Rick Moonens Cioppino Food

RICK MOONEN'S CIOPPINO

Steps:

• In a large pot, heat the olive oil until it is smoking. Add the onions, peppers and salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat, stirring, for five minutes.
• Stir in the basil, one teaspoon of the oregano, one teaspoon of the thyme, half of the parsley stems and the garlic. Cook for one minute. Add the 12-ounce can of tomatoes with the juice and bring to the boil. Add the stock, wine and clam juice, bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook for 20 minutes. Strain the broth through a fine sieve, pressing on the vegetables to extract all the flavor. Set aside the broth and discard the vegetables.
• In a food processor, place the fish trimmings and pulse the machine on and off until the fish has the consistency of ground beef. Remove the fish to a large bowl.
• Place the onion, celery, leek, pepper and tomatoes in the food processor and pulse on and off until ground. Mix this with the ground fish. With a whisk, whip in the remaining oregano and thyme, the remaining parsley stems, the bay leaves, peppercorns and half the egg whites, until incorporated.
• In another bowl, whip the remaining egg whites until they form a soft peak. Fold them into the fish and vegetable mixture. Transfer to a large, tall pot.
• In another pot, bring the fish broth to a rolling boil. Ladle some of the hot fish broth into the pot containing the fish, vegetable and egg-white mixture, whisking with each addition.
• When you have about one-third of the hot liquid incorporated, pour the rest in at once. Whip the mixture well with a whisk.
• Place the pot over high heat. As the mixture heats up, the egg white mixture on the top will become more solid, forming a raft. When this happens, reduce the heat to low. Using a ladle, push a hole through the center of the raft. This will allow you to see the mixture as it cooks. Do not allow the mixture to boil; if it does, it will not become clear. Simmer slowly for 30 minutes. Ladle out the consomme through the hole and strain through a wet towel. Discard the raft. Once the consomme has cooled, it can be refrigerated for one day or frozen for up to one month.
• In a clean pot, bring the clarified consomme to the boil.
• Place the fish pieces, the shellfish and the peppers in a pot. Pour the boiling consomme over the fish. Simmer until the clams and mussels open up, about four to five minutes after it returns to the simmer.
• Divide into hot soup bowls. Garnish with tomatoes and parsley.