Fish Soup With Fennel Food

FISH AND FENNEL STEW

Steps:

• In a stock pot over medium heat, add the olive oil, onions, fennel, bay leaf and season with a pinch of salt and a grind or two of pepper. Cook, stirring, until both the fennel and the onions are very tender, but not browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Cook's Note: Be careful to not break up the bay leaf during this process.
• Add the lemon slices, garlic, and tomato paste stirring to combine. Cook until the tomato paste turns a deep reddish brown, then add the tomato slices and season with another pinch of salt. Allow to sit and bubble a bit, then stir, repeating until the tomatoes are completely broken down and some moisture has evaporated from the pot, about 10 minutes.
• Add the wine and scrape up any bits on the bottom of the pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer uncovered until most of the wine has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add the fish stock, raise to a simmer and nuzzle the fish into the pot, and simmer until fish is cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Serve warm with a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• To make the croutons heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Lay the slices of bread on a flat baking tray in a single layer, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 15 mins until golden and crisp. Set aside - can be made a day ahead and kept in an airtight container.
• Use a layer of the green part of the leek to wrap around and make a herb bundle with the thyme, bay, parsley stalks, orange peel and chilli. Tie everything together with kitchen string and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a very large casserole dish or stock pot and throw in the onion, sliced leek and fennel and cook for about 10 mins until softened. Stir through the garlic and cook for 2 mins more, then add the herb bundle, tomato purée, star anise, Pernod if using, chopped tomatoes and saffron. Simmer and stir for a minute or two then pour over the fish stock. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a simmer, then add the piece of potato. Bubble everything gently for 30 mins until you have a thin tomatoey soup. When that piece of potato is on the brink of collapse, fish it out and set aside to make the rouille.
• While the broth is simmering make the rouille by crushing the garlic, chilli and saffron with a pinch of salt in a mortar with a pestle. Mash in the cooked potato to make a sticky paste then whisk in the egg yolk and, very gradually, the olive oil until you make a mayonnaise-like sauce. Stir in the lemon juice and set aside.
• Once the chunky tomato broth has cooked you have two options: for a rustic bouillabaisse, simply poach your fish in it along with the mussels, if you're using (just until they open) and serve. For a refined version, remove the herb bundle and star anise. Using a handheld or table-top blender, blitz the soup until smooth. Pass the soup through a sieve into a large, clean pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Starting with the densest fish, add the chunks to the broth and cook for 1 min before adding the next type. With the fish we used, the order was: monkfish, John Dory, grey mullet, snapper. When all the fish is in, scatter over the mussels, if using, and simmer everything for about 5 mins until just cooked and the mussels have opened.
• Use a slotted spoon to carefully scoop the fish and mussels out onto a warmed serving platter, moisten with just a little broth and scatter over the chopped parsley. Bring everything to the table. Some people eat it as two courses, serving the broth with croutons and rouille first, then the fish spooned into the same bowl. Others simply serve it as a fish stew. Whichever way you choose the rouille is there to be stirred into the broth to thicken and give it a kick.

FISH WITH FENNEL

Steps:

• Cut lime in half; cut four slices from one half for garnish. Finely grate enough peel from remaining half to measure 3/4 teaspoon; squeeze juice from lime half. Set aside., In a dry small skillet over medium heat, toast fennel seeds until aromatic, about 1-2 minutes. Cool. Crush seeds in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle., In a large saucepan, bring 1 in. of water to a boil. Add sliced fennel and salt; cover and boil for 6-10 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and pat dry., In a large nonstick skillet, saute fennel in 2 teaspoons oil for 3 minutes or until fennel is lightly browned. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Remove from the pan and set aside. , In the same skillet over medium-high heat, cook fillets in remaining oil for 3-4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork. , Drizzle with lime juice; sprinkle with lime peel and crushed fennel seeds. Serve with sauteed fennel. Garnish with fennel fronds and lime slices.,

FISH SOUP

Steps:

• Trim and finely chop the fennel, leek, celery and chilli, and peel and finely chop the garlic. Roughly chop the tomatoes, pick the thyme leaves and chop the fish into chunks.
• Gently cook the fennel, leek, celery, most of the chilli and the garlic in olive oil over a medium heat, until soft.
• Add 1 litre water and the wine, bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are cooked.
• Add the tomatoes, thyme and fish. When fish turns opaque, add the prawns, mussels or clams and simmer for 2 minutes until prawns are cooked and mussels are open.
• Season and serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a scattering of fresh chilli.

TOMATO FISH STEW RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. (I used an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven.)
• Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until onion has softened a little, about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add fennel, celery, thyme, crushed red pepper flakes (use according to taste), salt and black pepper. Stir to combine. Stir in water (or wine). Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, ensuring nothing is sticking.Note: Depending on how salty the canned tomatoes and fish stock/broth are (and how you like things), you may not need to add salt.
• Stir in tomatoes and fish stock/broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat (about medium-low heat) to a simmer. Cover with lid slightly ajar and cook for 10 minutes.
• Stir in potatoes, cover with lid slightly ajar and cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until they are fork-tender.
• Gently place cod into the pot, cover again with lid slightly ajar and cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until cod is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork (insert the tines of a fork into the thickest part of the fish at an angle and twist gently; it should flake easily). Note: If you want a looser or thinner consistency, stir in a little water or more fish stock and heat through.
• To serve, divide the stew into bowls and garnish, if desired, with reserved fennel fronds, a drizzle of regular or lemon olive oil and sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes. Enjoy! This stew is great with a hunk of bread for dunking.

FISH STEW WITH FENNEL AND BABY POTATOES

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook potatoes, tossing occasionally, until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes.
• Add fennel and garlic; season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until fennel is soft, about 2 minutes. Add wine, bring to a boil, and cook until almost completely evaporated, about 4 minutes. Add 2 cups water to pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, 10-12 minutes. Stir in crème fraîche. Add flounder, cover pot, and reduce heat. Simmer until fish is cooked through, about 4 minutes.
• Stir dill into stew; season with salt and pepper. Serve with lemon wedges.

FISH SOUP WITH FENNEL AND PERNOD

Steps:

• Stage 1, pre-bedtime. Put onion, celery, garlic and fennel in a food processor, and pulse gently until chopped into a coarse paste.
• Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add coarsely processed vegetables to pan, and sauté, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons Pernod, and boil until almost evaporated. Add red pepper flakes, and season with salt and pepper.
• Pour in wine, and bring to a boil. Reduce for 2 minutes, and add tomato purée and chopped tomatoes. Bring to boil, stir, cover and remove from heat.
• Stage 2, post-bedtime. Return saucepan to medium heat until barely simmering. Gently slide mussels and fish into broth. Bring broth back to a simmer, and cook, stirring once or twice to give mussels room to open, until mussels and fish are cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Divide mussels and fish into warmed bowls. Pour soup over all, and scatter with fennel tops. Sprinkle with remaining teaspoon Pernod (skip Pernod if children are eating) and more olive oil. Serve immediately with crusty bread, if desired.

FISH SOUP WITH FENNEL

Steps:

• Slice the fennel and onion thinly, setting aside the green fennel fronds.
• Cut fish in bite sized pieces.
• Saute the fennel and onion in olive oil in a soup pot until soft but not brown.
• Add seasonings, water and dashi.
• Simmer, covered, on low for 15 minutes.
• Add fish, wine and fennel fronds.
• Continue simmering for 15 minutes.
• Taste and adjust seasonings.
• Serve with French bread and white wine.
• Note: Using dashi no moto (available in oriental grocerie stores) is an easy way of making fish stock. You may substite 2 Knorr fish boullion cubes or 2-8 oz. bottles of clam juice.

SHRIMP, COD, AND FENNEL SOUP WITH TOMATOES

Steps:

• Prepare an ice-water bath. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Score an X into the bottom of each tomato using a sharp paring knife. Blanch tomatoes until skins loosen, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer to ice-water bath using a slotted spoon. Peel and discard skins. Core and coarsely chop tomatoes.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium Dutch oven or a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook onion, garlic, and sliced fennel until fragrant and softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon white pepper. Remove from heat, and add wine. Return to heat, and bring to a boil, scraping up brown bits from bottom using a wooden spoon. Cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
• Add stock and chopped tomatoes. Bring to a simmer. Stir in cod and shrimp, and return to a simmer. Remove from heat, and let stand, stirring halfway through, until cod and shrimp are just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Divide soup among 4 bowls, and drizzle with remaining tablespoon oil. Garnish with reserved fennel fronds. Serve immediately.

FISH AND FENNEL

Steps:

• In a medium skillet, combine 1/3 cup water and oil. Add the fennel, tomatoes, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, lemon, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes begin to fall apart, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Season the fish with salt and pepper. Add to skillet with vegetables. Cover, and cook until opaque, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

CIOPPINO (SEAFOOD SOUP) WITH FENNEL AND GARLIC

Steps:

• In a large, heavy saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the chopped fennel, onion, shallots, and garlic and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, until golden brown. Stir in the wine, then the tomatoes, parsley, red pepper flakes, clam juice, and water. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the butter and stir to melt, then remove from heat.
• In a large cast iron skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and toss on the mussels and clams. Cook for 4 minutes. As the mussels and clams begin to open, add the fish, calamari, and shrimp, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, until the shrimp turn pink. Discard any mussels or clams that don't open. Add 1 cup of the tomato mixture and simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer the contents of the skillet to the saucepan with the remaining tomato mixture and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Ladle into soup bowls. Sprinkle with the basil, garnish with the fennel fronds, and serve immediately.

FISH SOUP

Steps:

• Heat a large heavy stockpot and to it add the olive oil. Add the fish bones and cook them over low heat, covered, until any flesh on them flakes from the bones. Add the vegetables and any shells from the shrimp, cover and cook over low heat until the vegetables sweat, about 10 minutes.
• Deglaze the pot with the wine, scraping up any particles sticking to the bottom of the pan. Stir in the saffron, thyme, and basil.
• Add the fish stock or water, and let the mixture gently boil for 1 hour. Then puree it in a food processor or pass it through a food mill. Pass the puree through a medium strainer into a clean stockpot. Stir in the Pernod. Season the base, to taste, with salt, pepper and cayenne. The soup should have a full-bodied flavor: If it seems weak, reduce it over low heat to concentrate the flavor.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Skim any fish oil from the top of the soup and reserve it to stir into the rouille.
• Toast the croutons in the oven until golden, and then brush with rouille.
• Bring the soup to a boil. Add the shellfish and/or uncooked fish fillets to the soup, 1 variety at a time. Cook each until done; then remove from the soup and keep warm. (The lobsters will take about 10 minutes and their shells will be bright red when done; medium shrimp will take 3 or 4 minutes to cook; fish fillets from 1 to 7 minutes, depending on their thickness (they should remain slightly underdone); and the mussels and clams only cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until their shells open).
• Presentation: Place 1 crouton in the bottom of each large, shallow, heated soup plates. Then arrange the fish and/or shellfish around each crouton. Ladle the hot soup over all. Serve immediately. Pass additional rouille in a separate serving bowl.
• Clean the fish bones under cold running water, removing the gills from the head and any traces of blood on the frames.
• In a large saucepan, heat the oil. In it sweat the fish bones and vegetables over low heat, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent them from browning.
• Deglaze the pan with the wine, and then add enough water to cover the bones and vegetables by 2 inches. Add the bouquet garni and bring the liquid to a boil. Skim the froth from the surface, reduce the heat, and simmer the stock for 20 to 25 minutes.
• Strain the stock into a clean saucepan. Bring it to a boil and reduce it over medium heat to 1 quart.
• Note: Fish stock will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days or frozen for 2 to 3 weeks. After that time the flavor begins to fade.
• Yield: 1 quart
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 35 minutes
• In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, garlic, mustard, and chili flakes. Whisk in the oil in a very slow steady stream until the sauce begins to emulsify. Add the remaining oil in a thin stream until all of it is incorporated. Add the saffron. Thin the sauce with the stock and season, to taste, with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
• Yield: 1 1/2 cups
• Prep Time: 10 minutes

SEAFOOD AND FENNEL SOUP

Steps:

• Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Set mushrooms aside.
• Cook bacon in heavy large Dutch oven over medium heat until almost crisp, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Add onion, fennel, bell pepper, fennel seeds and garlic; sauté until vegetables are almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes, chicken broth, tomatoes with their juices and tomato sauce and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, about 25 minutes. Mix in mushrooms. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring soup to simmer before continuing.)
• Add halibut, red snapper and sole to soup and simmer just until fish is cooked through, about 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with parsley.

FISH SOUP WITH POTATOES AND FENNEL

Steps:

• In a 6- to 8-quart pan, combine broth, wine, cream, fennel seed, and thyme.
• Peel potatoes and thinly slice into pan. Cover pan and turn heat to high.
• Trim tops from fennel and save the feathery greens. Trim off root ends, bruised areas, and coarse fibers from sides of fennel. Rinse and thinly slice fennel and add to soup. When mixture boils, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are very tender when pierced, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, rinse feathery fennel greens and chop.
• Scrub mussels and pull off beards.
• Shell, devein, and rinse shrimp.
• Cut seabass into 1-inch chunks.
• When potatoes are tender, add mussels. Cover and simmer 3 minutes. Add shrimp and seabass and simmer until mussels open, 3 to 5 minutes more. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with reserved fennel greens.