Fish Stew (or Bouillabaisse)

This recipe gives you a soup that is ‘strained’ of the bits but has the fish in it giving a rich taste and allowing you to enjoy the texture of the meats. Mrs H. is not that keen on squid or mussels etc so I used white fish, salmon and prawns but you could use anything you fancy or anything that is on offer at the market – inc mussels!

Ingredients (Serves 4):

• 1 small fillet of cod
• 2 small fillets of other white fish – different textures – say 200gms each
• 1 small fillet of salmon
• Small pack of peeled prawns
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 leek, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• ½ bulb of fennel, finely chopped
• (I used 5 mini fennel bulbs)
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes (440gms)
• 1 tsp of tomato puree
• 2 small sprigs of thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 500ml of fish stock
• 1L of water
• ½ tsp of saffron stamens
• 1 tsp of salt
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• Pinch of chilli powder
• Charlotte potatoes – peeled and turned or chopped
• 1 tbspish Chopped parsley

Remove the bones and skin from all the fish and chop into decent size chunks and put to one side.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion, garlic, carrot, leek and fennel and cook gently for 10 minutes until soft but not coloured.

Stir in the tomatoes, puree, fennel seeds, thyme, bay leaf and any fish trimmings (if you kept them). Add the stock, water and saffron and bring to the boil. Gently simmer uncovered for around 45 minutes. About half way through, add the potatoes. When it has reduced to about 1 litre remove from the heat, remove potatoes with a slotted spoon into a dish and then strain mixutre into a clean pan. Keep the potatoes warm (ensure they are firm but edible!) Now its time to taste and season accordingly. Bring back to a simmer and add the cod and white fish . After a few minutes, add the prawns and stir in the chopped parsley. When all cooked, which isn’t long, add the potatoes and serve immediately with warm crusty bread in large bowls – I am now drewling again and may have to cook this again tonight!

The secret is to cook the fish in stages so that the firmer cuts cook first and the softer ones cook last. I have seen some recipes for this where 15 different fish are used and cooked in separate pans and added just at the last minute into the dish – now there is dedication!

Sea Bass, Mullet, Monkfish are all great. For a change I tried Tilapia fillet and Vietnamese River Cobbler ! Whatever you choose it will taste great!