garlic toasts.