Bouillabaisse With Seared Halibut Food

BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Add saffron to sherry set aside.
• Cut fish into bite size pieces.
• Scrub clams and mussels.
• In a large stock pot heat oil. Saute onions, shallots, carrot, fennel, and garlic in oil on low heat until lightly golden.
• Add all liquids and seasonings including the saffron infused sherry.
• Bring to just a boil. Lower heat and simmer 15 minutes. Add all seafood adding squid last, mix and simmer 10 minutes.
• Serve hot in large bowls.
• Top with garnishes.
• Serve with crusty bread, and a tossed salad.

SEARED HALIBUT WITH PARMIGIANA ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• For halibut: Preheat a 12-inch saute pan over medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and butter. Season halibut with salt and pepper and dust with the flour, shaking off the excess. As your butter starts to brown, gently lay each steak in your pan. Allow to cook until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, approximately 3 to 4 minutes on each side.
• For asparagus: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Trim and clean your asparagus. In a large bowl add cleaned asparagus, minced garlic, minced shallots, and extra-virgin olive oil. Season, to taste. Lay prepared asparagus on a half sheet pan and roast until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Right before taking your roasted asparagus out of the oven liberally top with freshly grated parmesan cheese. The heat of your pan should melt your cheese.
• To serve, place 4 pieces of asparagus on a plate, top with golden brown halibut steak. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Garnish with a sprig of chervil or chives

HELEN'S BOUILLABAISSE (SEAFOOD CHOWDER)

Steps:

• Scrub clams well and drain. Rinse shrimp under cold running water. Remove shells, devein (with small knife slit alon back and lift out vein) Rinse and drain.
• Rinse scallops and drain.
• Rinse halibut and drain. Cut halibut in two inch pieces.
• Heat oil in 4 quart pot or dutch oven. Saute onions and garlic for 5 minutes or until onion is golden. Add tomatoes, salt fennel seed, pepper, orange rind, and saffron. Stir in clam juice and water. Bring to boil.
• Add clams, boil 2 minutes or until clams open. Reduce heat.
• Add shrimp, scallops, and halibut making sure liquid covers all.
• Cover pot and cook over medium-low heat 10-12 minutes or until halibut flakes when tested with a fork.
• NOTE: Clams are also available in the shell packed in cans or shucked and canned whole....You may use 1 pound bag frozen shelled deveined raw shrimp, 1 pound bag frozen scallops and 1 pound frozen halibut in place of fresh

DECONSTRUCTED BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat in a wide 2-qt saucepan. When it shimmers, add onion and fennel. Season with salt and pepper, and sweat 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and sweat another 2-3 minutes.
• Add the drained tomatoes and the wine. Raise heat to high and boil 2 minutes until wine begins to reduce.
• Add fish stock, saffron and bay leaf; bring back to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning.
• Pick over mussels, discarding any which are already open. Add mussels and shrimp to broth and stir. Cook 3 minutes until shrimp are pink and mussels open (discard any which remain closed).
• Salt and pepper both sides of the sea bass. Coat the bottom of a large nonstick skillet with olive oil. Heat oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the fish and cook 3-4 minutes on each side, until golden.
• Arrange baguette slices on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 10 minutes until dry and golden; watch carefully to prevent overcooking.
• In a mini-food-processor, combine mayonnaise, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, roasted red peppers, salt and black pepper. Process until smooth.
• Using wide, shallow bowls, place 3 mussels and 3 rock shrimp in each bowl. Place a mound of vegetables in the center of the dish, and top with 1 piece of sea bass. Ladle broth around the fish and top with a fennel frond. Serve with rouille and toasts.

BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in large Dutch oven or flameproof casserole over medium heat. Add sausage, mushrooms and onions and cook, stirring frequently and breaking up sausage with a fork until sausage loses pink color, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in tomatoes. Bring mixture to boil.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Pour in wine and clam juice. Return mixture to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add basil and garlic and cook 5 minutes longer.
• Stock can be prepared ahead to this point. Either refrigerate until ready to use (usually 24 hours) or freeze.
• Before serving, transfer stock to a pot large enough to accommodate stock and shellfish. Bring to boil over high heat.
• Reserve half of the parsley for garnish and add remaining parsley to the pot. Add clams. Reduce heat to medium high and simmer until some clams open. Add remaining shellfish and simmer until done (about 5 - 10 minutes) DISCARD ANY CLAMS THAT DO NOT OPEN.
• Ladle into bowl and sprinkle with reserved parsley. Serve with fresh pasta.

BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Preparing the fish. The fish should be cleaned, gutted and scaled. You can then fillet the fish. Cut the fillets in halves or thirds depending on the size. Reserve heads, fins, and carcasses. Remember: do not allow contact between the cut sides of fish fillets and fresh water. If using lobster remove the tail (and halve) and the claws and reserve in the fridge. Split the lobster in half length-wise and clean the inside of the lobster head. Wash clams.
• For the fish stock, cook sliced onion in butter in a stockpot for about 5 minutes. Add fish heads, fins, and carcasses (and lobster body if you're using one) along with 6 cups cold water and the white wine. Add 1 of the bouquet garni. Simmer (low) this for about 2 hours.
• While the stock is cooking, marinade the fillets in 1/4 cup olive oil with a pinch of the saffron threads and half of the garlic in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow for at least 2 hours of marinade time.
• Once the stock has completed cooking, strain with a fine sieve or colander. Be sure to squeeze as much juice from the bones and meat as possible. Reserve one half cup of broth for the rouille. Wash the stockpot so that it can be used again to make the soup.
• For the soup, heat the other 1/4 cup olive oil over medium heat and add remaining onion, along with leeks, celery and carrot. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, the remaining garlic, orange peel, 1/4 teaspoon saffron, and fennel to the pot. Add the fish stock and (low) simmer for at least 40 minutes partially covered. About 20 minutes before you are finished, add the potato quarters.
• While the soup is cooking, make the rouille. Soak the bread pieces in the reserved stock. Squeeze the juice out and place bread in food processor. In a mortar and pestle, smash the garlic and salt into a paste. Add the paste in the food processor. Add red pepper, saffron, and egg yolk to food processor. Blend and simultaneously drizzle oil into the mixture. The rouille (it's just a fancy French mayo) should then be refrigerated for about an hour before using and keeps up to a week.
• Once the soup is finished you can cook the fish. First remove the potato and keep warm. Strain the soup again and return to the pot. Bring to a very rapid boil/ "boiling like mad" -- this is to help the oils emulsify. Add lobster tail and claws first -- cook for 1 minute. Then add clams and oily fish -- cook for 1-2 minutes. Then add white fish fillets -- cook for 2-3 minutes. Serve now!
• Serve in large shallow bowls. Place one slice of bread in the bottom of each bowl. Place fish and shellfish on top of bread along with a few pieces of potato. Ladle soup over the top of the fish and bread. Pass rouille (add some to soup and/or spread on your bread) and serve with extra French bread.