Gulf Coast Bouillabaisse Food

BOUILLABAISSE WITH ROUILLE

Steps:

• For the stock:
• Add all ingredients into a large stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the stock, and cool in an ice water bath. Whatever is not used that day should be refrigerated for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 3 months.
• For the bouillabaisse:
• In another large, wide and shallow pan, over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion and fennel, cook for 2 minutes. Deglaze with the Pernod, and add the tomatoes, fish stock, seaweed, hot Italian peppers, crushed red pepper and season with salt and pepper. Add the lobster meat and cook for 3 minutes, covering the pot with aluminum foil or lid. Then add the rest of the seafood and cook, covered for about 6 minutes until the clams and mussels have opened.
• For the rouille:
• In a food processor, combine the roasted red pepper, garlic, bread, egg yolk, Dijon, lemon juice and salt and pepper. While the food processor is still on, slowly drizzle in the olive oil.
• Serve the Bouillabaisse in bowls with the toasted bread and Rouille on the side.

BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Make the rouille: Puree the mayonnaise, roasted red peppers, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and a pinch of salt in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl; refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Prepare the bouillabaisse: Grate the tomato flesh on the large holes of a box grater down to the skins; reserve the skins separately. Peel and devein the shrimp, reserving the shells and tails for the broth; clean and debeard the mussels. Refrigerate the seafood until ready to use.
• Make the broth: Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp shells and tails and cook, stirring, until bright red, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the clam juice, 4 cups water, the reserved tomato skins, the orange zest and 1/4 cup of the sliced fennel. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium; simmer until the liquid is reduced to about 4 cups, 12 to 15 minutes. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl, pressing on the solids to extract the liquid; reserve the broth.
• Wipe out the pot and heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the remaining fennel, the shallot, garlic and a pinch of salt; partially cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fennel begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the reserved grated tomato flesh and cook, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the saffron, then add the wine and simmer until the liquid is reduced by about two-thirds, about 4 minutes. Add the reserved broth and return to a simmer.
• Add the mussels to the pot; cover and cook 4 minutes. Add any thick pieces of fish and cook, covered, 2 minutes. Add the remaining fish and the shrimp and cook, covered, until the mussels open and the fish and shrimp are just cooked through, 3 to 4 more minutes. (Discard any mussels that do not open.) Season with salt and pepper.
• Spread the baguette with the rouille and serve with the bouillabaisse. Sprinkle with parsley.

CARIBBEAN BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Fill a tall stockpot with water; bring to a boil. Add lobsters, and cook 9 minutes. Remove lobsters from water; set aside until cool enough to handle. Separate claws and tails from bodies; set all parts aside.
• Make a bouquet garni by placing thyme sprigs, bay leaves, 10 parsley sprigs, and peppercorns in a 12-inch-square piece of cheesecloth. Form a bundle, and tie with kitchen twine. Set bouquet aside.
• In a wide, low-sided stockpot, combine 1 tablespoon butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil; melt over low heat. Add the shallots and garlic; cook until vegetables are translucent, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, remove and discard the peel and pith from limes; cut the flesh in half, and set aside. Transfer the shallot mixture to a small bowl, and set aside.
• Place lobster bodies in the wide stockpot. Raise the heat to medium, and cook, stirring constantly, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the lime flesh and Pernod; light a long wooden match, and carefully ignite Pernod. Allow the flame to burn out. Add saffron; cook 1 minute more. Add tomato paste, bouquet garni, and fish stock. Raise heat to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and let stock simmer, skimming foam as it rises to the surface, until stock is reduced by one-third, about 40 minutes. Set a cheesecloth-lined sieve over a large bowl, and strain stock; set aside. Discard solids, and rinse stockpot.
• Using kitchen shears, cut open a lobster tail, and carefully remove the meat in one whole piece; set aside. Repeat with remaining tails, and slice meat in half lengthwise. Crack or cut open each claw, removing meat in one piece. Discard shells, and set the meat aside, covered.
• Heat the remaining tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Working in batches, cook the snapper fillets until browned and crisp, 3 minutes on each side. Transfer fillets to a plate, and set plate aside in a warm place.
• Melt the remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter in the rinsed stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the reserved shallot mixture, shrimp, and mussels; saute 4 minutes. Add strained stock, Tabasco, and salt; simmer 3 minutes. Add reserved lobster meat; cook until mussels open and shrimp have cooked through, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
• To serve, place a snapper fillet in each of six large soup plates, and evenly distribute the shellfish and broth among the bowls. Coarsely chop the remaining 6 sprigs of parsley, and garnish bouillabaisse.

GULF COAST BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• In a 1-gallon pot, heat half the olive oil over medium-high heat and sauté the onions, fennel, and leeks for 5-7 minutes, then add the garlic and saffron and cook for 2 additional minutes, until vegetables are softened but not browned (lower the heat to medium, if necessary, to prevent this). Add the Fish Fumet, tomatoes, orange juice, orange zest, thyme, liqueur, and Bouquet Garni, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper; keep warm.
• Heat the remaining olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and add the fish, cut into 1/2-inch dice, and the shrimp, and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the oysters, mussels, and scallops, and ladle in some of the broth and vegetable mixture (approximately 1 cup per person). Stir, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, and cover. Cook until the mussel shells open, then taste for seasoning and divide among 8 bowls. Serve with the baguette rounds and Roasted Red Pepper Rouille (p. 184).